The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-10-13
SPEAKS AT THE
 CHAMBER LUNCH

home demand is unprecedently strong:
 Billions are needed in the United
 States to supply equipment for our
 railroads; to make up the deficiency
 in building operations that the war
 created, and to meet other urgent do-
 mestic demands. An investment of rabout twenty-five billion dollars, or
 the approximate equivalent of the na-
 tional debt of this country, it has been
 estimated, is necessary to rehab1l1tat te
 the basic national plant Which ln-
 cludes the railroads, housing, factor
 ies, and public utilities in general. De ferred construction, in fact, has been c1assed by some as a part of the war debt of the nation and preference for it in the matter of payment is urged,
 in order that our earning power for
 meeting the remainder of the national
 debt may be enhanced.
 Even more vital than the reform ing of our tax laws, however, is the
 transportation situation. The rail-
 roads have rightfully been returned
 to their owners, under provisions for
 ample government supervision and fair treatment to the carriers as re-
 gards rates.
 railroad managers were entitled to al
 they could make, and shippers to all
 they could take. there was no com mon interest in increasing railroad ef- ficiency. If a shipper found it prof. itab1e to use a freight car as a ware house, he saw no reason for unload ing it merely to sell more tranSporta- ton to some one else, or to delay a shipment of goods in order that a car might be loaded to capacity. But times have changed. A new cooperative era has been opened in the history of American railroads.
 agers, the workers, the travellers, and shippers, the whole public-all are partners in a common enterprise. We have, in fact, actual public owner
 
 roads. And it may comfort some of our radical agitators for governmen ownership of the railroads to know that the government now has more than a. billion dollars invested in the enterprise, and may have more be- fore it has less.
 Under the new order, rising prof it's will mean rising dividends only to the point that the government consid- CTS necessary to establish a firm cred it foundation. After that. the bigger the profits, the lower will be the rates charged the public, because the new law restricts profits, and the quickest way to cut profits is to cut rates. The public, therefore, will have a greater interest in railroad efficiency. More tons per car and more miles per car day will be more to the advantage of the public than to the railroads them selves.
 I have only touched upon the few outstanding considerations which cause our daily concern. UnqueSton- ably our entire international picture is equally important, particularly to New England, in the considerations which we have outlined here. The exchange situation with a pre- ] mium on the dollar in most of our buying markets is a decided handicap to export of manufactured goods and I am quite sure that it will bring home to us sooner or later the ques- ton of the entire revamping of ou, commercial policies. We have not | enough experience yet to forecast witT certainty the best method of correct | ing the existing exchange evil. Wher | we have canVa ssed every possible l panacea which comes to mind, as wa. | done in June at the Convention ot l the International Chamber of Com 1 merce in Paris, we get back to the l fact that after all natural laws of sup. i ply and demand are the controlling l factors and these laws must be allow ed to work out their normal saliva l ton.