Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-01-18
THE RAILROAD PROBLEM.

in large measure to the European war
and, in a smaller degree, to favorable
crops, have tended to obscure the fact
that the United States has a problem
of great magnitude to solve in refer
ence to the railroads of the country
Before the outbreak of the war the
general public was coming to realize
that regulation by national and state
governments in the past decade had
gone too far and that the time had
come for a more favorable attitude to-
ward the transportation interests.
Will the present comparative pros
perity of the railroads work to their
detriment, in that the American public
will be inclined to assume that pres
/ ent conditions are permanent, and will
refuse to grant reasonable conces-
sions? With $4,000 miles of railroad
more than one-sixth Of the total mile
age of the country-in the hands or
receivers there certainly is no ground
for the assumption that railroad con-
ditions are favorable in spite or the
recent heavier earnings.
The Bache Review states the bust
ness mans view of the situation as
follows:
THE record for the 10 years just
past of results of operation and regu-
lation of railroads by the interstate
commerce commission, is one Of the
darkest pages in the history of the
countrys business progress. The
commission began to regulate the
railroads on Aug. /. 1906, when the
Hepburn law went into effect. Bust
ness was then burning in the fever OF
a great boom, which collapsed in 1907.
The regulating force affecting rail
roads had not yet begun to reveal it
self and there was splendid recoV-
cry which became apparently confirm
ed through 1909. In 1910 the first blow
at the railroad business was struck
when, having raised wages all along
the line, a raise of 10 per cent IN
freight rates, now proved to have beer
sorely needed, was requested and ar
ranged for, but refused by the com
ness of transportation, and with it the
y business Of the whole country, bega1
! to wither, and today $4,000 miles o
railroad-over one-siXth of all mile
age-are in receivers hands. AS re
suit of 10 years of regulation, the rat
of progress of new construction ha
gone back so years.
I'VE are rapidly becoming a nation
e ruled by commissions. The great ma
f chinery of business is coming ever
= year more and more under the domi
e nation of concentrated power, in tn
e hands of few men.
g Can business afford to allow thi
e domination to proceed solely unde
Il the direction of politics?
Business itself would prove niue
: stronger than politics in shaping SCUM
= legislation, if it should ever determin
IS to throw it's whole legitimate infuenc
e into rescuing the commercial fabri
/ from the destructive forces which hav
Z been battering it for 10 years.
d will the presidential conflict of 1871
Ii nave arraveQ On one sue tHe forces
IS business?"
r There is much truth in this, but it
n Just as well to call attention to tn
s fact that the railroads brought all the
I'd troubles upon themselves, says II
Bloomington Paragraph. 1t is nj
le at all surprising that popular indign;
b. ton was stirred to its depths by II
e. revelations Of looting and mismanag
ment Of many Of the great railros
systems of the country, or that reg
lation should have gone too far. Fl
the prosperity of the country as we
as of the railroads themselves the pei
l. dulum must swing back few degree
Is and it is to be hoped that the presel
is apparent prosperity Of the railroad
h. will not interfere with the process.