The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-06-01

1TTIItdSt Ut TTTTpIV II V1V1T1
ties could be brought about, Mr.. Fin
lev spoke Of the Importance of the
Improvement of waterways Wherever
they could be made available. and OF
the increase in the carrying capacity
of the railways of the South. He
pointed out that railways We're sub
iect to the economic law that the
flow Of capital into channels of in
vestment was influenced by the safety
of the investment and the rate Of re-
urn that might might be expected,
and said:
"Investors in railway securities are
close students of railway statistics,
land. especially of income accounts.
Their money is attracted to a railway
that can show a fair rate of net in
come over the costs of operation; it
is repealed from one that cannot
make this showing. h was illus
trated Immediately before and during
the business depression which began
in the fall Of 1907. For some months
before the depression was felt in 9TH
er lines of usiness it was felt by the
railways. The costs of railway oper-
alton. as represented by the wages of
employees and the prices of materials
and supplies of all kinds, had been
steadily increasing without a cores
ponding increase in the charges for
transportation service. which, in
many cases. had been reduced. This
brought about an unecOnOmic rela-
ton etWee railway gross earnings
and costs Of operation. The net in
come of most of the important sys-
TENS in ali parts of the country was
steadily declining in the face of the
increased gross receipts. This con-
dition. a~ccentuated later by the gem
eral depression in business, made it
impossible for many perfectly solvent
railways to obtain new capital on
terms that a properly managed bust
ness could accept, and compelled
them to suspend work on improve
n1ents already under way, in itself.
Of the underlying conditions that
brought about the business depreS-
sion and tended to retard the recov-
cry, for the railways are such large
employers of labor and such large
purchasers of a vast number Of com
modities that their Wage-paying and
ousiy impaired without affecting,
either directly OF indirectly, practi-
cally every individual in every line of
business. The South is interested in
the financial strength Of its railways,
therefore, not only because it will
make possible the provision of ade-
quate facilities, but also because it
Will enable them to maintain a nor
NAL rate of expenditures"
SPEAKING Of the present day trans
portation needs of the South, Mr.. Fin
ley emphasized the Importance of
double-tracking the more congcsted
parts of it's railway lines, pointing out
that, while there were 1920 miles Of
double-track railway in the United
States, only 1883 miles, or less than
of the whole were ia the
vast territory included in the South
and southwest. He spoke Of this lack
of double-track railways as an
economic handicap which it was the
duty of the managers of the railways
the South to remove as rapidly as
their YOU permit.
Discussing railway regulation as a
of economics and public
policy, Mr.. Finley said:
Owing to the peculiar nature of the
business of a railway as the owner of
highway owe which it must exercise
a monopoly of transportation it is
proper that it should be subjected to
governmental regulation so far as is
necessary for the preservation of equal
lights of the highway and for the pre-
vention Ct charges that are cas-
bile When measured by the service
performed. Such regulation is sound
Is a matter Of economics and as a mat
ter of public policy, but, on the other
hand, your railways have rights that
It IS the duty of the to |
preserve and of public opinion to safe
guard no less zealOuSIv than the rights