The sun., 1907-09-15


ac.nt sentiment. hsd b~~n reuderess
~ipr~mePy capable ~ feeline the mis-
fortunes ~ others by thoss which he him
sslf had und~rsose. Hs N vas Who. when
he sscended the thron-, declared that u
did not beccme King of France to remem-
ber the wrongs Of Duke Of Orleans.
~ ". n.
state naaws,s.
The appearances Of series 81 articles In
tho Revue Pol,igue.- by ". Marcel Pes
chaud, on Railroads Of the Belgian State
hss suggested to Mr.. EDWIN A. PRATT Q
more comprehensive treatment Of State
ownership. which 10 presented in volume
named State Raiisavs: ObJscf Lessoss from
OtAsv LaHds London: p. 8. King a Sonl.
The author 10 known TO students Of the
question by previous works. entitled Rail-
ways and Their Rates and German W.
British Railways.' &c. Hs personal con-
illusions are supplemented with . transla-
ton Of those reached by N. Peschaud In the
articles Just mentioned. The book ID timely
and interesting In view Of recent attempts
st rate making for railways by our Federal
and State Governments and in view of
President Roosevelt's assertion that N
State regulation fails State ownership
must come. We may say at once that the
authors opinions. based on the facts re-
corded by him, are unfavorable to State
ownership. He has evidently reserved for
separate treatment the experience OF Ger
many and some other countries and has
confined himself for tho most part 20 the
working Of the system In Belgium, Den
mark, Italy. Australia and New Zealand.
The work ID not less useful to Americans
because IL 10 intended primarily for English
men, among whom State ownership Of rail-
ways is advocated not only by Socialists
and by party in Ireland but also by some
English traders. who regard nationaliza-
ton Of the steam roads 40 the great remedy
for oil the transport disadvants 9es from
which they consider that they suffer.
The array Of facts collected BY NJ. Pes
chaud and hers reproduced In translation
concerning the working Of the principle
Of Government ownership on Belgian rail-
roads ID Of the greater value and signih-
cameo because the example OF Belgium has
often boon adduced by those who favor the
naturalization idea. Nor 10 1t disputable
that II State ownership 10 likely to prove
an unqualified success In any land on the
face of the globe Belgium 10 the one whore
It should have the best OF chances. Why?
Because Belgium 10 q compact, denssiy
populated country. whose industries and
whose agriculture are alike developed ex-
oeptionally we'll. while her geographical
situation enables her to compete for the
transport across her territory OF the vast
quantities of commodities continually pass-
ing between the countries Of central Europe
and the lands beyond the seas. Coupled
with these opportunities arc the great ad-
vantages she Possesses from q railway
point Of view In having mainly hat surfaces
(favorlng both cost Of construction and
cost Of operation). cheap fuel and also cheap
labor. In other words railway nationalixa-
tion has been tried in Belgium under the
most favorable conditions. and up to few
years ago It was assumed that the trial
had been a complete success. To those
therefore who may not have followed the
recent developments in Belgium the state
ment OF M. Peschaud. hero translated.
will come In the light OF . revelation. even
II II should not serve ~ u complete dis-
illusionment In regard to certain fallaciea
hitherto widely accepted.
Among the primary evils OF Stats
operation Of railways brought out by
M. Peschaud 10 that Of excessive oentraliza-
ton, leading to an abnormal amount Of
rod tape, . staff unduly large and . lack
both Of initiative and Of . due sense OF
responsibility among heads OF departments
and other officials. In these rsspscts the
position In Belgium ID pronounced we'll
summed UP In the observation Of member
Of the Chamber Of Deputies who declared
that the system OF State ownership and
management operates like . Government
instead Of like . commercial undertaking."
Tho cost Of operation 10 much greater
under State ownership and management
than 1t 10 when railways arc owned and
operated by private corporations. Thus
q comparison OF the respective figures
shows that the cost Of the stan Of officials
and employees on ono Of tho leading British
railways Ia but ~ per cent. Of the total
expenditure. whereas on the street rail-
ways OF Belgium II b 90 per cent. Mr..
Pratt Directs attention 10 tho fact that
the references made by NJ. Pesohaud to
slackness Of control and tho deficiencies
regarding alike the quantity and the
quality Of the work done can b matohsd
H. L. D-lA- l.