The Mena weekly star., 1921-12-29

conscientious men. trained in their
 calling. and know their ambition is
 that American railroads shall main-
 tain their high rang among the trans
 nortation agencies of the world.
 believe them worthy of the pubic
 trust.
 At Public Mercy.
 The growth of public regulation has
 nlaeed the railroads literally at the
 mercy of the public. The railroads are controlled thru governmental agencies in the service they shall give, fbe rates they shall charge, the wages they shall pay and the. conditions under which their employees snaA work; while to management IS given the power of directing operations within these limitations. But l hold for management a greater task, that of impressing upon public opinion the need of constructive policies, and of what those policies should be. Railway management is the trus- fec of vast properties valued at near Iv S1g 900 .000 GOO, and it would be ierelict to duty if it did not exert it's utmost effort toward construction as against destruction, toward progress IS against retrogression.
 When we are i'll we call upon men rained in the diagnosis and treatment f human ailments to effect cure; yhen questions of jurisprudence arise ye consult the best legal minds at our isposal to guide our actions; Tn ailway matters men trained Tn that eience should be our advisers. tn the of every public question | lere always is proposed plethora O. ntried remedies, fake curses, quack | anaeeas; these have exercised, in the asst, too great an influence upon pub- . thought in railway matters.
 The first principle of railway pro ress is the necessity of placing at le disposal of the railroads a net ln- me which will be sufficient to pay 1ligations and attract the savings q l vestors in order that extensions, iis- rovements and betterments may be lrried out. The only source of this avenue is in the rates charged for 'ansportation service. "What the 'athc can bear" is the misnomer. The ovement of traffic can be more ser usly hampered by physical inability , handle 1t than by rates which seem igh as compared with those of an- Lher period, Rates, of course, lould be so distributed as to allow )r an easy flow of products from pro- ucer to consumer, but the importance { protecting the railroads against ates which will impair service is too asily lost sight of in our desire to rotect other industry from rates hich might upset the scale of price 1iustments.
 Oppressive Regulations.
 Another important element in as- iring railway progress is the need ,r curtailing oppressive regulations hich increase the cost of producing without increasing the opacity for producing transportation. T one of the states in which the llli- ois Central operates bills were intro uced and passed for passage in the scent session of the legislature which,
 they had been passed and approved, rould have increased expenditures the railroads of that state more nan S100,000,000 annually without in ny way increasing their efficiency. the same situation has ex- ted in the regular sessions of every tate legislature of the forty-eight -ates for years past Fortunately | pr the railroads and for the public, hich must underwrite the railroads ills, the measures to which have re- .rred failed, but that has not been the istory of such legislation. Too often | le ill-advised burden has been placed. | he cumulative effect of this short ghtedness has been to place the rail- pads under great handicaps and to in- rease unnecessarily the cost of trans 
 The hope of the railroads lies in the | and maintenance of a rholesome public sentiment toward | lem. The public should bear in mind | nat whatever hurts the railroads hurt | le public. Anything that affects | ailway service and rates detrimental | ' is opposed to the public welfare, for l nything that increases the cost of | without comparable | etterment of service has a bearing | pon rates. The welfare of the rail- | pads and the public welfare are so in | Arwoven that it is impossible to sepa- ate them. That the public has not | cen inclined to accept this viewpoint l
 unfortunate; that the public is now l lore favorably minded toward the | augers we'll
 On the Illinois Central System we re exerting our best efforts to ac- uaint our patrons with railway prob l ms and the best methods of their | olution, and are asking their con- rructive criticism and suggestions. l Fe are being rewarded by the coop ration of the public served by our ne in degree hitherto unknown.
 We have passed thru trying times nd our lesson in railway economies as been a hard one. If we have pro- ted by it, it is we'll I believe we ave