MC ADOO AND RAILROAD OPERATION
Mc Adoo and Railroad Operation RESPONDING to a demand of the President, Congress on October 3, 1917, gave to him as a war measure complete control over the railways of the country. Absolute federal...
...Then taking up some of the accomplishments of this extraordinary year, Mr...
...The railways want not only a free hand and less control than existed before we entered the war but a guarantee of earnings...
...In other territories, there have been so many cars on the lines of the carriers and in their terminals, that transportation service has been thrown into unprecedented confusion, long delays in transportation have been the rule rather than the exception, and the operation of established industrial activities has been uncertain and difficult.' * * * Everyone at all familiar with shipping conditions knows this is not an exaggeration...
...Rather the effort was made to find a just and equitable basis which would outlive the war and which would give a living wage and decent working conditions to every railroad employe...
...He said: "Those new rates did not go into effect until practically six months of Federal control had passed and therefore only approximately six months benefits have been gained from them during the past year, whereas increased cost of labor, coal and other supplies has operated during the entire year...
...There is widespread conviction that no permanent solution whatever of the railroad problem can be made which does not put at rest the present insistent claims as to railroad over capitalization...
...In April, conditions were chaotic in the oil industry and a great many of the re-ineries in the mid-continental fields in particular, were shut down or only partially operating account of shortage of equipment...
...It demands that the railroads in the truest sense shall be public highways operated not for private profit but for public service...
...This deficiency is remarkably small in the circumstances because the increases in freight and passenger rates were in effect for only a little more than 6 months of 1918, whereas increased wapes and increased cost of fuel and a11 other railroad supplies were In effect for the entire 12 months...
...McAdoo said: "In planning improvements chargeable to Capital Account other than for war purposes, the rule adopted was that the first consideration should be safety in operations, and secondly, increased capacity where that was needed...
...Another critical situation which faced the railroads during the year just passed and was met, had to do with the coal supply...
...McAdoo recited in detail the typical Huation at Cincinnati, which would require an Kpenditure of $45,000,000 to unify the facili-des and provide proper terminal facilities and showed how Federal control would rectify these terminal difficulties, the difficulties of locomotive power, competition and other handicaps of private control...
...That is not surmise because the evidences of it are already appearing—notably in the case of locomotives where budgets were submitted by the corporations calling for their purchase and where even now many of the corporations are challenging the purchase of locomotives made for their account and within the limits of their requests...
...It is natural that each company will prefer to hold all other matters in abeyance in the hope that it can make its own plans in its own way at the end of Federal control...
...I assume that it will be completed in the next two or three years...
...Continuing he said: "The year is now behind us...
...It is to be expected, however, during the year 1919 the cost of material and supplies may be reduced and it is also reasonable to expect that with improved operation under normal conditions relieved of the intense pressure and excessive cost incident to the war necessity, and with a general improvement in operations and use of facilities and equipment that may be reasonably expected in peace time, many more economies can be effected...
...In bis annual message President Wilson said he had no answer to the question "What is it right that we should do with the railroads...
...In fact it is a conservative statement of conditions...
...If the increases in freight and passenger rates had gone into effect January 1, 1918, or at the same time that the increased wages and cost of fuel and supplies went into effect, it is es-timated that there would have been a substantial surplus for the year of at least 100 million dollars to the government...
...Federal control was not concerned with the employees alone, it also looked with a fostering care after the improvement of the properties under its management...
...If Congress extends the time, it will permit such thorough study of all the facts as the importance of this great problem demands...
...Interchange switching in terminals has been largely eliminated...
...At the peak of the activities incident to the prosecution of the war, it was necessary to provide for the daily movement to and from industrial plants and camps of 205,587 persons in each direction...
...With such a rapidly approaching termination and with every officer and employee naturally speculating on his relations to the new management, whatever it may be, it will be impossible to secure the best results from the railroad organization and the nearer the termination approaches the more difficult will be the situation...
