The Washington herald., 1919-02-14
HINES STRONGLY
URGES BROADER
rail CONTROL
Three Leading Advantages
Cited as Reason for
Prompt Action.
WOULD BOOST SERVICE
Must Not Wait Until Year
Of Election, Says Di
rector General.
WOULD BOOST SERVICE

Walker d. Hines. Director General
of Railroads. yesterday again urged
he necessity of an Immediate extern
sion Of government control He was
addressing some OF the best known
railroad and Industrial men of the
country. members Of the raiirosd COM
riittee Of the United States Chamber
q Commerce. He said:
7 am profoundly impressed with the
great advantage Of getting an extern
sion promptly rather than to put It
OF and then get IL later on after we
viii have lost the advantages which
would accrue IL the extension were
given US without delay.
There are three leading advantages
which would come from the prompt
extension. and each of these advan-
tages would be lost II the extension
should be postponed.
Increase In Eaeettveness.
One Of them Is that there would be
a very great increase in the effective
ness with which public service can be
rendered by the Railroad AdminIstra-
ton. Already there Is beginning to be
doubt and uncertainty arising as the
change in control draws near. That
doubt and uncertainty will increase
with every month that passes UP to
the time Of the termination OF con-
troll.
1T will be doubly difficult under the
conditions which will confront US in
ls0 because we will then be in the
midst OF Presidential election, which
VIII in itself be a great difficulty.
From the standpoint Of public service
1T rhara s.l-
sion. as 1 believe there will have to
be, it ought to be given now so as to
give Us an opportunity to render the
best and most adequate service.
The second advantage Is related to
the matter Of improvements There
never was time when it was more
important in the public interest
than it is right now that the rail-
roads should enter upon a large
program OF improvements.
Would Give Employment.
Unemployment, which has al
ready begun TO manifest itself. and
which will continue to increase,
could largely be met If the railroads
could go forward and develop a con-
dition of business activity. The
purchasing power OF the railroads
alone, II they entered upon a large
program of Improvement, would,
directly and indirectly, be an ex-
ceedingly important element in
stimulating a general resumption Of
business.
III we remain in the present un-
certainty for twenty-one months
after the declaration Of peace, i'm
portant improvements could not be
completed within that period of
Federal control The corporations
would naturally prefer not TO have
the improvements forced at this
time when they think they will be
back in power by the time the i'm
provements would be used and when
their credit Is embarrassed by the
uncertainty Of this control.
The third advantage which would
come from a prompt extension is
that it would very greatly improve
the credit OF the railroad compan-
les
There is a choice presented to
the country whether II shall now
give an extension which in all prob
ability il will have to give within
two years, and get certain very i'm
portant results for itself. or wheth-
er il will postpone giving that ex-
tension until the last minute and
meanwhile suffer these very serious
Disadvantages and at the end of the
time still have to give the exten-
sion"
Face Two Possibilities.
Mr.. Hines declared that the rail-
roads could never go back to the
old way of things. He said:
MY best Judgment is that we are
confronted with two possibilities
and we ought to decide the thing on
the basis Of those two possibilities.
The one Is that there may be
n the near future legislation which
will go to the root of this matter
and remove the evils which seem
Inherent in the old plan of multi
arious private management. That
.egislation might be through trans
serring the railroad companies to a
comparatively few consolidated
abroad corporations. On the other
Iand it might be a form of govern
snCnt Ownership and operation. My
'wn Judgment Is that the better
ian is the plan which consolidates
he railroads OF the country into a
ew consolidated corporations with
capitalization approved by the
ublic and with a degree of public
ontrOl on the board OF directors as
seIl as through the regulating tri-
1unals that will remove the evils
hat we have always had in the
Iast.
Il want to say that this solution
oes not necessarily call for a re-
ionsl monopoly The country
ould be so divided that by the use
Z from eight to ten corporations
ractically every considerable city
ould have the competition of two
r more independent railway COM
Ienies and thereby there would be
he stimulus to service that does
ONE from competition"