New-York tribune., 1918-01-06
State Operation Of Railroads
In Britain Has Pleased Public:
Control After War Predicted
Service Is So Much Superior That MANY
Say the British Public Will Never Consent
to Return to Old Conditions, Despite
Higher Present Passenger Fares

embark on the ocean. and even the.
'uey nave to pay excess on weight
above 100 pounds Also on most. if
not all. routes luncheon and dining
cars have been abolished, while frcght
unless specially allowed precedence
W So''e government department-h as
TO take a somewhat slim chance.
With the whole country humminr
forMar production, those hardships do
NOT seriously restrict traffic. and un-
doubtedly the companies arc reapins
nigh revenues. the benefit Of which,
under the arrangements above described,
goes to the state. But it is not quite
true that the state has made good
bargain at the expense of the share
holders. There is another side to the
story, and that is labor. Let us look
at it.
The Wage Question
Before the war the net revenue of
British railroads available for divi
dends Of all kinds was. in round
figures. eo0,000.000,' The companies
paid very low wages. About 100000 out
OF these 100000 employees received un-
der 81 week, and while many Of these
were porters, who made good on tips,
the record was not wholly creditable
to our industrial reputation. The prac-
recruit
their workers in the villages, where
agricultural labor earned only, say, IS
to Is shillings a week, and this reser-
volr OF cheap man-power depressed
wage rates throughout the entire
transport system. When war broke out
labor rose to q premium and wage in
creases have been granted which, up to
few weeks ago, must have involved
the mpanies-t is, the state,
which guarantees the companes--in
an annual charge of 925, 900 900, or half
the available fund for dividends. These
increases are partly in the shape Of
war bonuses. but it is easier to con-
cede war bonus than to bring it to
an end. And the boon to labor, how
ever costly, may be regarded as perma-
nent And it is only a beginning. Fur
ther wage concessions, involving sew
eral millions, are now certain.
The effect must be either more ex-
pensive travel for the public after the
war or a state subsidy for railroad
capital. Moreover, when the time comes
for reconstructng a damaged civiliza-
ton immense massf.s of railroad stock
pairs have been postponed. Hundreds
on hundreds OF miles Of track have
been shipped off to France and else
where. All this will have to be put
right.
Socialism is not perhaps a very popu-
lar word, but if it means state-owner-
ship, then in Britain they are getting
it. Railroads, docks, street cars and
80 per cent. Of shipping are virtually
comnlandoered at cost. Add to this
the postoftice, the telegraphs, the telc-
phones and the mines, and we arc get
ting very near the ideals preached by
apostles like Philip Snowden.
Some Socialist Ideas Sacrificed
But some at least OF the aims of the
Socialists have been actually sacrificed
by state control. Wages may be
higher but hours are very long. For
millions Of people children going back
and forth to school at holiday time,
workmen on munitions who are located
at 4 distance from their families, COM
mercial travellers and so on-the fare
question is distinctly unpleasant. And
the substitution of women for men at
booking offices, and as ticket collectors
and train conductors is not precisely
what the labor unions would have
asked for. At the same time we shall
never go back to private management.
For years that system had been the
were literally millions of rates for
freight. Wagons were often owned by
private firms, and this necessitated
their running for millions of miles a
year empty. For so small a country
as ours there was obviously no room,
except for one railroad system. Yet
10 such monopoly could come about,
except under state limitation Of prof
its.
Goods were often carried by long
routes where short route would have
been cheaper. And foreign goods, dis
charged at ports, We're often given
preferential rates over domestic prod
ucts. All this pointed to unitication,
hasten an inevitable developments