Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-01-13

connection the valuation of the gov.
eminent owned railroads of Europe If
very interesting. In Germany the
state owned roads are valued al
z $114,1S5 per mile, In Austria at $780,.
.692, in Hungary at $69,210, in Italy at
4 $126,SS6, in Belgium at $190,914, In
Switzerland in $102,950, in. Roumania
at $90.113, in Japan at $88 ,104, in New
South Wales at 81, 1891 while the pri-
/ vately owned lines of the United
? States, regardless of what water may
have been forced into them in. specific
instances, are valued at only $685.
1 944 per mile. Whatever imitation may
therefore have been put into these
Z properties in the past. the fact re-
mains, that their present valuation is
Z much lower than that Of the govern
ment owned railroads of Europe, and.
: what is still more important, the rates
4. charged are the lowest and the SER
vice rendered admittedly the best in
the world. 1t is also pertinent to re-
member that the charge of watered
stocks, after all, can be made against
but very few American railroads.&c.
xAOA . ouhI VI IACA A&AVAA6 OCCA A1u@
aged without a breath Of scandal Of
/ criticism. t" /. WA
In this connection, a statement con-
tanned In the last annual report of the
Deutsche Bank of Berlin, which has a
paid-up capital and reserve fund Of
$75,00O,OO0, is interesting: American
railroads need higher rates. The pres
ent rates are the lowest in the world
representing but a fraction of the
English railway rates. for instance =
7 and this in the face of the fact that
wages in the United States on the av-
erage are fully twice as high as in
Z Europe" Certainly this view of the
Il privately owned lines of the United
states, coming from Germany, which
has the most successful state owned
system Of transportation in the world,
is worthy of grave consideration.
In further confirmation of this state
ment we quote the following statis-
tics:y 1t costs 2 mills per mile on an
average to haul a ton of freight in the
United States while in England it
costs an, average Of .2.33 cents. in
France 1.41 cents and in Germany 1.42
cents. The average daily wage paid
: to American railroad employees is
1928, in England it Is $1.15, and in
Germany and France it averages lit
tie more than dollar per day. Are
American railroads therefore entitled
to the Wholesale abuse and denuncia
ton which has been heaped upon
them from all sides in recent years?
Letting Well Enough Alone. =
81 In view of these facts, the average
citizen may well ask himself whether
it is not best to let well enough alone
rather than invite other ills we know
not of-whether it Is not wiser to cure
such defects as may cucumber the
present system rather than run the
danger of plunging this mighty indus
try into the whirlpool Of party poll
tics for all time, with its attendant
opportunity for evil: Of which the past
affords such rich variety Of exper-
fence. The United States Is still a
young country, and in many sections
only partially developed. Many new
and there to give wider opportuni-
ty to expanding agriculture and COM
merce, and nothing could be more
unfortunate or disastrous than that
these favors could henceforth be OBJ.
tanned only by leave of the domi-
nant political factions which, will
reign at the national capital in the
years to come. Political parties |
are intensely human institutions, and
the average cautious citizen will pre-
fer to leave the railroad expansion Of
the future to the economic law Of SUP
ply and demand Of the different COM
munities rather than to place such a !
temptation for power in the hands Of
those who rise and fall in the field Of
politics. Furthermore, should the
time ever come when the government
takes over the railroads, it means that
the people will have to forego the
millions Of taxes which they now pay
and which help to support the public
public expenses-and that hencefortn
these millions OF revenue will have
to come out Of the pockets Of the
people.
Many other things could be said
upon this phase of the question, but
space forbids. For some time, the
government, through the Interstate
Commerce Commission, has been en-
gagged in making a physical valuation
of all our railroads as a matter Of
guidance for future rate adjustments.
Again, we repeat, since the people abb
solutely control and regulate the rail-
roads, is that not enough? Will it not
be better to cling to that which Is
good and eliminate that which is bad
in the present system which, with all
that has been said against it, furnish
es the best and cheapest Transports
ton service in the world?
Increased Cost of Operation.
f. We now wish to refer briefly to an
other phase Of the problem. For a
number of years the cry Of the thigh
cost of living" has been everywhere
abroad in the land. Time was, not so
many years ago, when the farmer
sold his corn at Is cents per BUSH
ell. Now it brings from so cents to
Is cents. So, too, he sold hogs at
cents per pound, which now readily
bring from Z to 10 cents-while a
good steer calf. which used to bring