who run them do not own them. The operating personnel from the managers, superintendents, traffic and passenger agents, accountants, civil engineers, locomotive engineers, firemen, switch-men, clear down to the cheapest Greek section hand, are all hired hands. They hold no ownership in the properties which they operate. It is immaterial to them whether they work for Uncle Sam or the Princess De Sagan.
The Socialists do not ask to change the operating force, but to change the ownership, so that the dividends may go to the people who run and use the roads, instead of to the innnocent bystanders at Monte Carlo. Since the owners perform no useful function whatsoever, they can be dispensed with. They are nothing but pure and unadulterated parasites and about as useful to mankind as fleas are useful to the dog.
Friendship of Fleas for Dogs, and
Vice Versa.
Did you ever see a dog without fleas? If you did, you saw a happy, cheerful dog; a dog that lies in the shade of the old apple tree, dreaming of pork chops, jack rabbits and dog fights. Now, if we give this contented dog a handful of fleas, his dog nature will change immediately. Instead of dreaming about juicy pork chops, or how he would lick that brindle pup across the pike, or what he would do to the hind legs of the rabbit, running through the underbrush, he sits up and notices things. Pointing a cold melancholy nose toward heaven, he stretches his neck and starts that peculiar up and down stroke, characteristic to all flea-bitten dogs. He has found a job now; he has found useful employment; he has something to scratch
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