The Washington herald., 1914-04-23
] THE WASHINGTON HERALD THURsDAY APRIL %. 1914.

have been spent. and the engineer-in-chief
estimates that. exclusive Of interest, the
eventual cost will be s1sl. $4,000.
"For examples of public railway opera
ton on a large scale we must turn "a
other countries Thus Nhe deficits are
steadily increasing I'm the operation OF the
French State railroads. That of 1903 was
81. 800. coo; OF 1910, s1l.2oo.0oo: OF lsll. VA
3OO. 900; of 1919. s1460o. GOO. and In 1913 II
amounted to $4,000, 900. In the operation
of $500 miles of road the total for five
years was s6s. .000000. Special appropria-
lions for improvements for the years 1905
TO 1918, inclusive, amounted to s1ss, 500 600.
Notwithstanding these expenditures FOL
property and this great loss in opera
tion, the service is very unsatisfactory
Accidents have been frequent, time
tables are ignored and the operating Of
ficiaIs and employees regard the travel
ing public with extreme indifference.
Experience I'm Germany.
Take as another illustration the wide
ly advertised state railways of Germany.
German railway service Is superior to
that of France, but is inferior compared
with the average railroad service OF this
country. The relative passenger and
freight rates are higher. During the year
1910 the result of operating the Prussian
railways was a clear profit Of only ST.
100000. In the following year the Ameri-
can railways paid in the form of taxes
alone s11o 100000. Owing to many uncer-
tain clements, direct comparisons are diff
ficult. II not impossible, but the state
ment of these elementary facts is at
least a guide in forming an opinion as to
the relative economic advantage Of the
two methods of obtaining national trans
portation.
Every European traveller is familiar
with the inconvenience and utter made
quacy of the telephone service in every
country of Europe where 1t Is publicly
owned and operated. Take the city Of
Paris as characteristic example. II Is
almost impossible to carry on an ordinary
short conversation from hotel to hotel
without many interruptions and the most
extreme indifference on the part Of the
officials. The telephone service OF Lon
don is better than that of Paris. but II Is
infinitely worse than the telephone serv-
ice of New York City in the days OF its
earliest infancy. In Switzerland and the
Netherlands the rates average about 80
per cent more than in this country: In
Sweden. Denmark. and Norway, about 100
Per cent more; In Great Britain and Ger
many. 10 per cent: in Russia. $50 per
cent, and in France, 800 per cent more
lnUi IN lnlS country
Disadyantag ges In Glasgow.
THE city Of Glasgow has been held
up as one of the most efficient exam
Piles to be found anywhere in the opera
ton of street car lines. The service OF
these tramways is excellent but not
as good as our own. The average fare,
paid on the zone system, is between
, and 4 American cents. which. owing
to transfers, Is approximately the rate
charged in the American cities Of the
same size. One result is frightful con-
gestion in the workmen's districts. More
than half of the entire population live
more than two In one room. An Amer
ican corporation, carrying passengers on
a low average fare with frequent trans
fers. and the usual liberality in making
extensions to the suburbs, would soon
create a new Glasgow.
The former municipal gas plant In
has been discarded for
some years, and the lessons 1t taught