The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-12-04

, more, the Southern was the only larg
| railway system that did refuse III
guaranty. taking the fun risk OF los
with the hope of earning n surpIuf
which II ee/ld retain In fun II 1t re-.
! FUSED the government or r. #
"All through the period ~ Govern =
ment operation the Southci 'ailway
corporation officers and & United
States railroad administrai were
at loggerheads. In the first place, the
corporation claimed a greater rcntai
than the government was willing 10
allow. As II stands now, the COM
pany has claims totaling about ssg.
10000 against the government-fo
rental, undermaintenance, etc.-and
the government has claims againaj
the railroad company totaling ST.
$4,000 for improvement to the road,
new cars and locomotives, etc.
In his relationship with the govern4
nent ana with officers OF the Southel n
railway who elected 10 become federal
officers during the period OF govern
mcnt operation Mr. Harrisons atti-
tude must have been 10 some extent
influenced by his own experience in
the trying months preceding the mo-
mentons presidential proclamation OF
Dec. ~, 1917. Mr.. Harrison was the
chairman OF the .Rairoad War board,
winch had undertaken TO direct and
co'ofdinate the operation OF all the rafl-
roads ~ the United states in 1877,
The war board experiment was
failure I'm so far as staving or governs
ment operation was concerned. Mr..
Harrison, IN electing TO take the risk
OF loss during the first six months after
me roads were returned TO their
owners, had an opportunity 10 demon.
strAte tho superiority OF private opera
uon OF railroads over government
opefauon, and the fact that In lyl7 hln
war BOARD mad been unable TO STAN
or government operation was not exA
hctly damper on his enthusiasm. He
succeeded. Even with tho Sily5 OOO
increase In wages made by the rail-
road labor board retroactive from July
~, l92O the southern railway proper
earned AJibo 200 more net after pnyinw
expenses In the first six months of pri-
Vate operation than II did in the cor
responding six months OF 1918 under
government operation. The real differ-
ence, therefore, In the six months was
some S7,bOo. 0OU IN favor OF the months
or private operation, 10 Is unfair 10 at
tribute all or this very large sum 10
the diifereuce between economies OF
operation under private management
ana eNtrayaghnces OF the operation
lhder government management The
ruth IL that the most important fac
or In this showing is the development
las taken place IN the south IN recent
'aarS ana which has eliminated In a
prosperity that is beyond anything
nat had been dreamed OF since tho
lNll war. but. even II only n smau
art or none Mt all OF this specific gain
" VI 600 900 is due 10 tho superiority OF
'riNatc over government operation. n
= a convincing commentary on the In
innate relationship which exists be-
weon railroad and hoth tho indus
rial ana social life OF the territory,
which u serves,
Tn the DAYS when tho Southern
ailway was an aggregation OF cheapiy
uut' poorly maintained lines, with stA-
ions thnt were an eyesore In towns
het were even more run down at the
eel than were the stations, the people
u me south were living on hog meat
Unnecessary frlll to outhuldlngs. tho
My crop was cotton and that WAS
alHed with minimum expenditure OF
bow grease. Tho first step 10 REM
dy TINS situation was the estahllsh-
lent OF manufacturing Industries In
he south. but first there had TO he
otter transportation facilities, The
ocessnry capital and courage were
nrthcoming and the Southern railway
cyan the reconrtruction OF It's entire
,hin limo from Washington, ID. c., to
tlanta. Ga, This work was nearing
ompletion when tho government took
Yer the railroads. The government
pent s69iT000 20 nnlsh tho Job and
hHrged this amount against tho corr
grafton, Tho entire line from WASH
1gton to Atlanta In now modern
ouble track railroad with maximum
lrves OF degrees. maximum Grades
T III feet TO tho mile concrete hridgaa.
one ballast. and laid with Ss-pound
tlls. In 1898 there wasn't n mile Of
luhle track. and six-sOvenths OF tho
III weighed only sixty pounds or less
n yard. Grades were elghty-fo feet
the mile.
There In yet an Immense amount OF
Urk 20 he done on tho Southern rails
NY and an immense amount OF new
pitRl Is needed TO do e. Some on
liz work VIII bring IN additional rave-
~; some Of II won't Bridges have
he strengthened. thousands of miles
road brought M 20 more modern
hndards new stations built. etc.
zero has come n now era Of prospcr~
Z 10 the south. Thirty-Hlx cent cot-
N has pulled tho southern. Planter out
debt and put him on his feet a
naiderable part OF the cotton raised
the south is belng manufactured into
lHhed products In southern mills.
pre- than half OF the s,S3i.0 900 tons of
& iron produced by the south in 1919
~ manufactured into nnlahed prod-
e. In tho south, whereas not a NTH
that produced In 1890 was manufac-
rod In the southern states. One tn
stry alone located on the lines OF the
uthern In 1907 which II was hoped
rht In time furnish 5000 900 In freight
slness II now furnishing q freight
slness Of 81. 200 900 q year. The days
hog meat and hominy' are past and
are the days of 60-pound railroad.
rebuilding It's main line tho south
railway was. In advance q the
tda OF the south. but the south has
irht I'm -