The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-20
BIRMINGHAM MEN TO GET MEDALS FOR
 QUARTER CENTURY'S
 RAILROAD SERVICE
tCcntinued From Page Five)

changed during the time I have been in the business. Of course the volume
 of the business is many times as great as it was 30 years ago. and the organ ization and system necessary to handle the freight end of a great railroad is much more complicated. The making of freight rates, which was a more or less haphazard proportion 30 years ago. is now on safe and sane basis, and practically every rate is based on some sound and logical reason.
 When I first entered the traffic de- partment of the railroad, there was no such thing as a stable freight rate. All rates were cut at different times to meet the demands of some large ship per or to meet a similar cut made by some other line. The whole business was in an uncertain and unsettled con- dition. Rebates were usual and every body expected and demanded them. Some concession had to be given to al-
 most every shipper who had any volume of business, because some other line would grant these favors if we did not. The system was bad, but the rail- roads were helpless to prevent it. It had grown up with the business and drastic action was necessary to bring about the change. Carloads of freight were carried sometimes for figure far below cost This was as bad for the shippers as it was for the railroads. NOW BASED ON REASON When one shipper was able to se- cure some concession or rebate not granted to one of his competitors, the
 man not securing such a favor was at a great disadvantage. This kept both the shippers and the railroads in a state of unrest and led to many prac- tices which were bad for the general public. Some towns were favored over others without any particular reason, a condition which now cannot exist to any great extent.
 Freight rates now are based on some sound reason. Of course, to the layman there frequently appears to be no req son for a difference in rates where the haul is the same, but in almost every
 case there is some sound foundation for the apparent discrimination, Freight
 rates are very complicated study and l it is very easy for people who do not thoroughly understand the question to gain the wrong idea and become con vinced that the railroads are operating against particular line of business or are favoring one community over an other. but generally, there Is an eco homie factor entering into the rate that has not been grasped by those who ob- 1 ject.
 The interstate commerce commission was created the year I went to work with the Southern railway, but it's in 1 fiuence on railroad matters was of little | benefit or importance until the Hep 1 burn act was passed in 1895. The pow CTS of the commission have been in creased from time to time since then, and now they have practically the con- ! trol over all matters relating to rail- l roads. This system seems to be better l for the public than the former methods i in vogue many years ago.
 TOO MANY MASTERS
 1 One of the chief difficulties con- ! fronting the railroads today is the great number of masters they have. The interstate commerce commissio regulates all matters of interstate com merce, but there are so many state commissions that frequently some very peculiar conditions are brought about. This system accounts for the apparent unreasonableness of some of the rates | as compared with others. Sometimes there will be a rate for a. haul of, say | 200 miles. wholly within a state that l is entirely out of proportion with the
 rate for the same haul between points
 in two states. The railroads are some
 times confronted with great difficulties on this account, and it is to be hoped
 that the economists and the govern
 ment officials will devise some plan l beIOre many years which VIII enable
 us to eliminate these conditions. But
 taken as a whole, conditions now are
 far better for the public than they were i two or three decades ago. and with the i proper understanding on the part of
 officials and the public of the difficult
 ties under which the railroads are la
 boring, there will be still greater i'm
 provement in the next decade.'
 STANFIEL'S BEGINNING
 J. H. Stanfiel, general superintendent of the southern division, began his rail
 road career with what is now the South
 ern railway in 1887. and has been con ] nected with the road continuously since
 then. During that entire time he hal rot been off the company pay rolls foi | a single day. and his total time off fol l vacation, illness and other causes vii
 not amount to 60 days
 | T love the railroad work, and if had my life to go over, l do not know
 of any changes I would make. sait l Mir Stanfiel. When I entered the servic, | of the road, l made. up my mind to b'
 | a railroad man for life, and have neve
 regretted it. I also decided not to b
 | changing from one line to another ever.
 time l saw opportunity to get few
 dollars more salary. 1 believe it is bes
 for man to get with a growing concerl
 and stick to it.
 'I began work as a boy in shor
 trousers with the old East Tennessee a
 Chattanooga. being telegraph operator il the yard office. ] held that position tw
 years and was then transferred to tn
 ' office of the local agent at ChattauOOga