Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1914-02-06

- W. OtkVOG w IUe1Q IN LudSdr
sines and newspapers Of the romantic
lives attributed to few individuals
who are supposed to control the
destfnies of whole communities by pos
session and exploitation Of the instru-
ments upon which such commune
ties depend for their necessary trans
portation, who "fix'' rates and arbi-
trarily determine conditions of serv-
ice, and SO tax" the people they ought
to serve. withdrawing money earned in
the sweat of the brow from the COM
munities where it is earned, to be dissi-
pated at distance in extravagant fol.
lies. Such 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
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-
tons they are. To him who insists
that the railroads should be judged by
their black sheep, it is fair in answer
to invite attention to many exemplars
Of high-minded integrity in the ad-
ministration Of railroad property. We
in the South can cite shining examples
of such rectitude l may be forgiven
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 grave-Thomas M. 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 /
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 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, l venture to support this
claim with brief argument from sta
tistics. They record condition which
is astonishing and l confess astonish-
ed me when | saw how far they go
along the lines of a tendency which
knew to obtain. Of the one hundred
and three millions of annual revenue
collected last year by the railways In
cluded in the Southern Railway Sys.
tenn, there was Immediately paid out
again along it's 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 reve-
nues were collected from people out
side of the Southeastern States-a
fact not often taken into considera-
ton. 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-
TEN thus become an important factor
IN, c%r ,sx{l I'M I, hon be of b0 for
ritory and so are at all times at the
service of the Southern people.
/ 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 fis-
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, disbursement
which, for the Southern Railway prop
er, averages about two million dol
lars a month. The purchase of ma
terials and supplies used 1880 cents.
and, under eur policy of buying as far
as practicable from Southern people,
1912 cents of this was expended in
the South and only 4.1S cents in other
localities. Miscellaneous operating ex-
| penses required sos cents, all spent
in the South. Taxes, all paid in the
South. required 3.65 cents. Interest,
rentals and other miscellaneous pay
ments accounted for 20.83 cents, and
| the holders of the company's prefer
red stock received 4.42 cents. 1t is I'M
fortunately impracticable to determine
| the proportion of interest and divi-
dends paid to Southern owners of