The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-06-05

Inc SITUATION OF the railways oI
the United States in the important
part which they must play in the war
in which we are now involved Is
somewhat similar to the position OF
the railways of Great Britain in the
important part which they have
played during the last thirty months.
Therefore, what has been done In th9
management of the railways there
under the conditions Of war may
forecast what will have to be done
here under similar conditions.
Some of the notable moves which
have been made by the railway
executive committee in cooperation
with the government have been an
increase Of so per cent. in passenger
fares: the pooling OF freight car
equipment; and the institution OF
severe restrictions and economies IN
all branches of the service In order
to meet increases in employees
wages and enormous increases in
the cost of materials. One of the
most significant features OF Great
Britain's policy is that these In
creases in expenses are automat1cal-
| ly assumed by the government. The
large increase in passenger fares
has been made not to increase reve-
nue.. but to reduce the amount OF
| passenger travel in order to facili-
tate the movement Of freight. With
| this increase the third-class rate be-
comes cents per passenger per mile
srd the f1rst-class rate 5A cents per
mile.
These facts are brought out in an
Illuminating article in the current
issue of the Railway Age Gazette,
by julius H. Parmelee. 1t is gener-
ally recognized fact that the effec-
tiveness of the part which the United
States will play in the war will de-
pend largely upon the efficiency with
which its railways are operated. OF
all the countries now involved there
is the closest resemblance between
the United States and Great Britain.
There, as here, the railways are pri,
! vately owned. There. as here, ar
rangements have been made between
the government and the railways by
which, in the main, operation is left
in the hands of the railway officers.
There, as here, committee OF
executive officers has been organ
lied with almost autocratic authority.
In Great Britain, however, the gov
eminent has guaranteed to the rail-
ways the same net return as they
made in the period imm ediately pre-
ceding the war, while here the gov
eminent makes no guarantees re-
garding railway earnings.
In view of this similarity of con-
ditions and partial similarity in the
/ plans adopted, for handling the situa-
tion some details of the British plan
outlined in Mr. Parmelee's article are
of especial interest in this country.
The railway executive committee,
acting under the authority Of the
British government, has found 1t
necessary to take some of its most
vigorous measures as recently as
since January 1, 1917.
It has taken off many passenger
trains, closed many stations and
abandoned the operation of some
branch lines to expedite the move
ment of freight and military traffic,
to save coal and to relieve en-
ployes for more important service.
The amount of permissible baggage
has been curtailed, restaurant and
sleeping cars have been reduced In
number or taken out of service and
. /
trains were withdrawn from service
on January /. The average speed of
passenger trains has been reduced
by the elimination of number Of
fast express trains, 1t is stated that
further advances in passenger rates
will be made unless that already
made reduces travel sufficiently. So
far there has been reduction Of
about 90 per cent. in travel since
January !.
The absolute guarantee by the
government of the net returns of the
railways has made feasible the adop-
ton of a system of complete pooling
of freight equipment. Under war
conditions traffic has been so heavy
that many difficulties have been met
in securing an adequate supply of
cars. The important feature Of The
lv.oNlir0 {c ha o1f ~