Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-05-23
sCRAMBLINc THE RAILROADS
How Will Director McAdoo's Latest Move
Affect After.the.War Disinte grafton?

Affect After.ihe.War Disinte grafton?
THE first question that is suggested by
the action of Mr.. McAdoo in ousting
every railroad president in the country
| is whether the director general OF rail-
| roads, as a leader of the Democratic
party, is scrambling the transportation
| lines during the war so inextricably that
they cannot be uns.rambled when peace
| comes.
The Government took over the direc-
| tion of the railroads in the winter be-
cause it was said they were not giving
| the service which was needed in war
! time. 1t was desirable that they should
| be operated as one system so far as
| possible. in order that there might be
economies and in order also that the
terminals might he used to the best adj
vantage. Mr.. McAdoo was appointed
| director general to bring about the op-
erative consolidation.
He has now decided that the railroad
| presidents, responsible to boards of di-
rectors representing the shareholders, are
not cooperating satisfactorily with him.
| I1y sweeping Dlttl llc lSlllDNNo wv y
| president He creates one regional di-
! rector and announces his intention to
appoint three Others to supplement- the
| director Of the East, whom he appointed
some time ago. The successors of tho
railroad presidents are to be called Fed
eral managers and they are to be respon-
sible to the regional directors and
! tLro ,cI, +bor, 10 NcA5oO
The operative control Of the roads is
thus taken from the hands of the
owners and put in the hands of ap-
| pontees of Mr.. McAdoo, who delivers
! himself of many fair words about pro-
tectinf the interests of the shareholders
and preserving the integrity of their
property. But his actions. which are
more eloquent, indicate that protection
of the property is to he secondary to
the consolidation of the various and
competing lines into one great system
dire ted by him The rolling stock Is
to he used interchangeably, the rails of
one line are to he free to other lines, the
stations and terminals are to he used in
| common and, in short the whole trans
port Ition system of the country is to be
| put in bag and shaken up in such
way that the problem of separating it
again into its original parts will tax the
skill, of experts and burden the courts
for years after the war. if the separation
is ever to he brought about.
Therein lies the gravity of the situa-
tion produced by Mr.. McAdoo's order.
| There is a strong faction in the Demo-
cratic party which is committed to Gov
ernment ownership of railroads. 1t is
admitted that this issue is likely % lie
the predominant one in the presidential
campaign of 1920. It is known that there
are more than a million and a half raj
road employees whose incomes are to he
increased by the action Of Mr.. McAdoo
a member of the cabinet Of a Demo-
cratic President. And it is known also
that party managers regard gratitude
as an emotion to which an effective ap-
peal can be made when they are seeking
votes If the Administration were delib-
| erately planning to bring about condi-
tons under which it could argue that Gov
ernment ownership was eXpedient and
were conciliating large body of voters
by giving them better pay, in order to
win support for its program, it could
not be conducting a more subtle cam
paign.
We should like to have the responsible
Democratic leaders djsclaim any such in
tention and assert that their sole purpose
is to bring about greater efficiency in
railroad operation to meet the exigencies
of the war. But even if they should do
so, we may be pardoned if we doubt the
wisdom of some of Mr.. McAdoo's an
nounced purposes. If Mr.. McAdoo thinks
that he can hire the best railroad talent
for 100000 year he is likely to discover
that there is higher market value than
that for great executive brains, coupled
with constructive imagination. But per-
haps he wants only men who will obey
orders. If this be so his assumption that
he possesses the genius to direct the rail
roads of a continent unaided by trained
experts with initiative of the highest
type is the most stupendous thing which
has appeared above the horizon in recent
years.
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AS the evening Of the primaries nro-
gressed 1t was easy enough n understand
why Democratic hopes Of dry nominee for
Governor would prove unavaiIing.