...This has resulted in a better and a more efficient service...
...W. E. MacEwen, Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Western Petroleum Refiners Association voluntarily wrote on December 16, 1918, as follows: " 'Without going into the details of the matter, it suffices to say that within thirty days there was such an improvement that from that time on there was never a shortage of tank cars in the Oil Industry in the Western Field...
...The result was magnificent...
...I am frank to say I do not believe that these important reforms can possibly be accomplished if we are to have in the future several hundred different railroad companies, as we have had in the past, or even a hundred or even fifty different railroad companies...
...In general Order No...
...However the President did not elect to leave it with a declaration of his own perplexity, but made a further statement which caused Congress and the country to hasten to the work of finding a solution...
...Contrasting these 1916 and 1917 conditions with conditions at the end of 1918 he said: "Notwithstanding the tonnage handled during the year, which has been the heaviest ever known, there are now stored in good condition and ready for winter service 1189 locomotives, while one year ago there WAS NOT A SINGLE SERVICEABLE LOCOMOTIVE IN STORAGE...
...It perhaps is not too much to say that this was one of the turning points in the war...
...It should not be afraid of public ownership if the facts show such ownership in the public interest...
...With the five-year extension, it will be practicable for Congress, say within two years from now, to enter upon a permanent solution of this question after Congress and the country shall have had before it the result of a complete year's experience of Federal control under peace conditions, as well as a year's experience under war conditions...
...The 21 months period will be entirely too short to accomplish any effective results with respect to improvements, and especially the terminal improvements which are peculiarly needed...
...At the same time special attention was being given to the movement of fruits, of cotton, of oil, of iron, and of the other principal products of the farms, the factories and the mines of America...
...The relations with labor were of the most unsatisfactory and threatening character...
...It seems to me that anyone who wishes a fair and dispassionate study made as to what is the best ultimate solution and as to the extent to which the reforms I have mentioned are in the interest of the American public, and as to the way in which these reforms can best be accomplished, if in the interest of the American public, must be anxious to have a reasonable period of Federal control after the waT under conditions calculated to make for tranquility and single-mindedness upon the part of the Federal railroad organization...
...The Director said of these wage increases: "Wage increases granted during the year are estimated to aggregate between $600-000,000 and $700,000,000 per annum and in a large part were retroactive to January 1, 1918...
...There am be no successful solution of the railroad problem which does not provide a solution for these terminal difficulties...
...Materials were not delivered promptly and in adequate supply to the great building and fabricating plants of the government...
...He said that additions and betterments, new yards, tracks, sidings, shop buildings and machinery, everything except equipment and branch lines had been authorized to the amount of $551,925,525...
...From the reports of operation for 10 months ending October 31, 1918, and with November and December estimated, the net operating income of the roads under Federal control will be less by approximately $136 000,000 than the standard return or annual rental which under the law the Government pays for the use of the railroads...
...The laws enacted for the government of their employment must be observed and their pay, when they do the same class of work as men shall be the same as that of Then.' "Where negroes performed the same service as whites, they should receive the same pay as whites...
...These movements required a total at 193-002 can of all types...
...Absolute federal control and operation was necessary as under private management the railroads had broken down and it was demonstrated that they could not meet the war transportation needs of the country with the rapidity and efficiency necessary to bring the full force of the United States to its war task with expedition and economy...
...By March 15th the vessel capacity of the Allies had been satisfied and there was available at North Atlantic ports an excess on wheels of 6,318 carloads of foodstuffs exclusive of grain on cars and in elevators...
...Since that time there has never been any danger of the American railways failing to transport the necessary amount of food supplies for Europe...
...With sixty billions a year coming in we ought to be willing—yes, eager!—to "Finish up the job" and wipe out all the war bills...
...The second is to have outright Government ownership and control of all the railroads...
...McAdoo gave facts and figures from the record which should make even the most conservative hesitate about declaring government operation impractical...
