The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1921-10-16

tsken ev<r W ths kovernment
~ tfA< ou<hrcah 81 tbs war and
r<ttrn>d 20 private ownership
"a A1zque< as ias1. h-=t uasFr =
NEW law which radfcally
cn~nr-s <nelt Status. 1nls act
proSi1ss for the compulsory
em4iesmation q all he raiI-
roads Int 'fonr 5Hospenacnt
ryctcms. thur rrecticaziy nnen-
inc cofnrcli1on IN railway SER
r4ce. public tri1unni. cor
&c. 10 cur intSfrfhfc commerco
comni&zlen. M xAfsnli<hed 10
have supers1elon Oyer rates and
r+rvi1s. On = dny 81 mo
ietins eff.cs e MS aT or
su.d a railway rnppiemsnt. deal
ing With dIrfdrent phases Of M
railway problem, written BY rec
nrnl.ra nithor<fIcs. one of
sI7eEe articles. written by CTR
william Acworth. dte& with
leaning question: which nrc vi
tai 70 railway administration ev-
sfywhere = a. thsy are han
Ina name we ave reproduced
~ arricir nearly IN fun here
atm. rfr Winskrn AcUorth has
served In numerous pnhiic cnpa-
cities m Connection With railways.
uosnhay IA recent year pon the
canadlnn commission and the
royal commission upon the rail-.
time 4 member OF tho latter
body. His discussion OF the
principles OF rate-fisinE and
classification. and OF The prob
LENS o confronting rniiroad
management In C<cat Britain "
a. pertinent to conditions In the
United States AZ " written with
direct rcsare 10 them.)
The ecoaomic msn-ff a specimen
OF that Interesting animal could real
~ be capturcd-~oufd doubtless nnr
stft INIT the ecououir basis Of rail-
way rates IL merely the law of sup
ply md demand. And ne would he
quite correct But the edifics IL
subject to such thrusts 10 one aid
or the other. now BY positive legal
Of custom lying upon VA with a weight
deep almost an life. that The super
structure often rocks upon lis foun'
I~l "a flrst sonslder the theoretical
working OF III law. Railways VIII
not bo supplied unless there is evil
dent demand for them-that Il, I'M
lees somebody wiz provide ~
somebody VIII normally he sooner OF
later the customers who use the rail-
ways and pay rates and mres- Even
when built. railways Will not be
worked unless somebody mccts the
costs Involved. These costs are OF
three kinds actual out-of-pocket
cost OF working the service. mainly
wages and coat ost OF maintaining
the plant and equipment; and re-
Get OF costs Is covered by the re-
the railway hal to shut down
pretty quickly. Tho second set can
postponed, n not wholly, at least
10 q considerable extent. for a long
time In the hope OF better days 10
come. As for the third set OF costs.
a railway can continue Indefinitely
return on capital be NIL. There IA
nothing In this peculiar 10 n railway.
Compare the position OF the rubber
Industry NJ n present moment. a
rubber company will como 10 a stand
unless Il can sell Its output at y
price 10 cover tf.S coolies wages and
establishment charges. but
u viii probably make drastic cuts In
Its expenses for cultivation ard
dividends Even II II has issued
the holders VIII prob
ably prefer 10 wait rather than fore
on a vaiueless property.
But the analogy with the rubber
IL not on all fours. Rubber
are purely private enter
prisca There are many hundreds
- So - -. -
d~fspennabie 10 the community. Each
IL al liberty to make any profit IL
can At one time, and correapondlngly
10 permitted TO go down uuaided N II
ceases 10 be neif'nnpporfihg. Rail-
are few and far between. Even
countries well supplied with rail-
ways the proportion Of the area
which II served by two Is very small.
consequently railways IRE very
abandoned. however unprof
table they may DO as commercial
enterprises. In some shape or
form the public H. forced 10 come
70 their assistance. A. has happened
more than once, for instance, In
French railway history. And In
deed this peculiarly of railways goes
farther. IL Is taken for granted
That b law OF supply and demand
viii Induce private enterprise 10 pro-
duce sill the rubber required. But
IN almost every country-Great Brit.
am IL the only serious exception
public money has been devoted 20 the
construction OF railways considered
10 be necessary in the public interest.
Hate Fixing.
To turn from construction TO day.
to-day working. how far does the
OF supply and demand govern the
rates and fares which a railway
chargeE2 In an old. rich and fully
country UGH as England
the workings Of the law Is obscured
by 80 many outside things. statutory
legal and administrative
competitiOn-not only by
other railways. but by water-and so
forth, that " ia difficult to see the
for h trees. let us imagine
a railway company in vacuo, subject
TO no restrictions and substantially
free from competition, How will n
fix its rates1 Presumably Il will act
like any other trader. who charges
FOR his arc not. as II sometimes
supposed. the highest price at which
he believes he car get them sold, but
the price which he believes will give
the largest net profit on his
business aa a whole
Now this profit IL the product OF
factors: Tho number OF articles
sold aud the amount OF profit on
And this figure a be ascer-
only by the method Of trial
and error. Normally reduction Of