Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-01-13


THE RECORD OF THE RAILWAY
49, EXECUTIVES.
The presidents of the railroads of
the United States object to Congress
giving the Interstate Commerce Com
mission power to fix rates because,
they say, the Commission knows
nothing of railroading and would not
know what rates would be Just. says
the Chicago Examiner.
"Only the railroad presidents and
their subordinates are competent to
run the railroads of the United
States" said one of the group of pre-
sidents in New York last week.
Measured by their own record, the
railroad presidents of the United
States are making a miserable show
ing.
In 1908 the railroad presidents killed
8, 984 persons aud injured 70, 287.
They killed and wounded as many
in one year as the Russians and JAP
anese lost in the first six months Of
the war. Kuropatkin and Oyama are
hired to kill people, but the railroad
presidents killed and wounded as
many az they. and did other things
besides.
The presidents of the United States
roads have made travel ten times more
dangerous than In England, France
and Germany.
Mile for mile our privately owned
roads kill ten times more people than
the government owned roads Of Eur
ope.
There are i've accidents on Ameri-
can roads to one accident on the roads
of England.
In Europe, where the Government
owns nearly all the lines, a railroad
wreck involving the loss Of life is an
international catastrophe. Here it is
an incident
Nor in loss Of life alone do the rail-
road presidents show their incompet.
ency.
In 1908 the railroad mileage of the
United States increased 5 POI miles
about 1.2 per cent, but the capital
stock debt increased over 4 per cent
, and the bonded debt nearly per cent.
In 1902 the liabilities of the rail-
oil ell
, $13, 954, fO7, S18. In one year the presi-
dents ran these liabilities up $sOS, DOB, .
I 726.
I Of course, the stock and bonds are
, fearfully watered, bur the presidents
!, in 1903 paid only 4.13 per cent on the
bonds Of all the railroads and an
average of 3 OF per cent on the stock.
And the presidents for twenty years
have been able to pay only about
3 per cent to the railroad stockholders.
7 The incompetency and short-sighted
: ness of the presidents twenty yea,s
ago have made 1t necessary to rebuild
. all the trunk lines Of railroads within
g the past ten years. This has cost tht
l stockholders billions cf dollars. ant
S in doing this previously spent billions
- were lost.
Q There is a dirty tunnel filed will
smoke through which every passenge
entering or leaving New York via tn
9 Grand Central Station must pass
Three years ago there was fearfo
g accident in the tunnel. The passenger
q were killed and wounded because tn
= engineer could not see the signals TO
= the steam and smoke. The steam ant
g smoke are still there. Now electric
Q locomotives are being built to hau
the traits through the tunnel. The.
q should have been built and could hav
% been built i've years ago.
+ But Mr.. Bernard Shaw says: Tn
= truth about private enterprise is tina
r 1t is not enterprising enough for mod
l. ern pu bic needs.
y The railroad presidents have over
charged the public. but the share
y The money is wasted in rockies
y management, wrecks, and in main
tanning lobby in every state capita
every county and every village of tn
~ United States where road runs.
i There is also the expense of main
, tanning the lobby In Washington
!" which is no small item.
D. The railroad presidents have ne
made brilliant showing in runnin
- the railroads. If the sharek olde,
40 would themselves look closely int
the details of the management all th
presidents except half dozen wo0l
~. be discharged for incompetency.
70 The conduct of the railroads of th
- United States is an indictme1
20 against private ownership. Goverr
10 ment control or ownership could NJ
- be worse.