I presume there is no planter, miner, manufacturer, producer of any sort, banker, merchant or professional man in the wide South who would not say in a moment that every thousand dollars of capital invested in his vicinity, or in his town, or in his state, would be gladly welcomed and eagerly sought for, by the planter paying eight per cent and the merchant and miscellaneous producer from six to eight per cent, and that approximately one billion of dollars injected into the commercial channels of the southern states during the next ten years would bring a relative measure of prosperity to every man, woman and child within its borders. When it is considered that this amount of money could be invested in additional railroad improvements and facilities; that under proper conditions it could be secured at a rate not in excess of five per cent; that approximately eighty per cent or more would be spent for southern labor and southern material, and would find its way through every artery and vein of southern trade and commerce, it would seem that the solid South would be thoroughly alive to the burning fact that--_The needs of the railroads are the needs of the South_. I might talk to you for hours about the evil and unfairness of legislative enactments to retard and make unproductive railway investments; of the injustice of any body of men attempting by legislation, without giving the railroad corporations proper hearing, to arbitrarily adjust their rates of toll for either passenger or freight simply because politicians consider it a popular thing to do. I might suggest a multitude of things which could be done to increase the credit of railroads throughout your section. I might mention a multitude of things which have been done to injure and impair and prevent railroads securing the necessary capital to provide for their needs. I might also attempt to enumerate the ill-advised actions of railroad managers and employees toward the public. I might expatiate upon the foolishness and unwisdom of a corporation--the creature of the public--attempting to dictate to its master or declining to obey its commands. It is doubtful, however, if the enumeration of the errors and shortcomings of the fellow-members of the same family ever tends to a better understanding or more harmonious relationships. The need of the hour is a recognition of the interdependent relations which exist between us all, and to remember--intensely, actively, potently remember--that an "injury to one is an injury to all," and that "united we stand, divided we fall." FOOTNOTE: [B] This includes $15,000 per mile of duplicated capital.--S. T. PROBLEMS CONFRONTING AMERICAN RAILWAYS BY DANIEL WILLARD, PRESIDENT OF THE BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD. [An Address delivered at Galesburg, Illinois, to Burlington Railroad Employes, February 20, 1909, by Mr. Willard, then Second Vice-President of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company.]