The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 15, 1920, Page 6

it .. president put Mr. McAdoo in charge. ’ - e e A T P e R e e Y TSy Facts on Government Railroad Control People Now Pay Three Times the Added Cost During War Operation, and Get Inferior Service, Says Eastern Expert Following are excerpts from an article entitled “Uncle Sam—Railroad Manager,” prepared by Mr. Price, who is editor of “Commerce and Finance” and was actuary of the United States railroad administration during the war. Al- though all of Mr. Price’s connections and associations are with the world of big business, his insight into the actual workings of the railroads under government control has enabled him to give the public a remarkable array of facts, from which the following are taken, BY THEO. H. PRICE N MARCH 1, 1920, the United States railroad administration relinquished control of the American railway sys- tem and on August 1 the properties. had been under private management for a period of five months. It can hardly be said that there has yet been any improve- ment in the service rendered, if, indeed, it is as sat- isfactory as that furnished by the government. The public, though it is.disposed to be patient, is - becoming very restive under the inconvenience and delay in the movement of goods to which it has been subjected, and in a recent issue the Iron Age warns the railroad managers that “if the traffic situation is not speedily improved within a period of months, the issue of government ownership and operation will be presented again and he is an ingenious and resourceful man indeed who can outline how it will be pos- sible to meet propaganda along that line.” If we contrast the service rendered by the railroads during the 26 months they were un- der the control of the United States railroad administration with that which they furnished immediately before and after that period the - comparison is immensely.in favor of govern- ment operation. Those who recall the con- ditions that existed during the closing months of 1917 will remember that in an effort to resolve the railroads into a unified organiza- tion that could move the troops and supplies so urgently needed for the war the railroad presidents gathered in Washington; that they tried to forget former rivalries and increase efficiency by co-ordination; that they failed and that by Christmas, 1917—the saddest Christmas of the war, when the Germans had broken through into Italy and the desperate battle of Cambrai was-being fought—Amer- ica was in the grip of a coal famine and threatened by a paralysis of-her transporta- tion system that would have made her help- less if it had not been averted. Then the government stepped in and the DIRECT ROUTING MEANT BIG SAVING IN OPERATING COSTS One of the first problems to which the rail- road administration addressed itself was that of shortening the distance and reducing the grades over which through freight was hauled. The truism of geometry which asserts that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points was applied and, by ordering that freight trains should be hauled by the most direct routes, even though these routes in- volved the use of the lines of two or three companies, a great saving in freight car mile- age was effected. As this made possible a more intensive use of freight cars it was equivalent to increasing their number. . By August 1, 1918, many through lines had been developed that were much shorter than those previously used. One of them, from Los Angeles, Cal., to -Forth Worth, Texas, was over 500 miles shorter than the routing via the Southern Pacifie formerly used. Another from the oil fields at Casper, Wyo., to Montana and Washington state points was 880 miles shorter than the line over which most of the freight between these points had been formerly hauled. The “Fruit Line” from southern California to Ogden was reduced by 201 miles. Another reduction of 110 miles was nrade in the line between Chicago and Sioux City. Be- tween Kansas City and Galveston a new route was developed which was 289 miles shorter than the dis- tance of 1,121 miles previously ‘traveled. - As one example of the economy thus effected. it may be mentioned that during a period of 60 days some 8,999 cars were rerouted in a certain western territory so as to effect-a saving of 195 iniles in the mileage of each car, a total of 1,754,875 car miles. In the movement of coal, concerning which so much complaint has been made since the railroads were “turned back” on March 1, the record of the railroad administration under Director General Mec- Adoo is thus far unequaled. On January 1, 1918, the country was threatened with a distressing coal shortage if not a fuel famine. The niines were short of empty cars into. which to load their production because the railroads had found it difficult to move or distribute the cars already loaded, and New Eng- land was freezing because the coastwise steamers . and barges that had formerly brought her coal from the Chesapeake ports had stopped running. The bituminous coal production for 1917 had been the largest in the. history of the country, approxi- mately 544,000,000 tons, but in January, 1918, the production fell off 65,294 carloads because the mines could not get the cars and the first duty of the director general was