The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 32, Ed. 1 Monday, June 3, 1935 Page: 3 of 4
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MONDAY, JUNE 3, 1935
THE RICE THRESHER
PAGE THREE
(Continued from, page 2)
His Granddad In his house of logs
Thought that We're going to the dogs,
His Dad, among the Flemish bogs
Swore that we're going to the dogs,
The cave man, in his queer skin togs
Knew that we're going to the dogs,
Yet this is what I'd like to state
Those dogs have had an awful wait,"
Coincident with the final occupancy
of virtually every part of the country
by railway lines, travel by highway
began to shovv a phenomenal revival.
The internal combustion engine and
well nigh perfect roads have combined
to bring about an era of growth in
transportation which has dominated the
last two decades as the railways had
dominated the previous century. No
need to dwell upon this phase for it
has been witnessed by all of us. It
seems sometimes as if successive im-
provements have brought highway
transportation to the point of perfec-
tion, but each year we are surprised by
the newer models of automobiles which
come on the .market to tempt us with
their beauty and comforts, and unques-
tionably the satisfaction individuals feel
in having their own vehicles on the
highways will continue to expand that
form of transportation as rapidly as
people can afford it.
Now an entirely new branch of the
transportation plant has appeared, and
although it may seem to be a slender
shoot, its growth may become more
sturdy and important than we think.
I refer, of course, to aviation, which is
a twentieth century product and has
become commercially important only
since the World War. As yet travel
and transport by air is of minor vol-
ume when compared with at by rail-
way or highway or other means, but
for certain mail and for those who wish
the maximum of speed it offers a serv-
ice which is truly phenomenal—the
latest record, but probably not for long,
is across the continent in eleven hours.
A special carrier—the pipe line-
has been brought into prominence by,
petroleum products, which have come
to occupy a high position in the list of
commodities of commerce. It predom-
inates in quantity handling of these
products and of natural gas.
The internal waterways in the United
States always have been important and
in certain localities afford the cheapest
transportation of all; that is where
water of sufficient depth is available
and where there are goods to be moved
which can use that type of service. The
most important of these situations is
the Great Lakes; next is the Ohio and
lower Mississippi River system. How
far+improvements on upper reaches of
rivers, which are not otherwise navig-
able, are to be carried should depend
up6n the advantageous use that would
be made of them, that is, upon the
public necessity and convenience, and
whether the projects will be self-sup-
porting.
So that now we have highways, rail-
ways, pipe lines, waterways, and air-
ways—a wholly different transporta-
tion plant from that of any previous
time or period. Also, the total amount
of transportation is larger than ever
before and increasing, and,- obviously,
saddles the country with a huge trans-
portation burden.
II.
Never before was there such abund-
ance in every productive line. I have
used transportation merely as an il-
lustration. Other industries have made
similar and equally notable advance-
ment.
I have wondered whether it was pos-
sible in Macau lay's time to visualize
the difficulties of controlling the great
machines which science was creating—
whether with the limited experience up
to then, It was possible to have in mind
the problems which would arise out of
further mechanical perfection. At any
rate, they have become the pressing
problems of our time, that is, how to
continue the tendency toward perfec-
tion in experimental science, and at the
same time to control and direct the
distribution of the benefits which are
made available.
It may be said that we cannot, as a
nation, afford the enormous transpor-
tation bill which we are paying,
amounting as it does probably to four-
teen billions of dollars a year, But the
answer to that is that people will con-
tinue to afford what they want the
most. It should be remembered that
our transportation expense goes chief-
ly to labor, and also whether for labor
or materials, that the money is spent in
our own country among our own peo-
ple. Hiese various agencies of trans-
portation, extending, as they do, to all
parts of the country, play a part of
great importance in collecting and dis-
tributing money; relatively little being
retained by them. Probably five of the
fourteen billions spent annually for
rtansportation is for operating private
automobiles for pleasure. The total
of railway charges, freight and pas-
senger, last year amounted to about
three billions of dollars, or only about
fifty per cent more than we paid for
our tobacco.
We have, then, many different agen-
cies of transportation, and, moreover,
they are all, in theory, practice, and
method, constantly changing, so that it
is a complicated as well as important
problem that faces the young men and
women whose generation will be the
next to deal with it. And their concern
will be how best to organize and to
manage these various instrumentalities
and their relations with one another
and with the public.
