The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-11-28
ROADS HELPED WIN THE WAR


ment control of the railroads of the United States
will terminate and the roads will go back to the
management Of their private owners And stimuli
taneously, if past expressions of sentiment mean
anything the American people will heave sigh of
relief Get the government out of the realm Of
private business" the people have said, and the
government is getting out at least is getting out of
The direct, day byday management of the railroads.
Unless the congress shall extend the period of gov
eminent control, going to have private op-
Grafton again and naturally ought to know as
accurately as possible what the change will mean.
The really bis lesson which must be learned il
to obtain satisfactory railroad service is that
something must be done to remedy conditions
than merely turning the carriers back to private
control under the form of legislation in exist
ence prior to government operations. The idea has
grown up that the railroads go back to private
management all the ills will disappear. That trouble
started when the opponents of government owner
ship over-payed their hand. They set out to prove
that the government could not successfully the
railroads and they ended by convincing almost every
one that everything that has gone wrong with the
railroads during the last two has been due to
government control.
Congress just now is wrestling with the problem
of whether government control is to be continued,
just what kind of private control are to have
whether we will have few railroad corporations
Or the 200 or more had before; what the basis
Of rate-making is to be; whether labor is to have
share in the profits and is to have place on the
drectoraes; whether railroad strikes are to be for
hidden. Or whether the labor settlement machinery
set up by the government is to be continued whether
The government is to exercise supervision over Sc
curity issues, will have direction over pooling of
equipment and is to control consultations of ex-
listing companies-in other words whether to
go back to the old conditions virtually unchanged or
to undergo radical readjustments in railroad
structure and practices.
On the outcome of the action of congress will de-
pend in large whether the railroads are to
give satisfactory service whether the troubles
listing before the are to be repeated But, mean
a+g,;x
has been disclosed by government operaton-some-
thing of what the change back to private control
promises the public.
So far the general public is concerned, its in
terest in the railroads is that satisfactory service,
both passenger and freight. be rendered cheaply
as possible. The traveller and the shipper and
through the shipper to the ultimate consumer want
trains run on time. want courtesy want cheap rates,
want safe service. None of these things be Sc
cured unless the railroads able to get the money
to make the necessary additions and betterments,
buy the badly needed equipment, put the roads
financial basis they have not had since long before
the war; they cannot be solved unless the railroad
companies treat labor fairly and take advantage of
the lessons learned during government control
The sooner the idea is dispelled that all the rail-
road difficulties of the last two have been due
to government operation the quicker Will the rail-
roads get their feet again.
Before government operation began we believed we
had private control, and in a had-but only
in sense. The income of the railroads.&c. rates
controlled by national and state governmental
bodies The service-the operatons-were being
more and controlled through national and state
service laws, safety appliance laws various
regulations and statutes The government controlled
but did not take She responsibility.
However much the blame may have rested the
few railroad owners who betrayed their trust and
Frustrated great properties the fact remained that
long before government operation began the public
generally had begun to appreciate that something
had to happen or railroad troubles ahead
Then came the war, and after the had lasted
something more than six months the troubles be-
came so manifest that the government stepped in
and took over the operation of the railroads. What
would have happened had the government stayed
put it is impossible accurately to is sufficient
to remember that compelling demands for increased
wages pending many Of the railroads were
facing bankruptcy conflicting government priority
orders and lack Of uniflcation among the railroads
were throwing traffic into confusion and there
not sufficient equipment to handle normal business.