...The government has been criticized severely in certain quarters because it advanced the wages of the men to meet the advancing living costs, but no word of adverse criticism comes because the government provided and authorized an expenditure of $1,254,396,158 to rehabiiitate the lines and place them in condition to serve the public...
...One of the most difficult and important railroad problems in this country is the problem of terminal facilities...
...In the nature of things the concurrence of the railroad corporations cannot be expected in matters of improvements and extensions during the 21 months period except as to things of the most Urgent and obvious necessity and where there is no possibility of conflict with the selfish interest of the particular corporation...
...The third is to reconstruct the railroad map along logical lines so as to wipe out these hundreds of different railroad companies and substitute a comparatively few companies which under strict and close Government control can be expected to combine the advantages of Government control, including unified control of those things where it is needed with the advantages of the initiative of private management...
...The increases in cost of operation which have occurred in the period of Federal control undoubtedly would have been equally operative had the roads remained under private control...
...It is estimated that such Control could be continued until January, 1923...
...He said: "The only thing that is perfectly clear to me is that it is not fair either to the public or to the owners of the railroads to leave the question unanswered and that it will presently become my duty to relinquish control of the roads, EVEN BEFORE THE EXPIRATION OF THE STATUTORY PERIOD, unless there should appear some clear prospect in the meantime of a legislative solution...
...How different is the spirit of these rulings from that in which the roads under private con-trol met the demands of their employees...
...It demands service at the lowest cost consistent with efficient and prompt carriage of freight and passengers...
...Continuing, he said: "It will be impossible to view the results of even one year of Federal control under peace conditions until the spring of 1920, and it will then be too late for Congress to legislate before the end of the 21 months' period...
...It is generally understood that the delays and excessive costs do not occur principally on account of insufficiency of facilities on the road, but on account of inadequate terminals and of the heavy terminal costs...
...Under the act, federal operation could continue for twenty-one months after formal proclamation of peace...
...Under Federal control, as a result of cooperation with producers, sixty-six per cent of the coal arriving in Chicago during August was consigned directly to consumer from the mines and cross-hauling between terminal lines was greatly reduced through the same cooperation...
...Every expedient of the highly paid railroad managers failed to solve the problem...
...Sixty Billion Income FIGURES mean little when they run up to eleven places, but it is comfortable to think that the national income now amounts to $60,000,000,000...
...If the problem was left with the frank acknowledgment by the President that he had no solution to offer, students would have gone to work on the question and Congress could have assumed that it would have time until January, 192S to write the legislation necessary to solve it...
...When men represent the public and are not under the whip of Wall Street financiers to produce certain revenues, no matter what the consequences, they can be relit 1 upon to meet the demands of labor sympathetically...
...Moreover, the operations under peace conditions with a tenure so short as the 21 months' period cannot possibly constitute a fair test...
...There was imminent prospect of the most serious strikes that had ever threatened the railroad situation...
...the inauguration of the "sailing day plan" for less than earload shipments, the consolidation of ticket offices, the discontinuance of freight solicitors and other unnecessary employees and many other things which the Federal control inaugurated and all of which lessened the cost and expedited the delivery of freight...
...New England's demands have been met, and 28,153,317 tons, the largest tonnage of coal ever known, has been moved to the Lake Erie ports, and transported to the Northwest...
...For the year 1919, with all wage increases granted in 1918 operating for the entire 12 months and upon the assumption that the traffic for 1919 is substantially the same as in 1918 and that the cost of fuel and supplies remains the same, it is estimated that there should be a surplus to the Government over and above the standard return of approximately $100,000,000...
...This was brought out by the statement of Director McAdoo showing the expenditures made for the capital account of the roads...
...Not only was this record of efficient service made but at the same time Federal control solved the labor situation by granting in-ereases in wages and by equalizing the wages of men in the service...
...So effective were these measures that Mr...
