New Britain herald., 1918-05-30
54ag@ Railway Regulation and Operation.

ment told the railways how railways ought to be operated. As operator,
 the governments way differs from the way of the railways only by the
 governments use of methods which the regulators laws put out of the question for the railways When the railways asked for the funds which the government now allows them, the regulators repeatedly told the railways that they should first increase their economies and efficiency. As operator, the government does both, but only by methods for which the railways
 were prosecuted. They are combining
 and pooling and teasing to compete
 most heinOusly.
 The result is satisfactory to all who
 think that the service of the railways is more important than the question either of rates or profits. The billion
 dollars now made availa ble to the rail-
 ways merely enables them to do what they were stopped from doing because
 the emphasis of regulation was placed
 upon the reduction of rates and prof
 it's rather than upon the increase of efficiency. The rates have been re-
 duced, and the wage cost has been in creased 6s per cent, All other railway
 costs have been increased, including
 taxes, by hundreds per cent. There Is
 no OlIlcl9l LOIaI vet or the Duf0enS tn 6 government put on railways by taxes as inVidious as burNnnsome One rail- way reported that it's federal taxes in creased 95 per ca It. in 1917 over 191s. another 734 per cent The method of taxing is bad as the method of reg ulating, and the end has been reached. The government must now do for the railways what they are too anaemjc to do for themselves.
 They have been bled white, and for years they have topped their better ments. It would be worth uncOunted billions if the country now had the use of the betterments which the rail- ways were accustom ed to provide in a manner which some thought too law ish, but which is now seen to be for tunate. The ~Pennsylvania's terminal in this city was of great use in break l Ing the coal blockade last winter, and 1 is now availa hle for other railways for i passenger traffic. Now it is the gov- ernment's turn to spend, and large fig 1 ures are used. But the governm ent's outlay is only part of what the rail ways were accustomed to spend. Some hundreds of millions of eauipment It was ordered for the railways by the government the other day but that is only some two-thirt1s of what the rail | ways were accustomed to spend on that item under distress and oppre:- sion. The governments order for 100, 900 freight cars is only about half of the railways accustomed quota, and increases capacity only by some five per cent.
 No argum ent to the contrary is pos sible. The war cannot be won without increasing the efficiency of the rail- ways. There remains only the ques- tion of ways and means. That ques- tion was put in the way of answer Saturday when the War Finance cor poration was sworn in. just before the governments announcement of the increase of betterments by govern ment order The credit of the railways is so poor that they could not raise the funds without assistance in the money market. The War Finance corporation alone could not do it, i without the help of the increase of rates which is the only alternative to raising the billion dollars by taxes. l Fortunately the government is in con- 1 trol of the rate question specifically, and summary action may be expected from standpoint sympathetic with l the difficulties of operation.
 The longer the delay the greater the ! difficulty. Already there is organized opposition. the National Association of State Railroad Com missions having l asked for hearing of what has been heard to the point of weariness. Their ! plea is that the increase of rates will l increase the cost of wheat carriage to 1 New York S-10 cents and flour 17 l 2 l cents a barrel The state commissions 1 also want the federal rates to be made 1 to conform to state rates, although | the state rates havc been condemned l,
 T,{1
 The increase of rates will be only by mills and the addition to the freight i cost will be under r~ ntrol so strict 1 that the effect upon prices will not be , so fragrant under more normal con- 1 ditions. The demand that intrastate 1 rates shall control interstate rates is , meretrfcious It is as separatist as a, , customs tariff would be. and is de- signed to discriminate in favor of local 1 over national interests.
 Such appeals have a, different recep- ton now from that in the temper of { the anti railway time. There is ittle 1 danger that the railways will get more than they ought to have, but the error should be on that side. Only good i can come from putting the railways at their financial ease at the cost of those who receive the benefits. The billion dollars is an addition to the in- dustria wage fund, in addition to the specific advance of railway wage rates The improvement of railway credit will be a help to the general financial situation, The stimulus to trade will he of advantage to even those who pay the higher rates in the first instance. No one can wish for another coalless winter, nor for pb- struction to building ships from diff culty of moving materials nor for any