Evening star., 1918-01-13
Workings of German Railway System i'm Peace and War
War

determining freight rates than doms1-
tic markets. The system OF syndic9teD
ing this policy effective. The German
consumer. while he growled occasion
ally, accepted this condition with the
same docility that he accepted every
his good. Yet this system at times bore
pretty heavily on him. When he did com
plain he was pacified by an ingenious
showing Of the ns benefits ne ssta Of The peS
tional tarifs on goods for export pro-
vfded different schedules for European
countries and for distant overseas
countries. such as the United ssstss.
from the steel mills at Dortmund to
Hamburg the rate would be Sl.30 per
ton in carload lots of ten tons tor other
countries beyond Europe, and $2os per
ton for Hamburg itself.
Shipments abroad OF many classes Of
of carload rates. although the quantity
might be less than a carload.
The United States. in its war opeTe-
tion of the railroads. has not reach90.
slider the question OF transportation
rates on shipments abroad as q meAup
of increasing foreign markets. That IA
however. one Of the questions of the fn-
ture that viii have to be faced, partfcu-
larly If government control in war
should merge into government ownet-
ship In peace.
The German system has been ana
lyzed in great detail in numerous Oh
cial reports. It also has been de-
nounced as the feature Of German ma
tional policy which the allies must de-
stroy II Germany's plan Of world
economic domination Is to be thYarted-
Sweeping generalizatiops should not be
made on this point, and 1t might bs
well to reserve judgment. The London
Times, in its attack years ago On
Lloyd Georges inclination to adopt the
German railway system. pointed out
that Germany was not alone in confer
special export rates. 1t gave examples
of similar rates granted by the Eng
lish railway companies on various
kinds of textiles. 1t is not in evidence
that since the British government took
over the operation of the railways this
practice has been changed.
The question of rates as affected by fa&
or slow service is Of some interest to the
United States, in view Of the practice
which has prevailed here. Under the Ger.
man system the two services were known
as the "eilgut.'' OF express, and the frach-
gut or slow freight. There were various
subdivisions of these two services, with
rates graduated accordingly The general
principle was that on the fast freight
trains the rates were double those for the
SLOW trains, but on some commodities
they were fourfold. 4 similar system
prevails in France. Rates on the German
spectiye of direction. The German bpIeaat-
Gratis always claimed that simplicity was
one Of the great advantages ot thstr sys-
tenn Elasticity they did not take into
account, since the exceptional rates wete
worked out SO thoroughly that. In their
view. there was no need Of appdicstious vt
individual judgment to meet special c4SeA
AS in everything else. whatever situation
might arise was provided for. or II Il was
not provided for it would better b mt
alone anyhow. It will have to be said fof
there was no favorftisin and no discrtmi
nation such as the Interstate Commerce.
Commission OF the United States tor yeau
was engaged In remedying.
Should the war control Of the entire rail-
way system of the country lead toward
government ownership Germany's expert
ence will need to be studied in the Hght
Of national policy in peace times and FREQ
from the resentment against her war
policy: Difference in conditions always
must be kept in mind, but It VIII be cited
by those who think the transportation
system of the United States may be formed
into single unit that when bismarck
We're nearly hundred different railway
administrations in the German empire.
with more than thirteen hundred rate
tables 1t may also serve. not as a prece-
dent but as suggestion. that under the
German railway legislation the state u
empowered to take over private lines II
a valuation based on the dividends Tor
the ten previous years. Also it may be
recalled that in the early days Of the ex-
pertinent in Prussia the minister OF rail.
ways feared increase Of traffic because
his colleague. the minister Of financa, In
sisted on having the railway revenues
applied to cover expenditures OF the gov
ernnent in other departments.