The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-09


 result has fully justified the outlay. l The outside properties of the New l Haven have been acquired at extrav-
 agant prices They are for the most | part of substantial value, and in many | | instances are a kind of property the |
 value of which should improve. The l | financial condition of the com mpany 1 i calls for careful consideration and |
 prudent action, but gives no occasion | for hysteria."
 Incidental to the acquisition of the | control of the Boston and Maine by l the New Haven, the report discusses 1 the financial condition of the former. l Of the showing for the fiscal year
 which ended June 30s Commissioner Prouty says:
 ''The time seemed imminent when l the Boston & Maine, which had for
 seventy-two years declared regular
 dividends, would not earn its fixed i charges To declare this company 1 insolvent and place it in the hands of | a receiver would notSBnIy inf1ict hard l ship upon it's stockholders. but would | be a source of serious inconvenience | to the territory in which it operates, l and would shake the confidence of
 railroad investment as whole. No
 such extremity should be permitted
 unless some fundamental reason re- | quires it.'' | Criticism is contained in the report
 of the methods of leasing other lines
 practiced by the Boston & Maine, the
 amounts being flat sums each year
 without reference to the ability of the
 lines leased to make, the necessary re-
 turns. Such method of building Up
 a railroad system is denounced by the
 Commission as inherently vicious"
 ''It would be a monstrous proposi- 1 | tion," declares the report that be- cause at some past day some board of l directors of the Boston & Maine Rail 1 l Ina al fn Ta ext fTrU anti 1 price for the use of the lines making 1 1 up it's system, therefore the owners | of these properties are for all time entitled to obtai this undue re-
 turn upon their investment" Nol
 criticism is made of the New
 Haven for it's management of
 the Boston sSs Maine, although it's ex- l penditures in operations have been | made with a free hand"
 In discussing the remedy. to be ap- | piled to the general railroad situation, l Commissioner Prouty says: What is needed first of all to inn l prove the railroad situation in New | England, is rest and an opportunity 1 for constructive work. There isl
 much truth in the claim of these car
 riers that they have been so occupied
 with Investigations and so criticized by the public that no fair opportunity
 has been given for the operation of
 their railroad properties. No rail-
 road management can succeed with out the support of the public which it
 serves. ~ It must not be forgotten that the railroad is a public servant in fact as well as in name, and that the ser vice which it renders depends largely upon the treatment which it receives from it's master.
 | ''But upon what terms is peace to be- secured? In the past the New Haven Co.,, which has now become the dom T inant factor and which is mainly 10 be considered, has proceeded in open l violation of some laws and in disre- gard of the spirit, if not the letter, of others. This course upon the part of that company is primarily responsible for this unfortunate agitation. That agitation can not stop, and ought not
 to stop, until it's cause is removed. Any betterment of railroad conditions | in New England must begin with the ) assurance that the New Haven man } agement will act not only prudently l but, above all, within the letter and the spirit of the law
 The Commission, the report points out, is keenIy alive to the fact that l the stocks of both the New Haven l and the Boston & Maine are owned l largely in New England by estates and r persons who depend upon them as in 5 vestme ments.
 3 ''It is unfortunately continues the report. 'that the widows and orphans
 
 = responsible for the management which l their action, or possibly their failure to act, has sanctioned. If the stock g holders of these properties, instead of : villifying the critics of the New Haven, 3 had given some attention to the f charges made, their property would l to-day be of greater value and the r problem an easier one:'
 e The Panama Canal Act, of 1911 re- ] quires the railroads to relinquish own
 ership or control of steamship. lines competing with their rail lines. The 0 report suggests that this law disposes
 of the matter of the New Haven water
 lines. It continues:
 l "In our opinion the New Haven l should dfvest itself of it's trolley lines. ;. The acquisition of trolley lines as t steam lines which are competitive is : already prohibited, but this does not l reach the root of the matter.''
 r It is suggested that control by the n New Haven of existing trolley lines d probably would be used to prevent the y construction of other and competing = lines in the future, although the ac- = quisition of existing lines might not be ? a violation of the Sherman Act.
 e We feel that the public" says the - Commission, may. well protect itself Il against the control of trolley lines and $ the prevention Of competition in that
 field. Such competition is not de e structive' of railroad business proper. e In that connection, the report adds: e 'It is worthy of remark that the T. general counsel of the New Haven h company testified that, while the leg l. islature of Connecticut did finally vote d unanimously in favor of the New Ha- $ ven ownership of trolley lines senti- e ment was at the outset the other way y and it was only after $10O,000 had l. been expended in 'noIding' the opin- 'f ion of the legislature that the final re L. suit was attained
 u The so-called merger between the 'e New HHNen and the Boston & Maine is t. discussed at length but no opinion is y given. The report observes that Bos- d ton has more at stake than all the
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