New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-11
WHEN 4 GOVERNMENT SHOULD
GO INTO BUSINESS AND WHY.
The Trend Toward Government Management of Business
BY Jeremiah w. jerks Ph. d.. Ii. D., Director OF
the Division Of Public Affairs, New York University.

lie. They are often poorer than were
the old toll roads, but there is much
less annoyance. In the newer and
Weather states ii has become the
universally adopted policy for the pub
lie to care for the roads, and since
bicycle and automobile owners nave
become influential they are often we'll
cared for.
With US the development of roads
has been primarily, almost solely. Tor
commercial and social purposes only.
IN many European countries, from the
DAYS of ancient Rome 20 the present,
the roads, as regards both location and
upkeep, have in many instances served
a military purpose as well. and that
fact has often determined both their
location and type. The old Roman
Waiting ST., stretching across England,
is an excellent example of this type.
The Case of Railroads.
The course of the development OF
the railway systems bears some re-
semblance to that Of the highways,
but there are marked differences IN
all countries which sometimes indicate
a difference in principle. In our own
country, a. we know, the railroads have
been, and still remain, private prop
erty, under, however, government
control which has been gradually in
creasing in extent and strlngency Tor
many years. In several foreign coun-
tries the government has built and
manages many if not all the railroads.
The principles. however, of the admin
istration of the public-owned railroads
are materially different from those Of
the ordinary highways.
In the first place, ordinary highways,
though they must be built at consid-
cradle cost and require . little care
and expense for upkeep, differ abso-
lutely in principle from railroads in
that the latter demand a skilled or
ganization and management adapted TO
highly complex business, while roads
require no management at all for their
daily use.
Again. in some countries, such as
Germany, although the railroads are
generally laid cut with reference to the
benefit of commerce, the decisive factor
in determining the location in many
instances is military need. And, fur
Their, they are not free. but are one of
the chief sources of revenue. thus TAX
ing the place of certain taxes and in
practically all instances laying a bur-
den upon commerce much heavier than
that laid by private railway companies
in our own country.
The Decisive Factor in Germany.
In Germany the ultimately decisive
factor in determining government own
ership and management is military; in
some other countries the decisive fac
tor Is primarily political and possibly
financial. Each country needs 10 be
studied by itself. and in making com
parison between the experience Of diff
ferent countries one should be careful
to take into account all determining
factors, a practice that has been by
no means universally followed.
Doubtless in all cases the fundamen-
tai principle TO keep in mind is that
Of the public welfare, but in a country
like Germany this welfare in the mind
of the government and people as well
is best served by considering tlrst the
military aspects of the situation, then
the political aspect, including the finan-
cial, and finally, perhaps, the social as
pect. In our own country we prac-
tically ignore the military aspect; the
viewpoint is largely a mat
ter of party policy; REGARDING the
financial and social aspects there have
been very decided differences of opin-
ION, but have never seen the view
points on either side worked out care
fully and without prejudice.