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About Central Point herald and Southern Oregon news. (Central Point, Or.) 1917-19?? | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1917)
BRITISH EXPERT LAUDS RAILROADS OF UNITED STATES Tells Congress C c w it t e Thai Tlisy Lead World. It W o u l d M e an Political C ontro l and Loca of Efficiency— Declares T h a t C risis C o n fr o n t s C o u n t r y on Accoun t of T r a n s p o r t a t i o n S itu a t io n — Lowost F r e i g h t Rates to Be Fo un d In Un ited Statee. Washington, TV C.—That the Unit ed States is face to face with a seri ous crisis in its commercial affairs, due to the conditions by which its transportation system is confronted, was the opinion expressed by W. M. Acworih, Kngland's leading authority on railways, before the Newlands joint committee on interstate commerce at a special session held here to enable the committee to hear his views before his departure for London. Two steps are necessary, according to Mr. Ac- worth, to avert this crisis and to solve the threatening railroad problem con fronting the country. The first is to allow the railroads to charge fteight rates sufficient to meet the great advance in operating ex penses which is taking place and to enable them to command the credit necessary to provide the extensions and improvements needed to meet the growing demands of business. The sec ond is to do away with the multiple and conflicting systems of regulation that now hamper ra’ lvvay operation and to provide one centralized regula tory agency with such local subdivi sions as may be necessary. Higher Rates a Public Necessity. Mr. Acworth’s views on the transpor tation situation in the United States were expressed in answer to questions by members of the committee, who asked him to apply his knowledge of railway conditions throughout the world and of the experience of other countries with government ownership to the present problem before the United States. “ The fundamental factor In the situ ation is very simple," said Mr. Ac- worth. “ It lies in the fact that you cannot get three-quarters of a cent's worth of work done for less than three- quarters of a cent, no matter w hether the agency performing it is a govern ment or private enterprise. Freight rates must advance when the coot of performing the service advances as It is doing at present, just as the price of bread or meat or any oiher com modity increases with increased cost of production.” In answer to a question Mr. Ac- worth said that he thought American freight rates had been at much too low a level for several years past, that they had reached this low point during the period of cutthroat competition among the roads and had since been held there by regulating bodies. Unless re lief were afforded to the carriers very promptly, he said, the result would be a tremendous loss to .he people of the whole country through insufficien cy of transportation facilities Weakness of Government Ownership. On the subject of government owner ship of railways .ur. Acworth said: "It is impossible to obtain satisfac tory results on government railways In a democratic state unless the man agement is cut loose from direct polit ical control Neither Australia nor any other country with a democrat ic constitution— perhaps an exception ought to be made of Switzerland— has v • l -v *:* *:* • > .J.......... ......... ... I Of AL AND PERSONAL J Ur. S. A. Mulkey returned from Portland Sunday night "on the 10:30 •rain that got in at 12:30," as he put it. He went to the metropolis to at tend the convention of the State Den tal Society and incidentally to attend to some tiusiness. While on a business errand Saturday morning the doctor met with a very singular experience. He was on his way to see a fellow den tist, Dr. J. Howard Miller, whose office was in the Morgan building, about a business matter that might have ¡javed a man’s life. Upon arriving at the Morgan building, on Washington St., he found a large crowd gathered in front of the big office building. Dr. Mulkey inquired of an officer what the excitement was about. To his utter amazement he learned that it was the suicide of the very man he wanted to see on this important business errand. Dr. Miller was a well known dentist high up in the profession, who had been somewhat unfortunate in his busi ness the last year or two. In a fit of despondency that morning he had hurl ed himself from his office window on the fourth floor of the building to the pavement below in full view of the pedestrians on Washington St. "H is bndv was horribly mangled,” Dr. Mul key said, "and blond had run over a large space on the sidewalk. The unfortunate man died hy the time they could rush him to v hospital, ten min utes after the fatal plunge. If I hail known that Dr. Miller was in the state of mind he was and could only have arrived at his office ten minutes sooner, that would not have happened." The two dentists were acquainted. T ie Herald editor knew Dr. Miller quite well and was shocked to read of his un timely end. Dr, Mil'er had a beautiful homo on the Hast Side arid owned some valuable city property, which makes it seem very strange that u man of his age—only 47 would commit such a violent deed. : ur cc' i d in maintaining a permanent evo-anc«. In Trance, in Belgium, in Italy, parliamentary Interference never has been abandoned for a moment Th- facta show that government hi lerfcrc ce hr.a meant running tire rail ways not for tire lenrf.t of the people at large, but to ratir.y local and s c tional and even perr a! Interests Prussia. Mr. Acworth said, was th • test example of an eff.rii :t gove-n ment railway syst< :.u ami he pointed out that miitta-. coin <U it ems were treated as nf paramount I: i porta ace in the Prussian railway system. While American freight rates i ad teen re duced nearly 40 per cent in thirty- years, rates in Prussia were near'y as high as at the beginning of the period. While the charge for moving a ton of freight one mile in the United States was a trifle over three quarters oi a cent, the rate In Prussia was 1.41 cents. As il'ustratirg the difference in rntes between government and private roads Mr. Acworth compared the railways of New South Wales, Australia, with those of Texas While the amount of traffic to each mile of line was about the same In both rases, he pointed out. flic Texas railways performed for the public four times as much service as the government owned roads of New- South Wales. The charge in Texas for hauling a ton of freight one mile was less than 1 cent, w hile in the Aus- ralian state It was well over 2 cents. "American railways lead the world," said Mr. Acworth "Nowadays when men in any other part of the wond want to know how to run a rai'way they come to the United States and study your railways here. The Amer ican railways are entirely the result if private enterpr se. and I think they -o a long way toward proving the case against govc-iiux-ct ownership.” Spring time is kodak time, and if Two lady demonstrators were at the you have’nt a kodak see Paxson Drug Cranfill & Kobnett store last Saturday Co. Some nice ones from a dollar to with a new washing compound called twelve dollars. "No-Rub.” It is evidently all that is Mrs. W. H. Ferguson and her mother, claimed for it and will doubtless be Mrs. A. R. Bradney, left for Vernal, come a common necessity in the home Utah, last Saturday evening. Thoy as well as the laundry. The main fea did not get away as soon as they had ture of this new washing compound is expected they would. In the first place the fact that it will do the work with they expected to go to either Florida out rubbing, thereby saving much la bor for the housewife. or Texas, but changed their plans. FOIL SALE:- A Thompson Have you saved any old papers or magazines for the local Iced one and a fourth inch mountain hack. Paxson’s drug store. Cross? I f not, do so at once. Let us show you how you can make your Farm Work Easy and Save Money & Labor A n E l e c t r i c M o t o r will work harder and more steadily and give you less trouble than any horse or engine you can buy. We can Furnish You, for less than J the cost of a good horse, a M o t o r which will last a life time and give you not one moment’s trouble. You won’ t have to feed it, and it costs nothing at all w hen it isn’ t working. It will do the work of six men at 1 -ss cost for current than the wages of one. 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