The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1917-06-08
ALL CLASSES HIT
WHEN RAILROAD
PROFITS DECLINE
Industry Feels Most Ksenly
Effect Of Railroad Poverty.


" - 1OsI CV hdliTO1Cn
In Meeting Maze of Legislative Re-
quirements-Lsws Contradict Each
Other.
"A man is As old as his arteries"
says a prominent health authority.
With equal truth IL may be said that
q country Is as prosperous as It's rail-
roads. for industry is the life OF n
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 I'm the history OF
Industry when manufacturing VAS n
one man affair. when every laborer
owned his own tools and made goods
for his neiehbors. Thai system passed
away with the invention of the steam
engine. aud no san 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 yolrs they
have been made the subject for all
sorts OF legal vivisectlon. They have
been chloroformed and cut open. and.
as usual In such cases, tie surgeons
have differed as TO the nature OF tho
malady and the necessary cure. The
prevailing theory. however. was that
the railroads were suffering from an
abnormal growth OF the income. SD
their income had 10 be ampuiated.
From a professional point OF view the
operation WAS c%minently successful.
but In "A number Of cases the patient
died. Recent mortality statistics show
a total Of 1862 miles of steam rail.
road in the hands OF receivers. the
roads involved having a total capitali-
zation OF 81. 190.4SS.210
One Ros sperd, SIC, ooo.o 900.
The avalanche OF adverse laws direct
ed against railroads has been so over
whelming that since 1906 the Pennsyl.
vania railroad on its lines east OF Pitts
burgh alone has spent $19.000OOO com.
plying with the legislative enactment
approximately that sum is equal 10 q
per cent income on $500, q 900.
Interstate railroads are exposed 10
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.
T~wenty-eight states specify headlight
requirements without any cooperation
with n 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 nullified by the failure OF the
states TO approve them. IL Is estimat.
ed That the railroads of the countr
are required TO make over 2.0OO.OOO re-
ports a year TO various state or federal
authorities.
or course the railroads do not bear
the burden OF this legal yoke alone. IL
rests as heavily or the shoulders oc
the 100000 or more owners OF Ameri-
can railway securities. many OF whom
are women dependent for supper upon
the income from these securities. In
surance companies. representing 60
100000 policy holders. have S1,5OO,OOO.-
900 invested In railway securities. and
savings banks. representing 100000
Gepositors. have SSc0.O00.O00 invested
in railroad stocks and bonds.
Wealth Of Roads BENEFITS Many.
According 10 the statistics OF railways
IN the United States issued III 1914. the
railroads then employed 1,7l0.296 per-
sons. to whom they paid approximately
S1.3S1.117.292 per year i'm 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. il must
appeal TO the industrial worker i'm
bread and butter terms. for he is the
first 70 feel the effects OF railroad i'm
poverishment. This was evidenced in
1914 and 1915. when the railroad sit
nation was most acute and when thou
sands OF men were out OF work and
the industries of the country were In
a eriou condition.
How can the industrial worker helg
70 put the railroads on n sounder work.
basis? By joining In a general pro-
test against the legislative avalanche.
by voting against the legislator who Is
In the passage Of the bur-
densome and taxatious laws that re-
duce railroad profits and the income
on railroad securities. In is vitality nee
esSary That these securities should be
made more attractive 70 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
sound credit or regulation Is a failure"
says A. J.. County. vice president OF
the Pennsylvania railroad. Sound
credit Is just as essential I'm the sail
road business as In mercantile arair.
and a railroad cannot have sound cred
II without the earning power TO pro-
luce a credit basls."-Irdgsfriol Coz.
serration, Gec York.