If present conditions, locations of
cities, factories, producing areas, as
they now exist, were without any rail-
ways, highways, pipe lines, or improved
waterways, it would be a comparative-
ly simple task to lay out a complete
system of transportation. It would be
easy to plan for the maximum of ef-
ficiency and economy and, naturally,
we could make something far more
perfect than will be possible through
the further evolution of these facilities
as they actually exist. Our ideal crea-
tion would consist of the most modern,
heavy duty railways, built on the short-
est and most economical routes be-
tween important centers, and a mini-
mum number of such lines consistent
with the requirements. Similarly the
main highway arteries would follow
the most advantageous locations
through the country. Secondary lines
of railways and highways would sup-
plement the main routes so as to pro-
vide the greatest conveniences and
minimum cost of moving persons and
goods. The result would be a lesser
total mileage of railways and Highways
than exist or are necessary under the
present arrangement.
But the time came when it was felt
that the merging of railways was going
too far and too fast and that the mon-
opolies which would be created would
be contrary to the public interest. This
was about the turn of the century and
having in mind some of the conditions
prevailing then, particularly the ab-
sence of highway transportation as a
competitor, and the incompleteness of
railway regulation compared with the
present, it is only fail- to say that the
public attitude of that time can be
readily understood,
It seems equally true, however, that
in the light of later developments, the
time now has come when a resumption
of the policy of merging railways may
be highly desirable. The presence of
so many other forms of transportation
must be considered and also the ad-
verse effects of too many railways
competing against each other. The
benefits which are sought will come
rather from a lesser number of strong
competitiors, than from a greater num-
ber of weaker roads—often further
handicapped by the very burdens of
excessive competition.
There is an acknowledged crisis in
the affairs of our railroads. It is not
because of their failure to give good
service—quite the contrary—railway
service never before was so fast or
dependable as it has been in the last
year or two and is at present. The
standard of safety, comfort, and con-
venience of travel is unsurpassed. The
crisis is financial and economic in char-
acter. Nearly seventy thousand miles
of railroad are being operated by re-
ceivers or trustees in bankruptcy or
have defaulted payment of bond inter-
est when due. This is between one-
fourth and one-third of the total mile-
age of the country. During the last
three months a much larger percent-
age of the railway mileage was oper-
ated at a loss so serious that, if con-
tinued, it will increase vastly the
amount which will have to go through
reorganization. Broadly speaking the
cause is simple—the volume of traffic
is too small. And if this continues sub-
stantially more than half of our rail-
way mileage will be facing financial
difficult. BUt I do not think it in-
evitable or necessary that it shoud con-
tinue. Recovery will come unless it is
retarded by artificial restrictions of
production, unless private enterprise is
stifled by government competition and
handicapped by unwise social experi-
mentation. With recovery traffic will
increase, for volume of traffic, more
sensitively than any instrument we
have, records general business condi-
tions.
But under any. circumstances rail-
ways should be permitted to effect all
the economies possible through con-
solidation and in all other ways con-
sistent with the public interest, and
changes should be made in the law
which would affirmatively encourage
absorption of small lines and unifica-
tion of others where economies in op-
eration and improvement in service
would result. Also, there should be
such sympathetic interpretation of the
law and understanding on the part of
the public as would permit the rail-
ways to abandon superfluous trackage.
One of the the important provisions
of the present law is that new lines
WHY NOT OWN
THE
...
since you can get
a HAMILTON today
f°r HQ W50
Perhaps ypn, like many people,
lia^e said, "Sopm day I shall own
tme o f those accurateHamiltons,"
That day is here — for today
Hamilton prices are the lowest
in history 1 The smart new man's
strap watch below sells for only
$37.50. The lovely ladies' wrist
model is but 140.00. Let us show
you these and other Hamiltons.
S WEENEy'S
Main and Capitol
This ideal system of overland trans- 0f railway shall not be constructed ex-
cept upon findings by the Interstate
Commerce Commission. It must be es-
tablished at I public hearings that such
struction is justified by the prospec-
tive return on investment, and by pub-
lic convenience and necessity. Surely
the same ruling should be applied to
all public undertakings which would
create competition with private enter-
prise. It is well known that many such
public undertakings do not comply with
the test which is wisely required of
railways.
Our railway systems were built in
the days when horses and wagons
traveling on dirt roads brought farml
produce to the stations and the dis-
tances such vehicles could operate were
relatively small. Now automobiles and
trucks on paved highways have taken
their place and .as a consequence rail-
way lines do not need to be so close
to each other. It has been variously
estimated that on this account from
twenty to thirty thousand miles of track
portation would be tied in with water
ways and airways and pipe lines at
points where economy of money or time
would render these types of transpor-
tation sufficiently desirable to justify
establishing them.
Important changes in the corporate
and economic structure of our trans-
portation system would also appear.
