The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-02-04
N MeADO0
ANSWERS
CRITICISMS

Director General IN
der the Government
Control Cities Fig
u1es to Prove His
Claims of Efficl-
ency
Washington, Feb 2.-Taking
into consideration every cXpcndl-
turc. by shippers. travellers. or ~
congressional appropriations. :ilc
railroad system OF the United
States Only cost the American pub
lie an average of $40. 0.G37. 7.l04 per
month for all the wartime period
when the government ran it. VIII
liam G.. McAdoo. first director gen
eral of the admini ration, testified
today before Il senate investigation
committee he said ii was costing
under private control now an aver
age of S525.l13.l35 per month.
In other words. the cost Of prl-
vatc operation, since federal con-
troll. has been 81 per cent higher
than under the railroad admins
tration." Mr.. McAdoo said in con-
Guiding.
Speaking on the general results
and effects OF restored private con-
! troi. and the return 10 the old So
called competitive system Of rail-
road opcru y with its great wastes
AID inciIicicncics, With the trc-
mcndors burden imposed on the
public OF Increased freight and pas
! scnscr rates, the evil consequences
Of which are reflected in the pros
tra.ion Of agriculture, labor and IN
duStry. of the colossal claims made
| by the railroad corporations
against the government for alleged
under er-n,aintcnancc, ineGicicncy Of
! labor. etc. / am convinced that ii
would have cost the American pco-
: pie less money to have maintained
control of d test period than has re-
sul;ed from their return 70 private
control.
Il am also convinced that the
! present level of freight and pas
Scngcr rates would have been UNI
necessary because there is no uucs-
ton in my mind that awcll-direct-
cd and unified operation Of the
railroads would enormously reduce
the cost Of operation, aud greatly
/ increase efficiency
While the time has gone by,
he said to urg- retention Of the
railroads by the government. IN
the first year Of government oper-
ationS the total savings made by
the railroad administration in
unified operation" was $11S,000.-
! 600. as against expenses under prl-
vatc operation.
Mr.. Mc.Adoo returned TO the at
, t.ick on his critics among railroad
executives. today. dealing chiefly
with two charges. the first concern
| ing under maintenance. while the
:;ccond was Il warm defense Of his
own labor and wage policies. Rail-
roads went back to private owner
ship, he said. with more locomo-
tivcs aud more cars" than they had
gwen the government AS TO the
charges Of neglected repairs. he
said that the total cost OF fitting
.rcight cars for service after the
government concluded was not
charge that the wages Of railroad
labor were unnecessarily raised and
that wages were thereby elevated
more than $9.5GS,0O0. and turning
to reported conditions today, he
said it would cost railroads $3".-
$1,000 to repair the ears that are
too damaged for service now.
AZ TO wage increases under his
administration. Mr.. McAdoo as-
serted they amounted to SS6G,S02.-
600 per year. while increases
.srantcd TO the employees in 1920,
Under private operation. amounted
to $1,091000.oo0
The fact is railroad employees
Z, worked for less pay during the
war than any other class Of indus
trial workers doing similar work.
he declared The realization
they were working for their gov
crnmcnt in the stress and strain
OF war. and that they would be
fairly treated inspired them and
Spurrcd them to unuSuai effort and
faithful service.
Taking over the roads. the adj
n;nistration found frequent and
costly labor turnover. discomfort.
and decentralization. with payratcs
tar lower than either the cost OF
/ living. or the scales in private in
dustry iustitiScd. he added. Hc
/ rccounIcd the setting up OF wage
boards. with management repre-
Scrtativcs. and the granting; Of IN
crcascs.
There WAS not the slightest
complaint from any railroad exc
cutivc that wage increases in 1915
were too high" he said. The
, throughout the country is false.
/ The exact contrary is true.
The schedules Of wages pro-
mulSat"d by the railroad admins
tration during 1918 were generally
: bclow those in other basic indus
tries. and Well below The rates
fixed by thc navy yards. the Nat