Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-11-12
]. ]. HILL SOUNDS WARNING
CONTINUED from Page one.)

the growth in ton mileage was 10 per
cent. The growth in the mileage of
railroads to handle that traffic was 20
per cent There's where you stand to-
day-you can see it in that brief COM
parison. There's where the whole coun-
try stands. The traffic of the country
| is congested beyond imagination. The
commerce of the country is paralyzed,
and continued, it means slow death.
| More cars? Yes, we need more cars,
but we need also cars of greater ca
pacity. heavier trains, and more miles
of railroad to haul them over. In 10
years the railroads of the country ex-
banded 20 per cent for the handling of
business that increased 10 per cent.
Suppose you are able in the near flu
| ture to increase that expansion so per
cent? That will still leave 40 per cent
year of the business without any IA
cilities for taking care of it.
Need Mnny Miles of New Track.
ct is estimated that from lis, 900 to
12O, 900 miles of track must be built at
once to take care of this immense bust
ness. But to build that amount will
cost as much as the civil war cost, at
least. 1t will cost from $4,000, 000, 900
to $4,000, coo, 900. thousand millions
of dollars a year for five years will
scarcely suffice Why, there is not
money enough nor rails enough in all
the world to do this thing.
and if the rails were piled up ready
for the undertaking, and if the money
were in bank today, it would be i'm
possible to get the labor with which to
do it.
81 tell you. there is no question since
the civil war of half the consequence of
this one. Why, you can't go out and
contract with any railroad in this coun-
try to move 500 cars freight from
here to New York in 80 days And the
railroad could not deliver if it should
contract to do it.
1.-The great cry is that there are not
cars enough. The trouble is that you
can't put cars on the track and get
half the movement out of them that you
could 10 years ago. Statistics show
that freight cars running from II to 10
miles an hour average movement of
25 miles in "a hours. Think of it-only
two hours a day in operation. Is there
any business in the world that can sus-
tain itself when its equipment is in use
only one-twelfth of the time?
Not Enough Money Available.
There is not money enough avail
able to bring relief to this situation un-
der the conditions existing You may
be able to see a way out, but l can't
Are men going to invest their money
in railroads as long as railroads are
considered outlaws? The fact is. the
railroad has not been getting justice in
this country. Why, in the recent cam
paign we beheld the spectacle of two
great political parties preaching the
doctrine of operation of the railroads
by the government. The federal gov
eminent is to run the main lines
they're the only ones that make any
money nowadays-and the private in
yestors can have the branch lines. there
being no profit in them Is that the
way to get men to put more money into
the country's railroads? Is this the
way to get more railroad mileage SO
that the country's freight can be
moved?
1T is time to call halt in this treat |
ment of the railroad. Why, / challenge
you to point out a road that has not |
failed at some point in its career. Most
of them have been organized. have had |
their capital wiped out. and have gone
into the hands of receivers. It's been
a fad. and costly fad. to build rail-
roads,
All the news all the time-The Argus. !