Evening star., 1919-11-16
PRIVATE MANAGEMENT
OF ROADS IS PROBLEM
Cut Throat" Methods of Car Distribution
Would Be Sure to Cause
Suffering.

they go DaCk TO tnelF private ihdh
agement. There has been criticism
because sufficient cars could not be
obtained to haul coal from the mines
before the strike-because sufh-
cient cars could not be obtained to
handle the big grain crops, and other
materials Yet the government has
adopted a plan of pooling equipment
SO as better to meet the needs OF the
country. If, when the roads go back
to private contro, they seek to ex-
ercise control over their own rolling
stock to the exclusion of other roads,
if they start in on cut-throat methods.
there is sure to be trouble, and the
public will suffer.
So convinced are the officials of the
railroad administration that to meet
the situation the roads must continue
to a very 1age extent the pooling OF
equipment undertaken by the govern
ment that they have conferred at
length with the National Association
of Railroads and report that they are
having success along these lines.
When the roads go back to their
old owners for operation they Will pc
confronted with other changes made
by the government. There has been
consolidation of ticket offices and
terminals: circuitous routes have been
eliminated and freight sent over the
most direct routes: repair shops nave
been pooled; universal mileage books
have been adopted, good on all roads;
and the government has taken strin-
gent steps to prevent the use OF
freight cars as storage warehouses,
so as to keep them ready and In use,
hauling the freight of the country
Whether the roads under their own
management will continue these in
novations remains to be seen.
Return Should Be Uneventful.
1t is the contention of the railroad
administration officials that the ac-
tual operation of the roads should
change from governmental hands to
private hands with scarcely a ripple |
on January l. In nearly every case
the federal managers of the roads are
officials of the roads, president or vice !,
presidents or general managers under !
ton. The government divided the !
country into regions SO far as the
roads were concerned. The regional !
managers have been the men who
connected in official capacity with the !
roads of those regions. In almost J
every instance the federal managers
have been satisfactory to the corpora
tions owning the roads. 1t is to be
therefore, that these man
ayers will slip back into their old
jobs-running the roads under private
operation-without much change.
One of the criticisms of the roads i
most frequently heard under govern !
mente operation has been that the |
service has deteriorated. This. and !
the increase in rates. have been the !
arguments used most freely against |
permanent government ownership and
operation Of the roads. There is no
doubt but what the service has de-
Perforated. But the reason for this is
not government operation alone.
War conditions during 1918 and the
fact that the roads were operating at
a loss during the present year-until
recent months-have been responsible
in large part for deterioration of serv-
ice. Lack of competition must be as
signed as the cause of deterioration
of service, so far as government op-
Grafton alone is concerned. But since
the signing of the armistice. even un-
der the government operation, more
and more competition between the
roads has been permitted and encour-
aged, and it is believed that this COM
petition will soon bring about greater
efficiency in the matter Of service
after the roads have been given back.
Twenty Billion Invested.
In round numbers, the total mileage
of the steam railways of the United
States is 257.700 miles-one-third of
the total mileage of the entire world.
There are invested in the roads Of this
country. in bonds. stocks. etc. ap-
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