Evening star., 1938-10-02
RAILROADS MUST
SOLVE PROBLEMS
Roosevelt Turns Troubles
Back to Executives
for Solution.
~ the Associated Press.

IUT SUiutlOU.
~ the Associated Press.
Railroading, an old industry that
pushed the pioneers Of trade and
farming westward and became the
warp on which our economic web is
largely fashioned" is struggling with
the tangled problem Of existence In a
changing world.
Ten days ago President Roosevelt
called six men to his Office. Three Of
them were railroad executives from the
East, the West and the South. Three
men we're labor men-representatives
of the 81 unions which speak for
trainmen and their fellow-workers.
To the six the President said in
effect
You know more about running
railroads than anybody else in the
United States. We have had railroad
problem with us for many years, and
We have not solved it. 1t is time
something was done. want your
recommendations, and I hope to use
them as a basis for recommendations
to Congress
Turned Back to Railroads.
The railroad problem was turned
back to the railroads. Government.
commissions have tried to solve it.
Committees of Congress have studied
it. Bankers have offered their ideas.
But finally the President has turned
back to the railroaders-the manage
ment and the men.
Symbolically, the six men repre-
sented a $23, ,000, 900, 600 business which
binds together the 3000-mile expanse
OF the United States. 1t is private
business, but the Government always
has been vitality concerned about its
health.
Why?
Suppose the United States was not
Nation of more than l20,O00,0O0 peo-
Pile but little town of 500 souls, with
its backlog of farms and forests, The
townspeople have come to depend on
Mr.. Railroad, a patriarch Of the VIII
lage, % do their heavy hauling from
store to home, from city to country.
Three or four families get their liv-
ings from him, through the jobs Of
their breadwinners. He buys one
fourth of the soft coal sold at the coal
and wood yard; Is per cent of the
lumber He is one of the blacksmiths
best customers. Frugal citizens, aware
of rainy days ahead, have put part
of their savings in his hands, expect
ing to get it back when they need it.
If the old man gets very i'll. If he,
runs into financial trouble, if he cuts
down on his buying or hires his men
only part time, the town will suffer
seriously.
Country Is Concerned.
Just as the villagers would be con-
cerned over their Mr.. r.. so the United
States has concerned itself over the
plight of an industry that still is the
backbone of American commerce; that
employs nearly 100000 men, that
bought, in good times, % per cent of
the bituminous coal, 4 per cent Of the
anthracite. 19 per cent of the fuel OIL
Is per cent of the timber cut, II per
cent of the iron and steel output and
"a per cent of the cement OF the ma
ton: an industry whose bonds and
stock represent 13 per cent Of reserve
life insurance companies investments
and an important part of bank invest
ments.
The railroad is big business, but it is
old. Long before America had electric
lights and gas stoves, cement roads,
motor cars, buses, airplanes, assembly
line factories and skyscrapers, it had
railroads. The iron horse worked as
hard in winning the Civil War as it
did in winning the West.
Some experts lay the railroads Ills
to old age. In places, they point out,
the population and its industries have
shifted away from the lines where the
tracks were laid. Once prosperous
farming areas have failed; industries
like ironmaking, numbering and min
ing have shifted their centers of oper-
alton.
Old Engines Still in Use.
Before buses and trucks came along
10 cut their trade, the railroads were
equipped with the best of trains. Many
Of the old engines are still in use.
Nearly rs per cent of the freight loco
motives are more than II years old
and, according to a study made for the
President, ARE costing more to main
tain and operate than would modern
power, which might we'll replace at
least so per cent of these units"
The railroads are old enough, too,
to have lived through the great days
of American financing. Some of the
earliest experiments with the large
corporation as a business unit we're
made on railroad lines. The railroads
tried the holding company.
Most experts analyze the railroads
difficulties. however. in terms Of pres
ent conditions. Here are some of the
sore spots various experts have pointed
to:
l. General business-As an artery
OF commerce, the railroads quickly
feel the upsurge of business, the slump
OF dull days. In fact. railroad car
1oadings are considered an index of
general business activity In the week
oSPVCIilDCl - Idlll lOduS
loaded 660.142 cars of revenue freight;
20 per cent less than the same week
q year before, 80 per cent less than
that week in 1890.
2. Competition-With buses, trucks,
pipelines, ships and airplanes checking
them at every turn, the railroads can
not solve their financial problems by
the simple expedient of generally rails
Ing rates. That might turn more busi-
ness away.
Motors Have Cut In.
The passenger automobile and the
motor bus have cut into the coach and
Pullman trade. Refrigerated ships have
taken a portion of the profitable
business of transporting Florida s
citrus fruits. The cotton planters, the
hog farmers and the cattlemen have
found they can get their products to
market by truck. The long trains of
tank cars that once rolled from the