The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-05-21


since the electric railway art began
not more than s per cent per annurn
on an average can be shown TO have
been made on all money thus invested
AS against this possible average there
have been huge losses and some excep~
tional gains. But there must be GONE
exceptional gains In order that capital
shall flow into q given channel, IL in
that channel there is no guaranty
against loss.
injury % Investments.
THE public prefers to control fares.
1t undertook this control when 1T
granted franchises demanding q ST
cent fare, and by implication permit
ting, and indeed inviting, capital into
an unlimited return, saved as the linn
It would be nxed by the conditions Of
the business itself. If now, the mere
exercise Of its sovereign power, the
public intends to invalidate those con-
tracts, it should first squarely contem-
plate the fact that a certain injury is
done to all investments based upon
confidence in the contract-keeping
quality of the public. But IL, in spite
OF all this. 1t is vet determined to make
such a Limitation, directly or Indirect
~, It must be obvious that anything
like a 8 per cent rate established for
money invested In the past constitutes
a denial OF what every conmonsens
man must know to have been the con-
ditions surrounding the contract when
made. No man goes into a riskful
business on that rate. He should not
be held down to it after having passed
through the risks and established a
success.
New Capital.
Looking to the moneys required
for future development, the case, in a
measure win take care of itself. Any
error made by the public fixing the
limit of return too low will retard the
development of properties, and in time
the lesson will be learned. Men will
not put their money into riskful ven
lures at a low rate of interest. That
ends it. No philisophizing, no new
methods of government, will alter that
fact. In the end, If a large enough
limit be set, it seems to me, speaking
for myself individually, that this will
be the best solution Of the whole mat
ter-namely, to limit returns to cap
Ab@AFsH OANA0ChN0 ehal nave bSNA SdAASA
for a considerable period should not
be interfered with, however large. If
no dividends have been earned, money
invested long ago should be permitted
to make such dividends as, If stated
at the time, would probably have at
tracted capital to the venture. New
capital must be permitted to nave a
hope of returns large enough to get
/ fh. Vnprnu spfn thn 4GnIl - -
pied. If this method of limitation be
adopted, it is not impossible to connect
it with a limitation upon the fare as
well.
81 may be permitted here to express
my individual opinion without COM
hitting our association in any way.
Why not face the subject, once for all,
and fix the limit to capital so that
whether the amount invested be great
or small, it cannot earn more than, say
Is per cent. 1t goes without saying
that few enterprises would ever reach
such a maximum. 1t also goes without
saying that few men would engage in
any non-guaranteed enterprise unless
there were a possibility Of occasionally
reaching uch a figure as 10 per cent.
1t is possible that In certain selected
n SOuAALAOlS 10 pSA SCAbs vi even ~ per.
cent might be taken as a limit upon
money for a new enterprise. What
ever amount be, If once stated, it COW
ers a multitude of complex questions
in the future. 1t win leave commits
sions with only proper commission
work to do. 1t will give them a guide
for determining fares, IL fares are not
otherwise fixed in charters and fran
II 1Ls1az nTnzory .ooVnn aipc9n~ =, mn,,n~ Irr-
have no such principle to guide them.
!, Service, Wages, and Dividends.
"In the end we must all worship at
t the shrine of this trinity-good service
good wages, good dividends. There
e can be no development OF one OF these
, persons of the trinity without a cor
responding development OF the others.
/ Good service is the very object of the
i whole effort. Good wages ought to lie
the object of desire Of the heart Of
+ every employer and of every citizen in
the land. Good dividends, actual OF
/, hoped for, must be large enough to
produce the inhowing streams of cap
$ ital which our growing cities require
Z for their public utilities"
Speech of Peiree.
: Charles C.. Perrce, manager of the
/ railway department of the General
I Electric Co., at Boston, Mass, and
member of the executive committee
of the American Electric Railway
Manufacturers association, said: 'As
a manufacturer of electric railway
equipment and an official of electric
railways in Massachusetts, / have
had an unusually good opportunity tc
become conversant with the difficul.
ties with which the operation of cleo
trio railways is now beset. We have
so long been accustomed to the very
best in electric railway transportation
that we are often inclined to forget
what 1t has cost to reach the present
high standard Of efficiency. There is
for instance, the expense of constant
changes in equipment to keep up with
improvements and with increased traf.
hc. That is frequently overlooked By
the public in passing Upon the ques,
ton of what is fair capitalization
Every change for the better in car.
or machinery has involved tremendous
expense, and not only it beer