Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-02-20
RE- BIRTH Of RAID
INDUSTRY NEEDED,
SAYS W|NCRELL
Credit Prime Need of Roads
At This Time, Southern
Regional Director AS
SertS

"sett1ing of labor troubles, build
ING of cars, revision Of terminaty Ia
cilities-none of these thlngs!} &C.
complished singly will solves ..rle
railroad problem. We must maze,
complete re-birth of the TRANSPORTS
ton industry, and must DO al! tlle
necessary things, without glN'nS
undue emphasis to any single thing.
Such was the opinion expresses. ~ =
B. L. Winchell, regional dlrectoh u
southern railroads, Thursday
Mr. Winchell said that credit IS
the p.3me need of the rallfoaos a.
tbis time. He said that to accom-
Wish the gigantic task set before
the owners and operators OF. rail
roads confidence in the railroad
management must be gained by the
investors. My. Winchelps opinion
is that the nation has far out
stripped the railroads in growth
that the facilities of the carriers are
NOT adequate to meet the demands
of the nation, and it now is neces-
sarv to bring the transportation
systems of the country up to the
standard Of efficiency reached pF
other industries.
Text Of Comment
Commenting on the railroad Dill
IN congress, Mr.. Winchell said;
"Tn advance of knowing the exact
forms of the new railroad bill, no
one is warranted in expressing an
oninion as to how far 1t Will meet
the acute and widespread necessl-
ties Of the railroads and Of the ma
tion, the latter, of course, being the
vital issue. Without adequate anu
satisfactory transportation, TN {
business of the country cannot con-
tinue to develop. The country mas
outgrown it's railroads, and until
vast sums of money have peen
snent in the creation of new faclll-
Ties; the situation will be unsatls-
factory and at times even distress
ing.
'When a railroad has SO per cent
Of the business which it is designed
to handle, good management can ana
will produce good results. Whenta
volume of traffic is offered 10 per
cent or 20 per cent or 80 per cent
larger than the capacity Of the rah-
roads, transportation chaos and COM
lnercia1 decentralization are certain.
The necessary new equipment IS
only part Of what must be provided
In addition to new cars and engines,
the outgrown railroads must have
larger facilities in the cities, new
and larger freight houses, team
tracks, yards, etc.; better facilities
at intermediate division terminals;
many new and longer passing
ira cks; in some cases second, thtrd
and fourth running tracks; large
and modern engine houses and coaf-
ing facilities; modern shops, capable
of handling modern equipment
promptly and economically; auto
matte signals. etc.
Condition in 1917
"The money to provide all of these
facilities must come from the aver
age investor, who, for some years,
has not cared for railroad securities.
they have not seemed safe or de-
sirable, except in a few rare in
stances. The public, the savings
banks and the insurance companies
must be fully satisfied that dollar
invested elsewhere. This has been
said so often as to be automatic and
stale, but it evidently has not been
said often enough to bring about in
the past the required result.
Perhaps that result is to be found
in the railroad bill which is now
nearing completion in Washington,
but I do not yet know that this new
bill goes far enough to inspire full
confidence in railroad investment; if
it does, the money will be forthcorl-
ing for the rehabilitation of the ra' i
road systems which will enable
them to cope with the tremendously
increased volume of traffic which
the country is offering for move
ment.
"A complete breakdown was in
sight in 1917. The traffic of the
country has grown steadily during
the intervening period and the ca
! pacity of railroads has not, appre-
ciably.
Even if abundant capital funds
can fortunately be had at once a con-
| siderable length of time will be re-
| quired to enable the transporta ton
| systems to meet the demands upon
them, because "a stern chase is a
long chase" There will in any event
! be d considerable period ahead of us
| in which the expenditure of large
sums Of money; honest and earnest
days work for a days pay, and great
patience on the part of the shippir g
and travelling public will be neccs-
SarV"