Evening journal., 1920-08-23
pmyATE AND ruRLIc MANAeEMENr on rREIeMT

VVTHMINGTON shippers viii be interested in knowing
w that the frequent claims Of advocates Of govern
ownership OF railroads that under the drccton OF
the Railroad Administration In 1918 the railroads handled
greater volume of freight traffic than before is dis
puted by the Railway Ase In editorial In IFS current
issue The editorial shows by analysis OF the Official
statistics published by the Interstate Commerce Commis
SON. that while in 1918 ne railroads handled slightly
ton-ms OF freight traffic DIAN IN 1877, the aciual num-
Der OF Of freight shipped 1917 slightly greater
than IN 1913 that while the Railroad Administration,
in spite its horroutnsn campaign, hauled the aver
age shipment Of freight distance Of four miles farther
than the averaae shipment hauled in 1877 the record
for tonnage OF fcght hauled st belongs 20 private
management The Railway Age says:
1T was one OF the boasts OF the Railroad Admnista
ton that under its direction the railroads succeeded in
handling greater volume OF traffic during the year 1918
man they had ever handled before The net on-miles
Of revenue freight transported by the Glass roads In
5ois-that is the number Of tons multiplied by the num-
ber Of miles they carried-aggreeated iOos92Sii,
as compared with 800 2O716i3 handled by the same
roads 1917. when they stan under private man
aeemenie Tnis represents increase OF about Is per
cent IN the number Of units by which the work done
by the roads measured In 1916 the ton@niles were
362 44897t29 Many officers OF the Railroad Admnstra-
ton were not satisfied with the showing made by their
figures, however and insisted that they wene saving so
many ton-lniles by their "shori-routing' campaign In
handhng freight by the drect routes that the in
been greaaer than the IS per cent indicated by the
statistics.
It adds that the Interstate Commerce Commission has
since published statistics for Glass roads, however
shoin the tons OF freight originated the roads dur
ing i9iS-tha s TIE acua amount OF freight regardless
Of tho distance moved th number OF roads It
moved over-yich show total OF 1888 $500 TONS as
conpared with i26tOi5725 in 1917 and 2O2OO0O67 IN
~39i6 In other words, under government management in
1918 during eleven months OF which The United States
at war the handled 7i9s5 less tons OF freight
than they did In 1917; during nine months Of which the
country was at war; although under government man
esement hey carried the freight greater number OF
miles.
The Railway Ace showed some time ago that according
70 the ohctal statistics Of he Interstate Commerce Com
mission the haul per ton OF freight in 1915 was
tne LONGEST ever known, i755i miles lover the individual
railroad compared with 1919 miles In 1911 and that
the amount Of unnecessary roundabout routing corrected
by the campaign conducted under unified operation OF
the railroads, although 1t may have resulted in some
slight economies in some instances was not sufficient tc
exert percepiibe influence the economic condition.
which for years have been increasing the avcra
distance which freight is being shippd The averag
haul per ton OF freight the railroads considered a
single system increased from 9i2 miles 1917 to "a
miles IN 1918.
While there Is particular object at this day in
tempting 10 detTact from the showing made by the Raj
road Administration It at least interesting 10 note th
while the government broke the record for ton-le
the record for te number tons hauled sim beonss
prfyee management