Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1920 — R. R. RATES MUST BE ADJUSTED [ARTICLE]

R. R. RATES MUST BE ADJUSTED

Dean of the Wharton School of Finance on the Need of Good Railroad Credit. TO MAKE INVESTMENT SAFE. National Authority on Railroad Tran*. portatlon Bay« Roads Must B* Self-Supporting or Become Bankrupt. In an address on “The Railroad Pu»zle,” delivered In Philadelphia, January 3, Dr. Emory it. Johnson, dean of the Wharton School of Finance, and one of the nation's leading authorities on railroad transportation, declared that “after the first of March the companies must be self-supporting or'become bankrupt." Continuing, ho said: "Can the railroads be successfully financed and operated when they ar* returned to their owners? For two years the government has drawn upon the public treasury to sustain th* credit of carriers. "If the carriers avoid failure their Income must cover operating expense*, maintenance and capital charges; If the companies succeed to the extent that is demanded In public Interest, they must not only be able to meet unavoidable expenses, they must hav* some surplus revenue. “If there is no Income to he used in part for betterments and in part for building up a surplus or reserve fund, the public will not invest in the railroads, their credit cannot be re-estab-lished and maintained and corporate ownership and operation of the railways will fnll. “The income of the carriers is determined by public regulation, and properly so; hut from this it follows that the country must decide between a policy of adequate revenues to th* railroad corporations of the future and a policy of government ownership. “The government Is entitled to credit for having given greater unity to railroad operation, both line and. termlaaL It has done much that the carrier* were prohibited from doing. The public now realize that co-operation of the carriers In the Joint use of equipment and terminals should be encouraged, instead of prevented. “The railroad legislation now pending In Congress must solve many difficult questions, but the most critical on* Is that of providing for the future regulation of railroads In accordance with a policy thut will cause the carriers to secure revenue svfficlent to enabl* them to perform 'their services adequately nnd with progressive efficiency. The railroad business must he,made attractive to private Investments or th* country will have to adopt government ownership and operation of the railroads. There Is no other alternativ*.*