Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1922-01-05

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portation systems. | have been in
railway work a great many years and
[ know the calibre of the men who
hold positions of trust in the railway
industry. l know them to be honest,
conscientious men, trained in their
calling, and I know their ambition is
that American railroads shall main
tain their high rank among the trans
portation agencies of the world. 1
believe them worthy Of the puolic
trust.
At Public's Mercy.
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 inlpressing upon public opinion the
need Of constructive policies, and Of
outlining what those policies should
be. Railway management is the trus-
tee Of vast properties valued at nearly
/ $4,000 100000, and it would be
derelict to duty if it did net exert its
! utmost effort toward construction as
j against destruction, toward progress
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 our advisers. In the
consideration of every public ques-
tion there always is proposed a ple-
thora of untried rendeies, 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 cf railway prog
ress is the necessity of placing at the
disposal of the railroads a net income
which viii be sufficient to pay obhga-
tions and attract the savings Of in
yestors in order that extensions, i'm
provements and betterrents 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 misn0rner. The
movement of traffic can be more Sc
riausly hampered by physical irabil-
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-
ducer to consumer, but the i'm
portance of protecting the railroads
against rates which will impair SER
vice is too easily lost sight Of in our
desire to protect other indus y from
rates which might upset the scale of
price adjustments.
Oppressive Regulations.
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
capacity for producing transportation
IL one Of the states in which the Hi
nois Central operates bills were intro
duced 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 s10O,O0000O 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
have referred failed, but that has not
been the history of such legislation
Too often the ill-advised burden has
been placed. The cumulative effect
of this shortsi ghtedness 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 9
: wholesome public sentiment toward
) them. The public should bear in mine
: that whatever hurts the railroads
! hurts the public Anything thai
| affects railway service and rates det.
rimentally is opposed to the public
: welfare, for anything that increase:
: the cost Of transportation without {
i comparable betterment of service ha:
e a bearing upon rates. The welfar,
3 Of the railroads and the public wei
n fare are so interviewer that it is i'm
t possible to separate them. That tn
S public has not been inclined to accep
= This viawnoi,af iS ,1nfoytl1pata- fha