New-York tribune., 1911-02-05
They Employ Two Hundred and twenty-five Thousand
Persons to Whom They Pay Out $15O,OOO,OOO
in Wages and Salaries.

, out the solar system-"England hes
mark" That SPLENDID thought Is rec
ognition Of the fact that the greatest works
OF imagination In recent centuries nave
/ been the works OF those who have built
; railways and harbors. factories and cities.
/ have built material empires. And this is
what I mean when | say that we have
/ great trusteeshlp in our Inheritance OF the
| deeds Of the men who nave gone before
! us. Thinking OF the subject in that way.
and always realizing that we can learn
something from even the most ignorant and
! irresponsible critic. we men In the railway
world can be very serene and patient under
| all this food OF criticism
| Now. all this does not look as II the Amer
| lean Electric Railway Association had been
| "denouncing state interference" at their
] New York meeting I'm the sense that soma
| Of the newspaper headlines implied that IL
| had II realizes clearly enough that pub
| lie regulation is inevitable and does not
oppose It. But It recognizes also the DIFF
ference between public regulation and pub
| lie ownership between public regulation
and demogogc interference, between fair
ness and mob spirit. between socialism. COM
munism Tor whatever you choose 10 call
| fundamental Americanism, with its consti-
| tutional guarantees and rights. IL Is on
this point that President Arthur Brady
| asks that the electric railways and their
investors make themselves heard, for, says
| he:
"A large part OF the public has been
taught 10 believe that every public service
! company is not merely a mine Of wealth
l,,. ole that
! has been ached, or forced. or otherwise
improperly taken from the public The
natural effect Of this belief IS seen in vari-
Gus directions Unfair demands are made
and unfair treatment administered without +
| other justification than the assumption TO
| cite or express that thereby the public will
regain some part of it's OWN"
In another ten years the electric rail-
ways of the North American Continent Will
| be carrying twice as many passengers as
| they do now Twenty billion passengers I'm
| 1871 That IS what the busy, ,ong-ss hted.
practical operating men at the electric rail-
way conference were saying. Mechanical
! invention is steadily showing them how 10
| handle such gigantic traffic. over problems
| which look forward to such tremendous
| growth the many branches and committees
OF the American Railway Association are
constantly working. Their study Is: How
to do the work. Through this useful or
ganization the working officers OF the rail-
! ways keep in touch with each other and
with what is going on.
The Importance to railway men Of sucl,
| an Informative agency can easily be seen.
The problems change and grow. For In
stance: The Pennsylvania is now an cleo
tric railway from Seventh avenue. New
York 10 Harrison ~ j.. on one side. and
over a considerable distance Of its Long
Island lines: the New York Central is An
electric road from 42d street To White
Plains; the New York, New Haven & Hart
| ford is an electric road from the Grand
/ Central Station to Stamford. conn. within
a few years. perhaps ten, perhaps half
Dozen this electric mileage Of the steam
! roads will be 50 far extended that any
present prophecy must be ineXact. But
| there IS no mechanical or electrical reason
why within that time the through traffic
from New York to Boston should not be
electrical, from Boston 10 Portland Me:
| from New York TO Philadelphia. and even
. to Baltimore and Washington: from New
! York to Albany. and even 10 Buffalo. Be
fore that time the Chicago terminals will
undoubtedly be electrified for thirty or If
" miles. or even further. from the centre
Of that city. Mechanically and electrically
all this can be done. The only question is:
| VIII the investors put up the money? AS
suredly they will not until agitation ca'ms
down and irresponsible shouters and dis
turbers Of ink are less noisy and eftusiva
than in the last few years But the good
sense of the American people will win. It
always does win. What IS being pointed
out IN this para graph is that steam rail-
roads having electrical sections must. 70
the extent Of those sections. be hereafter
/ included in the list OF electric roads. Pro-
vision for their membership is included I'm
| the rollcal Of the American Electric Rail
way Association which will hold its annual
convention next October II has not yet
decided where the convention will be held.
! II will, however, be attended by sore
/ thousands OF railroad men. The recent con-
! ference in New York was a preparation
/ for il. A W.