Evening star., 1934-01-27

Several phases Of railroad manage
ment are under Nationwide public
discussion. with special attention given
to the suggestion from President RooSe-
velt that the roads establish sinking
funds for their bonds, and discussion
of ultimate Government ownership by
Co-ordinator Eastman.
President Roosevelt's co-ordinator Of
transportation, Mr. Joseph B. Eastman"
says the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
"is cautious In his continued advocacy
of Federal ownership Of railroads But
the tentative plan for Federal owner
ship and operation, prepared by .
Duke University adviser, Luke Craven,
while submitted as an appendix to the
report-in-ch Is the most significant
propose immediate naturalization be-
cause the country is not now financially
situated to Withstand the strain Of ac-
quiring the vast railroad properties
But the managers Of Uncle Sans credit
reserves have not stopped at anything,
thus far. because Of lack of funds. and
might be expected to be prepared for
this enterprise in the comparatively
near future Mr.. Eastman evidently
assumes that the period of waiting need
not be long. The President has power
to extend the emergency transportation
act and the powers of the co-ordinator
until June 16. 1885. and Mr. Eastman
considers this time as af1ording a
progressive development Of his argu-
ment for naturalization as q neces-
sary step. He sees q continued de-
pendence of the railroads on Govern
ment credit. which must be provided.
but only as temporary expedient until
HyfI init f4~ rxt~Ak -
considers the only true solution
THE important thing about the re-
port" thinks the New York Times, "is
that It pronounces the Government
ownership idea impracticable as
present-day recourse. even in these
days Of joyous experiments In billion
dollar public Indebtedness. that it ad-
vises against radical legislation. and
that 1t looks askance even on plans
for enforced and immediate consoli.
dation.'"
HE submits" according to the Wall
Street Journal, "a penetrating analysis
of the existing railroad situation and
tentative estimate of the railroads
future as vehicles Of private capital
investment. 1t Is debatable whether
another man in the country could In the
same time have made so keen a survey
or SO aply generallzeo tnereIrom, with
so nearly complete detachment from
personal bias. That is not to say that
Mr.. Eastmans unconcealed prediction
for Government ownership may not
have Influenced the .,rm and content
of his report. He discusses without q
shred of reticence both the theoretical
objections to nationalized railroads and
the evils of that form of control which
have developed In its practice. But
to many persons 1t will appear. as it
does to this newspaper, that he has
too much faith in purely legislative
devices by which such evils could be
prevented here: that his main and
almost sole reason for setting Govern
ment ownership aside for the present
is not the greatest of objections to it,
and that he devotes disproportionate
part of his omnibus report to the re-
jected method Of dealing with the rail-
roads. In dismissing the idea from his
present consideration, Mr.. Eastman
contrives to give 1t an attractiveness,
an intellectual respectability it has
never yet had in the United States.
Whether he intended to or not he has
taken railroad public ownership out
Of the hands Of the crackpots; he has
come near-dangerously near, as this
newspaper fears-to making It . live