New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-22
The Railroad Crisis

passage Of the Adamson law. The pecui'
lar conditions Of legislative panic under
which IL was enacted, its failure to satisfy
the four railroad brotherhoods IN whose
interest il was rushed through, the test OF
its constitutionality which IS about to be
made-all these have helped to centre pub
lic attention on the railroad problem as
il has not been centred since the days
when the act creating the Interstate Com
mcrce Commission was passed.
The strain Of war prosperity on the
railroads has demonstrated their inca
pacity to handle the business which they
arc now asked 70 handle. The roads have
not developed in the last couple Of decades
especially in the last decade-as fast as
the country has developed. One-sided, IN
equitable government regulation has
checked the flow Of capital into the trans
portation industry. Railroad building has
been stopped; improvement Of facilities
and equipment has been retarded. The
carriers have been compelled bye the op-
pressive action Of the Interstate Com
merce Commission to live along on a
hand-to-mouth basis.
The war brought temporary prosperity
70 the railroads. That little fash in the
pan started an agitation among the en-
ployes for higher wages. The railroads,
no longer controlling their own earning
power. and not being able to meet wage
demands through an increase Of freight
rates. felt that it would be ruinous policy
for them TO grant the recent demands OF
the four brotherhoods, not knowing where
the money with which to pay the extra
cost Of operation was to come from. So
the country suddenly found itself facing
the peril Of a nationwide strike-a COM
plete paralysis Of transportation, threaten
ing untold losses and privations.
Thus the inadequacy Of our present sys-
TEN Of governmental regulation was rudely
driven home. The country sees now that II
has been living in FOOLS paradise, so far
as efficient Federal control Of the instru-
mentalities Of interstate commerce is con-
cerned. Federal regulation, as we know it,
can keep the railroads living on half "a
tons. It can prevent them from develop
ing facilities with which 70 handle the ma
tons expanding business. But it cannot
prevent the declaration Of state Of an
archv and civil war In the transportation
industry. II cannot guarantee the shipper
and consumer against a railroad tie-up,
whose damaging effects would be almost
beyond computation.
Congress, the President, the courts, the
Chamber Of Commerce Of the United
States, commercial bodies everywhere and
citizens interested in the welfare Of the
community are now taking hand in plan
ming legislation to remove the uncertain
ties and peril Of the present railroad situa-
ton. They are encountering the opposi-
ton Of bodies like the four railroad broth
erhoods and the American Federation Of
Labor, which see profit to themselves in
continuing the existing system Of private
warfare between the employees and the
companies. That opposition must be reso-
lutely overcome unless the interests Of
more than ninety million Americans are TO
be sacrificed 70 the interests Of two or
three millions.
There are certain changes in the system
Of Federal regulation which seem indis-
pensable. In the first place, there should
be an enlarged Interstate Commerce Com
mission. All round regulation is beyond
the physical capacity of the present com
mission. Its membership should be in
nj % int g Oh 10
broadened. Possibly it should operate here
after through regional boards Of first in
stance.
State regulation Of roads engaged in
interstate traffic should be abolished or re-
duced 70 the minimum. Divided jurisdic-
ton is mischievous in that it makes for
obstruction and inefliciency. The Federal
commission should assume supervision Of
all issues Of securities by interstate rail
roads. Such supervision would protect the
public, and also protect the investor in rail-
road stocks and bonds.
Since the commission regulates the in
come Of railroads by fixing freight and
other rates, il should exercise equal re
sponsibility in regulating expenditure. II
should fairly balance one item against the
other. instead Of holding down rates, as il
has done for years past, while ignoring
the increased operating charges piled up
against the railroads as a result Of new
taxation, state and Federal, and wage ar
bitrations which inevitably end in compro-
misses through which the employees gain
something and the companies lose some
thing. The commission must eventually
take jurisdiction Of wages if its regula-
ton is TO become thorough-going and COM
plete.
Most important Of all, the continuity Of
transportation must be safeguarded. The
railroads are a national agency. They