THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



This journal holds no brief for the railroads, its trans- 

 portation bills are paid in cash but the mission of the 

 AGE is to further the development of the West and 

 it would be puerile to attempt to deny to itself or to its 

 readers that the West, as it exists today, the hope of 

 "millions yet unborn" would be an untamed wilderness 

 but for the efforts of the railroads. It is beside the pur- 

 pose to plead that what the railroads have done in this 

 field was done in the hope of ultimate profit the main- 

 spring of all human endeavor, is and will be forever, 

 for all we know, the desire to accumulate, in its last analy- 

 sis the instinct ot self-preservation. Granted that the policy 

 of the railways has been dictated by selfishness it is an 

 enlightened selfishness, which, infinitely superior to any 

 debasing philanthropy, has opened avenues of comfort 

 and content to millions and has made opportunities which, 

 open to all comers, have made thousands rich, who, today, 

 are clamoring for a government policy that, followed to its 

 logical conclusion, can lead only to a paralysis of the rail- 

 roads at a time when western communities are clamoring 

 for better transportation facilities and cursing the very 

 forces that brought them into existence, for not granting 

 them rates that would mean the wiping out of hundreds 

 of millions of investment values. 



Is the attitude of the west fighting for seaboard rates 

 which have been demonstrated to be unprofitable to the 

 railroads and forced upon them by the exigencies of com- 

 petitive business conditions a fair one? 



James J. Hill, two years ago, with his prophet's vision, 

 sa\v the handwriting upon the wall and declared that not 

 less than five billion dollars would be required within 

 the next decade to provide railroad facilities equal to the 

 needs of that period. 



Whence are these enormous capital requirements to 

 come? Standard investment railroad stocks are "going 

 begging" upon the New York exchange and the railways 

 have been forced to find a market for their first mortgage 

 bond issues in Europe, paying from 5% or more for their 

 loans. Does this reflect a healthy condition? The solution is 

 clear enough investors are loath to put their money into 

 properties that are a standing target for legislative attack. 

 Within the last year, the operating expense of the rail- 

 ways has increased enormously the cost of materials has 

 steadily mounted and labor, forced by the increased cost 

 of living, has demanded and, in every case has secured 

 without any demur upon the part of the railways, substan- 

 tial increases in wages. The sum total of all these extra 

 charges has been sufficient to wipe out the margin of in- 

 crease in gross revenue and the railways, confronted with 

 the need for fresh capital emissions upon which interest 

 and dividend charges must be earned fresh capital issued 

 to supply the increased facilities for which the country- 

 is clamoring, have gone before the country with the en- 

 tirely defensible proposition to increase freight rates suf- 

 ficiently to care for these additional charges. 



To the writer it looks like a very plain problem in 

 commercial ethics when a merchant forces an advance 

 in costs he must add the extra outlay to his selling price 

 or go out of business. The railroads cannot go out of 

 business nor can they unlike the merchant curtail their 

 expenditures a certain standard of equipment and of serv- 

 ice is demanded of them, by law. Their attitude in this 

 matter rests upon the most elemental principle of justice 

 and fair business tactics. It, has been demonstrated, ad 

 infinitum, that railway freight rates per ton mile, are lower 

 in this country (and the service better) than in any other 



first class civilized nation and that the advance asked 

 would be so widely distributed that the "ultimate con- 

 sumer'' would not even be aware of it. It is a platitude 

 to say that the railroads are the greatest industrial factors 

 in the country and that the cessation of improvements and 

 extensions with its accompanying release of hundreds of 

 millions of dollars in active trade spells the difference 

 between prosperous times and "hard times." 



To call attention to the fact that billions represented 

 by railroad capitalization are today distributed three times 

 as widely as before the panic of 1907 may serve to show 

 the extent of the hardship imposed upon the investing pub- 

 lic when "standard rails" must decrease dividends. 



The actions of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association 

 in the East and of the various inter-mountain cities in the 

 West, appear to us unjust, illogical and inconsistent. 



The attention of our readers is directed to an excerpt 

 from a recent issue of the "Commercial and Financial 

 Chronicle" showing just how serious the situation is, from 

 the standpoint of the railways. 



State Advisory Committee. 



Governor Edwin L. Norris of Montana has adopted a 

 plan, at the suggestion of Secretary Arthur Hooker of the 

 National Irrigation Congress, that will be highly beneficial 

 to the Eighteenth sessions, and to the state as well and 

 one that Secretary Hooker believes might well be' em- 

 ployed by other state executives. 



Governor Norris has appointed a special committee of 

 five members to be known as "the advisory committee of 

 the state of Montana." This committtee will co-operate 

 with the officers of the National Irrigation Congress in 

 making that great event a complete success, and will at the 

 same time, be of material assistance to the state of Mon- 

 tana. 



This special advisory committee of Montana consists 

 of R. A. Carnochan, Butte; C. B. Whitter, Helena; W. W. 

 Withee, Conrad; James Glass, Big Timber; W. A. Clark, 

 Virginia City. 



This committee, it is predicted, will promote the great- 

 est activity in the state relative to the irrigation congress, 

 attendance at it, participation in the irrigation exposition, 

 and the utmost extracton of benefit from such partici- 

 pation. 



Secretary Hooker, referring to Governor Norris' ac- 

 tion, said: "This idea might very well be utilized by other 

 states. It helps the congress ard it helps the state. The 

 mutual contact, the exchange of ideas, the strenghening 

 of program, and the advertisement the state secures are 

 the things to be considered. I hope other governors will 

 follow the lead of Governor Norris." 



The board of control of the Eighteenth National Irri- 

 gation Congress the local body that is making the plans 

 for the congress and for the state entertainment of the 

 visitors has applied this same idea to localities and sec- 

 tions throughout the state of Colorado, with great suc- 

 cess. The five principal sections of Colorado are well 

 organized, and in nearly every town of consequence, there 

 is a special committee of the commercial body working 

 actively in behalf of the congress and itself at the same 

 time. 



It is doubtful if the organization for any irrigation 

 congress has been quite so thorough and systematic as 

 in the case of the Eighteenth congress, Pueblo, Septem- 

 ber 26-30. 



East las Vegas, New Mexico, May 29th, 1910. 

 IRRIGATION AGE. 



112 Dearborn Street, 



Chicago, HI. 

 Gentlemen: 



I do not know when my year's subscription to the Irriga- 

 tion Age expires, but when it does I wish you would please 

 renew It and send me bill for same. I consider your Magazine 

 of the highest value to an Irrigation Lawyer for many rea- 

 sons. It gives him a great deal of information in a practical 

 way that is of great service in irrigation litigation, and in 

 addition, enables him to keep abreast with current decisions 

 affectintr irrigation matters which might escape his attention 

 except for your journal. 



Very truly yours, 



Box 188. A. T. Rogers, Jr. 



