Evening star., 1916-10-01

ties Of the United States lack co-ordina-
ton. Their growth, it might be said,
has been accidental-that is, without
method. A railroad was built from one
town to another within a state. The
vision Of the projectors went no far
ther.
Interstate commerce, such as the
trading OF products between Massachu-
setts and Iowa. was to come much lat
er. traveller going from the small
village of Chicago to New York pur-
chased five or six tickets on the way
and had his baggage hauled in wagons
from one depot to another, as he
changed trains and roads in his prog
ress across the country.
Railways, with few. if any excep-
tions. lost money. They attempted to
and bulky products at low prices. There
was scramble for business, for money
to pay the, engineers and firemen and
the conductors and brakemen. Rates
were cut. Competition was triumphant.
Big shippers were favored. Small ship
pers suffered. Then began the agita-
tion for control of the railroads and
for the Standardization of their
charges. Laws were passed in piece
meal fashion by the states, and pres
emily by the nation In the ygeantime
the states were increasing iH number.
There are forty-eight at present. Each
has laws in respect to transportation.
And there are great national laws bear
"In short. there is chaos among the
statutes. Nobody who knows the sit
uation is satisfied with conditions. The
railroads themselves are bitterly COM
planning. The short lines within the
states have been joined together into
long systems. There was no law for 1t
but economic necessity. And the merg-
Ing went on, though Congress never
was candid enough to say that the act
was indispensable to the development
of our civilization.
Commerce inside the states is now
only one-fourth of the total commerce
of the whole country. Shoes manufac-
tured in Massachusetts are sold in CAL
ifornia: and wheat grown in Minnesota
becomes bread for the inha bitants of
New York. The 5000 little railway
companies OF the past have vanished
and in their stead are 1000 operating
corporations, and most of them have
been merged into eight or ten gigantic
transportation organizations.
Laws overlap. contradict and nullify
one another. Statements as to facts
are at variance. The railroads are
rich and the railroads are poor, though
widely opposite propositions. can be
heard in the chorus of voices. Regula-
tion is a failure and regulation is a
confounds the mind of the ordinary
citizen. What. after all, is the truth?
Thus 1 answer when you ask what
prompted me to introduce the resolu-
tion calling for a committee of five
senators and Ave representatives to in
vestigate the transportation question
in all its phases and particulars.
have believed for years that such an
inquiry should be dispassionately un-
dertaken and have spoken and written
my convictions on many occasions.
Long ago / said, You began argu-
ing for a law that would transfer con-
troll of the railroads from the states to
the nation?'
yes: thought that railroads. should
be nationalized. or incorporated by the
federal government. They have out
grown. as / have said. the states in
which they were located formerly. The
Pennsylvania railroad, for example. has
tracks and now does business from the
Atlantic ocean to the Mississippi river
and from the great lakes to Kentucky.
The New York Central railroad, as
another illustration. is operating in
Pennsylvania, Ohio. Michigan, Indiana,
Illinois and several other states. There
. are roads which begin in Chicago and
end in California or on the Canadian
boundary in the northwest.
National laws alone, and not local
laws. should govern such corporations
AS consequence. in the absence of ma
tiona1 laws. they are, in a sense un-
governed. No man can or will obey or.
ders II he has multitude of masters
Regulation of railroads is necessary
They are monopolistic in character and
II unrestrained would be monopolistic