Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-02-12
RAILROAD BILL
PROVIDES HUGE
r. R. DIVIDENDS
Senator Cummins Points Out
Bad Features in McAdoo
Measure

lHt government Dill ueallnR WIN
railroad control by the Secretary of
the Treasury goes through Congress
are shown in report upon the
measure submitted to the Senate
yesterday by Senator Cummns, mi
nority member of the Interstate
Commerce Committee.
Senator Cummins declares that
these dividends will. in the case of
the Bessemer and Lake Erie Rail-
road, exceed 500 per cent, and that
for some of the roads taken over by
the Government the profits to the
stockholders will be very materially
increased if the plan of compensa-
tion recommended by the President
is adopted.
Senator Cummins declares that the
proposition to continue one-man con-
troll of the railroads FOR eighteen
months after the war is ended is
abhorrent to every principle upon
which free government is based. On
the point Senator Cummins says:
Too Much One-Man Power
mo sane person could even dream
ST granting to one man without law
to restrict him or rules to guide him
tithe of such power in time of
peace. 1t is utterly abhorrent to
the fundamental principles which
underlie free government to con-
tinue these powers a single moment
beyond the end of the war. When
peace comes, the management and
operation of the railroads should in
stantly pass to a responsible board,
appointed by the President and con-
firmed by the Senate, governed by
law and removed as completely as is
humanity possible from the tempta-
tion to use authority for personal or
partisan advantage"
Senator Cummins insists that the
rate-making power should be left
with the Interstate Commerce Com
mission and that abandonment of all
existing provisions of law will lead
to the greater confusion in the en-
tire transportation system.
The confusion, he showed. is al
ready so great that Congress, plan
ming to legislate upon the subject,
does not know what roads are un-
der Government control, what are the
relations of these roads, tEeir Off
GERS and employees, to the Govern
ment or what plan of operation is to
be put into effect.
Millions in Guarantee
"If the bill passes in its present
form" said Senator Cummins, and
agreements are made with the rail-
Government will have guaranteed
according to the majority reporD,
an aggregate annual operating in
come of somewhat more than $780,
10000. In the judgment of the
writer of this paper, mis- sum is at
least sl75, 900. 900 more than fair, just
compensation for the use of the
properties under the circumstance
and conditions which now surround
and confront us.
THE aggregate par value June 30,
1917, of the capital stock of all the
railroads eliminating duplication
and omitting some of the ve"y small
roads which do not reporD was So
314,57O,554. A simple computation
shows that the aggregate proposed
guaranty will pay eight and five
tenths per cent per year upon the
par value of all capital stock of all
the railroads of the country. The
mere statement of the proposal puts
it beyond defense.
"Inasmuch as there are certain
systems whicn are large and VIII
known, it will not be amiss TO direct
especial attention to some of Them.
Under the plan recommend 81 in the
kill, each of the following compa-
MES will nave for its sto 2kholders
annually during federal control:
HOW Much Must Go Out
Per
Cent.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Co. ,S.92|
The Pennsylvania Co. ..... 1872
nc road ieG co. .................... 1896
r. Hallway ip'' CO. ...a.........'.. ~ 25.7O'
Del%mt Wesfarn Railroad Co. ...... $3.50.
Michigan Central Railroad Co. 1S.4S
Cenerss jersey i'a.'toau ................ 80 2O.25
Wasbington Railroad Co. ... 11.5O
Hooking Valley Railway Co. =. 11.94
Illinois Central Railroad Co. 11.33
lI@aS road ''tS CO. anu ....t,.."........... 1875
->3! Co ON .a.'.....s.............. Gnu 1851
chesapeake and ohio lines :. 9.3I
co. ....,.................... 1880
Central OF Of Georgia Railroad Co. 9so
Louis railroad co. .......... 1860
Mobile and Ohio Railroad Co; 1916
Cincinnati, New Orleans and
Texas Pacific Railroad Co. 44.99
Florida East Coast Railroad Co. 1906
Railroad Co. ................ 1918
Chicago. Burlington and Quincy
Minaeapoiis. st. Paul and sault ~
Ste. Marie Railroad Co. -. 1909
Chicago, st. Paul, Minneapolis
and Omaha Railway Co. 80. 9.57
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
Railroad Co. ................ 80!
Southern Pacific Co. .......... $50
Chicago. Milwaukee and st.
Paul Railroad Co. .......... 6.15l
Great Northern Railroad .... 9.63
Northern Pacific Railroad ... 9.S7
Union Pacific Railroad ........ 9.64
81 have referred to the larger sys-
TENS, but to emphasize both the ex-
cessiveness of the standard and the
disparity 1t introduces, it may he
well to suggest that the following
will have for their stockh Jlders:
Per.
Bessemer and Lake Erie Rail-
road .................. 647.22
Chicago and Erie Railroad 70.45
New York, Philadelphia and
Norfolk Railroad ........, 35.74I
Cumberland Valley Railroad 24.Of
Lehigh and Hudson River -. 27.gSi
Charleston and Western Caro-
lima Railroad .....::.:.... 21.67
Duluth, Miss. and Northern
Eaiiroad ,....'I.........:,. l114.12
road .....,,............. 1927
Railroad .............. 6427I
st. Louis, Brownsville and
Mexico Railroad .;........;. 52.71I
road ................... 1884
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