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New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, September 26, 1894, Image 4

Image and text provided by Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89081128/1894-09-26/ed-1/seq-4/

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Woitieii
Will Vote
as usual at the next school election—
but for many candidates. They giv*
a unanimous vote—every day in thi
week—in favor of
WHITE RUSSIAN
SOAP
because they know it has no equal as a
labor and temper saver on wash-day.
The "White Russian" is a great soap to
use in hard or alkali water. Does not
roughen or injure the hands—is per
fectly safe to use on the finest fabrics.
JAS. S. KIRK & CO., Chicago.
DosiyDiamondTar Soap. "-^sfeSSsZ*
The Mod?
1
handles nothing but the purest
Drugs and
Medicines
A full stock of PERFUMES TOI
LET ARTICLES, SOAPS, STAj
TIONERY and SCHOOL
PLIES constantly on hand.4
Standard PAINTS & OIL, VAR-
NISHES BRUSHES and GLASS.
For a good smoke try our leading
nickel cigars.
0. M. OLSON.
Mardian Block New Ulm. Minn
F.BURG
Manufacturer of and Dealer in
CIGARS,
TOBACCOS.
PIPES.
Corner Minn.and Centre Str.
New Ulm Minn
John Hauenstein
BrciAfcnAJfD
Maltster.
Our brewery is one of the largest in
the west. It is also splendidly equipped
and the product is of the finest quality.
Ask for Hauenstein's beer if you want a
good-tasting healthful drink.
NEW ULM MINN
AUG SCHELL,
BREWER AND l^ALSTER
NEW ULM. MINN.
This brewery is one of the largest establishments
of its kind in the innesota Valley and is fitted up
with all the modern improvements Keg and bot
tle beer furnished to anj part of the city o» short
notioe My bottle beer is especially adapted fo~
family use
Country brewers and others that buy malt will
find to their interest to place their orders with me
All order* by mail will receive my prompattea
Uon,
OTTO SCHELL, Manager
A E S
DO YOU KNO
W
CR. FELIX LE BRUN'S
STEEL jKD PEHNYHOYBL PIUS
are the original and only FBENCH, safe and re
liable cure on the market. Price SJLOO Best hf
mail* Genome sold objjr by
O, M. Olsen Druggist, New Ulm.
People's Party Demand For
Government Ownership
of Railways.
As a Practical Affair, It Would
Be Too Expensive and
Hazardous.
No One Has Pointed Out the
First Step That Could Be
Safely Taken.
UW»
demand the government ownership
and operation of railroads, telegraphs and
telephones."
This declaration is found the Peo
ple's party platform of 1892, is reiter
ated in its national platform in 1894,
and is an acknowledged tenet of the
People's party faith in nation and
state. Indeed, in some localities, the
People's party movement grew entirely
out of opposition to railroad interests
and found its highest purpose in the de
mand that the railroads should be sur
rendered to and operated by the general
government.
It is proposed to examine this propo
sition as a practical affair in some de
tail.
First will be considered the difficul
ties in the way of realizing this theory
in the United States, and afterward
will follow an examination of the actual
effect, upom the people, of government
ownership and operation of railroads in
those countries where such a system is
now and has for some time been in
force.
How Will the Government Take What
Is Now Private Property.
The first question to be answered,
and one which cannot be lightly dis
missed is, how is the government to ob
tain possession of what is now private
property, as sacredly protected by
right and by law as any other form of
property in existence.
There are but two ways in which the
railroads of the United States could be
transferred from their present status to
public control viz:
By confiscation or by purchase.
Presumably not even the most radical
Populist would advocate nationalization
of railroads by confiscation, since there
is no reason why the process should
stop there.
If railroad properties can be taken by
the state without compensation, so
might every other form of wealth and
not only would the constitution of the
country be overthrown, but the very
fundamental tie which binds society to
gether would be sundered.
It may be assumed, therefore, that
the Populist theory requires the pur
chase by the government of the rail
roads at such price as might be agreed
upon or arrived at by due process of
law.
This is a point which all the advo
cates of state ownership have passed
over lightly and unfairly.
It cannot be so dismissed.
The speeches, magazine articles and
pamphlets favoring government owner
ship, and they are many, all proceed on
the assumption that the present capital
ized value of railroad properties in the
United States is not only enormously in
excess of the actual cost of construction,
but is nearlyor quite double the amount
for which they might be acquired by
the people.
Bow Much Shall the Government Pay For
the Railways?
