The herald., 1917-09-13
LUXUR|ES ON RAIL
No Country Has Such Wasteful
Passenger Service as
Found in America.
NUMBER OF trains REDUCED
Present Condition Is Relic Of Old
Days of Unrestricted Competition
-RaiIroad President Was Al.
solute Monarch.

American love of luxury has no bet
ter example than the passenger serv-
ice provided by the railroads OF this
country. Every one knows that Amer
lean railroad trains are far il advance
of those of any other country in COM
fort, and for long distances at least in
speed also, but the travelling public
does not always realize that the great
multiplicity of passenger service pro-
vided between the important centers
Of population in this country is no
less luxury not enjoyed elsewhere
and one which the stern needs OF war
may shortly make it necessary to
fOrcgo.
1t has long been held by some rail
road managers that the interests OF
true economy demanded some reduc-
lion in the number of passenger trains
and one of the first steps taken by the
executive committee of the American
Railway association, which is practic-
ally in control of the nations trans
pOrtation facilities for the period of
the war, was to urge upon the various
companies the propriety of arranging
for a substantial reduction in paSsen-
ger service, the New York Sun says.
Play Days Of Rai'roading.
The present condition is relic, al
! most the last one, Of the old days or
unrestricted competition between the
different companies. 1t is a survival
d A. roe, IN
| the traffic managers office without su-
pervisiOn by federal or state commits
| sOnS, when cooperation was I'M
! dreamed of and each line considered
/ that its duty lay in running as many
trains as were necessary to care Tor
all the traffic between any points which
If served regardless CT rival lines
which were certain to share to some
extent in the business.
Those were the palmy days of rail-
roading. the days Of brass trimmed
locomotives, of sleeping cars fearfully
and wonderfully decorated, when di'
vision superintendent had the powers
of governor general and railroad
president was the absolute monarch
not only of all he surveyed, but gener
ally OF all the territory served by his
company. Statistics had not yet be
gun Ia play a prominent part in rail
road management. A soul SatiSfyin.
name for the newest crack train was
more important than the mere detail
of earnings per train mile.
Too Many Passenger Trains.
SO it came to pass that when IN
day of the railroad cZars came to al
end, as the day Of all cars seems t
do sooner or later, and much OF IN
authority which had once vested II
them began to be exercised by publ
service commissions il the severa
states, the abolition Of passenger train
became more or less political ques
ton. Any attempt to do away VIII
one was resisted to the bitter end b
every inhabitant Of the distric
through which the gaudy flyer passed
Il mattered not whether the particula
obiector had ever been aboard IN
train or not. Public service commi:
sions were often reluctant to fly In IN
face of public opinion. population II
creased, and not only did the unproh
able trains remnin In service but thei
, was a constan: demand for more an
more trains, frequently enforced by II