Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1916-12-21

Washington, Dec. IL William j.
Bryan, who startled the country ten
years ago by advocating government
ownership Of railroads, appeared be-
fore the Newlands Joint Committee on
Interstate Commerce last week in sup
| port of the claim that the states should
be allowed to retain authority over the
regulation of all transportation lines
within their borders Mr.. Bryan ex-
planned that he had long regarded gov
eminent ownership as inevitable. but
only because of railroad opposition to
effective regulation.
Against Government Ownership.
Personally i cannot say that l de-
sire government ownership" he ex-
planned, because | lean to the indi-
/ vidual idea rather than to the collec-
tive idea; that is, l believe that gov
eminent ownership is desirable only
where competition is impossible"
Alfred z. Thorn. counsel to the Rail
way Executives Advisory Committee,
previously had presented before the
members of the Newlands Committee
as one of his reasons for urging bet
\ ter balanced and more systematic reg
ulation of railroads the argument that
| this is the only alternative to go ern-
ment ownership. Calling attention to
the restrictions imposed upon tta
| transportation lines by conflicting state
laws and regulations, to the practical
cessation of new construction and to tle
impossibility under existing condi -
of securing the new capital needed 20.
extensions and betterments of railway
facilities, he warned the Congressman
that unless they provided a fair All
reasonable system Of regulation titt
would enable the railroads to meet the
| growing needs of the country's bust
ness the national government would
/ be compelled to take over the owner
! ship of. the lines with all the evils at
tendant upon sl.rh system.
| Preservation of Competition.
Mr.. Bryan, on the other hand, holds
that the further extension of federal
authority over the railroads would be
a step in the direction of government
! ownership. He advanced the view that
! the Capitalization of control in the
| hands of the national government
would impose too great a burden upon
the regulating body, would offer strong
| temptation to railroads to interfere in
politics and would encourage the gen
| oral movement toward Capitalization
of power in the federal government at
the expense of the states. He said that
he did not object to consultations of
railroad lines so long as they did not
destroy competition. that he knew of
no complaint against great railway
systems because of their size and that
he believed that the preservation Of
competition was the test to be applied
| to all consultations
Regulation of Securities.
Mr.. Bryan declared himself in favor
of national regulation of railway stock
| and bond issues. but added that he saw
no reason why that should exclude the
4 states from acting on the same sub
| ject as to state corporations. 81 would
like to see the stock of railroad, as
long as it is in private hands. made as
substantial and as unvarying as the
value of government bond he as
serted.
He suggested that railroad capitali-
I zation be readjusted to equalize it with
| actual valuation of the property rep
! resented, making due allowance for
equities. and that when this was done
I the roads should be allowed to earn
sufficient income to keep their stock
! at par and to create surplus. The
| latter, he tentatively proposed, might
be allowed to amount to % per cent
| of the capital.
Railway Earnings Low.
This subject of railroad capitalization
and the amount of railroad earnings
received further attention from the
committee during its recent sessions.
In answer to questions by Senator
| Cummins, Mr.. Thorn submitted figures
showing the net earnings of the roads
in recent years. These figures show
that during the FIVE years from 1905
to 1910 the average net earnings were
5.25 per cent of the net capitalization.
while for the five years from 1910 to
1915 the average was only 4.56 per
cent. The total earnings on the stock.
computed by adding to the net oper
ating income the income from the Sc
curities owned and deducting bond in
terest, were for 1910, 100 per cent:
for 1911, GIT per cent; for 1912, 4.97
per cent; for 1913, 5.94 per cent; for
1914 4.06 per cent; for 1915, 3.44 per
cent, thus showing an almost contin-
uous decrease throughout this six year
period. 1t was announced that Hal
ford Erickson, formerly chairman of
the Wisconsin Railroad Commission
would submit more complete informa-
ton on this subject to the Committee
at later date.