During the period when the building
of highways, canals, and railways was
relatively unrestrained patronage fav-
ored that form of travel or transporta-
tion which was the most advantageous
then available. The displacement of
canals and highways by railways as
primary carriers of people and com-
merce, then the merging of many small
roads each of which formed a part of
the route between important centers,
took place as natural business se-
quences. That the merging of railway
lines was in the main exteremly bene-
ficial is evidenced by the accounts of
early railroad journeys between such
important places as Now York and
Boston, Albany, Washington, or Phila-
delphia. In all of these instances where
the trips were relatively short it was
formerly necessary to pass over several
lines or railway, and to change cars
more than once. Today these arc made
as a matter of course in the same car
and in a few hours. Another proof of
the benefits of consolidation is that
such large railway systems as the
Pennsylvania, New York Central, Burl-
ington, and Southern Pacific, for ex-
ample, each consists of a hundred or
more merged corporations. Not for an
instant would anyone suggest that it
would be in the public interest, to break
these railways up into their component
parts.
Pens and Pencils, all makes repair-
ed. We sell leads, ink and erasers for
til mates. Fountain Pen Hospital, 001
Krer* Bldg. F. 7018.
AFTER THE FINAL BALL . . 7
Complete Ypur Day
The Popular "Way
• * • At • ••
pjj'n OTibtle
NO. 1—MAIN and BLODGETT
NO. 2—3018 MAIN
railroad track connot be operated to
pay its way, motor service by the high-
way should take its place, and local
communities should not object."
I have been discussing a concrete
example of what I mean by controlling
and directing in the public interest the
great instrumentalities which our gen-
eration has, beyond those of any
former people or time. If there is not
more understanding, more intelligent
cooperation on the part of the public
and the government with the railways,
it is possible that the only alternative
will be government ownership. I think
that the public as a whole rightly does
not want government ownership. And
if it should come, it would be rather
through excessive regulation and un-
wise legislation than by deliberate in-
tention.
I shall not discuss today the several
reasons why I believe government own-
ership would not be advantageous; why
I believe that it would greatly and in-
calculably lower the standard of serv-
ice. It seems sufficient to say that if
legislative and regulatory authorities
cannot permit to be done the things
which will enable private initiative to
carry on successfully, it is obvious that
if in direct charge of railroads, similar
authorities would not be able to control
expenditures. To an even less extent
could a government railway plant be
shrunk to fit the requirements of a
shrinking business or altered to keep
up with a Constantly changing one.
For the history of the railroad is a story
of continuous change! One of the most
fundamental of these is taking place
today. Our cars are too heavy. Metal-
lurgists have given us new alloys which
promise to reduce the weight and in-
crease the strength of materials sub-
stantially, so that a lighter car will
carry a heavier load. The efficiency of
the new cars renders it advisable to
build them rather than make heavy re-
pairs on many old ones There are
about 2,400,000 railroad cars in the
United States. If, owing to faster move-
ment, 2,000,000 should suffice for the
traffic of the country, and if these had
an average life of twenty years, 100,000
new ones would be needed every year
for an indefinite period. At $2,500 each
that means $250,000,000 a year for cars
alone. New types of trucks will be
placed under 600,000 cars in the next
few years and there still is much to be
desired in car truck construction. Im-
provements in steam locomotives have
Wept abreast of other scientific ad-
vances, and a moderate increase in
traffic would justify purchasing prob-
ably 3,000 modern locomotives to avoid
using some that are more or less obso-
lete. The more important passenger
trains are now air-conditioned, some
forty million dollars having been spent
for that improvement. This will be a
continuing project, Akrsady we have
light weight, high speed passenger
trains which have been made possible
only within the past two years by the
new alloys, new methods of fabrication,
and new type Diesel power plants.
These trains weigh about one-third as
much per passenger carried as conven-
tional trains and costs about one-half
as much to operate. In planning cais
and other structures, we may now re-
vise our ideas of the relationship be-
tween weight and bulk on the one hand
and strength on the other. Rails and
rail joints are being improved con-
stantly both in material and design. As
late as 1933 new sections of rail were
adopted which by better distribution
of metal give greater strength and
longer life. The same is true of rail
joints. We shall before long have still
better track material and design.
Hie opportunities for employment of
men, material, and money in railway
and allied industries are very many,
and the effect of such employment
would be the most wholesome thing
imaginable. The moment that business
generally improves and railway traffic
increases, the railways will spend
hundreds of millions of dollars for mo-
tive power, equipment, and track, which
it is not necessary to spend while traf-
fic is at its present low level.
cult on the highways, but surely the
present condition cannot continue.