...Generally speaking, the cities of thi3 country and the railroad traffic that passes through them have wholly outgrown the railroad terminal facilities which were provided many years ago without any conception of the growth of the country's traffic It is difficult to get the land to expand the terminals of any one railroad and each rail road company is jealously trying to prevent some other railroad from getting the advantages in new terminal facilities...
...In 1917 only 26,826,000 tons were moved over this route...
...Crops of Victory Year THE crops of "Victory Year," as reported by the Government, added about $17,000,000,-000 to our wealth...
...The results of the economies he has inaugurated will not be manifest until the improvements planned are in full operation...
...The largest item was for Additional Yard Tracks, Sidings, etc...
...They could not or would not function...
...It should not be rushed to a hasty conclusion even under the seeming thrust of executive action...
...Seventy-three of these companies had operating revenues of $10,000,000 or more per year each...
...But takes years for the railroads to agree a any such matter, and the comprehen veness of the particular plan is generally interfered with by the selfishness of some particularly powerful railroad which feels that it can preserve certain advantages by refusing to put into the joint plan certain facilities which ought to be put there in the public interest...
...It shows the enormous stimulation of activity under the stress of war...
...134,947,000 Potatoes, 397,676,000 bushels 475,731,000 Hay, 75,459,000 tons..........1,522,473,000 Tobacco, 1,340,019,000 pounds____ 374,318,000 Cotton, 11,700,000 bales...
...Every facility of the Railroad Administration and of the railroads under its jurisdiction was thrown into the balance...
...The outstanding shortcomings in railroad transportation are inadequacies in terminal facilities...
...These troops were transported in comparative freedom from accident, due largely to the steadfast maintenance of a reasonable rate of speed...
...Broadly speaking, there are three general permanent solutions of the railroad question...
...In the fall of 1917, despite strenuous efforts, and yet under a larger degree of coordination than had ever before been attempted, to prevent such a situation, a paralysis of the transportation situation again occurred...
...McAdoo demonstrated the savings made through running solid trains, the elimination of circuitous routes by which in the first ten months of federal control the railroads produced 1.9 per cent more ton miles with a decrease of 2.1 per cent in train miles...
...8 was issued, containing among other things, the following: "'No discrimination will be made in the employment, retention, or conditions of employment of employees because of membership or nonmembership in labor organizations.' "This has had the effect of many railroad employees joining labor unions who previously were not affiliated with them...
...The railroads had broken down...
...Each railroad company wants to plan its new terminals so as to help its own business and so as not to help its rivals...
...There never was a demand made upon the Western Oil industry that they were not able to meet so far as transportation facilities were concerned...
...It will be asked to continue an operation deprived of all the elements which would help in making the operation a success, and I do not see how it can be seriously urged as the proper course by anyone except those who are anxious at all events to see the railroads restored to the control of numerous different companies just as in the past...
...According to official word received from the Entente Allies, the outcome of the war depended upon the ability of the American Railways to transport sufficient supplies of foodstuffs to the Atlantic seaboard for shipment abroad...
...235,269,000 Rye, 89,108,000 bushels...
...and the third for Additional Main Tracks...
...The railroads have a plan for private ownership under the control of regional commissions and a Cabinet Officer, a director of transportation and relieved of all restrictions of the Sherman law...
...McAdoo said that simultaneously with the taking over of the railroads December 29, 1917, the country experienced ten weeks of the worst winter weather ever known, and as a result the transportation of the country was threatened with almost complete stoppage...
...Efforts have been made to eliminate inequalities and while this work has not been finished, it has been chiefly done...
...McAdoo put in the record: "From January 1st, 1918 to November 10, 1918 a total of 6,496,150 troops were moved over the American railways, 4,038,918 having being transported on special trains...
...Here are just a few of the principal items: Corn, 2,582,814,000 bushels......$3,528,313,000 Wheat, 917,100,000 bushels...