Mr. C. Wood Davis, one of the ardent
advocates of the sdheme, in an article
in The Forum states the problem in this
way:
"Assuming that $30,000 per mile is
the maximum cost of existing railways,
and that there are 160,000 miles, it
would give a total valuation of
$4,800,000,000. But that there may be
no complaint that the nation is dealing
unfairly with the owners of much
water, it will be well to add 25 per cent
to what will be found to be the outside
value of the railways when condemned
under the law of eminent domain, and
assume that $6,000,000,000 of 3 per cent
bonds are issued in order to make pay
ment thereof."
Mr. Eugene D. Mann, one of the
latest authorities on the same side says:
"In all likelihood these $10,500,000,000
of securities do not represent much
more than half that sum of cash act
ually expended upon the railway prop
erties of the oduntry. In most cases
the bonds were sold below par and 25
per cent or less of their parvalue would
cover the money produced and em
ployed for the sale of stocks. It is fur
thermore true that large sums of rail
way capital have been sunk in waste
fulness or in directions that have repre
sented no adequate resultant value.
The extent to which earnings have
been applied to the permanent benefit
or increase of property was probably
offset by issues of stock that brought no
funds into the treasuries. Six billions
of dollars in ready cash would doubtless
buy all the railway property in the
United States
Their Figures Are Indefinite, and Their
Arguments Weak.
These two extracts fairly represent
the whole array of Populist authorities
in favor of government purchase.
It will be observed that their figures
are of the most indefinite and their ar
guments of the airiest sort.
In approaching a commercial trans
action of this mgnitude and imports
ance, it will not do to guess at valnesf
and to knock off a billion or two at
pleasure wherever the results are not
satisfactory.
If the people are to be asked at the
polls to elect representatives committed
to the policy of government ownership,'
it is no more than fair that they should
tbA
S S S
tot consider just what this^involve*, ^decr^iag the it of bonttsaW
it
exaotly
oa.me +/h»«-a»prn
.«—.^f
With exactlv tne samA carM that a
Slant man wouJd^xi**^* before ha in
dulged to th« purohABa of oottly farm
au^Bjfrtarjr.'• a ,w
We must have something better th*n
'guesswork before we propose to issue
government obligations amounting in
all to over two or three times the
amount of the entire national debt at
the close of the war.
Capital Stock and Indebtedness of Bail
roads.
Poor's Manual for 1894, which is the
universally accepted authority on rail
road statistics and is several months
later in its compilation of facts than
the report of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, states that the capital
stock of the railroads of the country at
the end of the year 1893 amounted to
$5,080,032,904.
These same roads had a funded debt
of $5,570,292,613, an unfunded debt of
$410,361,503, and a current debt of
$383,201,872 making the total liabilities
of the railroad systems of this country,
$11,443,888,892.
This figure furnishes the problem
with which we have to deal.
It is easy to say that a large portion
of this amount representswatered stock
or fraudulent transactions, but there
exists no authority competent to say
what portion of it is of that character,
and no tribunal that could scale down
the amount.
Actual Cost of Railway Property, Per Mile
It will be observed that one of the
authorities quoted above says that $30,
900 per mile should be assumed as the
cost of constructing these railroads.
That is a purely arbitrary assumption.
It is less than one-half the actual
cost and there is no more reason for
deducting 50 per cent in this case than
there is why a man who desires his
neighbor's horse or farm should not
coolly apporpnate it, paying only one
half the price asked by the owner, and
defending his action on the ground that
this is all that the chattel was worth.
The average cost per mile of the rail
ways of the United Kingdom is put at
$319,775.
If it is asserted that these figures are
inordinately large, by reason of the
high price to be paid for real estate ap
propriated, reference may be made to
New South Wales, where the conditions
very nearly approach to those in our
own country.
The average cost of construction there
is given officially in the report made be
fore the world's congress at $76,230.
There is no country in the world,
even where labor is cheapest, where a
system of railroads wasever constructed
for $30,000 per mile or anything like it.
There is no court which would ever
affix any such price as that to our rail
roads if condemnation proceedings were
had before it. It may as well be under
stood first as last by those who have
been filled with wild vagaries upon this
subject, that the railroad property can
be taken for public use under the con
stitution only by dne process of law.
That due process of law means con
demnation proceedings before a court
of competent jurisdiction under the law
of eminent domain.
And that such condemnation can be
made only upon the payment to the
owners of such property the compensa
tion agreed upon and approved by the
court.
United States Railways Would Cost the
Government Ten Billion Italian.
No court exists or can exist in any
civilized country that would assign to
the railroad properties of the United
States, whose aggregate liabilities rep
resent nearly $11,600,000,000, a pur
chase price of scarcely half that
amount.
