Evening journal., 1918-01-09
The Congress Railway Measure Can
Be Made As Good As II Is Necessary
lFrom the New York SUM.

The transcendent good Of the Con
gress measure providing the means for
the holding operating and financing Of
the American transportation system by
the President-for in this great matter
the President is made a dictator abso-
! lute--is that 10 takes the shortest pos.
sible cut to the end which no man shall
! gainsay Is imperative This is the i'm
mediate salvation Of the railways upon
whose salvation now depends in turn
not merely the nations military fate
but its industrial and commercial life
as well.
We may stlll cherish our theories and
convictions about the economic fallacy
under normal conditions Of Government
ownership and operation of public
utilities; certainly, believing before and
stll believing that bureaucratic red
tape, perfunclory service and elernaI
inertia inseparable from Government
functions never viii perform any busi-
ness either so cheaply or so well as
private enterprise, inspiration aud cour-
age when free to act. The sun has no
more faith today than il had yesterday
in such dead level functioning for the
long run. But none of us can fail TO
see, and we are bound TO declare, since
the railroads under private operation
have been starved and stifed for years
by Government restriction, Federal and
State, and even in war peril were
doomed 10 go on being starved and
stlned that only the very Government
which has all but ruined them can
now save them. And it must save them
with heroic treatment.
This heroic treatment for instant res
cue is I'm the Governments programme
and Congress bill beyond question. 10
grabs the roads away from their Gus
tomary use by either owners or
patrons. 10 cuts out extraordinary
luxuries to which the public has be-
come addicted; 10 amputates alike or
binary trains IL even dumps psssen-
gers out Of the cars and lets them jour
ney along as best they may.
But every road that was bankrupt
is made solvent Every road that IS
still earning profits is assured of con-
tinuing TO earn profits Every road that
is still paying dividends can go on pay
ing dividends. Every road that has
striven in vain under Government dis
couragement and oppression to pay
dividends can become, with the prof
fered Government aid and support.
dividend payer.
All Of that, still more. is provided for
In the standard return of Section 1 |
guaranteeing the carrier a net income
equal TO II average net income for the
three years ended June 80 last: In the
revolving fund Of Section 6, promising
cash TO keep up The roads; in the Gov .
ernment plum Of Section z, 10 purchase
new railway securities through the
Treasury the public will not buy
them. Even the railway labor agitator
hitherto dtyouring the fruit Of every I
increased afllc rate before it came 10 /
bloom Is IVY restrained under Section
~ from try ing to pile ties on the tracks [
Of The nat ,nal railway system in the .
old familiai way.
So, then, when the railways are saved
when from being sick, starved and dy-
ing they ar1 made we'll and strong the
doubtful ani even the dangerous things .
about the Congress measure sink for
the moment at least into comparative
insigniflcance We might as well look
them IN the face We may then the
better judge that capacity for mischief I
or harm does not necessarily mean
that the mischief or harm must or will
be done Il depends upon what is in
tended and worked out.
There Is in the bill, as it reads. not
merely temporary but permanent So
ciallsm. There IS in the bill, as it reads,
possibility smacking as strongly Of con- \
flscation as an Italian salad smacks Of n
garlic There is in the bill as it reads,
an insidious means Of permitting the II
President to use railway revenues for
almost anything There is in the bill
as IL reads, no opportunity for the1I
owners Of the roads 10 get back THEN
property, peace or war II Congress
does not happen 10 feel like giving it
back to them.
Let US consider some Of the details
It is true that the roads go into this
arrangement Of the standard return by
agreement and on financial terms both
Just and generous Section 4 provides
for that; but. once IL is entered into 1
1t Is not a contract automatically ex-
piring at a given time or as much as
by mutual consent. Under Section i2
1.-The Federal control shall continue for
and during the period CT the war ana
until Congress shall thereafter order
otherwise" Il is, so to speak, a volun-
tary partnership TO go into; but there
upon IL becomes a marriage the divorce
from which can come only by decree
Of Congress, one Of the contracting par
ties. That could be made as one sided
an srrangement as Is imaginable; but
Il can be worked out fairly If a future
Congress so wishes, II will be II the