Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-11
THE GROWING COMPETITION
BETWEEN GAS" AND STEAM
Jitney'Trolley Fight Is Expanding TO
Include Railway Lines and Motor
Transport Systems

w of aS economic and scientific progress is
clearly good thing. No Que ever has been
known to say fatty that it is not inevitable
and desirable Yet the processes by which
civilization is advanced actually work un-
expected hardshipS on n great many people
and often appear to those immediately at.
tcc'"d as processes of evil.
Here. for example. is julius Nruttschnitt,
chairman of tho board Of directors Of the
Southern Pacif2 Railway. who told the
Senate irtcrstNt" commerce committee yes
terday that II the railroad systems of the
country are 10 thriv" and continue in eff
"ient operation We must stop the use for
common carrier purposes Of highways built
with public money without adequate tolls or
proper regulation.
The reference j., of course. to motor
transport
Suddenly the question raised long ago in
controversies between iitn"ys and trolley
systems has "Xpandrd--aS IL had to sooner
or later-and assumed national proportions
If public highways are not to be used by
common carriers. wiz have they been built?
The Southern Pacific Railway. like all other
great rail lines has been feeling tho pinch of
financial necessity II has been feeling, too,
the increasing pressure OF motor Compe.
titOn.
Just as the fiscal and operating policies
Of street railway lines hav" been confused
in some instances by the appearance of tho
relatively unimportant jitnoy, the great
trunk lines of the country SEQ in the growth
Of th" motor transport industry sources Of
increasing trouble for The present and the
future.
To suggest that motors be restricted on
public roads in order that the railways may
not have to compete with th"m j. 10 preach
the most primitive of economic phosophics
The growth OF the motor freight system
proves that the public. which pays for the
highways, participates in the benefits of the
new method and draws from its investments
in public roads more than il drew before
To pcnalizc motortruckS and make their
normal use difficult would be 10 deny the
general advantages Of modern science and
invention.
The railroads. on the other hand. are and
will continue 10 be tho nerves Of tho country.
They are at n disadvantage in the growing
war between steam and gasoline Motors
cannot supnlant them or render anything
like tho service which they perform Their
equipment il enormously costly and inf.
nitply complicated. Their interests will be-
fully protected in any wise policy of public
administration. just as the interests Of troll
10y lines will be properly Safeguardcd in any
community which rccognacs the inadcQuacy
Of casual competition Of an unfair sort de-
viErd merely tO take the Casr money and
leave the hard work of development and
pioneering TO tho rail lines
But the war j. on ana the gasoline motor
is proving its ability to be as revolutionary
devic" in peace as it was in war. Only
by a long series of trials and adjustments
can the case between steam and gasoline BE-
adjusted. II will br adjusted not by methods
IT repression and restriction or BY special
In k,,, k, In o1 nvnl,ti,p :
new sort Of general transport system in
which gasoline and steam will play sp'.
"a.i%ed parts.
There ough, to b no conflict of interests
IN tn" field Of general transportation. What
s now o',ght 70 be utilized to increase the
service efficiency Of what is already estab-
liShrd
Candle making was an important indus
try il London when illuminating gas was
first introduced to tho world. The candle.
maN"r, grounrd and predicted explosions
and disasters and demanded protection.
GaS companies in turn viewed with horror
the first Devices intended to light streets by
"I"ctrcir%. They talked like Mr.. kru.t-
>rhnitt AID suggested prohibityr l"giSlu-
ton. BGt -h"y endured 70 make q vast lot
O.! money ard they ar" doing fairly well
to-day
Th" sewing machine was called an in
famous dov '". Sensitive people objected
10 it h"raus" II was sure TO put many
SrAmS,reS>cS ont Of employment.
Evrrybodv olamorS for progress, bpr prog
rcss is made with infinite difficulty 10
Doiitics economies. in science and phlo>o.
ply rnd everywhere else People ar" actually
afraid ui progress
I'll" ,mrortaut fact in the present IN
-'nnr. is thar III" gaSolin" motor has ar
rived T. cannot be held back. II cannot
b." waved into the background any more
! than 'hr steam engine or the sewing ma
chine or the inrnndesc"nt light could be
waved lnrp the background. Tn" thing 70
do nuw is 20 make the best Us" % II and.
7 3. >r.nHtiNr policies devised for III" general
good, max" it a help rather than a hindrance
. - tho great railway lines.
Tlrr" is vast room for Improvement in
'r general freight and passenger carrying
. s,y'"n Of the United States. There are
I vaS' areas and innumorabc communities vir
rua.ly cut of from main traflir Rrt rics II
'uhos people too long 20 get about in cities.
/ The united facilities of railway corporations,
/ street railway companies ard motor sys.
remS cxrrted under q common plan will yet
. be required % Civ" the country tho service II
moods in the Npars"ly settled regions in
suburbs and in the cities.
7" talk Of fighting the railroads or tbs
.roilrvs to finish or Of "Suppr".sing" the
gasoline motor is to talk sheer nonsense.