During 1933 the people reported killed
by automobiles numbered 30,500 and
about 1,000,000 were injured; 1,305 of
these were killed and 3,496 were in-
jured at grade crossings of highways
and railways. More titan a third of
such accidents were caused by motor-
ists driving into the sides of trains.
Exact data are not yet available but
we know that there were many more
accidents in 1934 than in 1933. The
elimination of grade crossings, as a
general project, is a splendid thing,
especially just now when it is desir-
able to provide work, and the assign-
ment to this program of $200,000,000 of
the $4,800,000,000 public works appro-
priation recently made is gratifying.
Although in surveying our transpor-
tation we mtfyvlook toward changes and
improvements, the outstanding impres-
sion we receive is one of extraordinary
and uninterrupted progress. From the
first fragile, high wheeled wagonette
on rails drawn by a tiny engine at
eight miles an hour to our great trans-
continental trains propelled by giant
steam or electric locomotives, or our
new streamlined Diesel flyers that make
a hundred miles an hour with infinitely
greater safety and comfort than was
formerly achieved at fifteen or twenty,
the forward movement has never
flagged; and on the highways, as in the
air, the change in recent years has
come even more rapidly.
The constant progress of physical
knowledge, the tendency of experi-
mental science to ware! perfection, have !
created not only the transportation f
systems of the world, but also all the :
hundreds of other industries that make j
up our material progress. \
III.
But in the paragraph we chose for
our text a second element is mentioned j
which "takes our civilization rapidly
forward." And it is that constant ei- ,
fort of man to better himself, to ameli-
orate his lot. The private enterprise, in
other, words, of every individual, And
we must remember that in the broad 1
economic sense, it is private enterprise
that h^s created and carried on all,
■without exception, of these great in- j
dustries that lighten man's burden of'
labor. Our own system of national ,
transportation is almost wholly private-
ly owned and operaTed, the exceptions
being the highways and waterways. |
These are provided by the public but
we may add that they are used by :
privately owned carriers. j
Now I do not believe that anything ;
has happened to alter the nature of j;
man, or to invalidate the assumption j
that one of the great motive powers of
Pfiogress in his desire to improve his (
condition. And that the logical expres- '
sion of this desire is what we call
private enterprise. During the last 1
century especially, we have had to ad- j
just ourselves to more rapidly chang- 1
ing conditions than have ever before j1
been known, and it is axiomatic that
private enterprise is more flexible, lends !
itself to more rapid and far reaching !
and continude change than a system
which must havtr. for every step it
takes, the sanction of an entire people j
•-■that is, in o democracy. j
Private enterprise, then,, has been our
way of progress, and I believe that it
has been a. good one. More particular-
ly convinced I was of this, after Visit1- j
ing a country where exactly lite op-
posite way is being tried. Five years
ago I was invited by the railway ad- j
ministration ef Soviet Russia to survey j
and make reports upon the rationaliza-
tion of their transportation system and
the advisability of adopting American j
standards, methods, and practices of;
railway operation. I traveled exten- I
sively throughout the length and
breadth of the country in 1930. I found j
there .unbelievable' waste, confusion. I
human suffering. 1 found the only way
in which the theoretic system could be j
made to work at all was, more or less,
to abandon it, using in place o£ com-
j munism, a form of slate capitalism, but j
capitalism none the less.
It was decreed that a backward peo- '
even as to agriculture itself. The youth
of the land by the. million werie being
moved literally from peasant farms to
constructive camps. They were being
released from agriculture through the
use of tools and machinery, and were
taking up a new strange life under
direction of the central authority. The
individual was I wholly submerged—a
mere cog in the machine—his destiny
being subservient to that of the State
according to the will of the absolute
rulers. Instead of participation by the
people in government there is an auto-
cracy, and instead of the liberty of
private ownership of anything, there is
complete possession of all property and
business by the government—state cap-
italism. ' Granting that the plan is
beirig carried out by those in charge
with the best of intentions, an amazing
thing is their imposition upon the peo-
ple of an arbitrary fixed program re-
gardless of hardship and suffering.
