The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-18
REIMBURSEMENT
 OF RAILROADS
 MUST BE SLOW
Greater Effort to Please Public Is To Be
 Made.

New York, March IS - The rail roads of this country are on the way toward readjustment following their return to private management, but in the opinion of Robert s. Binkerd, assistant to the chairman of the As- sociation of Railway Executives, this | readjustment must of necessity be ! gradual. MT. Binkerd. in an address 1 to the members of the City Club of | New York recently, indicated that | the best feature of the situation was 1 the reawakening of the spirit of com
 petition among the several carriers. MT. Binkerd spoke in part as follows: "On March 1 the railroad execu- i tives of the country undertook one Of l the big tasks of national reconstruc- 1 tion. The railroads made their con- | tribution to the war at great cost to l themselves. The capital invested in | them had to accept as it's compensa- l tion sum not greater than was re- l ceived in years previous. but which l was paid in the same dollars which 1 labor found had declined to a pur-
 chasing power of 43 cents. Hundreds l of thousands of tons of rail and bal
 last, and millions of new ties which
 ought to be in the road beds of the ]
 comotiyes have been used to the ut most and need thorough repair.
 "tThe supply of new cars and loco- 1 motives has been far below normal,
 and is considerably behind the needs 1 of the country. There has been no
 net addition to passenger cars, Pull | man cars, nor refrigerator cars for l practically three years, during which time passenger traffic has increase 1 over 10 per cent. and the perishabIe crops requiring refrigerator transpor- tation as much or more.
 The problem of making good these i deficiencies, as well as the present deficiency in net operating income, would have to be met under either government or private operation. ! What we hope will distinguish pri-
 vate operation will be in the use made
 of the existing facilities The rail
 road companies of the country are
 again competing for traffic. Greater effort will be made to satisfy ship | pers and passengers. There will be l a, heavy pressure behind operating management to give service in order to attract traffic. There will be more
 local responsibility in railroad man. l agement; more local and effective
 supervision. There will be a welcome for initiative and enterprise in man. | agement and operation which natur- | ally had to be curtailed under the conditions of a centralized adminis-
 tration will again be welcome
 f"These statements are not meant
 in the slightest degree as a criticism of the management of the railroads 1 during the period of federal control. What took place during that period
 was undoubtedly mainly due to the
 unacceptable conditions of government
 operation and to temporary release | from the necessity of maintaining
 solven finances.
 Neither does one wish to be un-
 derstood as saying that the above
 changes will take place all at once. Time will be required for the adjust
 ment. The morale of individual con-
 panies will have to be recreated. The
 shortage of facilities cannot be made good for long time. It is only by a slight superiority in operation by
 making cars and locomotives move a
 little bit more each day that the traf-
 f1c of the country can be moved
 Nevertheless, it is upon the sue
 cess of private management with its superior insistence on efficiency or
 supervision and on economy, and its
 welcoming of enterprise that thz country will have to look to prevent 2
 permanent decrease in the efficiency
 of railroad operation and an absolute
 and not relative increase in the cos of transportation.
 ftThe railroad executives are under. } taking this trust on behalf of the country under the terms of the new 5 law, a law which, while not by an5 l means providing everything though wise or desirable in the common in > terests of the country and of tht } railroads, is, nevertheless, a courage } ous attempt on the part of Congress
 to initiate policies of a permanen l and constructive nature.
 f'This law is being accepted by rail road executives in the spirit in whicl } it was enacted. During these next few years everything connected with thu railroad transportation of the countr, t will be on trial. The Interstate Com t nnerce Commission will be on trial : because on it will largely depend whether or not the constructive pur [ poses of Congress shall be achieved : The various State commissions will h'
 on trial = on trial to determi11, 5 whether or not they can become inte