How Would We Operate the Railroads?
The next question then is, How would we operate the railroads after we acquired them? Well, what’s the matter with Uncle Sam? Hasn’t he been working at this job for many years? Every time the capitalists run a railroad in the ground, they appeal to the government to have a receiver appointed. This functionary is nothing but a manager, responsible to the courts. If Uncle Sam can run bankrupt railroads and place them on a paying basis for a capitalist, he ought to have sense enough to run railroads that pay already, for the people. The trouble is that the government belongs to the railroads and is bound to work for them. Some day when the people capture the government, the same institution can be used in the interest of the masses.
There are still other people who maintain that if the government owned the railroads, politics would creep in. The two million railroad employes would use their political power to elect men to represent their interest, and this would lead to the sorry predicament of the railroaders running the railroads.
What a fearful calamity! Just imagine, gentle reader, the railroaders would run the railroads!
There are a great many people who claim that the railroads are run by their owners. This is not the case. We have two hundred thousand stockholders and bondholders, who claim to be part owners of our railroad systems. The stockholder's share in the management and operations consists in sending his proxy to a corporation lawyer, who votes for the board of directors. The board of directors then hire a
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