Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1906 — BRYAN ON RAIL ROADS [ARTICLE]

BRYAN ON RAIL ROADS

Regulation First, Ownership Only a Last Resort. In a speech at Louisville on September 12, before an audience of more than 20,000 persons, Mr. Bryan took occasion to settle once and finally the question as to his position with reference to the railroads. Because he made in his New York speech about possible government ownership as an ultimate remedy for abuses—not differing greatly in substance from utterances of President —Republican papers, politicians and other interested persons at once began to misrepresent his attitude. They charged that he had made an immediate issue of government ownership and had committed his party to it. Nothing that he had said gave the slightest warrant for this charge. He made no concealment of the fact that he favored government ownership of the railfoads as a last resort if they would not yield to fair regulation, but he first favors regulation and hopes that thereby the rights of all concerned may be safeguarded. At Louisville he said:

"This statement of my views has been assailed by some as an attempt to force these views upon the Democratic party and by some as an announcement of an intention to insist upon the incorporation of these views in the next Democratic national platform. “Let me answer these two charges. I have tried to make it clear that I expressed mg own opinion, and I have never sought to compel the acceptance of my opinion by anyone else. Reserving the right to do my own thinking, I respect the right of everyone else to do hie thinking. I have too much respect for the rights of others to ask them to accept any views that I may entertain unless those views commend themselves to others, and I have too much confidence in the independent thought in my own party to expect that any considerable number of Democrats would acknowledge my right to do their thinking for them, even if I were un-Democratic enough to assert such a right. "As to platforms, I have contended always that they should be made by the voters. I have in my speeches and through my paper, insisted that the platform should be the expression of the wishes of the voters of the party and not be the arbitrary production of one man or a few leaders.

"If you ask me whether the question of government ownership will be an issue in the campaign of 1908, I answer, I do not know. If you ask me whether It ought to be in the platform, I reply, I cannot tell until I know what the Democratic voters think on the subject. If the Democrats believe that the next platform should contain a plank In favor of government ownership, then that plank ought to be included. If the Democrats think it ought not to contain such a’plank, then such a plank ought not to be included. It rests with the party to make the platform, and individuals can only advise. I have spoken for. myself and for myself only. "I still advise strict regulation, and shall rejoice if experience proves that that regulation can be made effective. I will go farther than that, and say that I believe we can have more efficient! regulation under a Democratic administration, with a Democratic senate and house, than we are likely to have under a Republican adminietration, with a Republican senate and house.

“President Roosevelt, although expressing himself against government ownership, has announced that only successful regulation can prevent government ownership. Is there any Democrat who is not willing to go as far as President Roosevelt and admit the necessity of government ownership in case the people are convinced of the failure of regulation? I cannot believe it. “Then, while we attempt to make regulation effective, while we endeavor to make the experiment under the most favorable conditions, namely, with the Democratic rarty in power, let us not hesitate to inform the railroads that they must keep out of politics; that they must keep their hands off of legislat:on; that they must abstain from interfering with the party machinery and warn them that they can only maintain their private control of the railroads by accepting such regulation as the people may see fit to apply In their own Interest and for their own protection. Without this threat our cause would be hopeless. It remains to be seen whether, with this threat, we shall be able to secure justice to the shippers, to the traveling public and the taxpayers."