Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-02-12
PROUTY lDDRE2SES
800 BUSINESS MEN
Sketches Great Undertaking De.
signed to Fix Actual Value
of American Railroads.

Of his Investment; how much 1t would
cost to reproduce the property; In what
state Of efficiency that property is being
maintained; above all, what is the value
of that property for use as a railroad,
there has been injected into railroad Sc
c~urit!es an element OF certainty and Of
~permanency, which does not now exist.
II seems to me, therefore, tina this work
of valuation will be Of incidental bene-
fit to the railway investor and so to the
general public. While this has not been
generally, perhaps not at all remarked
upon as an advantage. 1t will turn out
to he a substantial one
ITO the general apprehension the
object of this valuation lie to deter
min what rates our railways should
be allowed to charge for their serv-
ices to the public.
while the property invested ir our
railroads and other public utilities is
private property, the government has,
IT, consideration Of the nature of the
service rendered, the right to impose
upon this property the terms and con-
ditions under which It shall be used
1T is impossible to shake q single
railroad free from every other and
fix Its charges upon the basis of a
fair return upon Its fair value as YOU
would In case of a gas or water plant.
The rate established for one. oe neces-
sity influences and ~lnfreuuently abso-
lutely determines the rate of all. a
fact which must never be forgotten in
discussing this subject.
Now it is evident tina If the COM
mission should select that road most
advantageously situated, that road
whose business is the largest and upon
which the conditions of operation are
the most favorable, and should so adj
just It's rates as to yield a retur Of
six per cent. upon it's value. every other
railroad standing in competition with
1T would receive less than a six per
cent. return and some railroads might
receive nothing whatever.
WILL SIMPLE PROBLEM.
While, however, | wish to make 1t
perfectly plain that the problem of es-
tablishing railway rates will not be solved
by this valuation, l desire to say with
even greater emphasis that that problem
will be enormously simpliHed. 1t can be
known with certainty whether the gen
eral level OF rates Is or is not too high,
and in establishing the charges to be
observed by a single carrier. even in
fixing the rate upon a single commodity,
It will be of much benefit to know the
value of the property involved.
while this valuation Will be of incl
dental benefit to the investor, while 1t
Is essential to the work Of the rate-mak-
ink tribunal, it seems to me that its
greatest immediate value is political. The
state of the public mind towards our
railways is such that this information is
absolutely necessary.
Consider the developments of the in
v~estigation into the affairs of the st.
Louis & San Francisco system. conditions
in New England to-day, where the fate
Of both Of the Boston & Maine and the
New Haven systems is trembling in the
balance. None OF these questions can be
answered none Of these situations can be
Justly dealt with until we know the
actual value OF these properties. This
is the question which arises before the
students Of this railway problem at ev-
cry angle, This is the question which
must be answered before this problem
can be intelligently discussed. For this
reason, above all, 1t is important that
this work should be pressed to a compile
ton In the most expenditious and the
most trustworthy manner possible"