The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1919-06-19
csa0rsss ostsraias6 b 0ake
Certain Fvture oreutA q
Transpertatiea FaelntieG
NAss AGREE on PRINCIPLES.
0otsn Of Rea6s % 0svaofs VIII
Assurance q A6oosate
Revenues,

o0o10 Ine0o 1UUOUO D110D ~ -
hisAvoys wess taken ever ~ ~ 0es.
sFn0aot ~ an indispoaAAbae es0 q
the national dsfeDso: bUt ~ th0t
tbsiS war service 10 ever, thoes . Q
eountYy wide demand that The 0oV.
ernmsot restore them to tAsis eVDsoO
to b operated on normal ADseiooo
business standards Of efacIeocy.
But, q has been pointed sut b.
President Wilson A. well ~ By many
men In public life wh0 have given
this subject years Of careful study.
Il 10 not enough simply b say to tho
railroad companies, Take thess rail-
roads and give the country the bsst
transportation service that monag ao1
brains can provide"
Old Laws obstrue4 Growth,
The President recently said that 4
would be a serious mistake to return
10 the old conditions Of railroa1 ragu-
lation without reforming ths anti
quated laws that were obstructing the
free development Of transportation "a
cilities. The Director General Of Rail-
Io0Oo uuS lCtChtLS aAhnuC ~ AA0R0NAkVo
trip from coast TO coast. and he has
been telling the people that the time
has now come to put the railroads On
u sound foundation.
The plans for IL better system Of
national control Of railroads are -
varied as were the plans for banking
and currency reform when Congress
received a mandate from the people
to provide insurance against financial
panics. The public now demands in
suranCe against a breakdown of rail-
road transportation. and the new Con-
gress is undertaking this work. az sec.
Ondary only to insurance against In
ternatiOnal warfare. Congress solved
the banking problem seven years ago
~ nOn-partisan issue, In which all
the people had a common interest, and
Congress evidently il tackling 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. 1t has been pointed out BY Sena-
tor Cummins Of Iowa. that all these
plans have really very much In COM
mon-so much 80 that he Is confident
that Congress will have little difficulty
in framing q bill 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 q command.
ing position In this Congress because he
Is the ranking member Of the Interstate
Commerce Committee Of the United
States Senate. and 1t is In this COM
mittee that the new railroad bill will
take final form. In an address before
a national meeting Of business men
at st. Louis Senator Cummins 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 ofncials and owners. Govern
ment officials, railroad workers and
Just plain citizens
The basic principles upon which all
Of these plans, with one exception.
agree are a. follows:
I. Private operation 10 moro sfH-
eient and more eeonemieai than
Government operation, and the
public interest will therefore bs
served BY return Of the roads -
private management.
2. To make certain that new
capital will b attracted 70 the
expansion ef railroad faellltleA
there ought 70 b greater certain
~ that fair return will bs earn.
Cd on the investment.
3. The merging Of weak and
strong roads into large competing
systems should BE- encouraged.
The making of q formula to pro-
vide a fair return on railroad capital
seems likely to be the phase Of the
problem most thoroughly debated In
Congress. The Director General has
been urging that the Government
ought to guarantee 4 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 II railroad
securities, also look Eavorably On the
suggestion Of q Government guaran-
tee, which will make it easier to sell
new securities, and will also stabilize
the market. for the old bonds and
stocks. !
Government GUARANTEES Opposed.
But the proposal that tbs dovern.
ment shall guarantee the interest and
dividends ON private capital invested
in railroads will undoubtedly meet
with very vigorous opposition in many
quarters. Even railroad executives,
who might be supposed to take kindly
to the idea of Government guarantee
against failure, have frankly stated
that they do not want 1t. because they
believe 1t is un-American in principle,
would tend to lessen efficiency, and
would involve the roads in a Govern.
ment partnership that would inevito.
NJ lead to Government oWper1hln.