The Washington herald., 1916-11-30
Seen and Heard
BY GEORGE MINER.

New York, Nov. 2o.-The condition
of the railroads in Mexico is a sub
ject about which there is a good deal
of speculation at present. 1t is a, mat
ter of vast importance to our sister
republic and incidentally to thousands
OF Americans who have interests
there.
The utilization of the railroads is
! one of the biggest factors toward
securing and maintaining peace in that
country. If they are neglected and
allowed to fall into disuse it means
! throwing just so much more terri
tory over to the mercy of the ban
dts.
Nobody in the United States, or, for
that matter, anywhere, can speak
with more authority on the subject
! than Mr.. Alberto ]. Pani, president OF
the national railway lines of Mexico
and one of the commissioners to the
American.M Mexican conference now
being held. In response to request
for a statement on this subject, Mr..
Pani said:
THE Carranza government, at the
! time when Villa was at the height of
miles of the $1,000 miles of railways
in operation in the whole country.
| When the Carranza government was
recognized in October, 1915, the mile
age under Carranza's control had in
creased to about 10000 miles, and
much effort was then expended in the
repair of the system, in order to make
it available for regular operation.
rama government is in control and is
operating the entire 5000 miles of the
| government lines, as we'll as operat-
ing about 1000 miles belonging to
| private companies. In addition the
present government has turned over
the Mexican Railway and the South
ern Pacific systems to their respective
owners. In short, about 1900 out of
a total of 1900 miles are today in
operation either directly by the gov
ernment or by private companies.
I'm January, 1915, the total income
of the government lines was $4,000
pesos, paper currency. At that time,
the Carranza government was in Vera
Cruz, and Villa and Zapata were in
/ income had advanced to 5000 pesos,
! v, :,
! date of recognition of the Carranza
Since then the monthly income has
1916, it reached $4,000 900 pesos, paper
currency. The tonnage OF freight at
present is virtually the same as in
in spite of shortage OF rolling stock
and engines.
"While in October, 1915, at the
time of Iecognitiion,' there was a
monthly deficit of from 100000 to
100000 pesos in the operation of the:
lines under the immediate control of
the Carranza government, at the pres
ent moment the receipts are sufficient
to meet operating expenses, and there
| is also a surplus which is devoted to
the repair of the lines. In August,
1916, the income from the govern
ment lines was virtually the same as
the income during the years 1911 and
1913"
The accomplishment of this very
difficult task was mainly due to Mr.:
| Pants untiring efforts and marked
ability. No one not personally famil-
! lar with the conditions can have any
! adequate lUCd Oh INC hOPS
! less task that confronted him. But
he got away with it.
Large numbers Of locomotives, pas
scnger and freight cars have been
purchased or contracted for in the
United States and many have already
been delivered, while the shops in
the various railroad division towns
are running full capacity in the repair
of damaged rolling stock.
The popular idea that the railroads
were practically destroyed at the
time of the revolution and that tens
of millions of dollars will be required
to rehabilitate them has been demon.
strated to be erroneous, as most OF
the work now being done is paid for
from the receipts of the railroads.
With the increase in business there is
also an increase of the funds avail
able for this purpose so that Mr..
PAM believes that very little, if any.
outside aid will be needed to put the
roads in hrst-class condition again.
Incidentally the success that has
been achieved in the reconstruction OF
the Mexican railroads is a strong
argument in favor Of government
operation. Never in the history. OF
these roads have they shown such a
balance available for restoration and
reconstruction.