The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-07-09

sition assumes more than he gives
With the assumption of office he
shoulders the responsibility of man
aging a vast industry and being able
at the end of the year to go before
his board of directors with a record
showing that the earning capacity of
the property intrusted to him has been
judiciously fostered. The president is
directly responsible for the financial
success of the road, and it is this
heavy responsibility that fixes the val
ue of his services
Considering the original question of
what a railway president actually does
in the way of labor, to earn his pay,
IT would be difficult TO determine even
after patnstaking observation The
popular conception of this official is
that he is a particularly fortunate in
dividual who occupies a mahogany fin
ished office few hours each day,
has his work done for him by a care
fully systematized force of employees,
directs his affairs in blunt. method
zeal fashion, and when the atmosphere
Of his surroundings grows irksome,
piles into a plush lined private car
and tours the country. So far as OBJ
servatiOn goes. the business life of the
president might be summed up by an
outsider in these few misleading con-
illusions.
It is true that the men under him.
the various heads of departments and
branches which go to make up the
details and dispose of them with little
or no concern to the man who sits
at the mahogany desk. Details figure
inconspicuously in the official activity
of the president His concern is not
for the little things of the business;
only in so far as they go to help him
on toward the one aim of his position
to derive the greatest possible gain
placed under his command The pres
ident does not worry about train
schedules or the immediate handling
of passenger and freight traffic. His /
mind is conferred upon one thing-re- !
suits So long as these are obtained |
he is performing the work for which /
he is paid $4,000 or $4,000 year.
1t is the weight of responsibility |
which bears down upon the railway I
president and makes his position so /
far outrank that of the man whose /
are devoted to but one branch /
Of the business. The president in the /
eyes OF the stockholders and the board /
Of directors, is the one man who is /
accountable to them for the success |
Or failure of the road in the great. |
broad, unceasing competition for su-
premacy and satisfactory earning /
"a city, and il is he who must rise
rom beneath the mass of details in
-oived in the operation of the sys-
EN- and from the top direct his forces
n the way that promises the great
est returns.
Must Plan For Years Ahead.
Perhaps the chief responsibility fall
ng upon the shoulders of the presi-
lent OF railway system lies in the
demands that are made upon him in !
and directing important bust
less and legal policies to be followed
n the operation of the road. 1t is
lere that his knowledge of conditions
md his familiarity with the needs and
possibilities of the property interests
to his care prove his value
IN expenditure of millions of dollars
nay be involved, and years may be
equired to prove whether or not the
Judgment of the official was correct
70, for this reason the putting through
II such deal means an endless
mount OF calculation and business
eaSOnlng that can command the high
alarles railway presidents draw This
one of the fnnumera BILE duties such
metals perform to earn their pay,
no II serves TO illustrate the fact that
ne heads of great railway systems are
lot overpaid when the services they
ender are taken into account
Ihen there is the vital question of
expenditures, which is of no little con-
equence when the interests under the
residents control are scattered over
hundreds of miles of territory and !
oVerned by all sorts of varying con-
Iuohs- he has the matter of la Dor, I
n general way, to deal with, and 1
must exert an ever watchful eve to ;
ecure the correct ratio between re-
eipts and expenditures
IN summing up in a general way
ne labor railway president gives
n return for the salary he receives.
ne well worn observation IT'S NOT
'hat he does, it's what he knows
uggests itself. The man who is at
ne mead of a great railway system
nay spend but three hours a day at
rs Office, his work may be done for
ne most part by employees under his
erection, he may travel in a private {
ar, ne may seem to be unoccupfed- !
ut ne never gets from under the re-
pohsIDlilty or being accountable for
he producing genius of several tto,,- / {
and men nor loses sight of the fact
nat he viii be held accountable AT
ne end of the year for the results of
rs Iaoors. And the general opin-
pm prevails in railroad circles tl,1+
ne president earns his salary. {