The Washington herald., 1919-01-05
PUBLIC MUST COME
FIRST is SOLUTION
OF RAILS, SAYS M'ADOO
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all the members have asked over and
over. What more could five years
OF Federal operation demonstrate
! than has already been demonstrated
or than the twenty-one months will
demonstrated"
/ IF the five-year period should not
show the financial return you expect
under Federal unified control. what
would it mean?" asked Senator Nc
/ Lean. Would it demonstrate failure
OF government control as well as
failure OF government operation?'~
That would depend on the condi-
, tions under which the test was
made" responded Mr.. McAdoo.
Those conditions OF course. Con-
gress will determine | am unable to
anticipate them"
Would it determine anything"
retOrted Senator Mclean.
1t certainly would show something.
and that conchsively,H said Mr.. Nc
! Adoo.
Opportunity for Owners.
But the government has had its
| opportunity to operate the roads under
| unified control. Why not give the
owners an opportunity to operate
! them freed from the restrictions that
have bound them in the past and with
! the possibility of unification."
/ The government has not had an
! opportunity to demonstrate what 1,
can do with the lines in peace times. -
! said Mr. McAdOO. We've operated
them under the most adverse condi-
| tiOns. We've had to win a war. and
| sacrifice comfort of the travelling pub
| lie to that. We've had to sacriuce
! right of peace time freight to this.
! We've had to meet tremendous wage
and material increases. We've had to
operate in the most disastrous winter
weather the country ever saw. And
we had to take over the lines when
they were too demOralized to funC-
tiOn properly. when the motive power
and rolling stock had been allowed to
deteriorate for several years so that
our first big job was to get the cars
and engines to rolling.
From the questions of this commit
tee it is apparent that a matter of
vital importance in the solution or
this problem is the financial showing
that the government can make in the
operation of the lines. There has been
| no fair peace time test of this. [
don't see how you can determine any
legislation without such a test and
the lessons it will develop"
why not call in these men who
/ have given their entire lives to rail-
| rOading, and VINO know more abou,
| 1t than any one else. and get their
suggestions on the needed legislation -"
asked Senator Mclean.
Then came the Director Generals
solemn warning of need to protect
the peoples interest
Two Interests Involved.
You must remember, Senate,
that there are two interests invoIv-
ed. and that these may be conflict
ing. They are the interests of the
public and of the private owners
/ doubt if the interests of the public
would be protected by legislation
proposed by representatives. of the
owners. And the interests of the
public are paramount to every other.
and must be protected in any legis-
latiOn that is contemplated.
The people are entitled to know
al about the operation of these
roads and about their future.
They're entitled to make up their
minds about what Is to be done
with the roads. 1t would be a pity
now to throw away what advantag q,
we have in this investigation by
hasty Legislation before a thorough
investigation can be completed"
The Importance of the Federal
operation of the roads in connection
with the new American merchant
fleet was developed by the Director
General.
We've spent $1,000, 900. 900 and
merchant marine to guarantee
Americas foreign trade. If we
abandon the unified control of the
roads so they do not function in
unison with this fleet. the people
will blame us he said.
Reviews Many Reforms.
Senator Kellogg, in a series of
questions, reviewed the reforms the
Railroad Administration had intro
duced in railroad operation, asking in
each, case If this had not been i'm
possible under private ownership under
the laws governing then, and Senate
Gore asked a list Of questions as to
the effect of the removal of these
various restrictions If the roads were
turs'd back to their owners
The questions indicated that the
committee favored a return to private
ownership, with the powers of the
Interstate Commerce Commission
considerably strengthened
Il don't believe the executive
powers of railroad operation or
supervision can successfully be exer-