Show PRESSURE ON THE PRESIDENT nebraska state journal railroad interests are applying a personal and political pressure to the president such as no other power in this country except united public opinion is capable I 1 of summoning J pierpont pont morgan Is able to speak for four railroad presidents as if they were actually hig his chief clerks as Pros president ident stickney calls them he lie with mr harriman and mr hill make a trio who can speak with authority not only fo tor railroad divisions but for no small number of political divisions tor for the railroads penetrate every populous community in the united states and in practically every one they main taia their political organizations anil and as far as possible constitute themselves the dictator of public affairs the me president fortunately has be come inured to this sort of prodding by hla his long battle for national rate legislation it Is no nol much over a year since he was being assured tha that t the transportation interests wore were on the verge of ruin at the hands of con coil gress gross now it Is the state legislatures that threaten to extinguish them yet they will take notice little has been aone one as yet except to pass laws requiring them to charge for carrying passengers even passengers of polita cal influence to make provision to prevent their charging influential shippers less than the established rate on freight and to require all passengers to be carried at not more than two cents a mile which Is above the former average charge reduced rates and mid free transportation considered these things desirable as they aro are to the public do not appear calculated to reduce railroad earnings the tho railroad men are crying before they are hurt in an evident effort ta to bluff the public out of the notion of enforcing a fair measure of regulation it Is admitted thai that they they have reason to fear antipass laws oven where such laws increase their passenger earnings for the reason that such laws open the way to freight rate tog teg ul atlon but the courts have held hold that state regulation of freight aratea cannot be permitted to reduce railroad profits below a reasonable level that one stata cannot make its rates so low as to eat cat up the profits of an interstate road read earned in another state the Tall railroads roads need have no fear of losing loing anything to which they are ire justly entitled particularly if they finally learn sense enough to cease red flags la in the publics eye oye |