New-York tribune., 1920-10-11

carried one mile, and the passenger
trafiic unit, the passenger carried one
mile, Commensurate the Interstate
Commerce Commission in the Western
Rate Advance Case said DULY so. 1870:
The equated traffic unit is arbitrarily
obtained by adding to the freight ton
miles three times the passenger miles
Passenger miles are multiplied
by three, for the reason that, roughly
speaking, expenses per passenger mile
are three times the expenses per freight
mile"
Total Traffic Units
AS the total traffic units produced bv
the railways in 1900 and 1919 were
229 100000 and $4,000, 100000, re-
spectlvely, tie per capita consumption
Of traffic units is 5000 in the United
States; 1920 in the United Kingdom.
and 1,674 in France.
The railroad industry, which has
been so determining a factor in the
development Of our country, is the
largest and most important in the
United States. Construction of new
and betterment of existing lines kept
pace fairly well with transportation
needs until about ten years ago, when
the limitations placed on railroad earn
lngs by government agencies, the ris-
ing costs Of labor and materials, and
the larger returns on investments in
industrlas, robbed railroad invest
menrs of attractiveness and the re-
fusal of the public to furnish money
by purchase of securities stopped de-
velopment. From 1900 to 1910 an an
nual average of 4,734 miles of new
railroad were constructed; from 1911
construction has shown q steady de-
crease, so that in 1919 686 miles only
bo
structed since 1S49, a period of sew
enty-one years (eXcepting only the
years of the Civil War).
Curtailmcnt of Construction
The curtailment of construction
and improvements, and consequent
shortage of facilities, felt moro and
more acutely as the World War prog
ressed, marks the end of an era in
the history of our railroads.
The beginning of a new one is
sharply defined by the complete re-
versal of our national railroad policy
through the enactment by Congress
of the transportation act, 1920,
which substituted constructive for de-
structive regulation and first recoe-
nized the needs of the carriers for
improved credit to enable them to
obtain necessary capital. 1t is there
fore opportune to point out that in
order that vast areas of our national
domain now unsettled may be devcl-
oped and made to contribute to
national wealth and advancement, not
only adequate but generous transpor-
tation facilities we'll in advance of
needs must be provided. This requires:
l. Con nstruction of new and better
ment of existing lines.
2. More efficient-that is, moro in
tensive-use of transportation facili-
ties
The average annual capital expen-
dlture for the construction of new
and the betterment of existing lines
for the ten years preceding 1917 was
about s660,0oO 900, but as the pur-
chasing power of the dollar now is
less than one-half what it was then,
at least twice this amount, or 1890
100000 per annum will be needed to
provide what the smaller sum did for
merly. In the years 19lS-'19 under
government control S806, 600 900 only
was spent (Annual Report of the Di-
rector General Of Railroads for 1870.
AS the normal expenditures for the
two years should have been $2,G4O 600
600, the capital expenditures were short
1884 ,000, 900 on January !, 1920, and
this amount, in addition to the normal
annual sum of $500, 100000 should
be spent in 1920 to catch up, and ST.
320,000,o00 should be spent annually
thereafter, subject, Of course, to re-
duction ratably with any rise in the
purchasing power Of the dollar.
y How to Obtain Funds
1t may we'll be asked how the car
riers are to obtain these vast sums
of money In prewar conditions it
would have been impossible, but the
steps taken by Congress in passing
the transportation act, 1920 to
strengthen the credit Of the carriers
may restore the attractiveness of rail
road securities sufficiently to induce
investors to buy them.
To make railroad operations most
efficient, to use their facilities most
intensvely, requires the threefold CO.
operation Of:
l. The public, through their regu-
lating bodies.
II. The owners of railroads, through
their trustees, the directors
III. Railroad employees
The late j. J. Hill said aptly and