Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1915-01-08
WHY THE COST OF OPERATING RAIL
ROADS HAS BEEN INCREASED
Struggling Against Increased Cost Of
Labor, Supplies, ETC., on One Hand
Reduced Rates on the Other.

During the last few years the advo
Gates of government ownership of rail
roads have been somewhat persistent
in the public press and the matter il
referred to here, not with any idea O.
combating this propaganda, but mere
ly that the people may briefly see botl
sides of the picture. So long as lo
of men welcome the wrecking of thu
railroads on the theory that the govern
ment will take them over and that such
state of affairs would be preferable
to private ownership, it will be impos
sible to obtain from them fair judg.
ment of the latter system which now
prevails in the United States. 1t is
impossible to 60 into this great question
at any length at this time, but here are
few things worth thinking about
Much has been said in recent years
about the water" contained in Amer.
lean railroad securities. and, in this
connection the valuation OF the govern
ment owned railroads of Europe is very
interesting. In Germany the state
owned roads are valued at STA. 1876 per
mile, in Austria at $l2O, 692. in Hun.
gary at $685. in Italy at sl26, 1856. in
Belgium at $3.50, 914, in Switzerland at
$1O2, $50, in Roumania at $9O,113 in
Japan at S8s, 104, in New South Wales
at ST., 391-while the privately owned
lines of the United States. regardless
of what water" may have been forced
into them in specific instances, are
valued at only 500. 944 per mile. What.
ever initiation may therefore have been
put into these properties in the past,
the fact remains, that their present
valuation is much lower than that of
the government owned railroads Of
Europe, and. what is still more import
ant, the rates charged are the lowest
and the service rendered admittedly the
best in the world. 1t is also pertinent
to remember that the charge of watered
stocks, after all. can be made against
but very few American railroads.&c.
lions share of them having been
managed without a breath of scandal
or criticism.
In this connection, statement con-
tanned in the last annual report of the
Deutsche Bank of Berlin, which has
paid.up capital and reserve fund of $751;
600, 900, is interesting American rail-
roads need higher rates. The present
rates are the lowest in the world-rep-
resenting but q fraction of the English
railway rates, for instance-and this in
the face of the fact that wages in the
United States on the average are fully
twice as high as in Europe" Certain
ly this view of the privately owned
lines of the United States, coming from
Germany, which has the most success.
full state owned system of transporta-
ton in the world, is worthy of grave
consideration.
In further confirmation of this state.
ment we quote the following statistics
1t costs Z mills per mile on an average
to haul ton of freight in the United
States while in England it costs an
average of 2 SO cents. in France al
cents and in Germany LAP cents. The
average daily wage paid to American
railroad employees is 1928, in England
it Is SIZE and in Germany and France
it averages little more than dollar per
day. Are American railroads therefore
entitled to the wholesale abuse and
denunciation which has been heaped
upon them from all sides in recent
years?
LETTING WELL ENOUGH ALONE.
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 plugging this mighty industry
into the Whirlpool Of party p ylitics for
all time, with its attendant opportunity
Tor evil of which the past affords such
rich variety of experience. The United
States is still young country, and in
many sections only partially developed.
Many new lines and extensions are
needed here and there to give wider
opportunity to expanding agriculture
and commerce, and nothing could be
more unfortunate or disastrous than
that these favors could henceforth be
obtained only by leave of the dominant
political factions which will reign at the
national capitol in the years to come.
Political parties are intensely human
and the average cautious
citizen will prefer to leave the railroad
of the future to the economic
law of supply and demand of the differ.