Evening journal., 1922-02-18
REST ANSWER TO McaDoo AND HINES.

I II : ~
III erals under government operation. w G. McAdoo
md Walker Hines recently have been trying Ito show
that the railways operated with the greatest prac-
cable efficiency under government control" the Railway
Age says
Meantime the railways under private operation have
been efectng in efficiency economy which
afford best answer to the statistics and arguments OF
Nessrs, McAdoo and Hines"
The Age shows among other things that under govern
ment operation in 1919 the number Of men en-
ployed by the railways i,9i3iS2, while in the ten
months ending with October 1921 the number Of
men employed only i656,6i5 sO7 less 1t says
that these ten months OF private operation the rail
ways passenger train service than in 1919
under operation and handled only ~ per cent
ess freight iralc and yet employed 1871 per cent less
1t shows that in spite Of higher scales Of wages the
number OF employees has been reduced much under
private operation that the paid in October, 1921
we're only s2376OO0OO as compared with s253OOOOOO in
october, 1919 under government operation
The outstanding fact about government operation
says is that under u the expenses Of the railways we're
always increasing whether the trsllc handled was in
crcasng or not The traffic handled in 1919 was less than
in 1918 but this decrease the trslc handled was ac-
companied by increase in operating expenses on the
other hand while under private operation in 1870 an in
crease in traffic was accompanied by large Increase In
expenses the irsfc began TO decline the op-
eratng expenses began be reduced and In the nrst
eleven months Of 1924 the total expenses were aGO-
10000 less than In the same months OF 1920
The principal cause OF the large and practically unnter
Uped increase Of operating expenses under government
control was the Railroad Administrations labor policy.
Mr. MoAdoo has attempted to show that II the railways
not operated with the highest efficiency under
ernment control It largely the fault Of railway on
GERS who constituted most his stan Butthese railway
officers not responsible for, and most Of them were
not in accord with his labor policy. and II the in
in the number OF employees as well as in their
wages that caused most OF the increase In operating
penses In December 1911 when the government took
over the railways, they had 7O37is employees In Janu-
ary 1920 month before they returned to private
operation they had i9535r employees.
Every business knows that II Is extremely dnlcult
in period declining business TO reduce expenses and
especially labor costs in proportion to the decline OF
basness This especially true in the railroad bus ness
railway must continue to operate regardless Of how
much It's business declines and therefore most Of its ex-
penses must go on While however, expenses constantly
increased under government operation the railways un-
der private operation reduced their expenses almost
in proportion the decline In their business in spite OF
the fact that he decline in business has been the greatest
that ever They have been rendering more pas
senger train service than 1919 under government con-
troll They have been handling only about 30 to i2 per
cent less freight They paying higher scales OF wages
and higher prices for coal Nevertheless in the last three
months for which statistics Of earnings and expenses are
available September October and November, their oper-
atng expenses less than In 1919 Their expenses IN
these months Of 1919 were sii9eOOOoOO, and in 1920
lsi.fi2 100000
II may be said that large part OF the reduction in
penses and employed has been due 10 deferrng
maintenance work, but the Railroad Administration in the
latter part OF 1919 did not for maintenance any larger
part OF money spent for operation than the railway
companies been using recently In both October
1919 and October, i92i expenditures for maintenance
were i6 per cent OF the total expenses Of operation
The fact that the railways within months have
been earning net returns than year Is mainly
due the economies that have been made but the public
also Is benenng by IT, In November. 1919, for example,
the total cost OF railway transportation to the public
cudng the derived from the and the dect
incurred by the Railroad Administration, and dedu ting
the taxes paid by the railways amounted to sAsiOO00O0
The total cost the public OF railway transportation in
November. 1921, computed In the way only
si0O0OO0 ss per cent less than under government
control in November 1919 The amount OF passenger
train service rendered greater and the amount Of
freight trafnc handled only iOA per cent. less.
The most significant fact Of all is that under govern
ment operation the number OF employees and operating
penses constantly increased whether traffic increased or
not while under private operation reduction OF tralc
has been accompanied by greater reduction Of
semployes and expenses.