New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-03-09
Riualry Bef,ceen
TnO Systems

TwO Systems
Among the staff Of the Canadian
Northern Railway now in the govern
ment service one hears the possibility
of "beating" the Canadian Pacific Rail
way discussed and the claim frankly
made that the only possibility of fail
ure might lie in opposition on the part
Of the authorities at Ottawa to allow
ing the Canadian Government Railways
TO be managed on a strictly business
basis and to permit the full co0rdina-
ton of government efforts in support
of the public ownership transconti
mental system at the expense of the
privately owned Canadian Pacific and
other railways in the Dominion. AL
ready the charge has been made from
Western Canada that one of the INST
extensions to be made to the Canadian
National Railway system is calculated
to make Cabinet Minister "solid" in
his own constituency, while it is also
rumored that one of the Western di-
rectors Of the Canadian National Rail
ways was appointed in settlement of a
political debt. Gossip this may be,
but at least it is mischevous to the
interests of the public ownership rail
ways. On the other hand the directors
Of the national system apparently
have done their work with confidence
and enthusiasm. d. B. Hanna, cnair-
man of the board of directors of the
Canadian Government Railways is a
thoroughly efficient railroad man, we'll
trained in the school Of Sir William
Mackenzie and Sir Donald Mann, who
are railroad builders with few equals
on this continent. A programme has
been prepared TO; the government rail-
ways, calling for an expenditure this
year of some sixty million dollars for
additions to rolling stock and rails and
equipment and for completion Of
branch line feeders in Western Canada.
The reception accorded such estimates
in Parliament will be watched with in
terest. At the outset at least an ag-
gressivc policy appears TO be in favor
with the directors of the government
roads and with the Ottawa Cabinet
OF course, there are those who predict
that political influence and ofticialism
Will soon deaden such enthusiasm and
enterprise, and assert that efficient.
non political business administration
can never be continued under public
ownership and operation. In proof
they invoke the example of the Inter
colonial Railway 1t may fairly be
said, however, that public ownership
of railways is on trial in Canada to-
day. under conditions which could
hardly be more favorable. Its success
or failure will, therefore, be of more
than merely local interest and concern.
Viii Var Stimulus
Fail to Endure?
Aud what of control? VIII tho
Dominion Board of Railway Commits
sioners, appointed by the government
n 10 4
ton equally over the government rail-
road system and the privately owned
Canadian Pacific Railway? During the
war the Canadian Railway Board las
supervised the operations of all the
railways of the Dominion so that these
roads have worked together largely as
under single management
Altogether Canada's railroad situa-
ton is full of tangles. In the United
States the issue is more or less clear
cut between private and public owner
ship. But in the Dominion no one
seriously considers early nationaliza-
ton Of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Financial reasons, if no other, put such
action out of the question as a prac-
teal policy for the present. Apparently
ownership and operation Of the car
riers in this country is to be divided
indefinitely between the government
and private corporations. Even such a
plan as Mr. Warburg recently sug-
gested for partnership in the United
States between the railroad owners
and the government, under the guar
antec of minimum dividends and shar-
ing Of earnings over certain per-
centage. does not seem applicable to
the Canadian problem in its present
form. And the only suggestion offered
is really no practical solution at all,