The Washington herald., 1918-06-03

now PREVAILS
Holland Shows S M doc
Takes Former Rail Heads
Principles.


General McAdoo of the unified and
federalized American railway sys-
tenn is now attempting to achieve.
and has partially achieved, are not
unlike in their scope and purpose
the plans which E. H. Hartman
mentally worked out after he had
completed, as far as possible. tho
improvement OF the Union Pacific
railroad.
Mr.. Hartman sometimes in his
terse and nervous manner outlined
to his intimate friends in this city
his idea of what Is essential II
there Is to be established an abso-
lutely perfect American railway
system. He went SO far as to un-
dertake to bring the Erie railroad,
the New York Central and the Bos-
ton and Albany into preliminary
the Union Pacific. He was per-
suaded that II would be not only
to the benefit of the railroads. but
there were to be established COM
plete coordination and co-opers-
tion. He was thought by his friends
to contemplate ultimately q unified
American railroad system. in fact,
exactly such a system as that over
which Mr.. McAdoo has supreme
control.
Mr.. Harrimans' view secured
some publicity and on that account
he was the subject of criticism.
while his plan was spoken of as al
most monstrous.
Mr.. Harriman's Plans.
Now Director General McAdoo, in
behalf of the government and of the
people. but Of course as a war meas
ure. is doing many things which are
Identical with those projects of Mr..
Hartman, which were deemed twenty
years ago visionary and chimerical.
Many were the criticisms, some of
them excessive. which were occasion
ed by the consolidation and co-ordina-
ton under single executive control of
many of the railroads in the South.
the consolidation now being identified
by the name: THE Southern Railroad
System"
The late J. P. Morgan Is presumed. |
probably correctly. to have worked out |
in his mind. and afterwards, in fact. |
the various consultations and unifica- |
tions now known as the Southern |
Railroad.
Mr.. Morgan was first brought into |
this field. because after other ex-
perts-some of them men who had |
been remarkably successful in rail-
road reorganization. as for instance |
the late Frederick B. Olcott-failed to
untangle the snarl. so to call II. in |
which the Richmond Terminal Sys-
tenn was involved.
Mr.. Morgan took the proposition |
over and through the assistance of
one of his partners. the late Mr.. Cos |
tar. did unravel that tangle. While |
this was being done. Mr.. Morgan and
those who were associated with him |
looked over the whole field of the |
South. They forecasted by mental
vision the possible future of the South |
from the viewpoint of industry and |
OF commerce.
Gathered Facts.
They gathered and assimilated a |
mass OF detailed information re-
lating to the admirable ports upon the |
Atlantic Coast south OF the Potomac
and upon the Gulf of Mexico. They
were able to map out mentally what
the advantageous relation OF unified
railway system in the South to the /
developments of these ports would be- |
Today. such southern ports which /
had long been stagnant-Jacksonville
Pensacola. Mobile. Gulfport and New
in position directly 10
facilitate the work Director General
McAdoo has undertaken. especially
for the relief OF congestion which mas
partially tied up such northern ports
as New York, Philadelphia. Baltimore
and Boston.
This remarkable development Of
southern ports. which has been hasten
ed by the exigencies of the war. re-
fleets the far-reaching purposes of
men who were at once time severely
criticised.
These were ]. P. Morgan, e. P.
Steyvesant Fish, ]. T. |
Harahan. Samuel Spencer. w. w.
Finley. Fairfax Harrison. Henry Wal
ters, Milton H. Smith. John Ske,ton
Williams. Henry B. Plant. Henry NJ.
Flagler and Norman R. Ream.
But for the purposes which ami
mated these men when they undertook
the unification of various railroad
systems IN the South and the i'm
of these railways in every
possible for Director General McAdoo
fully to take advantage of these
southern port facilities.
McAdoo Co-srdinating.
McAdoo. in his capacity as Di-
rector General of the railroads and
by reason of the authority given
him by Congress to federalize and
lnify American railway systems, Is
now able to make maximum use of
southern port facilities, and this
will undoubtedly prove to be a sat
solution OF the problem of
at eastern ports. Isy rea-
son of this coordination and uni
1cation of southern railroads, the
Inference in the inland haul and
detention to steamers in loading at
ports is about ten days in favor of
he southern ports. 1
c. P. Huntington. when contem-
plating a true transcontinental sys-
lem through coordination and op-
eration of railroads which when
United would under single author
" connect the Atlantic with the
Pacific. put his fnger upon the map
lt barren place off the harbor of
hampton Roads. and declared at
nat place there must be a city.
IL Is now a city of nearly $4,000
people. Great government works
are established there. Important
commerce is concentrated there.
,no snlpouilding upon a large scale
. under way there.
Inese Things could not have been
accomplished at this time ba6 ~
not been for Mr.. Huntineton,s fors
sight, although he u.s ,at -,