The 1885 Vision for Publicly Owned Railroads

A lecturer in Seattle who had been employed in various capacities on various railroads gave a speech on the inner workings of railroad companies. Unlike most labor and political agitators who have preceded him in this city, he talks temperately, with the brain and body, and is thoroughly satisfied with the American form of government, excepting in its relation to railroads. He claims to be a missionary of a large and powerful secret labor organization, having the government control of railroads for its chief object. The data upon which he based his claim that the government could carry passengers across the continent for $1 each at a profit, he asserts have been carefully compiled by experts who are practically familiar with the cost of building and operating the transcontinental lines. He argued that after the government had control long enough to weed out the expensive rebates, free passes, and high-salaried officers, the cost would be $1 per passenger per one hundred miles. Furthermore, instead of two laborers to each mile of track, he proposed thirty employees to the mile, three shifts of ten men each per day. This would not only give employment to every man seeking it, but would almost insure against accidents and consequent loss of life and property. As to the burden of a stupendous national debt to be created by the government's purchase of the railroads, the speaker claimed that the debt would be reduced, as the interest the government would pay on the railroads would be a very small part of what the people now bear in the way of freights and fares. He stated that the government may decide to acquire the property without further condemnation, noting that present owners have profited enough from government land grants.