Evening star., 1916-11-23

The condition of the railroads of the
country was compared with that of the
government clerk by \. p. Thorn, gen.
eral counsel of the railway executives
committee today before the joint con-
gressional committee Investigating the
entire transportation question.
The railroads. said Mr.. Thorn. ARE
controlled by the government SO far
as their revenues are concerned There
is no control. however" he pointed out,
over the expenditures which must De
made by the railroads
The revenues of the government
clerk ;, he said ARE also controlled by
the government, but the expenditures
OF the government clerk are not con-
| trolled by the government ana con-
tinue to increase with the cost OF NV
I'm the same way" he said. 'the rail-
roads must meet increases in the cost
of materials, and yet all the time they
are restricted in the matter of revenues
by government control of rates.
Refers to List of Questions.
Before entering upon his statement
Mr.. Thorn directed the attention of the
committee to list of questions which
he had prepared to be considered by
bankers and investment brokers and
which he had furnished to the clerk of
the committee. He read letter he
had written to various prospective w.t.
nesses calling attention to these ques-
tions. -
Representative Adamson said that
Mr. Thorn would have an opportunity
to ask witnesses these questions.
Senator Underwood said he would
opposc this proposal and asked that
the question of whether any party 10
the controversy be represented py
counsel be not settled until after it
had been considered by the committeo
In executive session.
81 think any American citizen ouBnc
to have right to ask questions, said
Judge AdamSon-
Presents Railroads View.
The railroad view was presented
by Mr. Thorn, counsel for the raii-
way executives advisory committee. MIR.
Thorn, chosen as first spokesman for the
roads when the committee decided to be-
gin its inquiry by hearing their side OF
the case, blamed the present system OF
corrective regulation, divided between
the state and federal governments, for
most of problems troubling the public and
the carriers. and appealed for discus
sion of necessary changes mot upon any
mere theory or jealousy as TO the dis
tributlon of governmental power, but
upon the large issue of what public inter-
est requires
Rates, Mr. Thorn declared. are less
important to public interest than Ger
tainty. safety and sufficiency OF trans
porta ton" Under present conditions i'll
which the railroad business is largely
controlled by political instead OF bust
ness considerations, he added, railroad
credit is so poor and returns SO small
that adequate extensions of lines into
undeveloped territory and enlargement OF
facilities are impossible. He said increas-
ed transportation facilities would tend TO
reduce the high cost of living by OPEN
ing up new country. thereby causing in
creased production.
Thinks Regulation Not Constructive.
Mr.. Thorn pointed out that the pres
ent system of railroad regulation had
it's beginning in the abuses of the past
and was based on the principles of re-
preston. correction and punishment
rather than on constructive principles.
He contrasted this with the plan OF
governmental regulation of banks.
The system of bank regulation" he
said was born of the spirit of help
fulness and encouragement intended to
American people its system of national
banks. Railroad regulation. on the
other hand, is the result of 4 spirit OF
anger that grew out of real or fancied
abuses in the past.
The railroads accept the view thar
regulation is Il permanent and endur-
ing part of government in America.
and that the first duty of the carriers
is TO the public. That duty is to af-
ford reasonable facilities on reasonable
terms and at reasonable rates, and this
must be done before any private inter-
ests can be considered"
"Cost Secondary Consideration"
In support of his contention that
..the first consideration of the public is
to obtain transportation facilities" and
that "the cost is in reality second
consideration Mr.. Thorn declared that
when nationwide strike recently
threatened to tie up the railroads
business men would have been will
ing to pay almost anything to get their