The Irish standard., 1913-07-12
Interstate Commerce Commission
Declares System Wasteful
In the Extreme.
BIG MONOPOLY IN MERCER
Regrets 0ufferInp Of Widows and Or.
phans In ownsishIp-says compa-
ny In Nins Years Spent e2o4r
100000 Outside lie Sphere.

Interstate commerce commission In
the report Of its investigation made
public here. The commissions con-
illusions are:
That the outside" financial man
agement has been "wastetul In the
extreme" and that had the Now
Haven confined itself to actual rail-
road activities under the same condi-
tons that prevailed in other respects
1T could have paid dividend Of eight
per cent. for the fiscal year 1912 and
carried to surplus account $1,784,000
instead of showing a deficit Of $780,
000."
That the New Haven's agreement
with the Boston & Albany 10 viola
tive Of the spirit of the statute against
the restraint Of competition and should
be Cancelled"
I'm our opinion" says the commits.
sion. this line should be kept entire.
ly free from NV Haven control"
That the New Haven should divest
itself Of its trolley lines, not because
the present ownership ia in violation
of law. but because such ownership
might be used to prevent the building
Of competing lines in the future.
Sees an Exclusive Monopoly.
That the Boston & Names merger
with the New Haven, II permitted to
stand, will result In IAN almost exolu.
sive monopoly of transportation factli-
ties by railroad in the greater part Of
New England"
That passenger train service, with
out considering safety of operation, on
the New Haven is distinctly better
than any other line entering New
York, and that Of the Boston & Maine
equally good. Both roads, however,
are criticised adversely for lack Of,
steel cars.
That the freight service Of the Bos-
ton & Maine us much less reliable
than that Of either the Pennsylvania
or the Baltimore & Ohio, while that.
Of the New Haven is slightly inferior
to that of the Pennsylvania, but about
on a par with the Baltimore & Ohio" r.
That passenger fares in New Eng
land have been more favorable to the
local travelling public than in any 9TH
or portion of the United States.
That ANY betterment of railroad
conditions in New England must begin
with the assurance that the New Ha-
ven management will act not only pru-
IDENTIFY, but. above all. within the LETT
ter and the spirit Of the law"
WastefuI In tho Extreme.
"Our general conclusion" says the
report, us that the outside financial
operations of the New Haven COM
pany for the last nine years have
been wasteful in the extreme and that
the methods by which those opera
tons have been conducted are un,
necessarily involved and complex,
The reason for this is as apparent as
the fact itself. The present manage.
ment of that company started out
with the purpose of controlling the
transportation facilities OF New Eng
Land. In the accomplishment of this
purpose it bought what must be had
and paid what must be paid. To this
purpose and its attempted execution
can be traced every one Of those finan.
cial misfortunes and derelictions."
Used 500, ooo,oo Outside Of Sphere.
It is shown by the report that in
1903 the total capitalization of the
New Haven was $93,0oo,o0o, and its
operated mileage 2,040 miles. In 1919
its capitalization was 9417, 200, 900, an
increase Of $324,000, 900, while ita
operated mileage was increased only
so miles.
In this period Of nine years the New
Haven company acquired actual own
ership Of about 800 miles of road
which It previously had operated ex.
pending approximately $40,000,oo0 in
obtaining the additional mileage. It
expended during the nine years $780,
100000 for betterments and equip
ment, making total Of $136, 00o, 900
devoted to it's railroad property.
This would leave" the report
points out. the sum Of 1000. 900,
which in nine years had been expend-
ed In operations outside til railroad
sphere" To the methods Of investing
that sum the report devotes elaborate
attention.
Discusses eufferings Of WIdows.
The commission. the report points
out, il keenly alive to the fact that
the stocks Of both the New Haven
and the Boston & Maine are owned
largely in New England by estates and
persons who depend upon them as In
vestments.
1T ia unfortunate" continues the
report, that the widows and orphans
must suffer, but they, in theory. arr
/ responsible for the management, which
their action, or probably their failure
to act, has sanctioned. II the stock
holders Of these properties. instead d
vflifying the critics Of the New Haven
had given some attention to thu
charges made, their property woult
today be of greater value and IL
problem IN easier ona."