Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-06-07
ALL CLASSES HIT
WHEN RAILROAD
PROFITS DECLINE
Industry Feels Most Keenly
Effect of Railroad Poverty.
UNWlSE LAWS MAKE TROUBLE

Millions Of Dollars Lost by Railroads
IN Nesting Maze of Legislative Re-
curements-Laws Contradict Each
Other.
"a man is as old as his arteries"
says prominent health authority.
With equal truth it may be said that
a country is as prosperous as its rail-
roads, for industry is the life of
country, and the railroads bear the
same vital relation to the industrial
system that the big blood carrying
tubes bear to the human body.
There was a time In the history of
INDUSTRY when manufacturing was
one man affair, when every laborer
owned his own tools and made goods
Tor his neighbors. That system passed
away with the invention Of the steam
engine, and no sane man today would
wish for its return. The modern high
ly developed Industrial organism de-
pends absolutely on the facilities for
distribution provided by the railroads.
But how have the railroads been re-
warded for making possible the evolu-
tton OF industry? In recent years they
have been made the subject for all
sorts Of legal vivisection. They have
been chloroformed and cut open, and
as usual in such cases, the surgeons
have differed as to the nature Of the
malady and the necessary cure. The
prevailing theory, however, was that
the railroads were suffering from an
abnormal growth Of the income, so
their income had to be amputated.
From professional point Of view the
operation was eminently successful,
but In number Of cases the patient
died. Recent mortality statistics show
total of 34,652 miles Of steam rail-
road in the hands Of receivers, the
roads involved having total capitan-
zation of $1,79O, ,4SS,210.
Ono Roa Spend, $4,000 900.
The avalanche of adverse laws direct
| ed against railroads has been so over
whelming that since 1906 the Pennsyl-
| vania railroad on It's lines east of Pitts.
burgh alone has spent $19,OOO,OOO COM
| plying with the legislative enactments.
| approximately that sum is equal to 6
percent income on $500 100000.
l Interstate railroads are exposed to
contradictory laws enacted by the leg
islatures of the states through which
| they run. About nineteen states are
| trying to regulate the issuance Of rail-
| road securities by different methods.
| Twenty-eight states specify headlight
| requirements without any cooperation
| with one another. Fourteen states
| have different safety appliance acts.
Sometimes the orders Of the Interstate
| Commerce Commission, so far as they
| concern intrastate matters, are prac-
| tically nullif1ed by the failure Of the
states to approve them. 1t Is estimat-
| ed that the railroads of the country
| are required to make over 100000 re-
ports year to various state or federal
| authorities.
OF course the railroads do not bear
the burden Of this legal yoke alone. 1t
rests as heavily on the shoulders OF
the 100000 or more owners of Ameri-
can railway securities. many of whom
are women dependent for support upon
the income from these securities. In
surance companies. representing 3d.
100000 policy holders, have $1,5O0,O0O,-
600 invested in railway securities, and
savings banks, representing 100000
depositors, have $SOO,OOOOO0 invested
in railroad stocks and bonds.
Wealth Of Roads Benefits Many.
According to the statistics Of railways
In the United States issued in 1914, the
railroads then employed 1,710,296 per-
sons, to whom they paid approximately
$1,3S1.117 ,292 per year in wages and
salaries. The expenditure of that sum
is certainly a substantial contribution
to the income Of all mercantile and
manufacturing enterprises. But, while
the railroad situation claims the atten-
ton Of all classes Of citizens, It must
appeal to the Industrial worker In
bread and butter terms. for he Is the
first to feel the effects Of railroad i'm
poverishment. This was evidenced in
1914 and 1918. when the railroad sit
uation was most acute and when thou
sands Of men were out of work and
the industries Of the country were in
serious condition.
How can the Industrial worker help
to put the railroads on sounder work
ing basis? BY joining In general pro-
test against the legislative avalanche,
by voting against the legislator who Is
instrumental in the passage of the bur
dens0me and taxatious laws that re-
duce railroad profits and the income
on railroad securities. 1t is vitally nee
essary that these securities should be
made more attractive TO the investing
public so that the railroads can In
crease their credit and obtain enough
money to make improvements and in
crease their equipment.
Sound Credit Essential.
RAILROAD regulation must encourage
sound credit or regulation Is failure"