The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-10-09
NEW HAVEN SHIFTING
 STEAMSHIP HOL DIkGS,
 PRES. MELLEN REPORTS
First Railroad to Announce Action Based on Panama Canal Bill-To Fight Wage Raises and Con-
 tiDue Battle For Control
 of Rutland.

President Me1len in the report of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad for the year ended June 90 | announces the first step that any rail- road has yet made public as the re- suit of the Psnama Canal bill and it's relation to railroad owned steamship lines.
 He says:
 '1t has been deemed advisable by your board of directors to segrega te the company's interests in the water lines hitherto owned and operated by the New England Navigation Com pany and accordingly a sale of the
 physical properties has been made to the New England Steamship Company. payment for which has been received in the capital stock and first mort gage bonds of that company. t"This action has been taken owing to legislation pending and recently passed by Congress requiring railroads lines with which they can or may not compete. Our steamship lines have never been in themselves a. source of much profit, but they have enabled us to give a much better service than would have been possible had the bus mess been confined to our rail lines, on account of better deliveries. espe- cialIy in New York city,
 AS all the stock of both these steam ship lines is owned by the New Haven this is not a great change. It means that the steamship holdings of the road are being centralized in one com pany, the New England Steamship Company. which formerly has been only the operating company for the others
 In answer to the criticism expressed that the policy of broad acquisition of properties by the New Haven is in2nosing undue burdens the road, Pl -sident Mellen points out that the total surplus net income in excess of dividends paid for the last eight years has been $S.176,436 for the system, against only $2,14O, ,s98 for the New IIa- ven proper
 President Mellen states the roads position Of opposition to any wage in- crease thus: @
 'TRegardIezss of the very liberal ad- vances made during the past two years in the wages paid to employees, the mana cement is now confronted with engine and other forces, which were made concurrently by similar employees of other, Eastern railroads to their re- spective homogeneous. Consideration at this time has only been given to those in the engine service.
 The management feels that this class of employees is already well and sufficiently paid and that the business conditions coupled with the inability of the company thus far to secure an offsetting increase in it's freight rates do not justify the assumption Of fur ther burdens which may jeOpardize the returns of stockholders.
 . The report registers a strong kick against the Government Dn the grounds of inadequate compensation to the road for carrying the mails. Pres ident Mellen says that the New Ha- ven suffers a loss of $75O, GOO yearly in its mail carriage for the Government. Still further loss, he says will be ex- perienced if the proposed parcels post system becomes law, depriying the road of revenue on parcels.
 The report registers the intention of the road to fight to the finish in the courts the effort to prevetn it securing control of the Rutland.