Omaha daily bee., 1911-01-12
BRGNDElS OPENS RATE CASE
Attorney for Shippers Repeats Charge
that Railroads Are Wasteful
COULD SAVE MILLION A DAY
Attention Called 60 Domina ton Of
Railroad boards by Men Who
Are Directors In steel
Trust.

WASHINGTON. Jan live contend
that rates are ample, but that the expense
Of operation is excessive; that wages are
not too high. but that as the management
is unscientific. labor material equipment
and plant fail to give adequate results,
We plead for the introduction of scientific
management under which the railroads
shall get 100 cents for every dollar eN-
pended
In opening his argument for the shippers
Of the Atlantic seaboard before the IN
terstatc Commerce commission today, l.
ID, Brandeis of Boston thus presented the
fundamental reason, in his mind, why
freight rates should not be advanced as
proposed by the railways
Mr.. Brandeis declared that no railway
company operating in official classification
territory had introduced into any of its
departments the principles Of scientific
management. He believed these principles
were as properly applicable to railroads
as to any other industrial enterprise.
Attention was directed to the statement
of the railroad officials that the proposed
freight advance would contribute to the
operating income of the railroads in the
eastern territory only $27,OOO.OOO
This sum" said Mr.. Brandeis is little
AiiNiN AAHA pei vent VI lllt dAbitbdlt
operating expenses Of these railroads. It
cannot be seriously doubted that If a de-
termined cooperative effort were made
by these railroads to reduce the operating
| costs 1t would be found possible to affect
a saving Of per cent even without the
aid Of scientific management"
No Actual Cooperation,
! He pointed out that no actual cO-opera-
ton existed among the roads with view
to reducing the cost Of any particular op-
Grafton. If there were cooperation among
the roads. the highest measure Of efficiency
| could be obtained and the saving Of pei
cent Of the aggregate cost, or even far
more than per cent, readily could be OBJ,
tanned, he said.
Cooperation, also in Mr. Brandeis' opin.
ion, would secure reductions in the cost
Of steel rails, in the price of which. he
! believes, an enormous saving could be
made.
The four great steel companies" said
Mr. Brandeis have altogether sixty-fivs
directors. Forty of these sixty-five ar,
directors, in the aggregate, in fifty-tw'
railroads, including the most importa:
systems Is il any wonder that the rail
roads did not direct their efforts to secur,
a reduction in the price of steel?
| THE economies which would result II al
| the railroads in the United States intro.
duced scientific management has been es
timated at not less than 100000 a day.
| he continued. This would result in re-
ducing the present operating cost of the
railroads an average OF 20 per cent"
| Mr. Brandeis then presented figures tc
indicate that this estimate was moderate
a saving of 20 per cent in official classifi-
cation territory alone would amount to APP
proxmately $4,000 day, or $3.50, 1000 a
year; while the proposed advances would
yield only s27,OOO,OOO year.
Could Save Million a Day.
Mr. Brandeis indicated the various ways
/ by which, in his opinion, the saving OF
| 81 900, 900 a day to the American railroads
could be effected. Some savings could be
made in equipment charges; in the opera
ton Of machine and repair shops; in plan
ming before performing; in the standard
ization Of methods, material and equip
ment in keeping accurate records of in
dustrial performance, and I'm the paying
of adequate rewards for Individual accom-
plishments.
! He showed by statistics of various west
ern railroads how large savings had been
effected in the last half dozen years. He
believed that saving Of S50,OOO,OOO a year
could be made in the one item of coal, his
argument being that there was enormous