The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-04-23

sion was seen In the recent effort Of
Eastern and Western roads to advance
their rates foe hauling certain kinds of
freight. We went into the facts at great
length, hearing the testimony and argu-
ments of railway managers and their
attorneys. The increases were not al
lowed. Formerly the commission could
not reduce a rate established by a rail-
road The law of 1910, however. author
ICES the commission to begin proceedings
of inquiry as to the reasonableness of
rate. My effort from the first was to
obtain legislation permitting the COM
mission to change a rate II 1t were found
to be wrong"
What remains to be done by Congress
concerning railroad regulation
Not much. unless to operate the roads.
and operation, of course, would mean
ownership. If that question were up now
should probably vote against IL out of
sentiment. The government, however, is
competent to run the railroads. l should
not want to doubt the governments
ability to do anything. Moreover, what
the government does, 1t does well. The
post office is an example of the govern
ment's efficiency in business. Some men
say that the post-office is an example
of very costly and even eXtravagant
service. An answer to that, 1t appears
to me, is the reluctance of the express
companies to compete with the post
office in the transportation of small pack
ages. The opposition of those companies
to the establishment of a parcels post
is known to everybody. The government
is digging the Panama Canal without
scandal. labor troubles. or any waste OF
public funds.
"One-nalf Of the railway mileage of
the world is in the United States. Three
fourths of the mileage outside of the
United States Is owned and operated by
governments. The German railways re-
turn a large profit to the imperial treas
ury. Personally, do not know whether
the roads Of Europe are better managed
than our own or not: I have never in
vestigated them in that respect. The
rate Of freight a ton-mile is lower here
than elsewhere, although on certain kinds
of business the German rate is cheaper.
In Germany, the policy is to carry such
coarse freight as coal and stone by wa
ter. Rivers are canalized for that pur-
pose. Such freight is carried here by
rail. Indeed, many of our railways live
by coal alone. Comparisons between
publicly owned roads abroad and prI-
vately owned roads at home, therefore,
are difficult and unsatisfactory as
whole.
Some Hard Rate Problems.
dusitS lHlO TIC
railroad problem as it now exists. The
Erie, the New York Central, and the
Pennsylvania, for example, may be haul
ing the same kind of freight to the East
or the West. Now, a rate that would
give the Pennsylvania a fair profit might
barely be sufficient for the New York
Central, and might cause an actual loss
to the Erie. Thus, a fairly profitable
rate to the Erie might be excessively
profitable to the Pennsylvania. So rate
making is delicate undertaking in many
cases. and can work injury to commune
ties and to the shareholders Of certain
Under government ownership
the losses on one road could be made UP
on another.
I'm this connection let me remind you
that while some roads in the East have
been fighting for their lives. as they say, |
the Pennsylvania Company, out Of its
earnings, has spent s2s2.ooo.ooo on its
property since the year 1887 $4,000 900 |
having been expended in that way DUR
ing the last decade. The sum of the |
earnings SO used Is seven times the cost |
of building all the railroads in Vermont, |
and equals the FIRST cost of all the rail- |
roads In Massachusetts.
jection to the public ownership Of rail- |
roads,: Judge Prouty went on to say. |
'pertained to labor. it, control and % !