The New York herald., 1921-04-21

Might this not disturb some easy
going fellow comfortably doing i
his armchair? Undoubtedly:
~To be sure, such action would
develop lot OF kicks. Other rail-
roads wouldn't see the sense of It
and some individuals, with port
stocks. would howl, but the general
considerations and the good OF the
country as a whole would deter
mine the value OF the action. and /
would write my Congressman to
please change his laws so that we
could do this sort OF business. and
to change them for the good of the
people as a whole"
Take another concrete example,:
II once had to do with the maxi
ing OF a freight rate on manure 1t
accumulated in great quantities at
the Kaneas City stock yards And
empty stock and coal cars were
moving out of Kansas City.
81 didn't try to figure out the
exact percentage car of manure
had to earn to pay Its proportion
Of the office rent in New York. 1t
was determined that at s12 a car
a lot of orchard and small fruit
farmers could and would buy 1t.
And under this rate hundreds OF
cars moved A thin agricultural
country was properly fertilized. Tn
three years the results were tangf-
BILE and gratifying. Thousands of
dollars Of added fruit and agricul-
tural products were shipped out.
I'VE probably lost money on the
manure traffic We about broke
even on the fruit. But on the in
bound merchandise. purchased with
crop money. it was a different story.
Carloads OF high priced goods, sew
ing machines, automobiles. dry goods,
&c.-and new red barns and new
farm bungalows going up every time
we passed through that section.
I'VE had complaint about it, OF
course. The coal going back to Kan
sas City was charged $50 per car.
One coal man complained that If s12
was a proper rate on manure 1t was
unfair to charge $50 for coal for the
same distance.
you will always have that sort
Of people to contend with, and the
worst of it Is that cranks and selfish
hypocrites often get far more con-
sideration in the making of laws
than the man who tends to his busi-
ness and saws wood"
This hard shell proposition is up &
The railroad executives who operat
the roads, up to the Interstate Com
merce Commission which regulate
the rates, up to the Congress mem
bers who make the laws that govern
the rate makers and up to the Amer
can people who foot the bills:
eve want railroad systems that are
adequate and thoroughly equipped.
We earnestly desire prosperous trans
portation conditions. And the rail-
roads must have revenue to accom-
pllsh these ends.
But we insist that they recog-
nize that their activities and their
rates are inseparably interviewer
into the whole commercial fabric.
They cannot stand apart, print
a tariff, stick in a lot of paper
rates, raise them on arbitrary per-
centages, and then act as a collection
agency toward the rest of the busi-
ness community.
IF they want revenue they ought
to get IL, just as all Of us get our
sales-create Il, and merchandise
their traffic for what II will bear, and
with regard in their calculations for
what It will not bear"
The general railroad traffic of tn
United States, in the opinion of TIL
New York HERALD, could NOV
freely, buoyantly and to the bus
ness activity and economic welfar
Of the country under q total ma
tional freight bill of some three an
i half billions of dollars a year. /
might carry on under a total freigh
bill of three and three-quarter billion
Of dollars. 1t might struggle througl
on some four billions of dollars. Blu
the railroad wage charges alone hav
been running at the rate Of all that
up from 81, 100000 In 1917 to al
four billions of dollars
yearl Just wages! And there are sti
left all the interest 10 be paid on th
debts, all the taxes to be paid, all th
to be bought and mair
tained. all the roadbeds to be kept vi
all the supplies to be bought--all tina
before there comes a chance for q II
turn on the invested capital!
There Is nothing to do but to CT
war time railroad wages so that ira
&c rates may he cut. Then there
nothing to do but to cut and readju'
traffic rates so that crops may gro
and be distributed. mill. forest an
mine production may come forth an
be dIstributed--all wealth be create
n,I .lt..rthuto1 For xvhof rnonf.fr