settled
until it is settled right.

It must be conceded that of all the great inventions of modern times
none has contributed as much to the prosperity and happiness of mankind
as the railroad.

Our age is under lasting obligations to Watt and Stephenson and many
other heroes of industry who have aided in bringing the railroad to its
present state of perfection. Their genius is the product of our
civilization, and their legacies should be shared by all the people to
the greatest extent possible. An earnest desire to aid in attaining this
end has prompted this contribution to the literature on the subject.

The author is not an entire novice in railroad affairs. He has had
experience as a shipper and as a railroad promoter, owner and
stockholder, and has even had thrust upon him for a short time the
responsibility of a director, president and manager of a railroad
company. He has, moreover, had every opportunity to familiarize himself
with the various phases of the subject during his more than twenty
years' connection with active legislation.

He came to the young State of Iowa before any railroad had reached the
Mississippi. Engaging early in manufacturing, he suffered all the
inconveniences of pioneer transportation, and his experience instilled
into him liberal opinions concerning railroads and their promoters. He
extended to them from the beginning all the assistance in his power,
making not only private donations to new roads, but advocating also
public aid upon the ground that railroads are public roads.

As a member of the Iowa Senate he introduced and fathered the bill for
the act enabling townships, incorporated towns and cities to vote a five
per cent. tax in aid of railroad construction. He favored always such
legislation as would most encourage the building of railroads, believing
that with an increase of competitive lines the common law and
competition could be relied upon to correct abuses and solve the rate
problem. He has since become convinced of the falsity of this doctrine,
and now realizes the truth of Stephenson's saying that where
combination is possible competition is impossible.

It is the object of this work to show that as long as the railroads are
permitted to be managed as private property and are used by their
managers for speculative purposes or other personal gain, or as long
even as they are used with regard only for the interest of stockholders,
they are not performing their proper