The Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 191?-19??, 1919-06-18
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
TTA Revenues.
PLANS AGREE ON PRINCIPLES.

lens De1Ore the new. OOnSrcep ~ 6Ss-
ting the railroads back en- Q peace
basis. These 100000 mics Of steel
highways were taken over by the Gov
eminent as an indispensable arm OF
the national defense; but now that
their war service is over, there Is
countrywide demand that the Gov
eminent restore them to their owners
to be operated on normal American
business standards of efficiency.
But, as has been pointed out by
President Wilson as well 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
TRANSFORMATION service that money and
brains can provide"
Old Lave obetruct Growth.
The President recently said that IT
would be a serious mistake to return
to the old conditions Of railroad regu- i
lation without reforming the anti
Ouated laws that were Obstructing the
free development Of transportation IA
cilities. The Director General Of Rail-
roads has recently made an inspection
trip from coast to coast, and he has
been telling the people that the time
has now come to put the railroads on
a sound foundation.
The plans for q better system OF
national control of railroads are as
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 q breakdown OF rail-
road transportation, and the new Con-
Rress is undertaking this work as sec
ondary only to insurance against In
ternational 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 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 so 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 command
|. ing position in this Congress because he
o Is the ranking member of the Interstate
i Commerce Committee Of the United
q 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
y y 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
: ment officials, railroad workers and
, Just plain citizens
The basic principles upon which al
of these plans, with one exception
/. agree are as follows:
v 1. Private operation Is more eff
f eient and more economical than
). Government operation, and the
4 public interest will therefore be
g served by return Of the roads to
r private management.
n 2. To make certain that new
capital will be attracted to the
expansion of railroad facilities,
D there ought to be greater certain
ty that a fair return will be earn
ed on the investment.
, 8. The merging Of weak and
strong roads into large competing
systems should be encouraged.
The making of a formula to pro
. vide fair return on railroad capita
= seems likely to be the phase of thu
= problem most thoroughly debated Il
y Congress. The Director General ha'
I. been urging that the Government
81 ought to guarantee a certain return
II and share In any excess earnings
'e Leading bankers, especially some o
Re the international bankers in Wal
u street, who have in the past markete'
u many hundreds Of millions of railrOa,
securities, also look fayorably on tn
r. suggestion of a Government guaran
a, tee, which will make it easier to sci
IN new securities, and will also STABILIZE
y. the market for the old bonds an,
r stocks.
ID Government Guarantee Opposed.
n, But the proposal that the Govern
ment shall guarantee the interest ant
c dividends on private capital invested
In in railroads will undoubtedly NEE
he with very vigorous opposition In man!
ep quarters. Even railroad executives
Of who might be Supposed to take kind!
rs to the idea Of Government guarante,
b. against failure, have frankly states
be that they do not want It, because the!
believe It Is un-AmeFlcan In principle
AIANA an