The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-01-19

ohS VI IAN loo AAApbi S"At 1tSPS' .
believe, in creating a wholesome pub
lie sentiment whchich will assure prog
ress in transportation is inspiring pub
lis sentim ent which will assure prog
at the head of Americas great trans
portion systems. l have been in rail
way work a great many years and
know the calibre of the men who hold
positions of trust in the railway in
dustry. l know them to be honest,
conscientious men, trained in their
calling, and l know their ambition is
that American railroads shall main
tain their high rank among the trans
portation agencies of the world.
believe them worthy of the public
trust.
The growth of public regulation has
placed the railroads literally at the
mercy of the public. The railroads
are controlled through governmental
agencies in the service they shall give,
the rates they shall charge, the wages
they shall pay and the conditions
under which their employees shall
work; while to management is given
the power of directing operations
within these limitations. But l hold
for management a greater task, that
of impressing upon public opinion the
need of constructive policies, and Of
outlining what those policies should
be. Railway management is the trust
tee of vast properties valued at nearly
$19, 600, 600, 900, and it would be
derelict to duty if it did not exert it's
utmost effort toward construction as
against retrogression.
When we are i'll we call upon men
trained in the diagnosis and treatment
of human ailments to effect a cure;
when questions Of Jurisprudence arise
we consult the best legal minds at
our disposal to guide our actions; in
railway matters men trained in that
science should be u advisers. In the
consideration Of every public Ques-
ton there always is proposed a pie
thora of untried remedies, fake cures,
Quack panaceas; these have exer-
cised, in the past, too great an in
fluence upon public thought in rail
way matters.
The first principle of railway prog
gres is the necessity of placing at the
disposal Of the railroads a net income
which will be sufficient to pay obliga-
tions and attract the savings of in
- orIor tho+ avtorcinnc inn
provements and bettcrments may be
carried out. The only source of this
evenue is in the rates charged for
transportation service. What the
movement of traffic can be more Sc
riOusly hampered by physical inabil-
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
for an easy flow Of products from pro-
Queer to consumer, but the Importance
Of protecting the railroads against
rates which will impair service is too
easily lost sight of in our desire to
protect other industry from rates
which might upset the scale Of price
adjustments.
Another important element in assur-
ing railway progress is the need for
curtailing oppressive regulations
which increase the cost of producing
transportation without increasing the
,onon;tr fD, nrNIrninu 20 n snort alton
In one Of the states in which the Hi
nois Central operates bills were intro
uced and passed for passage in the
recent session of the legislature which,
if they had been passed and approved,
would have increased the expendi
lures of the railroads of that state
more than 500, 900 900 annually with
out in any way increasing their eff
cheney. Practically the same situa-
ton has existed in the regular ses-
sions Of every state legislature of the
fOrty-eight states for years past. For
~tunately for the railroads and for the
public, which must underwrite the rail
roads bills, the measures to which we
have referred failed, but that has not
been the history of such legislation.
Too often the i'll advised burden has
been placed. The cumulative effect
of this shortsightedness has been to
place the railroads under great handi-
caps and to increase unnecessarily
the cost of transportation.
The hope of the railroads lies in the
establishment and maintenance of a
wholesome public sentiment toward
them. The public should bear in mind
that whatever hurts the railroads
hurt the public. Anything that
affects railway service and rates det-
rimentally is opposed to the public
welfare, for anything that increases
the cost of transportation without a
comparable betterment of service has
a bearing upon rates. The welfare
Of the railroads and the public well
fare are so interviewer that it is i'm
possible to separate them. That the
public has not been inclined to accept
this view point and is now more favor
ahIy mindad toward tho railroads