Two outstanding fallacies seem to
plague them; the first is the belief that
by seizing the physical property of the
country and eliminating all profit,
everyone could live in plenty. The
actual experience is that factories,
mines, farms, and railways, when op-
erated by incompetent forces or when
handicapped by bureaucratic methods,
produce so little that even though it
may all be divided equally (which it
is not), there is nothing Us divide be-
yond the barest necessities, and not al-
ways that much. In Russia, as in every
other country, the largest accumula-
tions of wealth are in buildings, factor-
ies, railroads, and the like, and the dis-
tribution of such wealth to individuals
destroys it because it ceases to have
value when taken apart, or when
through lack, of efficient management
and discipline it fails to function! The
one type Of wealth "which might have
been distributed was land, and the
peasants' support of the revolution was
in the expectation that they would
have'their,'own.; little farms.1. The dis-
illusionment of the peasant class upon'
learning that all land, as well as all
other property would be owned by the
Government, has been1 at the root of
the; most serious, trouble, iti Soviet Rus-
sia. It was the cause of the'silent re-
sistance of the peasants, i.e., their re-
fusal to produce since they had no con-
trol over what they produced, and this
passive revolt has brought punishment
as severe as any ever recorded in his-
tory-the 1 so-called liquidation ; of the
Kulaks, and the wholesale famine of
1932-1933; The second theory is the I
idea that all spiritual welfare" may be
All makes repaired and sold. Points
exchanged. Desk sets repaired. Foun-
tain Pen Hospital, K01 Kress Bldg.
F. 7918.
done away with and a superior culture
built up, based on devotion to social
reform and physical betterment. One
has an impression that there is preva-
lent a fear of unseen things, and a gen- 'i
era! distrust of everything and of one
another. People there have a haunted
look and manner. Governmental prop-
aganda of every conceivable kind, in-
cluding public radio stations, is every-
where evident. How any informed
American could conscientiously pro-
pose to adopt many of the theories and
policies of Soviet Russia in his own
country is beyond my comprehension.
It has been said that we as a people
(Continued on page 4)
Watches repaired and regulated in
48 hours. No more waiting 1 to 2
weeks. It will B. O. K. U from B. O.
Kreiter, Kress Bldg, Lobby.
If;:-i
ifi
:
White P. B.
is Right
—for Summer Smartness
and the
SENIOR DANCE
There's nothing better
looking . . or with
more all-round satis-
faction WHITE PALM
BEACH SUITS art-
only
!
:j
15
75
NetftwCs
MAIN AT CAPITOL
COMPLIMENTS
OF
REO HOUSTON CO.
Reo Flying Clouds
$1,045
DELIVERED
Speaking now of another* phase of j pie, devoted to a simple form of agri-
our general transportation problem j culture must "suddenly and in frenzied
which needs better control. Railroads ! haste be industrialized and mechanized j
have an enviable record, of safety, but' —~ ■ _
Do von know the Fountain Pen Hos-
may be removed. The rule should be . that cannot be said of highway opera j f . .. „i.K ,,f pL,n. ,
lion, where the daily slaughter is la- j P'ta' lra.scrs tor all make* ui .
mentablo. To attain greater security | cils.' 601 Kress Bldg. I. (918.
the same as that applied when new
lines are built. A track that is no
longer needed becomes a burden upon
other parts of the railway system and
upon traffic. Greater freedom to ap-
ply ordinary business judgment and
methods in railroad management pretty
well sums up what would be most
helpful. Rates and service must be
regulated to insure against discrimin-
ation and that was the reason for es-
tablishing __ the Interstate Commerce
Commission in 1887. From the begin-
ning regulation has gradually been ex-
tended to almost every phase of man-
agement and more is proposed—for ex-
ample, the shortening of the day's work
to six hours, the arbitrary limiting of
size of trains, and fixing the number
of men on each train regardless of
necessity, Since other forms of trans-
portation are free from these restric-
tions, the handicap placed upon rail-
roads is severe. Also, since other forms
of transportation handle an important
part of the freight of the country, it is
now important that rates and service
of all commercial carriers be regulated
in order to protect shippers against
discrimination, This doctrine was
j clearly stated by Chairman Jones 6f the
i Reconstruction1 Finance Corporation in
j a rccent address when he said that all
j forms of commercial traffic should be
i brought under the same regulation, and
(that "When it is demonstrated that a
when traveling by automobile is in it- j
self a major challenge. The very in-
dependence and freedom of individual j
cars and rivers make discipline diffi- i
Why worry when you break your.
Fountain Pen or Pencil! Just take it j
to the Fountain Pen Hospital, they re- j
pair all makes. 601 Kress Bldg., F. 7918. j
HEBERT'S
BEAUTY AND BARBER
SHOP
3 Blocks from M. L. Bldg.
(Behind the School)
1717 BISSONETT It. 0437
NU-WAY LAUNDRY & CLEANING CO., INC.
"AT YOUR SERVICE ALWAYS"
2818 Caroline Fairfax 0373-0374
Have more than you show—
Start a Savings Account!
South Texas Commercial National Bank
Houston, Texas
CONGRATULATIONS
to the
ADUATING GLASS
Life liis
Company
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The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 32, Ed. 1 Monday, June 3, 1935, newspaper, June 3, 1935; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230334/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.