New Iberia enterprise and independent observer., 1913-11-22

| a matter of fact, all wages, take
land other expenses Incidental t
railway operation have been III
creased excessively and dOntln
uously, but the tendency of tn
compensation for railway ser
vice has been downward, a
| least, until quite recently, whel
public opinion has decided tha
the present freight and passengc
rates do not produce a fair re
turn upon the capital employed,
contention that railway operators
have always made. Would i
not be infinitely better to charg'
lust what the service is WORT
and leave a fair and reasonable
profit than to reduce the rate'
with a consequent deterioration
of service. 1t is thoroughly I'M
derstood by all who are familiar
with railway operation that there
is no margin in the passenger
business the taxes, interest anC
dividends and passenger tran
service as a whole. is furnished
without profit, and often to The
detriment of the freight business
Louisiana, as it grows IN popula
ton and wealth, wants more ano
better passenger train service
With more trains, faster trains
more luxurious trains and bet
ter track demanded of this com
pany, there is at present a de
mand by relatively few people 4
2 1-2 cents fare for Louisiana
This is an unjust demand. 1t is
demand if acceded to by this
and other railroads of the State
, that will retard the development
of the very things that the rail
way users want. On many OF
the railroads that have been con.
structed and placed in operation
within the past decade that are
today operating their passenger
service at a loss, by reason OF the
sparsely settled territory that
they serve, they will have to run
fewer trains, slower trains and
there will be an absence OF the
considerations which the public
now receive in the way of re-
duced and special rates for fairs,
conventions, etc. The sole -four
dation of Louisiana $ develop
ment must and does rest entirely
upon railroad rates in both the
passenger and freight depart
ments, that are fair, reasonable
and suitable. There are two
things the railroads of Louisiana
suffer from chiefy-ignorance
and unwise legislation. The
average critic of the railroad
management be it legislative,
journalistic, or otherwise, usual
ly spends two or three days in
vestigating transportation prob
lens that many generations OF
shippers and railway employees
have struggled to solve. He never
had charge of a train, he knows
nothing of the intricate problems
involved in keeping a dozen
trains of constantly varying
capacities moving on a single
track in one direction, against
another dozen to be kept moving
in an opposite direction. But in
a short or long article, or in a
speech as it may be, he will tell
you what compensation the rail
roads should receive and how it
must move its freight and passen
gers; forgetting in his criticism
fundamental Of human pl1iloso-
ply that one man in his lifetime
is permitted to only know one
thing we'll. The American peo-
pie love fair play and the citi-
zens of Louisiana have arrived at
the conclusion that the roads of
Of this State ought to be given a
rest from an excess Of regulation
and legislation, especially where
the tendency is to reduce rates.
If this rate of 2 IL cents is or
dered reduced it will unques-
at least upon many of !
The roads, lead to a marked de-
terioratiOn of the service. / wish
to state that if the railroads of |
his section are seriously charged
with asking too much for their
service, and the rates are re-
lnced, their profits will be cut
lown. But suppose now that as
! result of their profits having
,een cut down the railroads can
l0t maintain the high standard
# service they have developed
nd cannot spend as much for
as they used to-
hen how about the lower rates?
apparently they are lower, but
re they really sog A passenger
avs less money. Yes, but not
Or the same thing. The rail
Dad. perhaps. contemplating
uying a number of bigger en-
ines, more steel cars, or putting S
| double tracks, or doing innum-
rable other things, calculated to
lake possible the rapid move
lent Of passengers and freight c
18th greater degree of safety, a
ill be forced to suspend these
nprovements if the rates are 6
'wered. The passenger may be t
aging less, but he is getting cor. 0
spondingly less for his money.
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FIHn fAAanA annnsA -..>