New-York tribune., 1911-02-05
Electric Railways in the United States Carrv S;x and One
= half Times the Population of the
VI World Each Year

xrHERE are 1,2o electric railways in
the United States. They operate
5000 miles of single track, e. 900
and carry 1000 100000 passengers a
The gross annual income of these
!as is S44OO000O0, their capitalization is
.Sn,n no oO and they employ 225,coO persons,
60 nay amounts TO Sl500o0.0o0 year.
:. ,bese figures were larger they would
:, orazinc. As it is. they are so big and
~ that they stun. Ten billion passen-
Is, About six and one-half times the
Isolation Of tho earth. As for the figures
- money. they suggest profits beyond the
.,..ore Of Wall Street. But men who know
'so facts are modest in their statements
.,,oat. The men who know the facts met
=. NV York the other day, met for three
s.rs and discussed the conditions relating
80 .iectric railway earnings, and they came
,be conclusion that the popular idea Of
49, ,roets made by the business Of electric
,,orsportauon is Largely exaggerated. They
r. came 10 other conclusions about other
,,o,ters Of Importance, and then, in due
|.-,, and order adjourned FOR six months,
..sen,blinc. however. on the evening of the
&c, 6av of their conference in the banquet
-oor, Of the Hotel Astor. where the Elec-
"a. hallway Manufacturers Association
,r,srtained them at dinner. Six hundred
.,or were at that goodly feast. They were
80, IN executive positions in the electric
.auvav. financial or industrial worlds, and
.,ov came from every state IN the Union.
I. gathering so great and so representa-
live must have had special purpose in
,1.w il became the writer's duty to learn
IN bp
.no Electric Railway Association estab-
vsbed in its permanent headquarters in the
vrrireering Societies Building. in West
.nab street. for it was this association that
,sa been holding its midwinter conference
and summoning its members from as far
res. as san Francisco. as far north as
uor+real. as far east as the easternmost
.rolIev car that runs along the edge Of the
North Atlantic.
=, the Engineering Societies Building
,here was a hum like the hum in a hive OF
,ees Room after room held groups Of
bpsv men. who talked and talked but never
wasted words. These men were the COM
.-r,t,ees Of the conference. They were die
cussing data and preparing reports TO sub
mi, for action. In three days they held
thirty meetings, AT Wiltu llitN NOdit Win
forms and methods Of keeping railway ac-
counts rules for interurban traffic. sched-
r,ss and timetables. public relations, fed
.rsI relations. transfers and transfer infor-
nation. claims, rules for city traffic basis
~ rates and fares. taxation, insurance,
classification Of accounts, shop accounting,
the training Of transportation employees,
rules for adopting standards for equipment
and 50 on.
IN this way the electric railway COM
rspies Of this country and of Canada and
Mexico standardize not only their equip
r1ent but their methods of administration,
their internal and their external affairs.
Their officers and operators exchange ideas,
and the corporations and the public are
benefited by the results Of the meetings.
OF course. II has been the fashion for
some years 70 believe that the public Is
NOT benefited by anything that corpora
tions may do. but the hot young reformerS
Of the magazines could turn this associa-
lion inside out and fail to find that IT
exists for any other purpose than the pro-
motion Of efficiency, efficiency in the busi-