The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-17
GERMAN RAILWAYS.

ter and the Empires Poverty. Three things must constantly be kept In mind In order to obtain 6 prop. CT understanding of the German rail. way system. The first Is that German railways are part of the scheme of ma. tional defense and aggressio and ar arm of the military power. dominated and controlled by the General Stan as much as any other part of the German military machine.
 Since 1S7o-71 considerable mileage have been constructed throughout the territory of the Empire. but especially along the Western frontier. solely | from military considerations, with al most no regard to the probability of a successful exploitation from commer- cial point of view.
 Great and costly passenger stations have also been constructed at various junction points in the West, like Stras- burg. Frankfurt and Metz, out of all proportion to the size and traffic re- quirements of the cities which they serve. with trainsheds and platforms inordinately long and broad, for the quick mobilization of the army.
 The second thing to remark, accord ing to Moody's magazine, is the con tinuously necessftous condition of the imperial excheQuer. The Empire prac- tfcally never has much money. Ac- cordingly, practically from the incep- ton of their present imperial under taking the Germans tesan to milk their railways and to absorb the earn ings of the prosperous lines for the benefit of the Federal treasury.
 The results of such financial tactics are obvious. Tn the first place, the property, as a whcle. ts not properly maintained; money that should be spent on betterments, reconstruction and rolling stock is diverted to the State treasury or expended too gener- ously on the strategic lines In the next place, the service is generally poor throughout the country taken as whole, except as to a few of the great lines.
 Necessarily, the lines connecting the large towns must be decentiy main tainec and are fairly well operated. But aside from this the lines are poor, the equipment meager and the service slow, irregular and inefficient.
 third result Is that the rates are high, except as between certain great commercial centers and on through and export trafflc. These rates are very low. and inasmuch as the German lines have an enormous through traf- fic. that makes the reported average rates of the entire system seem low ..
 Operating expenses on German rail- ways are generally high. About 1900 the figures for the different States ranged from GO per cent. to IS per cent. One reason why the cost of operation is so large is that the number of em- ployes is exaggerated.
 This Is inevitable under the admin istration by the State, because, as matter of politics, everybody must be taken care of by the State, and as many as possible must have employ ment on the railroads. Certain non commissioned officers in the army when their term of service has expired have right to employment in the railway service, and must, therefore, have places found for them.
 As far as passenger trafic is con- cerned 1t may be said that in general travels along the main lines very com fortably in Germany. Of the third and fourth classes it Is not possible to say much by way of commendation. In the higher classes the carriages are almost always clean, and the service and the servants satisfactory.
 The express trains make a fair but not exceptional rate of speed. The hest trains running on the line from Berlin. to Hamburg. which is probably the most representative line in Ger many, make the run of 2se kilometers, including three stops. in 8 hours and 22 minutes. which works out about eighty-five kilometers per hour. This is straight line over e flat. level country.
 To an American there is certain amount of militarism In the operation. In addition to the regular fare one is called on to pay a small extra fee for his seat; this is collected after the pas senRer enters the train for which ha is given a seat with a number. Here he is expected to remain during the Journey in way very much like a dog in a kennel
 Whatever criticism may properly be made of German railway operation 1t Is not too much to sAy that the defects of 1t are defects of the scheme, which is bad one, and not of the persoa- nel, which is a good one. Nowhere is there to be found a more competent or more accomplished general railway staff than in Germany.