The issue of stocks and bonds far in excess of any possible cost or value of railroad, street railroad, and other properties, and the making of large personal fortunes by the promoters, are matters of such frequent occurrence that it is difficult, indeed, to dismiss them with a mere denial. There is hardly a community of any size which has not had its example of "consolidation," "combine," or "merger," which has resulted in the issue of excessive securities; and there is hardly a citizen of any intelligence who has not either seen or had experience with some form of corporation promotion carried on strictly within the law, but which, nevertheless, in plain language, was a swindle. These, to say nothing of some gigantic deals involving millions, will sooner or later compel some form of regulation of the issues of stocks and bonds. In the last analysis, it is the money of the people, the hundreds of thousands of small investors, depositors in banks, and owners of life insurance, whose money goes into corporation securities, and, until the officers of the great railroads co-operate in securing such forms of control of stock and bond issues as will make impossible the purely speculative "wildcat" corporations, and thus safeguard minor corporations, as to furnish at least reasonable security to those whose money is invested, all forms of corporation security must be under suspicion with the public, and the agitation for control must continue. It is not, as Mr. Delano says, a case of put your money in with your eyes wide open; it is an effort on the part of the people to safeguard this form of corporate security in such a way that it can be treated as any other form of sound investment. It should not be necessary to require that all investors in corporate securities be financial experts. It is the writer's opinion, based on his observation and professional practice, that the railroads are not generally open to charges of over-capitalization. While there are flagrant instances, the chief culprits are among other classes of corporations. If such be the fact, it would seem that the interests of the great railway corporations would be in no wise jeopardized by sane and reasonable control. The theory of taxation is that every one shall bear his proportionate burden of the cost of maintaining the government.