American people must permit the railroad, which is doing such a great work, to receive compensation sufficient to pay good wages, its share of the taxes, a fair return on the value of the property, a reasonable profit, and something to be used each year for necessary improvements and betterments. Publicity of corporation affairs and reasonable regulation of the great business institutions of the country are desirable, but attempting to manage in detail such concerns, and continual and foolish interference with the judgment of the men trained in that management, are unwise and un-American. Such policy tends to cripple the splendid initiative that has accomplished so much up to the present time. With that initiative unimpaired and encouraged to act, far better results will be accomplished for the whole country than under the management of the Government. Putting a government uniform on a railroad employee does not make him energetic or infallible, and it will reduce his feeling of responsibility.
While the attacks on the railroads have not
