Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-01
AMERICAN ROADS
PLEASE CHILEAN
DECLARES SYSTEM SUPERIOR
TO THEIRS
Governor Of an Important Province
Talks Of American Methods and
Discusses Municipal Own
ership and Tramways

"Raihoads of America are far su-
perior 20 the railroads in Chile and the
reason is that the railroads OF the
South American country are owned by
the state and the railroads in America
are owned by private corporations,
says Pablo Masenlli, former commits
sioner of Chilean railros Dis and gov
ernor of the province of Antofasasta,
Chile.
MIR. Masenlli Is making a tour OF
America. In 1889 he first visited the
United States under commission from
the Chilean government to investigate
railways and their methods OF doing
business.
"At that time the people were all SO
hospitabe to me that | made two re-
solves, one to treat every American, no
matter where i should meet him, just
as well as it was in my power to treat
him, and the other to come back 10
this country for a pleasure trip just as
soon as possible.
AT that time 1 learned good deal
about your railroads, but OF course
there have been great changes since
then. In Chile all the railroads but
one are owned by the state, and l must
confess IL Is a bad plan.' 1t Is private
enterprise that builds country up
and keeps that country growing IN
private enterprise there are no poll
tics and try as you may you cannot
keep politics out of the management
of a railway or other utility needed FOR
public use.
Retards Country's Growth
"In Chile this state ownership of
railroads has retarded the development
of the country more than anything
else. The municipal ownership OF
tramways and water and gas systems
would not be tolerated in Santiago.
In Santiago all these things are under
private control and we are continually
thanking heaven that it Is so. We
have had the experience with the rail-
roads and 1 think that before long
there will have to be change There
is one wonderful little railroad that is
privately owned. 1t is transcontl'
mental and is 600 miles long. 1t runs
from the interior of Bolivia to africa
and the tracks are only thirty inches
wide. There is a splendid service and
great quantity of freight is hauled
over the road. In Santiago we have
a tramway system which Is a splenoltl
contrast to the railway under state
control The electric tramway is
owned and operated by private com
pany and the service is excellent"
Mr.. Masenlli left Chile in June and
went to Japan. He Travelled from one
end of that country to the other, tell
ing the people Of nitrate of soda found
in such great quantities in the deserts
of Chile and now being introduced into
various parts OF the world as an alu
to agriculture.
Nitrate is the greatest blessing
agriculture has ever known and be-
| lieVe that in Japan, where the soil l:
so poor, it will be the greatest boon tt
the people," he said. Japan is sc
thickly populated that it takes zgrea,
deal to supply the needs of the people
They are q frugal people, but 1t takes
ground to grow even the few things
they need to eat and I think, before
long they will be using nitrate in great
quantities"
Tells of Great Earthquake
Mr. Masenlli has been fortunate in
escaping earthquakes, but he is very
familiar with the various parts OF
Chile that have been damaged by
them.
"I have been in San Francisco and
I find that the earthquake there did
not do nearly as much damage as the
earthquake at Valparaiso. Most of the
damage in San Francisco was by fire
and of course that was terrible, but l
do not think that the earthquake could
have been nearly as bad as the one
we had.
"I know africa, the port where the
earthquake shock was felt few days
ago, very we'll. l was there in 1867 and
in 1868 when the earthquake and the
great tidal wave came. This time
there has been no tidal wave. An in
teresting thing in connection with the
wave of 1869 was the landing of the
American gunboat Watteree. I was on
that boat many times when 1 was a
young man and had several friends
among the officers. The boat was ly-
ing in port with half a dozen other
boats and when the wave subsidized it
was the only one left. The men on
board felt themselves being raised up
and driven inland, but it was dark and
they could not tell where they were go
ing. When the boat finally stopped
some one discovered that it had landed
on terra firma, and the men left the
boat and ran to the hills. The next
morning the ship was two miles inland
and only the fact that it was a fiat
bottom boat saved it, while all the
others We're destroyed.
1.-The American government had to
abandon the boat and it was sold at
auction, as it was found it would cost
more to launch ii than it was worth.
1t was for many years used as a res
taurant.
"It was in this place that the recent
earthquake did so much damage"
TO
ALLEGE OFFICIALS