"does not guarantee the prospective purchaser of the stock that the stock certificate which bears a printed par value upon its face does in fact represent property of the full value so designated; _but this is not a duty which the Government for any reason is bound to assume_, and I know of no motive arising out of national policy which compels the assumption of such responsibility--certainly not at present." If our complex government shall control all future issues of railroad capitalization, we may rely upon it that most of the new railroad construction in this country, instead of being independent, will be fathered by existing railroad systems, because their established credit, whatever it may be, will be required. RECONCILIATION. Is it not evident that these contradictions never can be reconciled by untrained men? I believe that for the American railroad the time has gone by when illiterate men will be put in charge of millions of dollars' worth of machinery and other property. We are in a new era. Railroading is rapidly coming to be a profession. We are necessarily in all things doing more and more specializing. Why not insist that the regulation also shall be in accordance with ethical principles and not determined by political expediency? The great over-shadowing problem of reconciling private capital and the users of railroads, and the contradictions which I have mentioned, are the inheritance of this generation of railroad men; and I have no doubt that this generation, like all previous ones, will be equal to the task put upon it. Out of the painful processes of the last four years, we have emerged with some gains. In the first place, the country now realizes that the one million, five hundred thousand employes and officers of American railroads are not surpassed in integrity by any other similar number of business men. During the four years hardly a voice has been lifted to say this, and so I am glad to have this opportunity to raise my own in their commendation. In the second place, it is easier for shippers and railroad traffic men to be honest than it ever was before. The stoppage of rebates is a distinct gain, morally as well as financially. In the third place, it has been demonstrated, I think, that our Government _ought_ always to be bigger than any corporation, or any man, or any set of men, and this is a good thing for us never to forget. Already publicity has brought about a friendlier feeling between the people and the railroads, and along certain paths I have no doubt we shall find our way out of our difficulties, for the American people are _not_ unfair when they understand a situation.