...Their release would at least produce an element of a solution, namely certainty and a quick stimulation of private initiative...
...More than that, it gives a slight idea of the immense potentialities of the United States...
...Under date of December 28th, Commissioner McChord made a report in which he stated that 'in some territories the railroads have furnished bat a small part of the cars necessary for the transportation of staple articles of commerce.' He added: 'In consequence, mills have shut down, prices have advanced, perishable articles of great value have been destroyed, and hundreds of -carloads of food products have been delayed in reaching their natural markets...
...McAdoo reviewing the conditions prior to government control said: "In the fall of 1916 the transportation stringency reached such a point that traffic was almost paralyzed through inability to dispose of it at destination...
...Notwithstanding in that one year of Federal control the railroads carried more freight and a greater number of passengers than ever before in history...
...With the book value of the railroads placed at about $20,000,000,000, an authorization of a capital expenditure of $1,254,396,158 by the government in a WAR YEAR must be considered aa very liberal...
...It is true that at times under pressure of critical necessity some of the railroads at some cities try to combine a portion of their terminal plans into a joint terminal enterprise...
...He said he urged that federal control be extended until January 1, 1924...
...The Railroad Administration arranged to consolidate oil shipments into train loads, symbol it, and move it through to destination or breaking point in solid train loads...
...Indeed the difficulties with operation during the 21 months period will be so serious that I do not see how the Government can be fairly asked to encounter them...
...The cost of living had greatly increased...
...On February 21st General Order No...
...McAdoo reviewed the situation with respect to the waterways of the country and their relation to the railways problem and how these waterways were brought to function under Federal control...
...These results were practical...
...This is double the total of 1910...
...1,616,207,000 Apples, 173,632,000 barrels...
...1,092,423,000 Barley, 256,375,000 bushels...
...If the country prefers to continue in existence the hundreds of different railroad companies as in the past I believe it will be necessary for the country to abandon the hope of obtaining most of the fundamental reforms which I propose to point out...
...It is not possible, as I view the complexities of the problem, to effect any marked change in the form of railroad control that is not based upon a completed valuation of their properties...
...Of course as the five-year period nears its termination there would be a disposition on the part of the corporation to postpone matters which had not theretofore been entered upon, but by the time this condition would arise it is reasonable to expect that Congress would have been able to make a permanent solution of the whole problem in the light of an adequate experience with the present opportunities for unified eontrol" Space limitations render it impossible to publish in full the statement of Director General McAdoo at the hearing of the Senate Committee...
...229,990,000 Beet Sugar Production, 1,480,200,000 pounds...
...Government ownership or government operation should be tested by its results in normal, not in abnormal years...
...The first is to send the railroads back into the private control of the several hundred old companies...
...There was a net increase of 741,666 cars or approximately 37,083,300 tons of bituminous coal loaded during the ten months ending October 31, 1918 as compared with e same ten months in 1917...
...These were set forth in a two hoar statement of Director General McAdoo which two days' cross examination did not shake or impair...
...In the last few months there has been an entire ab-sense of any transportation stringency, although the traffic carried was the heaviest of even this unprecedented year...
...McAdoo directed attention to the failure of the roads to provide motive power and of many to provide adequate repair shops...
...At the Chicago Terminals it has been the practice in the past to reconsign practically all coal after arrival...
...Louis and north of the Ohio and Potomac in excess of the normal movement...
...This improved condition has been due largely to the coordination of shop work...
...and by the large orders for equipment almost wholly for locomotives and freight cars...
...The greatest opportunity to reduce railroad costs for the future and to promote public convenience in transportation for the future will be found in the solution of these terminal problems...
...The question therefore, arises whether Congress can satisfactorily deal with this matter in advance of the completion of the valuation which it has already prescribed, and whether Congress will wish to attempt a final solution of it before it can have the benefit of the valuation for which it has already appropriated such large amounts and to which it has attached so much importance...
