Evening star., 1922-02-06
"Were the Railroads Scrapped?"

The testimony OF walker ID. Hines.
former director general of railroads,
before the interstate commerce com
mittee of the Senate. which Is con-
sidering the railroad refunding bill.
would lead. one to the conclusion. the
Buffalo Express independent repub-
lican) says. that when the carriers
were turned back to their owners
after two years of government opera
ton they were in the pink of condi-
tion and at the apex OF efficiency"
while RAILROAD executives on the
same theme would have you believe
that the lines were mere streaRs OF
rust and disintegrating rolling stock
after having been delivered to the
government In flrst-class condition"
The Express suspects that the facts
in the case lie somewhere between
these two extreme views" but news
paper opinion is inclined to line up
with the extremes. incidentally fol-
lowing political bias rather closely.
and other authorities the actual
deficit of the railroads during the
twenty-six months OF governmental
operation amounted to $1.s00.000. .ooC.
while, according to Mr.. Hines, this
figure should be $714.0oe.0oo. Here
dollars, which some of the papers say
is SO largely a matter of opinion that
1t will probably be a long time be-
fore definite agreement is reached
as to the actual cost to the railroads
Of government operation. It is gen
sustained by the carriers was due to
expensive government operation, land
yet under the first year Of company
operation the roads sustained loss
equal to more than ene-half the sum
claimed by the managers as their
deficit for the entire twenty.six
months Of government operation"
But that loss, as some editors see it,
is obviously the legacy from govern
ment operation, and is the basis for
the governments debt to the roads as
embodied In the refunding bill. 1.-THE
publican) asserts, "that the roads were
returned to their owners in. a decidedly
broken-d6wii condition, after twenty
six months of deplorable ineff1cieI1cy.
bad management poor service and care
(independent. republican) thinks 1t is
little short Of miraculous that SO much
has been accomplished in such rela-
lively short space Of time by private
operators.. since the roads were returned
The New York Tribune (repubncan)
finds ''Mr. Hines excuses labored'' ane
his figures mot convincing,' because he
is defending something indefensible. "
The Wall Street Journal Independently
quotes Mr.. Hines as declaring that, Eek
Of rails, ties and ballast, the properties
were substantially maintained during
federal control" but in thus exempt
ing from the damnation of his, faint
praise every important material that
enters into the maintenance Of way.
khn I,
But on this point the. Reno Gazette
(republieah). departing from the atti.
tude Of most republican papers, ex-
presses the belief that ':any statement
BY eastern roads that they had to ex-
aa sa1s %s9s .s = Rsss +atal.e asz s1s { obn
aksss.S - for csrtssiik such ! Contention
could net Be stir1er4ed III the west Be-
cause the communities -sefved BY the
reads know better" IN Nevada, II
tlhues. ''old material was brought up
Reconstructed and Improved, the road
beds were, ballasted in all directions.
rev rails laid and, In Short the tracks
were made capabls Of carrying heavier
traffic In better shape than under the
condition In New England, however, is
attested by the New Haven Register
(indebefdent), which cites time tables
to refute Mr.. Hines figures. The roads,
It says, are SO peor that ''they must
deny serves e Inoss ss.ss On s!s IReiF tainsy
la frsM vhidd ID df1w,
ussaianS sha| 'Ms fsilfesds Of the
81 I'M kiH hsSd Scssss careful nnrs-
- dssl14 H. ne1 sew xsall ~