Evening star., 1922-04-29

Tho price Of railroad securities has
almost continually declined for
twenty years. Freight rates are ex-
prbitsnt. railroad labor is discon.
tented. service Is poor. and It Is only
natural that every one asks what's
tho matter with the railroads. Com
menting on the situation. Roger W.
BabSon, statistician, outlines five
| distinct difficulties that must be
| overcome before the railroads can
| get back to an efficient basis.
First, there has been q change in
the relation OF the railroad labor to
the railroads. When l was q boy
living In Gloucester the railroad con-
| Meeting Boston and Gloucester was
very largely owned by. the people OF
that line. Many of the conductors
engineers and track men owned some
OF Its stock. There was a commun-
ity OF interest: the community was
Interested in the railroad; the rail-
road was interested in the commun-
ity. ana the employees were interested
in both.
Absentee Ownership .Bane.
When the Boston and Maine was
purchased by New York bankers the
local interest disappeared. Absentee
ownership In securities inevitably
leads to absentee ownership in labor
control. When the stockholders take
York the wage workers naturally
take orders from some labor leader
In Chicago or Cleveland. The result
ls ineftciency and waste OF labor.
The last time ! came from Gloucester
there were Just Ave passengers on
1of fo
but there were seven employees.
I'VE hear much talk about the high
railroad wages" says Mr.. Babson in
making his second point, but statis-
tics show that railroad labor Is not
overpaid as a group. The difficulty
due to fneff1cient labor and to the
many useless rules of the Interstate
Commerce Commission. the state leg
islatures and Congress. The trouble
comes from waste Of labor rather
than from excessive wages. Tne
they are II they could dispense with
the great army Of unnecessary en-
ployes who are not only bleeding the
public but are running the discipline of
the organization Itself. When one man
is loafing on the Job 1t tends inevitably
one-man car has done for the street
railways Of the country some similar
system should do for the steam rail-
| roads. There is absolutely no need of
the railroads using all the trainmen
that they use today. The number
must be reduced before the railroads
can be efficiently run and made to pay.
Auto Wins Freight.
THE third great factor" says Mr..
Babson. "Is the automobile and the
auto truck. The auto truck is get
ting practically all the short freight
hauls- AS they have practically no
road tax to pay they have an unusual
advantage. The public supplies the
roadbed. It. supplies the terminals
and supplies and everything free but
the truck. driver and gasoline. The
idea of letting these trucks ruin our
highways as they are doing today.
without paying for the privilege. is
a mistake which will some day be
rectif1ed. However. even II the truck
does pay its proper share for the
maintenance of the highways. 1t is
very debatable whether or not the
railroads will be able to compete with
them on short business. The
automobile truck has come to stay
and will always be a distinct COM
petitor to short-haul lines For that
reason think It is wise for people
to invest their money In the trunl