New-York tribune., 1920-10-15
BY Ralph Budd
President of the Great Northern
RailsUay Compann

" WV 0fC CQC NOTCHSTTl
Rai4sUay Companr
Under the transportation act Of 1920.
the basis upon which railroad transpor-
tation is to be furnished to the public
is cost plus fair return upon the
value of the property used for trans
portation purposee. Such an arrange
ment naturally brings up the question
wnat sort Of transportation does the
Puohc desire! TO this question con
celvably there might be different an
swers, except for the fact that the
best transportation is also the cheap
est in the end. Curtailment and loss
TO industry on account of poor trans
portae'on recently has proven much
more expensive indirectly than the in
creased transportation cost would have
been at rates sufficient to maintain the
best possible service.
The following statement Of the trans.
portation needs of the Northwest is
made upon the assumption that the
public desires the best possible railroad
transportation and that its own inter
ests are advanced by assisting the
railroads in providing such service AT
the lowest possible cost.
The we'll built and we'll maintain ed
property. other things being equal, can
produce better results than one that is
IN poor condition. Good gradients
mean more tonnage moved with the
same locomotive power; additional main
tracks and adequate terminal facilities
mean less delay; sufficient equipment
means available cars for loading; Nod-
ern, we'll equipped shops mean better
maintenance of locomotives and cars
at less cost; satisfied employees mean
more expeditions and careful handling
All Of these things make cheaper, as
we'll as better. transportation. Also
all of these things require expenditures
Of capital, and capital may be had at
lower cost as the credit of the bor-
rover Is improved.
Freight Cars Conc Astray
The railways Of the Northwest--the
country along the northern boundary
of the United States, from the Great
Lakes to Puget Sound, with Oregon in
cluded-are not suffering from freight
congestions, nor from seriously IN
adequate ownership or equipment.
There Is no crisis In railroad operation
here, except such lack Of freight serv-
ice as has resulted from the cars that
are owned by railways of the North
west being held In other parts of the
country. The principal commodities
handled are raw products, such as
grain, ore, coal, lumber, livestock and
fruit, with comparatively little manu-
factured goods, except for local con-
sumption In the territory and for ex-
port. OF these. lumber alone Is being
produced in much greater quantities
than normally or than has been the
case in other years. On existing lines
of railway there is no reason to ex-
pect any great change in conditions,
except q gradual increase in volume of
business. In order to serve the shippers
dependent upon them for transporta-
ton, what they need more than any,
thing else Is the possession and control
of their own freight car equipment.
Attention constantly is being called to
the need for more equipment and to
the large percentage of equipment that
is in unfit condition for loading. Moth
ing could be done that would more
surely and promptly reduce the num-
Der of bad order cars than to move cars
to their homo lines, and no given ex-
penditure Of effort-labor, material and
uoney-can be applied so effectively
to quickly increase the amount of
freight car equipment available for
loading, as by repairing that already
in existence.
For many reasons cars on foreign
lines do not receive the same attention