The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1922-01-12

srtuction as against destruction, tow
ard progress as against retrogression.
When we are i'll we call upon men
trained in the diagnosis and treat
ment of human ailments to effect a
cure, when questions OF jurlsprud-
ence arise we consult the best legal
minds at our disposal to guide our
actions; in railway matters men train
ed in that science should be our ad-
visers. In the consideration OF every
public question there always is pro-
posed plethora of untried remedies,
fake cures, quack panaceas; these
have exercised in the past too great
an influence upon public thought in
railway matters.
The first principle Of railway prog
ress is the necessity of placing at the
disposal Of the railroads net income
which will be sufficient to pay obliga-
. tionS and attract the savings OF in
vestorS in order that extensions, i'm
provements and bettermentS may be
carried out The only source OF this
revenue is in the rates charged for
transportation service. What the
traffic can bear" is the miSnomer. The
movement of traffic can be more Sc
! riously hampered by physical inabll-
. ity to handle it than by rates which
,seem high as compared with those OF
another period. Rates, of course
should be so distributed as to allow
an easy flow Of products from pro-
ducer to consumer, but the import
ance of protecting the railroads
against rates which will impair ser
vice is too easily lost sight of in ouI
desire to protect other industry from
rates which might upset the scale o
price adjustments.
OPPRESSIVE REGULATIONS
Another important element in as
suring railway progress is the nee'
for curtailing oppressive regulation
which increase the cost OF produclnj
transportation without increasing tn
capacity for producing transportation
In one of the states in which the Ill
| nois Central operates bills were If
| troduced and passed for passage /
/ the recent session of the legislator
\ which, if they had been passed an
| approved, would have increased tn
| expenditures Of the railroads OF thf
! state more than $l00000,000 annua
! " without in any way increasing the
! efficiency. Practically the same 81
uation has existed in the regular Sc
sions of every state legislature OF tt
forty-eight states for years past. Fo
a. tunately for the railroads and for tt
I'll public, which must underwrlte II
railroads bills, the measures to Whit
eh T have referred failed, but that hi
VI VI not been the history OF such leglsl
oo : ton. Too often the ill-advised bu
=; ~ den has been placed. The cumulatl'
VI, u, effect Of this shortsightedness h
al a. been to place the railroads und
ilI iI great handicaps and to increase II
~, ~: necessarily the cost of transportatlo
''' The hope Of the railroads lies
the establishment and maintenan
49, of a wholesome public sentiment
oll ward them. The public should be
a a. in mind that whatever hurts the ra
All roads hurts the public. Anythi
IN IN that affects railway service and rat
10y detrimentally is opposed to the pr
&C. lie welfare, for anything that incre'
on W es the cost Of transportation wlthc
yGo comparable betterment OF servl
- 10 has a bearing upon rates. The W
u !, a. fare of the railroads and the pub
mou' m welfare are so interviewer that it
''cl Nc: impossible to separate them. tt
o,; oii0 the public has not been inclined
vi, accept this viewpoint is unfortuna