While there is some watered stock in
the aggregate liabilities, a great deal of
it represents an actual increase in the
cost value and earning capacity of rail
road property which was apportioned
among the owners of stock in this way,
instead of by largely increased divi
dends.
In the light of our own experience
and that of others, $60,000 a mile is a
reasonable average estimate of value.
There are nearly 180,000 miles of rail
way in the United States.
Making every allowance possible, it
is evident that the government would
have to pay in some shape or other,
at least ten billion dollars for the rail
roads.
How the Purchase of Railroads Might
Brought About.
This purchase could be effected only
in one of two ways:
Either by the issue, and sale for cash,
of bonds, the proceeds to be paid to the
owners of railroad property.
Or by the exchange of such bonds for
the stocks, bonds and other obligation^
of the railroad companies now held by
individuals and corporations.
The first may be dismissed at onoe as
impracticable.
The government of theUnited States,
magnificent as its credit and resources,
are, could not float a loan of this size in
any of the markets of the world, on
any terms it might offer.
The transaction is at once too large
and too dangerous.
The process of an exchange of bonds
for railroad securities would have to be
adopted.
This would necessitate a government
guaranty of a satisfactory rate of inter
est on the new bonds before transfer
could be effected.
What that rate must be would re
main to be determined.
According to the report of the inter
state commerce commission 61.24 per
cent of the capital stock of our railways
paid no dividends durina cue year 1893
5.32 per cent'paid 7 per cent dividend
5.24 per cent paid from 6 to 7 per cent
11.62 paid from 5 to 6 par cent, and the' JSX? 5 S
remainder paid all the way from 5 per
ceni down to nothing at all.
Oi the bonded debt 13.3 percent paid
no interest and the remaining 86.7 per
cent paid the rates nominated in the
-bond.
All these varying rates of profit
would have to be met by increasing or
_*_ _„
excaanS*_.
As thera ara nnmlr£b and hnndrada
jaCtfailsda&aaESOTiilfpns in the ooontry
the businessof.negotia^ng suph a -pnryi *«&*
abase would be the most colossal e^er
undertaken and would offer opportuni
ties,for peculation and private profit
that might well be considered irresist
ible.
i{
Interest on Purchase Bonds Would Amount
to More Than Net Earnings.
The lowest rate at which the govern
ment has ever been able to issue its
bonds is 4 per cent.
Some of those already issued were
continued at as low a rate as 2 per cent,
but the lowest issue made during the
current year bears 5 per cent.
It is not probable that the ten billion
dollars of bonds to be exchanged for
railroad properties would be accepted
at less than 4 per cent.
This would amount, on a capital oi
$10,000,000,000, to an annual interest
charge of $400,000,000.
If the rate were higher than this, and
there is every probability that it would
have to be raised to at least 5 per cent,
the interest charged would be increased
to $500,000,000.
According to Poor's Manual, the total
earnings of all the railroads in the
country for the year 1893 from every
Source, including the elevated roads in
cities, were $1,222,618,290.
The operating expenses for the same
period were$858,027,181, leaving a net
balance of total revenue over operating
expenses of $364,591,109.
It will thus be seen that the financial
balance sheet of the last year showg a
net revenue insufficient by far to pay
the smallest interest charge within the
bounds of probability upon the price
that the government would have to pay
for the roads.
National Operation of Railroads
pensive and Hazardous.
Is Ex-
This estimate, too, involves the
It may be said here that that experi
ence shows uniformly that public man
agement is much more expensive than
private, and that the net, proceeds oi
operation would therefore be less than
the inadequate sum before mentioned.
Every practical man knows, however,
that no scheme of management would
be safe, prudent or possible that did not
set aside a liberal percentage of earn
ings every year for repairs and better
ments, without which any railroad sys
tem would speedily fall into ruin.
The problem of acquiring the rail
road property of the country is there
fore seen to be unsurmounted, if not
unsurmountable.
Arguments are yet to be advanced
against the proposition on the ground
of public policy.
The experience of all other countries
of the world is yet to be quoted to show
that public control is as unfavorable to
those who use railroads as to those who
own them.
But before entering upon these
branches of the great problem presented
by the universal demand of the People's
party that the railways should be owned
and operated by the government, it has
been thought best to show that
No one has pointed out the way by which
the very first step toward, such a change
can oe taken.
The acquisition of the roads by any
system short of actual plunder and con
fiscation involves a financial problem
which the figures above stated seem to
declare impossible of solution.
Hawke's Men Leading.
