Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-09-27
DEVELOPMENT AND METHODS OF CONTROL

plain valley, with the aid of water transportation, but cross
linn The railway dis.;y, as as q dOminating factor in modern = civiliza;
and Manchester railway by George Stephenson and the trial
Of the Rocket" locomotive thereon in 1880. Previous to that
S Sats f EnsiaHd s snd TIED S ey asT' sts9ss; ad G nssm in use an in
tempts had been made in both countries to utilize the steam
embody the necessary elements Of a successful shi locomotive Ias We u
,o The discovery that FRACTIONAL adhesion between smooth
propel a vehicle was made in 1911 by a coal proprietor of
Britain i III The short Quincy granite road was built in 1887
and Hudson railroad company was chartered to build a line
from Albany to S Schenectady in 1926, and the road was opened
e;.. In this connection the striking fact appears that the
from st. Johns to the village Of La Prairie on the St. Law
c esnSa; oRpG fIsesI M0ntFeal' co and thus +s supplemented }dtsn,,nts1 i Lake axe
great International route ever since seen as looming in
The St. Lawrence and Champlain Railroad company,
which yhiSia built this line inc, obtained its charter from the Canadian
length and consisted of plate rails on wooden sleepers. At
the outset it had two locomotives, one Of which was made
It is a far cry from the company Of private individuals
who constructed the St: Lawrence and Champlain railway
the government controlled railway system Of 1917, now re-
garded as a public possession.
A host of people believe we have so hedged about rail
way operation and railway transportation that private capital
will no longer go into railroad construction, and thus aid in
sentiment has come to be divided into two schools, the one
tha nnpD3idI' government "sa1S !, ownership, or control equivalent
freedom of action to enable railroads to branch out and meet
'ne s Hs long o sgo ss D De- e er0 3, 1884, 1So Hn1 Prsside ssry theodore
Roosevelt in his message to Congress used these words: ut
through which the commercial lifebiood Of this nation flows flows.
Nothing, could be more foolish than the enactment of legis-
ment and operation of these commercial agencies"
In spite Of this and other warnings the people of the
as well as in the various States until great railway sys-
tens hardly knew which to turn to meet conflicting legis-
be blamed for some of these developments. They took ad.
vantage Of the fact that interstate commerce was controlled
by Congress to evade State legislation. The people then
naturally sought to head off this evasion by appealing to
The next stage of development in railroad control was
to demand removal or elimination of the twilight zones"
Of some means Of simplifying the situation becomes evi-
dent, when we stop to consider existing conditions con-
President A. H. Smith of the New York Central has
shown, for example, that this sytem represents no less than
States and subject to legislation in each one of these States as
well as to Congress.
lines between Albany and Buffalo, Passengers q would SaI not d dream
of tolerating a system that would require them to change cars
Auburn, then again at Rochester, and a sixth time at Buffalo
in passing through to Chicago. The avoidance of that necess-
lty as well as the advantages and economies of common
ownership account for the consolidation of connecting rail-
On the other hand, numerous disadvantages are at
tached to the ownership Of a railroad system extending
that no less than three States have passed laws making it
illegal for a carrier having repair shops in the State to send
out oIf Of the State for repairs airs in IN a. another hers State At 'e no m sater
how the cost is increased. Fifteen States have tried to Sc
CuIc PIclcIIeu CIedCWeHC II r0uTOaOS Tor Cnelr own
traffic. This is all the more noteworthy when we consider
we have asked Congress to pass laws against any discrimina-
ton as between shippers. The railroads are subject to no
less than 43 different State commissions beside the federal
Interstate Commerce Commission.
Under the circumstances the republican national con-
vention in 1915 adopted this plank: Interstate and intra-
state transportation have become so interviewer that the at
tempt to apply two sets and often several sets of laws to its
regulation has produced conflicts of authority, embarrass-
msnt in operation and inconvenience and expense to the
has become essentially national. We, therefore, favor such
action by legislation, or, if necessary, through an amend
ment to the Constitution Of the United States, as will result
in placing it under exclusive federal control" This idea has
not yet been placed on national statutes.
We are moving tremendously fast in this age of war, and
even federal regulation no longer meets the necessities of
the situation. The public has demanded that the federal
government step in and virtually take possession of railroad
facilities, so far as is necessary to ensure the prompt handling
of war necessities.
We do not realize that the Central Vermont and the
Rutland railroads, for example, are to-day sidetracking other
freight, if necessary, to meet the demands of the Washing
ton authorities for the speedy passage of supplies for the
war and navy departments. This is going on with other
words, the government is having the same service as though
the people owned the railroads. In short the people as a whole
are enjoying this service at the expense of individuals.
The advantages and disadvantages of government and
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