New Britain herald., 1923-02-09
RAILROADS SHOULD
 BE LEFT ID SELVES
Speaker FaVors Letting Them
 Earn a Fair Return

Kansas City. Feb. ss--Giye the rail roads credit, let them earn a fair re- turn on their investment and then le' them alone, are the three cardina points emphasized by William E Storey. president Of the Atchison. To- peka and Santa Fc Railroad, in telling the Kansas City Chamber Of Com merce members here how to overcome tho ills that are interfering with the prosperity of the country.
 MT. Storey blamed high labor costs as being responsible for the present condition Of the farmer and attribut' ed high labor costs to the restrictive immigration laws and high tariff wall.
 "The railroads are not healthy The, have too many doctors and too much medicine" said Mir. Storey. "Firsl came the United States government with the interstate commerce commits sion. Then came the state commis' sions, and gradually the medicine ap' piled became stronger and stronger Finally when the war came the rail TUduS were " ihhstio' P'cP'' ly. Instead of changing the medicine the government seized the roads. Costs Were Raised
 Government control raised costs, de creased the efficiency, and nearl! ruined the roads. But it convinced tho people that they wanted no govern ment ownership and 1t led to the enactment of the Esch- -Cummins bill the Transportation Act 1920. This law was the first really constructive meas ure attempted.
 Tt recognized, first, that credit i! absolutely necessary to the roads. Thi credit had been gradually undermined during the long period of doctorini | when the enormous business and neet for good transportation manifested itself, the railroads had not enougl equipment. They were short of every thing that goes to make up complete railroad.
 The only cure is credit. Establish the ability of the roads to pay interes on the money invested and the money ?necessary will flow toward the roads The transportation Act attempted te meet this situation and this was at tempted by the commission when I made the rate increase in 1920 bur their figures were based on certain volume of business. Unfortunately, tho slump of 1921 came on, the volume was not there and the roads earned that year net of 3.7 per cent on then valuation. But the business of the country had started on the warpatf when the Interstate Commerce Com mission, acting under political pres sure, made horizontal reduction o 10 per cent. The result has been that in 1922 the railroads have been unable to earn over Az per cent. This re- duction checked railroad buying; I retarded railroad spending.
 We feel. however, that if the pros poets for 1923 are fulfilled, we stand chance of earning fair return. Bu we are certain that if the many nos trums that are new proposed are ad' ministered we shall be in worse con- dition at the end of the year.
 Cure -Alls"
 ITO show you what these "cure' als" consist of, I might cite the bill by Mir. Gooding of Idaho to reduce all freight rates on agricultural products B per cent; Senator Johnson's bill to prevent dividends until the ncces- sary cars are provided; Senator Brook harts opinion that seven or eight billion dollars should be squeezed from the valuation of the railroads: the American Farm Bureau demand that all guarantees be taken out of the Act (there are in reality no guaran- tees).
 "The farmer is demanding lower freight rates and. Senator Capper is backing him up in this demand. Sena. tor Capper has made statements or the floor of the United States Senate which he. cannot substantiate.
 None of these things will help re- store the credit of the railroads.
 "The president of the United State' advocates making the question o wages a function of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Gentlemen the Interstate Commerce Commission has more than it can attend to now Don't give it any more.
 "Of course importance, however, i' the necessity for credit. If we can get money, we can supply you with the right kind of transportation and without it we cannot. Rates cannot be raised or business will be checked Certainly reducing the rates will not help. The farmer is having hard time; he should have help, but bank rupting the railroads will not hell him, and reduced rates means Jus now bankruptcy for the roads.
 Can Reduce Prices
 If you can get lower labor costs you can reduce the price of steel, o lumber, of cement. of locomotives of coal, and of everything that enters into the operation of either the farmer or the railroad. And. as long as we have the restricticve immigration Ia" in effect and high tariff wall abou' us, just so long must labor costs sta, up. If the country wants these things if must be content to do business or the high price plan on which we arc doi,,p if But the farmer shouti De