The Carlisle independent., 1920-03-11
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
(By ;. [. Jones'
.Mr. Egr=.ons Experiment

in his hours o2 broken reflection" Honorable Atb=rt Sidney Burleson, Iostrnaster General of the United States, must ew with remorse his failures a5 maaager of the telephone and eiegrapi mes of the country. Because CE thz rar AIr. Burieson was blessed with greatest avalanche of busl1eas tha wire lines had ever experienced; and the only way he ouaG ta meet sae problems that con to initiate liE rates. "Cost plus 1zcnteC hiua W. -C reverse his preach 1aants. c5ntszErC cheaper service ana teE pc cent meant nothing to him, even thcugn r5Gteers were getting rich Out oE the tea-
 EIa. EurIe54 worked so fast when he wa.s F cl-asEe of the lines that In less than year ne had convinced the country beyond -le shadow of q doubt that his pet scheme for government ownership of t2a wire lines was ready to be classed as a failure. Recogniz- ing that he ha1 nothing left except q bankrupt idea he proved himself a eeodi saort. aa3 he cried in the ian euage ef Macbeth: Hold, enough!a The pupIic bid his regime a fond and fearless farewell.
 Ths Record 2t Private Ownership
 The annual zeport of the American Telephone an5 Telegraph Company has appeared, and 1t is a fine story If aeIiageHee5 in private industry. t shews that me net earnings for 1919 auountee to S60,243, ,38S, com pared with S5z, ,293, or n the boom ,ee wa days ot 1918. This was q gain of significance particularly when t is shown tha5 the company had an increase in operating expenses tof al .rost $s,599, ,00o The surplus in- creased from SS.671,622 to $9,039.- 15Z. Interest charges amounted to S15. .64T 596, compared with $10,33i,- e95 n 1918.
 President [. B. Thayer of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company c9mrents: No man ana no corporation had a right to expect to come thvouga the great We: un- touched Our greatest loss was the loss cf these margins for plant growth and reserves of men and Wo- lEen 1T traininC. During the war the restriction on zaa use o3 capital and material, couplad with the unprece- 6erted demand For service compelled li.5 Ie some places to exhaust our plant narges arc left Us at the beginning Of isas with an actual shortage of p;art t. meet tEa then demands. By the esd of theyear, except in few To- caiities. tie usual facilities were re- stored"
 Calls It The Test Period
 One hears much O. senators and .ongresesaan wao have performed a part in framing different kinds of isiasion, but the whole public is not sS fa.-iliar with the names of men whose creative minds and years of patieet explaining embrace the actual thought that finally finds it's way into legislation. Aired P. Thom, Wash iagtor attorney, stands out in such q manner in tha final completion of the new railrcad law, which many thoughtful people look upon as mark .rg new epoch in the annals of trarsoortation and industry. Mr. Thorn says that the act, itself, is about .o erber upon the test period" and Caat 'the government policy of the suture wxii, no doubt, depend upon the success of the experiment now made. D -E explains that if under the system L L. II .,f+ +k1r carriers Is made sufficient to enable saer1 to perform their public duties the legislation will by universal con- cessioG, be a success. If, on the other .l.nc, .s.ch credit is not established .ne legislation will be failure" MT. Iaox- finds tha. great responsibility rests Uron the Interstate Commerce Comris5ion and the State Comlnis- siocs n the carrying out of the spir- ft of the legislation. He speaks Of rJ1en a. Con trial" explaining that the coVers conferred upon the Interstate Commerce Commission "are so enor- 11ous and so far-reaching that 1t will fecome largely responsible for the success CT the allure of the system of regulation" The importance of cooperation or the part of the State Commissions is regarded as essential, n the opinion or Mir. Thom. And he says, the labor unions will have an impartial oficial agency to which they can go in obtaining equitable adjust n1enss of all their grievances and of ail controversies regarding wages Therefore they are Ion trial" in the tight of public opinion, in rneeting the new Industrial problems in manner heftting these progressive days ir which we live In the final analysis nz. Thom concludes: ''The carriers