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 24.—Between
5,000 and 6,000 people witnessed the in
ternational cricket match on the
grounds of the Marion Cricket club at
Haverford between Lord Hawke's
English eleven and the gentlemen of
Philadelphia. When stumps were
drawn on account of darkness the score
stood 187 runs in favor of the visitors
and 74 for three wickets and two men
not out on the local side.
Letter Carriers to Organise.
CHICAGO, Sept. 24.—A dispatch to
The Post from Philadelphia says that it
is reported that the convention of letter
carriers to meet in that city next week
is called for the purpose of organizing
the letter carriers as a branch of the
Knights of Labor. Interested parties
refuse to confirm or deny the story.
Gallinger and Pettlgrew Speak.
Sioux FALLS, S. D., Sept. 24.—Con
gressman Pickler delivered the first
speech he has ever made in Sioux Falls
Friday evening. Senator Gallinger of
Vermont, who, with his wife, is visit
ing the family of Senator B. F. Petti
grew, also delivered a short address
He speaks here again Oct. 5.
Man and Wife Attempt Suicide.
NEW YORK, Sept. 24.—-John Delboho,
29 years old, and his wife Lillian, one
year his senior, swallowed carbolic acid
with suicidal intent in an East Tenth
street tenement. The woman died, but
the man will recover. The Delbchos
made a living on the variety stage.
Transports Captured by Japs.
SHANGHAI, Sept. 24.—It is rumored
here that the Chinese transports Chin
Tung, Hsingu and Too Nan, while
landing troops in the Yam river, were
captured by the Japanese but there is
absolutely nothing definite as to the
fate of those on board.
T**- A Train Struck the Buggy, i"
1
sumption that theT railroads" wouTd be I
operated as economically under public designated. The driver set the
as under private control.
A discussion of that question will not
be entered upon here at length, being
reserved for a later article, in which the
experience of other countries will be
quoted to cover the point conclusively.
COLUMBUS, Sept. 24.—Mrs. H. L.
*..,, uwucub- Greely, Colo., and Misses
1
°i J^^^l* *{_ paries
while in a buggy at London were
struck by a Big Four train, killing Mrs.
Jewell and fatally wounding the other
two women. t&xjyaigis
ssisHksr'*-
Does Cleveland Favor Dan? "1
BUZZA&M BAT, Sept. 24—President
Cleveland refuses to discuss the pub
lished statement that he favors Secre
tary of War Dan T-wont lor governor
of New York.
I
Lentnotlife its soul oflight,
Hope its iris of delight.
Truth its prophet's robe to wear.
Love its power to live and bear.
—Shelley.
AN ACCOMMODATING DRIVER.
He Was Also Superintendent, So He Could
Do as Pleased.
"They have a delightful way of being
accommodating in some parts of the
south," said a gentleman whohad trav
eled considerably in that section. "Of
course it wouldn't do anywhere else in
the world, but the way those people for
get all about time is absolutely refresh
ing.
"I was down south once and had occa
sion not to patronize but to be patronized
by a little street car line running from
to Junction. The length
of the line is half a mile and its equip
ment two cars, each with a single mule
attachment. The official roster is con
densed to the name of a single gentle
man wearing a suit of Confederate gray,
who fills every position on the line from
superintendent to driver with perfect
satisfaction to his patrons, and I must
say with seeming satisfaction to himself.
In his capacity of driver he was told
that I would like to go down to the
junction at a certain time
"In his capacity as superintendent I
was introduced to him, and assuming
the authority of his highest position he
advised me that he would wait for me
near a certain corner. I was watching
for him, and about 10 minutes before the
a
PP
ointe me he a
stopped on the
Th
brake, but it was the big hearted super
intendent who got down to play with
the children by the roadside until I
should arrive. He greeted me cordially,
and we started, with themule in a can
ter.
"A man hailed the car from a house a
little farther on, and we came to a stop.
There was a short conversation in loud
tones. Then the driver carefully wound
the lines around the brake and went in
to the house. In about five minutes he
roappeared, with a trunk on his shoul
der, having probably stopped to tie a
rope around it inside the house. This
trunk he deposited on the front plat
form, and we were again going as fast
as the mule could travel.
"Arrived at the junction, the driver
was again transformed to the superin
tendent as he shook hands with me and
bade me goodby. I told him I had en
joyed my trip immensely, and that he
was the most accommodating man I had
ever met in the transportation service.
He promised to call on me in Chicago,
and I'll be glad to see him too."-—Chi
cago Post.
The Nile by Night.
