Las Vegas optic. (East Las Vegas, N.M.) 1908-1921, 1913-07-09
MANAGEMENT WAS 'WASTEFUL'
MlsMANAGEMENT CAUSE OF DE-
FIclT WHEN ROAD SHOULD
HAVE HAD BIG EARNINGS
YEARS Loss WAS Sg3O,OOO
HOWEVER, COMMISSION FINDS
THAT ROADS PASSENGER
SERVICE ExcELs OTHERS

IN % s'--kisi4-.-i'e
Washington, July g.. Financial op-
erations Of the New York, New Haven
and Hartford railroad, its ownership
Of trolley lines and control Of allied
New England railways, are condemn
ed in unmeasured terms by the inter
state commerce commission in the re-
port Of its investigating made public
here today. The commissioners con
clusions are;
THAT the outside financial manage
ment has been 'wasteful' to the ex-
treme and that had the New Haven
confined itself to actual railroad ac-
tiyities under the same conditions that
prevailed in other respects it could
have paid dividend Of 8 per cent
for the fiscal year 1912 and carried to
surplus accounts s1,794,OOO instead Of
showing deficit of $98O,OOO.
sThat the New Havens agreement
with the Boston and Albany in viola
tive Of the spirit of the statute against
the restraint of competition and should
be cancelled.
@That the New Haven should diyesf
itself Of it's trolley lines, not because
the present ownership is in violation
Of law. but because such ownership
might be used to prevent the building
Of competing lines in the future.
eThat the Boston and Names mer-
ger with the New Haven, if permitted
to stand, will result in an almost
exclusive monopoly of transportation
facilities by railroads 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 and Maine
equally good"
Both roads, however, are criticized
adversely because of lack of steer
cars. The freight service Of the Bcs-
ten and Maine @is much less reliable
than that Of either the Pennsylvania
or the Baltimore and Ohio while that
Of the New Haven is slightly inferior
to the Pennsylvania but about on a
par Of The Baltimore aid Ohio fThat
passenger fares in New England have
been more favorable to the local tray-
cling public than in any other portion
Of the United States,
That any betterment Of railroad
conditions in New England must be-
gin with the assurance that the New
Haven management will act not only
prudently but above all within the let
ter and the spirit Of the law
No order was made by the commits
sion but IN its opinion the following
propositions which have national ap-
piication to all railroads lie at the
foundation Of adequate railroad fegu
lation:
Every interstate railroad should Pc
prohibited from expending money or
incuring liabilities or acquiring prop
erty not in the operation Of its rail
road or in the legitimate Improvement
extension or development Of that rail
road.
NO interstate railroad should be
permitted to lease or purchase any
other railroad nor to acquire the
stocks or securities Of any other road
nor to guarantee the same, directly
or Indirectly without the approval Of
the federal government.
mo stocks or bonds should be IS
sued BY an interstate railroad except
for the purpose sanctioned in the TIVE
preceding paragraphs and none shout
be issued without the approval Of the
federal government
The transactions Of President Mel
len in giving his personal notes to his
own company for stock are discussed