The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-10-27
R. R. DISLIKE
GOVERNMENT
INTERFERENCE
Westerner Says Federal
Control Is Burden Upon
the Taxpayers

J0NESBORO, Ark, Oct 81.
at has been suggested by GER
tain public men and others that
the railroads be taken over by
the government and operated by
it, but a far better solution of
our present transportation prob
lem would be for the government
to get entirely out of the trans
portation business IN every form,
leaving the industry entirely in
private hands," said C. d. Morris
Of Chicago, representing the west
ern railways committee on pub
lie relations, in an address be-
fore the Lions club here. "No
government has ever yet made a
success in the transportation in
dustry," continued the speaker,
"and there is no convincing argu-
ment that government ownership
will ever prove financially profit
able. Moreover, our own gov
eminent conducted an experiment
of 26 months duration in govern
ment operation during and after
the war. with the net result of a
so million dollar loss monthly,
which had to be paid by the ma"
tons taxpayers. In view Of our
conStantly-ipcreasing tax burden
it is impossible to understand
how any real American can de-
sire further experimentation
along that line.
at will be remembered that
Canada went into the railroad
business years ago and at about
! the same time our government
took over the American roads it
extended and unified its lines as
the Canadian National System.
Unfortunately she did not get
out when we did and has not
been able to get out as yet. She
stills owns and operates the Ca
madam National System, which
costs her some so to 60 million
dollars annually. Since the Do
minion government took over the
system it has borrowed 5000 for
every man, woman and child i'll
the Dominion. or $4,000, 100000,
to keep it going. She has never
had a dividend from the road
nor has it ever paid interest on
the governments loans. In COM
parison with these results the
privately owned railroad of Ca
NADIA, the Canadian Pacific, has,
until the recent depression, paid
regular dividends to its stock
holders. No more convincing
argument against government
ownership could be found than is
presented by the experience of
Canada.
much of the distress through
which our own railroads have
been passing in recent years has
been occasioned by the competi-
ton of other transportation
agencies, which are either direct
ly owned by the government or
subsidized through taxation.
Through these agencies hundreds
of millions of dollars in traffic
has been taken from the rail-
roads in the past decade, with no
evidence whatever that these
new forms of transportation have
reduced the nations transporta-
ton bill. The labor and materials
bill of the railroads, however,
has been cut in half, thus in
creasing the lack of purchasing
power among our people, to say
nothing at all Of the loss of in
come to investors in railway
stocks and bonds. The question
naturally arises as to whether or
not such policy pays.
''There might be found some
excuse in the minds of some for
the governments transportation
policy, if it were making money
! for itself or saving money for
the people. But it is doing Meth
er. More than a decade ago we
purchased a line of barges for
use on the Mississippi river, which
the government has been operat-
ing ever since. Experience shows
that this barge line has been
costing the tax payers $2.l0 a
ton for every ton of freight it
HAS carried since it began OPP
erations, or something over three
million dollars a year. Nor is
there any prospect whatever t0r
the government to recover a dol
lar of the millions it has invested
in this enterprise. The only So
luton of the problem is to turn
the property over to private OPP
orators, if any can be found who
will assume that responsibility,
and retire from the field, which
would at least put an end to the
annual drain on government rev
enues.
"While not directly engaged IN
the commercial motor car serV-
lice. the government furnished a
iroadbed upon which these We
hicles operate, without paying
adequate rental, thus substituting
them in their competition with
the railroads. And this subsidi,,
cation policy is quite as cruel
and unfair to the railroads as IS
direct ownership on the part OF