...As is apparent to every fair-minded person the year of Federal operation is not a fair test of government operation...
...Under private control it was necessary to threaten a nation wide strike and for Congress to intervene to stop it...
...I do not mean that this would be desired in order to accomplish Government ownership, but it seems to me it would be desired in order to test the utility of various reforms in the direction of unification which can be accomplished without Government ownership, but which cannot be accomplished as I view the situation through an unrestricted return to the old conditions of management through from 75 to 100 different important railroad companies, and several hundred smaller railroad companies...
...They could not and did not coordinate the rail and ocean transport so as to satisfactorily keep supplies moving over seas...
...During the early part of that extension comprehensive improvements can be carried forward in the public interest and the railroad companies will appreciate the impracticability of holding everything in abeyance for so long a period as five years...
...They had the means of informing the public as to their conditions and this federally controlled enterprise quickly met the situation...
...The principle of the eight hour day was recognized early and strengthened whenever possible...
...To perform this work, 2,319 passenger equipment cars were in daily use...
...1,874,623,000 Oats, 1,538359,000 bushels...
...The great mass of consumers of the country, the laboring men and farmers, the real freight payers demand government ownership and operation...
...Congress should be slow to follow the propaganda of the railroads and turn these highways back to private owners...
...In the period from July to November, 1918, 136,000 more cars of grain were handled than in the same months of 1917, thus demonstrating the enormous extra strain placed upon the railroads by this one item alone...
...The contrast between transportation conditions during the autumn just passed and the autumns of 1916 and 1917 is marked...
...The Interstate Commerce Commission favors a more rigid Federal control with greater power in the Commission as to rates and services than has heretofore existed...
...in 1916 only 24,692,000 tons, and in 1915 only 21,507,000...
...To a large extent there appeared to be a lack of confidence on the part of labor in the management of the railroad companies if not an actual hostility thereto...
...The government took the properties, operated them and did with them what their managers could not do undar private operation...
...Sixty billion dollars a year means $580 for every man, woman and child in the United States...
...It should be guided by the public interest...
...Director McAdoo called attention to the increased cost of coal and all supplies used by the railroads and to the increase in the rates...
...Thus the great issue is being framed before the Senate Committee...
...It probably means more to the producing and consuming public in the matter of delays, inconveniences and transportation burdens than any other phase of transportation...
...The second largest item was for Shop Buildings, Engine Houses, and appurtenances...
...There seems to be no reason why the American people should not subscribe liberally for the Fifth Liberty Loan when it is offered...
...Officials and employes worked day and night...
...I wish to lay before you certain reforms which I think are indispensable and without which any so-called solution of the railroad problem will be a mere disappointment makeshift...
...It must be remembered also that Congress has thought it important to provide for a valuation of railroad property and this valuation has been in progress for several years at large cost...
...The facts presented make a good case for Federal operation...
...The seriousness of the situation is shown by the fact that on January 1, 1918, there were reported on all roads, a total of nearly 145,000 cars accumulated on account of the congestion which prevailed in the territory east of Chicago and St...
...Since the object of the Government should be at all times to operate the railroads not for profit but at cost, and to render at the same time the best possible service, I confidently believe that it will be possible during the year 1919, or certainly at the end of the year 1919, to effect a considerable reduction in rates unless the traffic for 1919 should be much less than it was in the year 1918.' Mr...
...There never was a time that there was not at least a day and a half's loading of cars on hand.' * * * "Successful efforts have been made to route freight so as to arrive at the specific terminal where it was to be disposed of...
...At the same time, equal consideration has been shown employees who were not members of unions and individual employees have been heard on an equality with representatives of the Unions...
...The benefit of these savings will not be fully realized until the operations for the year 1919 are completed...
...If the private owners had operated the railroads during the past year, they either would have had to increase the rates as the Government did or they would have had to face an enormous deficit...
