The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1922-12-07
WHICH WAY SHALL WE TRAVEL ?-


western railroads, he fought to accomplish
their highest possible efficiency as car
riers.
He reduced grades, cut out curves, en-
larged sidings, shortened time for coaling
and watering, enlarged rolling stock,
speeded up trains and sought enlarged
volumes of traffic.
Twenty-Five years ago the western rail
roads had go pound rails. Today most of
them have 80 pound rails.
Then the freight cars carried 10000 to
10000 pounds freight. Today, freight
cars carry $4,000 to 100000 pounds
freight.
Hartman found them single-track roads.
Today they are double-track on all divis-
ions requiring it.
Roosevelt fought to break up the big
railroad mergers and said he would send
Hartman to Sing Sing.
Legislation following his fight stopped
the railroad clock and for fifteen years our
country has spent millions annually, not
on needed new railroads but on valuations,
accounting, legislation and regulation.
Every cent railroad takes in or ex-
ponds must be reported in duplicate or
triplicate to state and federal commissions,
costing millions annually but producing.
not one cent of new business.
In fact this entire useless, predatory in
reference has to be paid for out of the
pockets of the people in high freights, and
fares and, on top of this, the army of Of
ficials and their families ride on free
passes.
1t takes six different classes of unionfzed
labor to repair locomotive headlight In
the old days the engineers did it. Thanks
to Mr.. McAdoo, it is all added to the
freight.
The great scarcity of mskilled labor
prevents railroad expansion and common
labor is costing some of the eastern rail
roads from 81 to 81 day.
The farmers cannot afford to pay such
wages and millions of acres of corn are
going unhusked.
The three per cent immigration lmita-
ton is making European countries hate
our country, blocking our development
and raising the cost of necessities of life.
There will be no new railroad building
to speak of for years to come under the rule
of limitation of earnings There may be
consolidation of lines by the Interstate
Commerce Commission largely controlled
by officials who never spent day of
their lives at railroading.
In the days before the uplift reform
wave any man or group of men could
project a new railroad, make survey,
get franchise and go ahead on long
chance of making big stake Most of
them lost time and money but they loved
the excitement of the game as true Ameri-
cans following the impulse of enterprise
and initiative.
That is all done away with. State and
federal commission, blue sky laws, rates
that throttle otherwise productive corpor-
atiOns by placing restrictions on the earn
ings, regulations and red tape tie the
hands of individuals who otherwise might |
have the pep and backbone to undertake |
large new enterprises.
The American railway system has be-
come water-logged from over-legislation
and over-regulation and may never re-
cover its old-time healthy rate of rapid
growth and expansion.
Millions of money are now spent an
nually on thousands of state and federal
officials to supervise and overhaul the
properties and activities of American rail
roads. Will this army never stop until
we have the highest finished product of
European paternalism? Our country will
travel in this direction or it will go back
to just plain commonsense American ideas
of railroading.- Manufacturer.
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