ies should be stripped of the
power to use their great wealth for the purposes of corruption or the
attainment of political influence. Our railroads to-day probably
represent no less than one-fourth of the personal property of the
country, and this vast wealth is controlled by a comparatively small
number of men, many of whom have in the course of time become so
arrogant and despotic that they have little regard for popular rights or
the expressed will of a free people.

It is reported that when, a few years ago, a representative of the press
directed Mr. Vanderbilt's attention to the fact that the public
disapproved of his railroad policy, the latter gave vent to his contempt
for public opinion by the no less profane than laconic reply: "The
public be damned." Ex-Railroad Commissioner Coffin called on one of the
Goulds to urge the adoption of the automatic car-coupler and other
safety appliances for the roads controlled by them. He was very curtly
told that not a cent would be expended by the Gould roads for such a
purpose until the West had repealed its obnoxious railroad laws. The
Gould dynasty thus intends to accomplish the repeal of these laws by
coercion. Railroad magnates and their lieutenants often show still
greater arrogance in dealing directly with their employes.

It may be difficult for railroad managers of the present school to adapt
themselves to new conditions; it may be impossible for them to
understand how any other practices than those which have long been
established can succeed; yet in spite of them both the law and public
sentiment have already undergone great changes, and still greater
changes will follow. It may take years to accomplish this work; to bring
about any great reform requires time and a deter, mined purpose on the
part of its advocates. Yet I believe the era is not far off when
railroads will be limited to their legitimate sphere as common carriers,
when they will treat all persons and all places as impartially as does
the Government in the mail service, when their chief factor in
rate-making will be the cost of service, when they will respect the
rights of the public and those of their stockholders, insuring perfect
service to the former and fair profits upon the actual value of the
lines operated to the latter.

The fact should, finally, not be overlooked that it is in the power of
the General Government to prevent many railroad abuses, and especially
excessive freight charges, b