The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-06-08
ALL CLASSES HIT
WHEN RAILROAD
PROFITS DECLINE
Industry Feels Most kesn|y
Effect Of Railroad Poverty.
UNWISE LAWS MAKE TROUBLE

Other.
"A man Is as old as his arteries"
says prominent health authority.
With equal truth 1t may be said that
country Is as prosperous as its rail
roads. for industry is the life of a
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 time In the history OF
industry when manufacturing was a
one man affair. when every laborer
owned his own tools and made goods
for 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
ponds absolutely on the facilities for
distribution provided by the railroads
But how have the railroads been re
warded for making possible the evolu
ton 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 a professional point Of view the
operation was eminently successful
but In a number of cases the patient
died. Recent mortality statistics show
total Of 1862 miles Of steam rail
road in the hands of receivers. the
roads involved having a total capitali
zation Of $1,70O, 4SS,21O.
One Roa Spend, S1e.0o0,oo0.
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.OOO000 com
plying with the legislative enactments.
Approximately that sum is equal to
per cent income on $30O,OOO,OOO
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 nulifed by the failure OF the
states to approve them. 1t is estimat
ed that the railroads OF the country
are required to make over 2.000,000 re
ports year to various state or federal
authorities
OF course the railroads do not bear
the burden Of this legal yoke alone. II
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 80.
100000 policy holders have $1.500.000.
600 invested in railway securities, and
savings banks, representing 100000
depositors, have $S0O,O00,000 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. ILL., 300 per year In wages and
salaries. The expenditure of that sum
Is certainly substantial contribution
TO the income Of all mercantile and
manufacturing enterprises. But. while
the railroad situation claims the attcn
ton Of all classes Of citizens. IL must
appeal to the industrial worker IL
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 ST.
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 heir
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
densome and taxatious laws that re
duce railroad profits and the income
on railroad securities. II Is vitally nee
essary that these securities should hs
made more attractive to the investinc
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"
says A. J. County, vice president OF
the Pennsylvania railroad. Sound
credit is just as essential in the rail.
road business as In mercantile affairs.
and railroad cannot have sound cred
II without the earning power to pro
duce a credit basis. industrial C0a-
serpafion, Ncsr York.