Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1914-02-04

lies. Such q vision is not the result
Of pure imagination-it has had un-
fortunately its foundation of justifica-
ton in few conspicuous instances
which leap to the lips Of everyone who
discusses our present-day industrial
problems; but every intelligent man
knows that it is no longer, if it ever
was, the rule.
In considering such lamentable indi-
vidual cases, the public, when forming
its potent judgment on the present sit
uation Of the railway industry, must
recognize them as the unhappy eXcep-
tions they are To him who insists
hat the railroads should be judged by
their black sheep, it is fair in answer
to invite attention to many exempiars
Of .igh.mnded integrity in the ad-
ministration Of railroad property. We
in the South can cite shining examples
of such rectitude. l may be forgiven
a proud reference to my late chief,
William Wilson Finley, whose oppor-
tunities were not less than those Of
any of the fragrant individuals to
whom allusion has been made, but who
after years of devotion to public duty
and the practice of large private
charity, left an estate the amount OF
which, as announced in the public
press, Is at once certificate Of can
did character and an illustration Of
just administration. One who knew
them can add to the same roll Of honor
two more executives Of railroads In
the South who have recently gone to
the graYe-Thomas NJ. Emerson and
John W. Thomas, Jr.
Despite the holding Of railroad stock
outside of the territories the railroads
serve, and despite the alterations from
integrity in the administration OF some
particular railroads, l believe that l
am not claiming too much when | as
sert that such has been the develop
ment Of the recognition in recent years
of the public nature and responsibility
Of the administration Of the railroads,
and such have been the practical con-
sequences Of that recognition, that to-
day in every essential a railroad be-
longs to the communities it serves.
In this aspect and in very real
sense the Southern Railroad belongs
to the people of the South. 1t is not
only their highway to market, but its
fiscal operations are part of the life OF
the communities along its lines.
At some risk Of trespass upon your
attention. venture to support this
claim with brief argument from sta
tistics. They record a condition which
is astonishing and : confess astonish.
ed me when 1 saw how far they go
along the lines OF a tendency which
l knew to obtain. Of the one hundred
and three millions Of annual revenue
collected last year by the railways H.
cluded in the Southern Railway Sys-
tenn, there was Immediately paid out
again along its lines at least seventy
six millions, an amount not far short
of the total collections from the peo-
pie of the South: for approximately
twenty-five millions Of the total rove
nues were collected from people out
side Of the Southeastern StateS-a
fact not often taken into considera-
tion, the explanation Of which is that
an appreciable part Of the passenger
traffic of the system consists OF the
transportation Of residents Of other
localities travelling in the South, and,
furthermore, that to large extent
freight charges on Southern products
shipped to other localities are paid by
the consignees.
What then becomes of these great
revenues collected in the South? Are
they hurried away to some cavern in
Wall street? No. The fact is that
all the moneys collected in the South
are deposited in Southern banks which
are drawn upon from time to time
only as funds are needed for proper
fiscal purposes. The funds OF the sys-
tenn thus become an important factor
Ill SIISuS llleuluS llsS utiuhS VI lliS lSi
ritory and so are at all times at the
service Of the Southern people.
1 have said that these funds are
withdrawn from Southern banks from
time to time only as needed for proper
fiscal purposes, but even in that opera
ton, to large extent, the moneys COL
lected for transportation service on
our lines are not withdrawn at all from
the Southern communities in which
they are collected This can be DEM
onstrated by an analysis Of Southern
Railway expenditures for the last fls-
cal year. Such analysis shows that,
OF every dollar disbursed, ALL cents
went to the payment of wages, sub
stantially all of which are paid along
the line Of the road, and so remain
in Southern banks, a disbursement
which, for the Southern Railway prop
er, averages about two million dol
lars month. The purchase Of ma
terials and supplies used $3.50 cents,
and, under our policy Of buying as far