...So Congress has plunged into the work of quickly finding a solution of the problem...
...I am not committed to any particular plan...
...The result is that the railway employees instead of spending time debating with employers' over wages or betterment of conditions are free to devote their time and attention wholly to the service...
...The New York statisticians figure that the total wealth of this country is now double that of England and the national income quadruple...
...Mr...
...Economies in operation and in organization have resulted in enormous savings but have not fully met the difference between the cost of operating the railroads and the income, for the reason stated...
...The food situation in the allied countries of Europe became extremely critical in February last...
...It will aid in the understanding of the problem to briefly review the railroad conditions as they existed prior to the entry of this country into the war and as these conditions are today...
...But with the railroads in the hands of the public it is unnecessary for the employees to resort to coercion to secure justice...
...It is in one sense the most complex and in another view the most economic problem Congress has been called upon to solve, since the reconstruction that followed the Civil War...
...This increase was achieved despite the fact that the severe weather conditions prevailing in January, 1918 resulted in a decreased production, due largely to car supply, of 65,594 carloads...
...and also an order for 100,000 freight cars for 1918 delivery at an estimated cost of $289,460,000...
...It will also be true that needed railroad construction and extensions will be practically at a standstill...
...The public wants relief from the burden of the existing rates...
...In addition to the locomotives and freight cars under order by the railroad companies at the time the Government assumed control, additional orders were placed for 1,430 locomotives for 1918 delivery, at an estimated cost of $78,193,200, of which 542 have been delivered by the builders...
...As to the future he said: "In December, 1917, there were about 180 separate operating railroad companies in the United States with operating revenues of $1,000,000 or more per year each...
...The Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce is holding hearings...
...Locomotives freight cars and other equipment was authorized to the amount of $656,048,745 while the cost of branch lines and extensions authorized would be $46,421,883 making a total authorized expenditure on capital account of $1,254,396,158...
...This condition will not exist, however, if a five-year extension shall be granted...
...Even if it were possible to accomplish legislation in the next 12 months it would be done without any opportunity whatever to form a reasonable idea as to the advantages of unity in the matters I have mentioned, under peace conditions...
...To allow soldiers and sailors to leave to visit their families at home, the railroad administration put into effect a special rate of one cent a mile for men on fur-lough, an accommodation which added to morale and permitted many soldiers and sailors to see their loved ones who otherwise could not have afforded it...
...The result will be that terminal reforms which are badly needed in the public interest and which already have been delayed many years, will be subjected to further indefinite delay...
...The public does not willingly permit its servants to ignore living conditions...
...The men employed by the railroads were well organized...
...The great unnecessary burdens in the matter of inconvenience, delay and cost for which the producing and consuming public have to pay are largely due to these terminal conditions...
...In the face of Congressional action to extend federal control there need be no fear of any precipitate action by the President...
...Here are some of the things Mr...
...27 it was ordered that "'When women are employed the working conditions must be healthful and fitted to their needs...
...Indeed with such an early termination of Federal control there will be almost a complete stoppage of improvement work except what is obviously needed for the most urgent necessities...
...I believe they can all be accomplished either through a comparatively few railroad companies or through single Federal control...
...These wages were fixed not upon the theory that the railroads, a permanent industry, should compete in prices paid labor with the transient war industries, many of which paid very high wages in order to attract labor...
...It is more than double the increase in the wages of the employees...
...An additional order for 600 locomotives for 1919 delivery has also been placed involving an expenditure of approximately $37,842,268...
...There were several hundred companies whose respective operating revenues were less than $1,000,000 per year...
...Congress with that additional experience will be able far better than it is at present to estimate at their real value the reforms which I have submitted to you as being fundamental and Congress can then determine whether those reforms are so important as to make it desirable to adopt some other method of railroad ownership and control than that of such a great number of different private companies as has been the case in the past...
Vol. 11 • January 1919 • No. 1