"I suppose no professional "globe trot
ter' is ever satisfied," said James T.
flurd of New York, "without a sojourn
in Alexandria and a voyage of four or
five weeks up the Nile. The river itself,
I must say, did at first sadly disappoint
me. We Americans are apt to be rather
exacting the matter of rivers, nat
urally enough, considering the beauty
and grandeur of our own. When I saw
the strong stream in the hot sunshine,
looking like floating mud rather than
water, I hated to believe it the Nile of
my dreams. Beauty, majesty and pow
er, not utility, were what I wanted to
see in the historio river. But when the
sun went down and the moon gilded,
not silvered, the stream, then it became
indeed the river of my imagination.
The unsightly banks, which by day were
steep walls of black mud, like huge un
baked brick, became picturesque and
even beautiful, with waving groves of
palm and fields of grain."—St Louis
Globe-Democrat.
She Pounded a Cartridge.
A woman of Carrolton, Ey., thought
that she would be able to stop a leak in
the bottom of an iron pot by driving a
piece of lead into it. So she got one of
her husband's pistol cartridges out of a
drawer and began the driving process
with a hammer. Now, the good lady
didn't understand the philosophy of a
cartridge and never dreamed that it
would explode from the concussion of a
hammer, seeing no powder about the
thing. But there is no knowledge as
that which comes from experience, al
though the price paid in that way is
sometimes very high. This cartridge
exploded, and the flesh of the thumb
and finger with which she held it was
considerably torn. And that old pot
still leaks as it did before.—Louisville
Courier-Journal.
Not That Kind of Load.
Tommy Albany (on board Hudson
river boat)—Oh, look, mamma, what
kind of a boat is that with a big step
ladder in the bow?
Mrs. Albany—That's a dredging boat,
Tommy, dear, lying close to a sand bar,
getting a load.
Tommy A.—Oh, mamma, was that
what papa brought home the other night
when he was so tired, and you asked
him where he had been, and he said,
"Up against a bar?"
Mrs. A.—No, darling, it wasn't sand.
—New York Herald.
*AV Dwarf Hudson.
The most noted dwarf was Jeffery
Hudson, born in 1619. At the age of 8
he was 18 inches high and was served
upon the table a cold pie as a present
A he
"S8,of.3,°,he. *?&*
to grow and reached the height of 3 feet
9 inches. He lived to be 63 and died in
prison, having been arrested on suspi
cion of being concerned in the popish
Mi-. —rr—. i&ara&a
Capital, punishment in Denmark is
executed publicly with an ax. If several
are to be decapitated on the same date,
one is not present while another is exe-
"Ky wife suflnred morein ten minutes
with her other children than aha did all«
together with her last, after having used
four bottles of MOTHSB'8 ntlSKlV*
•ays a customer.
HSHDBBSON DALB, Druggist, Canoi, EL
BRADF1ELD REGULATOR CO.,
rat SALE sYAtLMueenm. Arthur™. 0*
Ootionrooob UMilU
Custom grinding solicited. Will grind
wheat for (one eigth) or exchange 34
lbs. flour, 5 lbs shorts and 5 lbs. bran
for one bushel of wheat. Floui and feed
sold at low prices and delivered at New
Ulm free of expense.
John Benizin.
zfep
icrjcpcp
DEALER IN
LUMBER,
LATHS, SHINGLES, DOORS
SASI1, BLINDS
-And allkiHdsof-
Building Material
N NN
$ BINCHAM-BnOS. *J
DEALERS IN
Laths,Shingles,Doors, Sash and
Blinds, Lime, Adament and
Coal,
0 lowest Pricesalways. 0
New Ulm,
mu.
ta fiouse*
OPP. POST OFFICE—NEW ULM, MINN.
This nous sthemost centralis
hotel the city affords
Good Sample Rooms.
located
Vy\~y cHotel.
WENZEL SCHOTZKO, Proprietor
#M.
Str. Ne\i Lin
JHD
The^ only first class brick fire-proo
Hotel in the city.
STENGEL'S
HEADQUARTER.
I will serve a hot and cold lunch every
morning, and at the same time the finest
line wines, liquors and cigars will al
ways be found on hand. I will endeav
or to accommodate everybody to the
best of satisfaction, hoping to always ex
tend and improve the place.
Ctias. Stengel.
WM. PFAENDER.
Real Estate and Insurance Agent,:
Fire, Tornadoes, Hail, Life, Accident
Plate Glass and Live Stock Insurance
placed in reliable companies. .^
Real Estate bought and sold. Loawf*1
negotiated on farm property. Passage
tickets sold on best steamship lines to
andfrom Europe.
Documents of all kinds executed
acknowledged. 3
f.

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