The morning call., 1894-07-23
OWNERSHIP OF
RAILROADS.

There is possibility that the subject of
Government ownership of railroads is
going to assume the importance of an issue
in practical politics. Discussion of the
question will involve investigation. To
that end certain facts may be brought for
ward from the railway statistic of leading
nations.
| The subject has been studied in every
| country in Europe. In England the entire
railroad system, including 10000 miles of
track. is all in private ownership. but
under thorough legislative regulation. The
service is good, but rates are high. In
| France, where the railroad mileage is
! %, 1862 miles, 1909 miles are owned by
| the Government. The Government lines
were acquired by the State through the
| foreclosure of mortgages on roads. which
were mainly constructed by Government
aid. In 1884 it was proposed that Govern
ment should acquire the whole railroad
system, but the proposition was dropped.
French railrosding is on the whole in good
shape. There are 26,9n miles OF railroad
in Germany. Of these only 1928 miles are
owned by private companies, the balance
| being owned By the imperial Government
and by the State Governments. The net
income over all expenditures is not large,
though the German farmers complain that
the rates are high. Austria-Hungary has
| 1888 miles of road, of which II, 900 are
owned or worked by Government and the
! rest worked by private companies. The
| Government acquired the bulk of its hold.
ings at the time of the panic of 1873 whe
! it interfered TO save the creditors of The
railroads. The property yields but little
! income, though it has been improved under
the zone system.
Italy has 67lS miles of railroad, which
were originally the property of English
companies, but were bought by the Gov
eminent in 1884 in consequence of the in
! solvency of the companies. An elaborate
report was made by experts in 1885 on the
question whether the Government had
better run the roads Or lease them. The
re port was in favor of leasing, and they
were accordingly leased for term of
| sixty years. The lessees have frequently
of late appealed to the Government to
cancel the lease and resume the roads. but
each successive Prime Minister has de-
| cared that the condition of the finances
forbade such a policy. The railroad mile
age of Spain amounts to 670S miles, all of
which is in private ownership; but the
companies receive a subvention from the
State. The railways of Australasia all
| belong to the Colonial Governm ents, and
their rapid and in some cases ill-advised
extension has been one of the causes of
the embarrassment of the colonies The
Government of India owns most of the
$4,000 miles of railway in that dependency
and operates the greater portion thereof.
The service is phenomenallv bad. the
trains slow and the fares high; but the
yield of the investment is below per
cent.
Here is material upon which a candid
opinion may be formed on the question
whether a whole or partial system of
Government ownership of railroads in
this country would be likely to result in
an improvement of the service or reduc-
ton of railroad charges.
! Railroad people are certain to consider
the subject from the standpoint of their
own interests, and their opinion is there
fore the less valuable. or course they
object to Government control.
Among the people the feeling is growing
in favor of Government control of trans
portation 20 a modified extent. The Sault
Ste Marie, the st. Clair Flats and the Hem
nepin canal are Government projects.
The Erie canal is State work. The pro-
jected ship canal from Buffalo to tide
water. whenever 1t materializes, will I'm.
doubleday be under Government auspices.
These underta kings form a network of
water communications connecting the
Great Lakes, the Atlantic and the Gulf.
|
control, will be the fitting complement of
this system by joining the Atlantic aud
Pacific.
The practical question Of connecting the
| Mississippi Valley and the Pacific Coast
by a trunk line of railroad under Govern
ment ownership comes up in connection
with the status of the Union and Central
! Pacific IL would be an adjunct of the
Government system of water coDmunica-
ton. The evidence above adduced as to
the result of Government railr0ading
shows that in France, with a proportion
of Government TO private lines of about
to IA, the system works well. With the
Pacific roads under Government control
the proportion in the United States would
be about l 10 IS. Compared with the over
land service alone from the Missouri to the
Pacific it would be, roughly, about 1 to
under present conditions.
1t may be said that the Government
practically owns the Union and Central
Pacific. 1t has but to take possession I'M
der foreclosure. 1t is an opportunity TO
experiment in the easiest possible way
with the system which works so we'll in
France. 1t would offer not unlimited but
regulative competition between the great
valley and this coast. 1t is the straightest