The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1922-05-18
CHARLES DILLON
TELLS ROTARY CLUB
OF RAILWAY STATUS
Managers Only Asking
Adequate Return on
Investments

Charles Dillon. assistant TO the
chairman Of the Western Prcsi-
dcnt's committee. Association OF
Hallway Executives. OF Chicago.
waS tho principal speaker at to-
lays meeting OF the Albuquerque
Rotary club. discussing the status
Of tho American railroads and the
obicctives toward which their
managers nrc striving.
Mr.. Dillon II a pioneer Of Aihu-
uuerquc. His lifetime has been
spent IN railroad work. lie was
employed n a rnllroRd operator
In Albuquerque la 1887 and later
became train dispatcher at Las
VEGAS His rise In the railroad
world has been rapid n he
passed from a period Of news
Paper work IN Kansas and Kansas
City. Mo, TO transportation posi-
tons In Chicago.
Mr. Dillon h accompanied by
Robert y. Wilson. we'll known here
NJ n former santa Re traffic man
and now associated with MIR.
dillon In the executive offices Of
the Association Of Railway ENecu-
iiveS In Chicago.
Mr.. Dillon anld. In part;
The thing Tor which the rail-
roads are asking consideration Is
precisely the same thing. the same
obeict A. that for which every
business man here IN striving. an
adequate not return on the in
vestmcnt. Ivy adequate mean
= return large enough 10 attract
new capital without this no bust
ness can improve or enlarge or
increase ~ efficiency. Because
a very few roads have beon able
to earn this fair return the whole
transportation system should not
be condemned II should be re-
mrmbcred that the government
and the TRANSFORMATION Act con
slider tho railroads aud their earn
ingr In groups or districts.
40 human being can under
stand money In millions or billions.
amounts used commonly In talking
about our railroads. Most of ~
are In the dark after we pass a
few hundreds So ! have had the
figures brought down 20 q basis
within the grasp Of ordinary
minds. For instn e The RrosA
earnings Of the Glass ! railroads.
every twenty minutes IN 1914.
ere iusi tii5.a77. In 1891. every
20 minutes. they were s2Oe.S74,
an Increase Of ~ per cent.
The operating cVpense--what
II cost 10 run the roads every 20
minutes In 1914 Amounted to
SSa.Sft. In 1891. every 20 min
utes those EXPENSES were stT3. Gb2,
an Increase OF i07 per cent.
our pay roll for 20 minutes In
1919 vas t5O.SSS, while for the
same short time IN 1891 II amount
Cd 10 Just si0s.379. an Increase OF
1903 per cent.
"our taxes for 90 minutes in
1914, were tS,fh9. but in 1921. for
every 20 minutes. they had in
crrased 10 $40. 52G-an increase OF
100 per cent.
~ isn't difficult 10 renIise. IL
u. why rates stay ups Many bust
refhes haze increaFes lust aa
hnrdrnsome. n IL true. and thou
sands could not carry thom. There
were nearly 1000 failures In this
country last year. with liabilities
81 much mor thar 500 million
dollars More than 20 railronds
~ere In the hands Of receivers.
Those business houses simply quit.
closed their doors. The railroads
couldn't do this. Trains must be
kept running
You read Of Increased earn
ings In railroad reports: you look
at your own red ink entries. and
you blame the railroads. IL IA
true, earnings did Increase In 1921.
Here r the facts. taken from tho
Interstate Commerce Comminsion
pnnTfa In fha Iuaf III. tanvsb. 80
1921 the railroads had total earn
ings SO per cent higher. about
81. goo. 600 n day more than in the
last six months OF 1915. Why.
then. did not rates come down
Because while earnings went up
30 per cent total operating cx-
penscs ana taxes were fb,7O0.OO a
dny more than In the last half OF
1916 Think OF IT, In the last six
months of 1915 the operating rx-
penHes alone amounted To fs.isb.
$40 "A day In the last half Of
1871 they were precisely fi2.13O.-
$50 a day! That Is about twice
~ much.
In 1915 our fuel. materials and
supplies cost $3.50. seC.fss In 1891
they cost ti,7S6.bSe.seT. more
than twice NJ much.
y ou complain about high taxes
-thnt N TO say every place ! 60
! hear the complaint-but give n
thought TO these figures. you
buHipessmen. In 1916 the rail.
roads paid taxes amounting "a
flb9,2Ia.S0d. In 1871 they paid
1850 ffl SIS In taxes. 'rhis is at
Increase OF more than 10 per cent
over 1916, or about 90 cents Of