New Britain herald., 1918-09-18
Railroad Deficit.
(The Philadelphia Bulletin )

|
 One does not necessarily undertake
 a brief for Government ownership or | operation of railroads merely to deal l justly with the deficit which is shown | in the first six months of the McAdOO administration of the railroads, and | the later determination of the issue 1 between perpetua ting Government 1 control and the return of the rail | roads to their corporate owners will 1 be as intelligent and satisfactory if 1 the facts of the present situation and ! the first six months experience are | viewed without prejudice.
 l The inclusion of the back pay for 1 all railroad workers. due under the wage advance order, in the June oper- l ating expenses, makes the figures of 1 that month useless for the purposes | of comparison. and allowance for the l full increase of wages must be made l in considering the six months figures. | In a measure, this is offset by the in
 crease in rates which the Govern l ment control has established.
 But, aside from the matter of wages l if must be recognized that the entire cost of railroad living has gone Up
 on scale comparative to the expe- |
 item of material, for operation or l maintenance, has increased in cost. l Moreover, there have been expensive
 handicaps in the operation of trains. l freight as well as passenger. Five 1 million troops have been transported oN the railroads within a year, the | greater part within the past six i months, and generally for long hauls, i for which the rate of compensation 1 has not been the equal of the charge 1 that would have been made for the ! same amount of passenger service. l The Governments demands on the 1 freight service have been in even
 greater proportion, and, although this l business has paid the established | rates it has been moved in preferen-
 tial manner, involving, together with
 such general traffic as the railroads | have strained their resources to ac-
 commodate, the increased expense of ! extraordinary overtime, a greater con-
 sumption of fuel abnormal labor
 requirements in yard work and | switching, and the general confusion
 which attends congestion of any oper- ! atiOn.
 To these factOrS-WhiCh are ObVi-
 ous at a moments thought--there is | to be added the disruption of the | working force of the railroad operat- ] ing organization, the extravagant 1 turnover of labor. the loss of eff
 ciency in the employmen tof untrained 1 help, the substitution of women for ! men, or the breaking in of new men, l which has neCeSSitated an actual in l crease in the numbers on the payrOlls. l After all the operation of the rail 1 roads of the country for the past six 1 months has been in the hands of
 railroad men, chiefly, and, if we are
 to credit them with the spirit of l loyalty. which we would like to as-
 sume, and reject the prejudiccd theo-
 ry that they are guilty of high-class l sabotage, which the BolsheVikS of the 1 country suggest, we must recognize 1 the fact that conditions, rather than | the change in official control are | chargeable with the greater expense 1 and the deficit.
 l peCt notable economies in Government | OperatiOn No experience that the
 American people have had in Gov | ernment enterprises warrants such a 1 hope But there will be plenty of i opportunity to make fair cOmpari-
 sons and argue that question intelli- ! gently without taking this initial
 period of confusion as a basis for de-
 ductions which are Qnintelligent and 1 unfair,