New-York tribune., 1920-03-03
indicating almost i 10 mar cant a..
crease in efficiency.

indicating almost i 10 per cont n.
crease in efficiency.
mo passenger trafsc, however, IL
the one that showed an increase in
1919 over 1915, and because Of the way
Snat nas been handled it can fairly be
counted out. If tho freight trafic sta
tistics alone be taken, the figures show
that the railroads carried 89.8 tons one
NIUE Tor every hours work done in
1916, increased this to 1876 in 1917:
that the production dropped back to
u,b in 1918 under the government. and
to 70.a last year. This slump is far
less than the S5 per cent decrease la
d,cated for industry in general. but
also 1t takes no account of whatever
shortcomings there have been in the
maintenance of the railways.
Gain in Accidents Over 1917
The increase in the number of acct
dents confirms the decrease in efi-
cheney which the foregoing figures
show. The Interstate Commerce Com
mission statistics are not yet complete
tor. 1919, but SO far as they 60 they
indicate ,!, that serious condition CON
tinued through that year. In 1917
there were 19,435 accidents Of all
kinds, causing damage Of $15,18l.810
to railroad property alone. For 1918
the accidents were 24,695, an increase
Of about 25 per cent, and the damage
to railroad property was $20,945,35O,
an increase of about 35 per cent. The
reports for the first quarter of 1919
show only slight improvement over
previous years and an accident list ~
per cent higher than in any period Of
private ownership. The figures for the
three months period are: 1917, acci-
1907. Xov 81
erty, SS,o7s,s70: 1918. accidents, 56S7;
5.232; damage, $4,359,550. Accidents
vary in proportion to traffic, but the
traffic increase has not been at all
comparable to the advance in the
number of accidents.
Against this, however, must be set
off the fact that the loss of lives and
the number of persons injured showed
a, great improvement last year under
Federal control. The record for 1918
was not quite so good. The casualties
in 1917 we're 1896; in 1918 they
were 1885, and in 1919 they totalled
1l1,4so. For killed only the figures
ing the first three months of recent
years they are: 1916, 1899; 1917, 1,152;
1918, 1850; 1919. 918. The percent
ages are not so good if they are fig
ured against the number of train
miles run, but from any point they
show a decided gain for safety under
the government. The safety sections
instituted by the railroad administra-
ton has been carrying on a vigorous
campaign and claims the credit for the
Improvement.
Pays Claims More Promptly
The great increase in the amounts
the railroad administration has had to
pay for the settlement of loss and
damage claims makes almost as bad q
showing for Federal control, and for
the efficiency of the personnel which
1t reflects, as do the accident figures.
But to this also there is an Offset. The
administration has been putting on
speed in the matter of settling bills,
and part of the increase must be
charged to the payment of long-delayed
claims. The number of claims on hand
which were more than four months
old was reduced SO per cent between
March l and November l Of last year.
Also it must be remembered that the
increased value of goods adds consider
ably to the totals.
The increase has mono the less been
amazing. For purposes of comparison. .
the figures here given are for the
Eastern and " estern districts only, as
statistics for the other districts have
not been completed by the Bureau Of
Railway Economics. These figures
show jump in loss and damage claims
paid from $30,315,5O8 in 1917 to $685.
904,567 in 1919, an increase Of 1873 per
cent. They also show that in 1919 out
of every 500 that the administration
took in for freight revenues, $2.94
went to pay damages and losses. The
,,oi 6oV nvtyy TO ocya aY,,0 ma q
rot been much above l per cent
The "scrambling' arhich has been done
under government control, the effect 1t
has had on the railroads, and the meas
ures that ore being taken toword "un-
scrambling" acill be discussed IN the neat
article.