New-York tribune., 1918-02-07
Considers Government
Ownership a Curse


Another railway president was not
so placidly happy. He felt the relief
from the everlasting confronting of
the problem of how to keep his
system growing and expanding in
spite of the laws, but he thought
the Railways ought to have been re-
sourceful enough to have forced solu-
ton by remedial legislation that would
have prevented the perhaps irretriev-
able error OF government control. He
didn't mean that it was an error for
the government, in the circumstances,
to take over the railways. but he meant
that it tended toward government own
ership. which he considered would be
curse to the government and to the
railways. As he sees it, the railways
would have blessed the nation if they
could have found some way to do the
nations work without becoming the
nations conScript and perhaps it's chat
tel. This president blamed the rail
ways for not understanding the psy-
chology of the nation. He thinks that
as long as ten years ago the railways
should have stopped fussing with the
Interstate Commerce Commission and
taken their case directly to the people.
He believes that campaign of educa-
tonal publicity would have resulted in
legislation that would have given the
railways a free field for development
and ample income and credit. In that
case they would have come down to
1917 with 1917 calibre instead Of 1907
calbre, and then forced draft in
crease of so per cent in the amount of
work done as compared with 1915 would
have made short work of the extra
volume of business let loose by the
war. Instead Of boldly demanding JUS
fny Of 1ic
the railways turned the vital problem
over to their lawyers and the casuis
try of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission and got about half enough to
pay for the cost of coal wasted by the
incompetent firemen they have had to
take on since the experts went to war.
so the war caught them with INSULT
cient capacity for the. normal 1917
business, and though they did Won
ish army on the retreat from Mons,
they were overwhelmed by a task be-
yond their capacity.
Fun in Being
A Rubber Stamp
A third hallway president frankly
confessed that he didn't have any
ideas on anything except actual rail
way operation. Il am only ruDoef
stamp now, and you don't know what
fun it is to be rubber stamp-after
a long time of making them. | feel
like hired man who sits down to
square meal of pork and beans and
few substantial trimmings after listen
ing for hours to dull discussion of
some abstract subject. 1t is SO restful
to let Mr.. McAdoo do the thinking. He
tires himself out with the abstract
stuff and | get the pork and beans. He
thinks and ! act. He has the trouble
and have the fun. About all l can
think of all this great national rail-
way miX-up is that Providence has in
tervened. We were headed toward
chaos, and now all our troubles are
over for the time being. What do
twenty billions worth of railways
amount to in war like this? We have
pooled our troubles with those of all
patriots. AS for ME, now have time
to get out on the line and talk with
Jim and Bill and Harry and all that
fine bunch of fellows that are doing
the roads work Pm a railroad man
again. No more window dressing for
me-"
SO, there you are. These tired rail-
road men cannot enlighten you as to
the future of the railways. For light
on that subject you must 60 to the
smoking room, the corner grocery or
tn chair of economics at the college.