The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24

VI lue iSduluS PHASES VI tAS Oil Oou
question with the people OF the en-
tire state To this end, the careful
attention of the reader is invited to a
series of articles which will appear in
this newspaper during the next few
weeks. and which will contain the
trankest discussion of this great
problem that has ever appeared in
the public press All that is asked in
the meantime is that the people OF
Iowa accord to the railroads the
courtesy of listening TO their side of
the story and then form such con-
clusions as, in their judgment, the
facts warrant.
That the railroads of the United
States are today confronted by the
gravest crisis in their history there
is not the slightest question. For
some wears they have been desperate
!y struggling with an ever increasing
cost of operation in the face OF re-
Guced freight and passenger rates
but serious as this situation was be-
fore. the European war, which has
Indefinitely closed to them the for
eign money markets has suddenly
brought them face to face with sit
uation which threatens not merely
many new receiverships, but the ac-
tual paralysis of the entire transport
tation industry of the nation 1t was
this state of affairs which compel
led the closing of the New York
Stock Exchange some months ago.
What will happen in the future the
future alone can tell. American rail-
roads are valued in round figures at
twenty billion dollars, and of this
vast sum nearly five billion dollars
worth of securities are held abroad.
Should Europe, in its frantic strug-
gle for funds, seek to convert these
securities into cash during the next
twelve months, where is the money
to come from with which to buy
them and failing to protect these
securities, what decentralization will
follow not merely in railroad invest
ments but in all other American in
dus1rial values as well? The recent
statement Of David Lloyd-George,
Chancellor of the Exchequor. that
the inability of Englishmen to con-,
vert their American investments into
cash is Gripping Great Britain in its
present emergency is ominOusly sig
nificant Possibly the New York Ex-
change may be able to resume and
continue operations without acute
disaster-but that the finances not
merely of the United States but OF
the world will be subjected to a
strain without precedent in history
during the next year or TWO is so ap-
parent that it requires no extended
comment. In q future article this
phase of the question will be dealt
with more fully.
President Wilson's Views.
Tha, the situation is profoundly
serious is manifested by the recent
utte,ances OF President Wilson to a
group of eastern railroad executives.
In his letter to Mr. Trumbull of the
Chesapeake & Ohio, he said:
You ask me to call the attention
of the country to the imperative need
that railway credits be sustained and
the railroads helped in every possible
way, whethery by private cooperative
effort OF by the action wherever feas-
ible OF government agencies, that
am glad to do so, because think the
need is very zeal.
They are indispensable TO our
whole economic life. and railway Sc
cuTities are at the very heart OF most
Investments, large and small. public
and private, by individuals and oy IN
stitutions.
4 am confident there will be earn
est and active cooperation in this
matter, perhaps the one common in
teres, OF our whole industrial life.
Undoubtedly men, both in and
out OF Official position. will appreciate
what is involved and lend their aid
heartily wherever it is possible for
them to lend it. But the emergency is
in fact extraordinary and where there
is manifest common interest we
ought all Of us speak out in its be-
half. and ! am glad to join you in
calling attention to it. This is a
!.rle for all to stand together in unit
ed effort TO comprehend every inter-
est and serve and sustain it in every
legitimate way"
Again. in his recent letter to Secre-
tary McAdoo on the new banking law
he used the following language:
The railroads OF the country are
almost as much affected (by the war;
not so much because their business is
curtailed as because their credit is
called in question by doubt as to
their earning capacity. There is no
other interest so central to the bust
ness welfare of the country as this.
No doubt, in the light of the new day,
with it's new understandings, the
problem of the railroads will also be
met and dealt with in spirit of can
dor and justice"
Like utterances have come from
scores of other prominent public men
and financiers during the last few
weeks-men who are above making a
selfish plea for any private or corpor-
ate interest and whose sole desire is
that American business shall emerge
from the present precarious situation
without disaster. Under these cir
cumstances it is the merest folly for
any citizen to treat the present crisis
lightly or flippantly, for we are pass
ing through period in which the
financial resources of every nation in
the world will be tested as never be-
fore.
Railroads Lost Millions.
The net operating income of the
railroads of the United States for the