to provide cars in which the necessary increase of production could be moved. This situation was promptly met and, despite the Congressman John M. Baer in this cartoon pictures what has happened in North Dakota. Although railroad commissions in all other states have allowed the railways to raise freight and passenger rates the North Dakota administration has prevented increased rates from going into effect until the mat- ter can be threshed out in the courts. bad weather, the production in February, 1918, ex- ceeded that of February, 1917, by 24,366 cars. The total increase in 10 months, over the corre- sponding 10 months of 1917 was 741,666 cars, or- approximately 37,083,300 tons. -By using the tunnels or tubes of the Pennsylvania ’ railroad under the Hudson river for coal cars, some- thing that had never before been attempted, New England and New York City were supplied, and the 1918 movement of coal to the Northwest via Lake Erig ports was 28,153,317 tens. This is a record. In 1917 only 26,826,000 tons were moved via the Lake Erie ports, 24,692,000 tons in 1916, and in 1915 only 21,507,000 tons. ¢ ! The net increase in the bituminous movement dur- ing the first'10 months of 1918 was 741,666 cars, or ~37,083,300 tons, over the movement during the first 10 months of 1917, which had up to that time been the banner year. The record during the latter part “of 1919, when -another coal famine threatened the. PAGE SIX country, is equally remarkable. During the week ending October 25, 1919, 13,200,000 tons were - transported: - This record has never been beaten. In the month of October, 1919, the movement ap- proximated 56,243,000 tons, as compared with 51,000,000 tons in October, 1918, and 45,000,600 tons in October, 1917. This was accomplished because under government control the transporta- tion facilities of the country could be used in com- mon and. concentrated upon the quick performance of any urgent duty. g The record of coal production during the period of federal control, which has not been equaled either before or since that time, is evidence that the cars for transportation were promptly supplied whenever needed and as promptly moved. The dig- ging of the Panama canal, which required 16 years, was looked upon as a stupendous undertaking, but the coal that was handled by the railroad adminis- tration during 1918 would fill the entire canal exca- vation two and one-half times. : The food situation in the allied countries of Europe became extremely critical in Febru- ary, 1918, representations being made by Great Britain, France and Italy that unless the promises of food delivery given by the food administration were made good Germany would certainly win the war. 2 GRAIN MOVED PROMPTLY UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL . This crisis was promptly met. There was no time for half-way measures. The empty box cars were rushed from all portions of the East and South to the southwestern grain states. Cofiflicting traffic of all kinds was held up. Every facility of the railroad admin- istration and of the railroads under its juris- .diction was drawn upon. ployes worked day and night. The result was remarkable. From July to November, 1918, the grain movement exceeded that of the same period in 1917 by 185,000 cars, which was in itself a remarkable performance and really extraor- dinary when the strain that the roads were under in the movement of other war traffic is considered. : The following table shows the increase in the freight movement measured in ton miles per mile of road per day for the months of September and October, 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919: The railroad administration was able to make this record in the face of extraordinary difficulties because it had the power to direct the movement of all locomotives and cars and to avert congestion in terminals and on the line by diverting freight to where it could be most easily handled. The passenger service performed under the railroad administration exceeded all former records. The number of passengers carried - one mile’on class 1 railroads (operating ap- proximately 230,000 miles of road) increased from 34,585,952,026 in the calendar year 1916 to 46,200,000,000 in the calendar year 1919. The returns from passenger traffic, it may be mentioned, were appreciably diminished by the extremely low rate of 1 cent per mile established for furloughed soldiers to enable them to visit their . homes while in service, which would otherwise have been impossible for many of them. On November 11, 1918, when the armistice was signed, the transportation system of the United States had been under the direction of Mr. McAdo for 10 months and 11 days. e From January 1 to November 10, 6,496,150 troops had been moved to help win the war and 40 per cent of this number were carried in Pullman cars. The freight trainload had-been increased from an average of 653 tons in 1917 o 681 tons in 1918.. The tons hauled per mile.of track daily- had risen from 3,878 in January, 1918, when the roads were taken ‘over, to 5,155 tons in November of the same year. The passenger train mileage had been reduced " (Continued on page 16) : - Officials and em- . Month 1916 1917 1918 1919 September .............5,166 5,217 5,731 5,625 October .................... 5,148 5,385 5,684 5,651