The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Daily Financial Gossip
By HOLLAND

New York, October S-Howard Elliott chairman of the board of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, predicteI while the American railroads were stilI under the control of the government that after the lines were returned to private management such efficiency would be so speedily secured as would of itself fur nish a perfect argument against govern ment ownership and operation. MT. Ei- liott also said that, notwithstanding the increase in rates which the interstate commerce commission authorized, the in crease which consumers would have to pay for commodities transported should be and probably would be so slight as to be almost unnoticed. Furthermore Mir Elliott claimed that this increase in rates, supplemented as it would be- he was sure, by rapid gain in efficiency would tend greatly to increase business activity.
 Recently the railroads have been dem onstratng what they can do under pri- vate management in comparison with what they did when under government operation. It is noticeable that the rapId improvement in the transportation situa- tion has been made possible through the cooperation of shippers and the general public. The railroad managers, when they speak of this cooperation, say that it is the best possible proof of the change in sentiment toward the railroads which has characterized the people. This change was noticed first after the gov ernment began to operate the railroads.
 President Vauclain of the Baldwin Lo- comotive Company said few days ago, shortly after he returned from Europe, that what central Europe and France chiefly need is transportation facilities. Having secured these facilities, then they will begin greatly to increase production. For if they have adequate means whereby they can transport their prod ucts to market they will surely take ad- vantage of this opportunity.
 But if central Europe needs transpor- tation, so also the United States at the beginning of the present year was in need of very much greater transporta- ton facilities than were at that time possible. In fact, one of the ablest Of the railroad managers of the United States said that if transportation facili- ties were adequate, then there need be no anxiety about production.
 WHAT RAILROADS HAVE DONE
 Shortly after the first of August it was possible for the Association of Railway Executives to report remarkable increase in transportation service. This service was still far below the needs of some sections of the country, particularly the 
 even that section was noticeable and 1t gave the farmers cause for rejoicing. . The Pennsylvania railroad carried more coal for delivery at New York harbor in August than it had ever before car ried in that month. This railroad moved thousand more trains and almost five thousand more cars in August than it moved in April. It's efficiency was so we'll increased that it added two miles a day to the average movement of cars. There was no government control, noth- ing but the efficiency of the manage ment as well as the gratifying increase of it by the employees, as well as the cordial support of the public, to explain this remarkable increase.
 One of the reports recently made which told of the amount of freight handled by the railroads of the United States in Au- gust of this year, which is represented by over 4,O00 carloads in excess of the best record before made, which was in Au- gust, 1918.