The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1914-02-25
CAPT. ANDERSON TALKS
OF OUR RAILROADS"
Continued from first page.)


tory.
Scarcely day passes but there is
an effort by somebody if not by whole
communities and stats to reduce rates.
and this too in face of the fact that
with the issue of every days paper
| Ialinost throughout tie land we hear
criticisms OF lack OF facilities and in
| sufficient service. What can We hope
for II we persist along these lines?
All this reminds NE of the lrishman
| who stated that just as he had about
accomplished the impossible task OF
teaching his mule how to live with
ont eating that the fool mule died.
NO, gentlemen, don't try IT: il may
work for time. but if you don't feed
yonr mule he will soon be too poor
10 properly serve you and he will ul-
timatcly become worthless, even if he
should continue to live To get the
best results YOU must feed him and
feed him well. Even a little groom
ing will improve both hi Sfceiings and
| MS looks.
Our Railroads" must be well paid:
Ill iact, why not do something to help
the managers accomplish their al
most impossible task? The passage
Of an occasional helpful law or evcn
word of sympathy or OF encourage
Tnent would do good.
Service Is First.
In our agitation for all rate reduc-
tions we but mi,ddy the waters and
thus entirely fail TO properly consider
the vastly more important question of
| service and facilities, not alone for to-
day but for the equally certain day,
| tomorrow
We today may escape without seri-
| ously suffering but il is crime
against future generations for us, by
| legislative enactment, to reduce the
revenues of Our Railroads" that will
| be an absolute necessity IL we are to
! nave the service and facilities needed
for our future progress.
| i submit that the matter Is
| iraught with consequences entirely
! 100 seriouJ for the best interests of
our country to for u moment legislate
| railroad rates; instead, it should he
a question OF judicial investigation
and a decision reached only after
! carefully considering all of the nuas-
tions involved.
Every thoughtful student OF the
economic conditions of the day must
feel deeply concerned al the tenden-
cy to retard our country's fullest de-
| velopment by making Ii difficult. il not
impossible, TO overcome the problems
attending the continued reduction of
railroad rates on the one hand and the
continued Increase in cost OF labor and
and supplies on the other. One thing
certain: II Is impossible that thesacan
continue indefinitely to do both. D
President Hadley OF Yale, one OIL
the wisest students of railway affairs
In the world recently stated in an
ADDRESS on an occasion lilse this:
| i am afraid that neither the pub
Tic nor. the government is awake to
the real state of things. In our en-
| deaVors to control corporations we ted
often try TO lessen their efficiency in
stead OF increasing IL. We are at.
palled by railway accident and we
suggest that every engine should have
two engineers instead of one. A fast
train runs off the track and a govern
ment officer suggests that people
ought not to want to travel so fast.
II these views prevail. the day OF
Americas greatness is done"
Revise with Justice.
| There Is no business SO closely
identified with the welfare and pro-
gress OF the country as that or Our
Railroads" and with every demand for
sweeping reductions in earnings we
aim severe blow at the very back
bone or our country's material ad-
vancement.
Do not understand me to say that
there are no instances where revis-
ions, possibly reductions, should be
made, but | do. say that we already
have the lowest rates, both freight
and passenger, especially when SER
vice is considered, in the whole world.
and that only daily constituted boards
or commissions with judicial responsi-
bility as we'll as power should act up
on such questions.
Some Comparisons.
You frequently hear Our Rail-
| roads" criticised for over-capitaliza-
tion. yet no other great country has
railroads capitalized so low. In the
German Empire 1t Is $4,000 per
mile; Russia. $4,000: France, Sl43,-
900; Austria, $4,000. while in Eng
land 1t is $275,000 and In Italy and
Belgium, where the government own
the railroads, the capitalization Is
S126,0o0 and $1S7,000 respectively. in
the United States the average capi-
taliZation Is about $4,000 per mile
about one-third of what It Is in the
countries named
In England the average freight rate
per ton permile Is about 1-3c cents.
while In The Uaited States 1t Is about
one-fourth OF cent and yet there is
a movement at this very time In our
lown section of the country to enforce
lower rates on our already impoeer-
ished roads.
Our Railroads" must keep not only
abreast OF. but ahead Of. their bust
ness. II they are behind the country
Icannot prosper or progress. II Our
Railroads" have earnings sufficient to