The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-05-31

z
! Lose Of En6eisney-osoIsrss rhs
Z Cr'sis Csnfrents Country on Aeoeun
Z Of Transportation situatien-le~ee
! Freight Rates 10 D. Found In Unite,
Z States.
Z Washington, May l4-That the Uni,
J ed States Is face to face with a seriou,
I crisis In Its commercial affairs due I,
! the conditions by which Its transporta
Z ton system is confronted. was the opin
Ion expressed by w. NJ. Acworth. Eng.
lands leading authority on railways
! before the Newlands joint committee
on interstate commerce At a special
session held here to enable the com.
mittee to hear his views before his de-
parture for London this week Two
steps are necessary, according to Mr.
Acworth, to avert this crisis and to
solve the threatening railroad problem
confronting the country.
| The first II to allow the railroads To
charge freight rates sufficient to meet
the great advance in operating ex.
penses which Is taking place and to
enable them to command the credit
necessary to provide the extensions
and improvements needed to meet the
growing demands Of business. The sec
ond is to do away with the multiple
and conflicting systems OF regulation
that now hamper railway operation
and to provide one centralized reg,,4a-
tory agency with such local subdiyi- |
sions as may be necessary.
Higher Rates . Public Necessity.
Mr. Acworth's views on the transpor-
taton situation in the United States
were expressed In answer to questions
by members of the committee, who
asked him to apply his knowledge
or railway conditions throughout the
world and Of the experience OF other
countries with government ownership
to the present problem before the Unit
ed States.
The fundamental factor In the sit
uation Is very simple" said Mr.. Ac-
worth. ut lies in the fact that you
cannot get three-quarters OF cents
worth Of work done for less than three. {
quarters OF cent, no matter whether
the agency performing II is a govern S
ment or private enterprise Freight I
rates must advance when the cost of
performing the service advances as
t is doing at present, just as the price
II bread or meat or any other com
modify Increases with increased cost 5
# production" Il
In answer to a question Mr.. Ac-
worth said mat he thought American Ii
reight rates had been at much too low 8,
level for several years past. that they n,
ad reached this low point during the /.
eriOd OF cutthroat competition among
ne roads and had since been held :.
lere by regulating bodies. Unless re- u
ef were afforded to the carriers very III
he said, the result would -
g tremendous loss to the people OF III
le whole country through insufficient
: Of transportation facilities. -
Weakness Of Government Ownership. Co
On the subject OF government owner Ca
Zip Of railways Mr.. Acworth said: an
1T 10 impossible to obtain satisfac- az
~ results on government railways -. o;
. democratic state unless the man e~I
cement il cut loose from direct polit- M
Il control. Neither Australia nor DO,
y other country with . democrat The
constitutiOn-perhaps an exception sal
ght to be made Of Switxerland-has vel
cceeded In maintaining q perma nent til
verance. In France, In Belgium, In tna
lly, parliamentary interference never nag
, been abandoned for q moment. scr
o facts show that government In. an
ference has meant running the rail.
~ not for the benefit Of the people A.
large, but to satisfy local and Sec
nal and even personal interests.
russia, Mr.. Acworth said was the
It example Of an efficient govern
mt railway system, and he pointed rer
that military considerations were r
ated as Of paramount importance In
Prussian railway system. While r
erican freight rates had been re- poir
ed nearly 40 per cent In thirty Cou
RS, rates In Prussia were nearly as Con
b as at the beginning OF the period. ana
lie the charge for moving a ton OF an
ght one mile In the United States ~.
! a trife over three-quarters Of a -
= VIC III '"SSia was LII tiee
- afor
: illustrating the difference in rates dece
geen government and private roads Dist
Acwortb compared the railways next
Sew South Wales, Australia, with o'clo
G OF Texas. While the amount OF SIX !
ic 10 each mile OF line was about =. y
same In both cases, be pointed out. ~ H..
Texas railways performed for the ,IIoa
ic four times as much service as IA
government owned roads N New A. ID
h Wales. The charge In Texas
hauling a ton OF freight one mile
less than ! cent, while In the Aus
an state II was well over cents
merican railways lead the world" ~
Mr. Acworth. Nowadays when ieru'
In any other part Of the world -
70 know how TO run q railway Tho
come 10 the United States and "Movi
your railways here. The Amer. ada Is