The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1919-07-03
NEW RAIL PLANS
ON SOUND BASIS
Congress Determined TO Make
Certain Future Growth OF
Transportation Facilities.
PLANS AGREE ON PRINCIPLES.
Return OF Roads TO Owners With
Assurance Of Adequate
Revenues.

Neutrality-suspicious. OF the big prob.
lens before the new Congress Is get
ting the railroads back Cn peace
basis These 100000 miies OF steel
highways were taken over by the Gov
ernment as M Indispensable arm OF
the national defense: but now that
their war service is over, there Is II
country wide demand that the Gov
ernment restore them TO their owners
u be operated on normal Amerl an
business standards Of efficiency
Bur, as has been pointed out by
President Wilson as we'll as by many
men In public life who have given
this subject Years of careful study,
IT is not enough simply TO say TO the
railroad companies, Take these rail
roads and give the country the best
transportation service that money aud
brains can provide
Old Laws Ohstruet Growth.
The President recently said that ii
would be a serious mistake TO return
to the old conditions of railroad regu-
lation without reforming the anti
quAted laws that we're obStructing the
free development Of transportation IA
cllites The Director General OF Rail
rOnds has recently made an inspection
"trip from coast 10 coast and he has
been telling The people that the time
has now come to put the railroads on
II sound foundation
The plans for better system OF
national control Of railroads are as
varied as were the plans for banking
aud currency reform when Congress
received mandate from the people
to proNide Insurance against financial
panlcs. The public now demands In.
Surance against II breakdown Of rail
road transportation, and the new Con
gress Is undertaking this work as sec
ondarN only TO Insurance against in.
tematiOnal warfare. Congress solved
the banking problem seven years ago
as a non partisan issue, in which all
the people had common interest and
Congress evidently is tacklmg the
railroad problem with the same spirit
While the many plans that have
been proposed differ in the methods
to be adopted IN reaching the desired
goal, it has been pointed out by Seua-
tor Cuuuus Of Iowa. that all these
plans have really very much In com
mon So much SO that he is confident
that Congress will have little difficulty
il framing a bin that will meet with
popular approval, and that will take
the railroad question out of politics
for many years to come.
Many Plans with One Aim.
The Iowa Senator has n command
ing position IN this Congress because he
is The ranking member of the Interstate
Commerce Committee OF the United
States Senate and it Is in his com
mittee that the neW railroad bin viii
take final form In an address before
u national meeting of business men
at ST Louis Senator Camlnus stated
that since the close of the war, fully
thirty complete plans for new railroad
legislation had been submitted to him
by business men, economists, bankers,
railroad officials and owners, Govern
meut officials, railroad workers and
just plain citizens
The basic principles upon which all
Of these plans, With one exception,
agree are as follows
T. Private operation is more eftl-
cient and more economical than
Government operation, and the
public interest Will therefore be
served by a return Of the roads 10
private management
2 To make certain that new
capital will be attracted to the
expansion Of railroad facilities
there ought TO be greater certain
ty that a fair return will be earn
ed on the investment
3. The merging Of weak and
strong roads into large competing
systems should be encouraged,
The making Of n formula to pro-
vide fair return on ruilroad capital
seems likely 10 be the phase of the
problem most thoroughly debated in
Congress The Director General has
been urging that the Government
ought to guarantee certain return
and share In any excess earnings.
Leading bankers, especially some of
the international bankers in Wall
street. who have in the past marketed
many hundreds of millions Of railroad
securities, also look .avorably Oh the
suggestion Of Government guaran-
tee, which will make ii easier to sell
new securities, and will also stabilize
the market for the old bonds and
stocks
Government Guarantee Opposed
But the proposal that the Govern
ment shall guarantee the interest and
dividends on private capital Invested
In railroads viii undoubtedly meet
with very vigorous opposition in many
quarters Even railroad executives,
who might be supposed 10 take kindly
10 the idea Of a Government guarantee
against failure, have frankly stated
that they do not want it, because they
believe 1t is m-American in principle,
would tend to lessen efficiency and
would involve the roads In a Govern.
meut partnership that would Iueylta-
bly, lead to Government ownership.
Report Erroneous