The Washington herald., 1914-03-29

cient to offset the increase to be expect
ed from the causes just mentioned.
The claim is also frequently made that
the capitalization outstanding against
| American railroads is largely in excess
OF their fair valuation. and IL repre-
| sents in the popular language Of the
/ day, watered stock and securities. 1t is
| interesting to note in this connection,
| however. that the outstanding capitaliza-
tion OF the entire American railway sys-
| tenn, as shown by last report-l9il-Of the
Interstate Commerce Commission. was
! s6S,9A per mile. compared with S215,-
55i per mile in United Kingdom. S143.sls
| per mile in France. Sl17.S7 per mile in
| Austria, and Sll3,326 per mile in Germany.
| In response TO Il public demand-based.
III believe. upon a misunderstanding of
| the facts-the Congress has provided for
a Federal valuation Of all the properties
Of the railroads. money has been appro-
priated for that purpose. and the neces-
sary machinery set in motion. The car
riers are confident that a fair valuation
| will show that the railroads. as they
! exist today. are actually worth a sum
very greatly In excess Of all outstand-
! ing capitalization. II is possible this
statement may need qualification con-
cerning some individual companies. but
there is no doubt in my mind that it
| will fairly apply TO the situation as a
| whole.
Comparison with Europe.
1t should be remembered. in justice to
those who have invested their money in
railroad securities and to those who
have spent their lives in the service Of
the roads. that notwithstanding all that
has been said in criticism Of railroad
methods and management. the capitalized
cost per mile Of the American railroads
| as whole has been less than One-half
the average cost Of the railroads in
Europe. Further. the freight rates on
American railroads are. upon the aver
age but little more than one-half what
they are in Europe. while the wages paid
| American railroad employees are from
two to three times as high as those paid
| similar employees in any other country
in the world. with the single exception
OF Canada on our north.
Aid TO Nations Development.
Our country is one Of magnificent dis
tances. and no people in the world make
70 free a use Of transportation as do the
people Of the United States. The latest
official records show that in Germany
!
per annum for each Individual: in France.
33s: in England. ee2; and in Austria. l4:
while in the United States as whole.
the number Of tons carried one mile for
each Individual is 2.A". or nearly six
, times as much as is carried in any OF the
countries. Just mentioned. This IL due
to the fact that II is our established
economic policy a nation to raise our
nj vvaFF ftFlr nra
at the place where each can be most
economically produced. and then move
il to the place where il is needed by the
. ! ultimate consumer. over what / venture
, TO say is the best transportation system
in the world. Without doubt this sys-
TEN Of domestic economy has contributed
largely TO the wonderful development Of
our country: but in order that IL may
continue. il is of prime importance that
there should also continue to he an ef-
fCient transportation machine. and for
/ that machine unless We depart entirely
from our present pOliCy-we must de-
| pend upon private capital. and as ] have
already stated. that can only he obtain
| ed by the reasonable expectation Of salts
factory reward.
do not think the necessity for in
creased revenue on the part OF the car
| riers in official classification territory is
| seriously questioned by any one at the
present time. | shall not take your time
: to discuss whether the increased revenue
which the carriers need, should be oh
tained by advancing passenger fares, by
increasing. II possible. the charges for
| carrying the mails and express. by in
creasing some freight rates and not in
creasing others. or from various suggest
ed sources 1t is perhaps sufficient to say
that those representing the carriers. gave
the whole subject their best thought and
concluded that the most practicable, and
upon the whole the best, way to meet
the situation al the present time was
| TO advance all freight rates a small and
| substantially uniform amount. There is
doubtless much to he said both for and
against some Of the other methods sug-
| Sested.
| ! would like to say just word before
| close about the present attitude of the
press towards the railroads. Four years
| ago. when the Eastern carriers en-
deavored to advance freight rates. the
press was generally opposed TO the move
ment: today, however. it is practically
unanimous in support OF the railroads
| position and this change Of attitude has
been much commented upon and much
| misunderstood. 1t has been said, for in
stance. in the halls of Congress that all
manner of schemes have been worked to
| create public sentiment favorable to the
have been made to create a sentiment
favorable to the railroads in the present
rate matter. l will not deny. l do assert.
however. and as chairman of the Presi-
dents Committee I am in position 10
know. that such efforts have been con-
fined to the very simple procedure of
presenting the facts.
Changed Attitude of Press.
The railroads have been criticised in the
past. and perhaps rightly so. for not
taking the public into their confidence.
In the present case we have tried. have
tried, others have tried to do the thing
that we have been criticised for not do
ing in former years. We have stated our
) case to the public and we have done so
because we have felt that it was a mat
ter in which the public was largely in
terested and concerning which 1t ought
to be Informed; and. while 1t is not to be
presumed that the Interstate Commerce
| Commission will he should be In
; fiuenced by public opinion. still the com
mission. because il also is the servant OF
the public. has the right to know the
puhliC's view concerning a matter OF
such prime Importance. II the press In
large sense truly represents public
! opinion-and l sincerely believe 1t does
} then the carriers may well feel gratihed
hv he att NJ he public the