The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-02-23
RETURN OF THE ROADS.

I
Statistics regarding car shortage and
t information regarding conditions gen.
orally in the country indicate that with
! the return of the railways to private
operation less than ten days away the
| transportation situation in the United
States Is the worst that it ever was.
except possibly in the winter of 1917
IS, at the time when government OPP
Grafton of railroads was adopted, says
the Railway Age.
It remains to be seen whether the
! legislation which congress is prepar-
ing will prove effective for the reor-
ganzation of the transportation sys-
TENS, in the measure of industrial re-
quirements. The welfare of the roads
is at the very foundation of things.
The proper solution of the transport
tation problem gives approach to the
solution of all other problems that
vex US.
One of the first steps the owners of
the railroads are likely to take, when
the roads are returned to them March
I. will be to reduce the operating
forces. which have been greatly in
creased under government manage
ment. It>is the popularity of govern
ment operation that it requires more
men and more money to give poor
service than are required under pri-
vate ownership to give good service.
In recent letter to the public Di-
rector General Hines admits there has
been a material increase in the num-
Der of employees; that in July, 1919,
there were 11.2 per cent more men in
railroad work than in December, 1917.
This he explains by saying that the
roads were undermined in 1917, be
cause of the demand for labor in mu-
nitions plants. and for the further rea-
son that an eight-hour day was adopt
ed for the roads.
Then he declares that railroad la
Dor is not SO efficient now as it was in
1917. a condition which he argues is
common to all other forms of indus
trial enterprise" He will not admit
that it is symptomatic of government
management. In his view the letting
down of labor is due to "a widespread
psychological unrest which seems to
characterize every class of our citizens
and which results in many employees
being less attentive to their work"
All of which may be true. but it does
not assist in any way to solve the vex-
ing problem of how to improve the
service. Looked at from any angle,
the situation which confronts the
owners of the railroads is discourage
ing.
If the government would keep hands
off the railroads they would take care
of themselves. But government regu-
lation has become a fixed and recog-
nized American policy. The roads
must submit to that regulation at ev-
cry turn. They are held in a leash
like horse staked out to pasture; and
there are forces at work which seek to
make the leash SO short that the horse
ing government ownership and oper-
alton. If the people of the country
who are interested in good railroad
service do not give expression to their
desires the roads are likely to be
turned back to their owners under
conditions that will make efficient
ownership impossible.
The Good Railway Service associa-
ton Of California, composed exclu-
sively of manufacturers and shippers.
has memorialized congress for "con-
structive railway legislation in connec-
ton with the return of the railroads
to private operation" The memorial
warns congress that new money will
not be attracted by a prospective of
51s per cent return" 1T points out
that all new railway construction must
be undertaken in advance of any as
sured return, and that limiting the re-
turns when the territory is fully de-
veloped to 4 per cent is tantamount
TO sitting railway expansion.