fClNoimro 
 
 KKRTmur 
 
 INCREASED TRANSPORTATION RATES 
 AND FACILITIES ESSENTIAL TO 
 CONTINUED NATIONAL 
 PROSPERITY 
 
 ADDRESS OF 
 
 MR. B. A. WORTHINGTON 
 
 President, The Chicago & Alton Railroad Company 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 CENTRAL MANUFACTURING DISTRICT CLUB 
 
 OF 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER TWENTY-THIRD 
 NINETEEN HUNDRED THIRTEEN 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/increasedtranspo00wort_0 
 
bQ.&Jisi 
 
 The Origin of Commerce 
 
 It is said that the history of mankind is but the 
 history of commerce; and that civilization is but a 
 refinement of methods to develop and protect com¬ 
 merce. 
 
 Certain it is that from the beginning of history, 
 commercial activity has always been attended by 
 a high degree of civilization; commerce flourishes 
 best where the highest degree of civilization prevails, 
 and while we are meeting here to-day, presumably 
 for the ultimate purpose of perfecting methods where¬ 
 by “profits” may be increased, we in fact are evolv¬ 
 ing economies in the interest of civilization, dealing 
 with the fundamentals of civilization-developing 
 commerce and building the defenses of commerce, 
 the factor which from the beginning of history has 
 spurred us onward and onward. 
 
 Profit Defined 
 
 Profit, in the commonly accepted meaning of the 
 term, is only an arbitrary and a temporary measure 
 of the value of our contributions to the general cause 
 of civilization. Keen business instincts invade a 
 sphere where “profits” cannot possibly enter — the 
 realm of the future which may lie beyond the span of 
 life. Yet true business instincts cannot ignore the 
 future; acute business instincts are always sounding 
 the future, upbuilding the underlying conditions 
 where weaknesses are discovered, or reducing the 
 load which commerce shall carry in passing over 
 danger points if these danger points cannot be 
 strengthened before we reach them. 
 
 3 
 
How nicely we are able to gauge the future may 
 be aptly illustrated by prevailing commercial con¬ 
 ditions. In the early summer months, you will 
 recall, a general alarm was sounded. We were fast 
 approaching a period of money stringency more 
 threatening than that which caused the panic in 1907; 
 but coolly and deliberately strengthening the finan¬ 
 cial structure, reducing the load which we should 
 carry over this danger point, we are now passing 
 over it safely, hardly aware of the grave dangers 
 which threatened us. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Profit ’ ’ cannot possibly measure the value of the 
 intellect and ability, nor justly compensate the efforts 
 which averted a panic this fall. Yet the benefits are 
 so widespread that I seriously doubt if there is a sin¬ 
 gle individual in the United States whose pleasures 
 and comforts would not have been curtailed to some 
 extent at least, had not the keen instincts of commerce 
 sensed this danger, had not common business pru¬ 
 dence prevailed to avert a calamity. 
 
 Enlightenment, the Reward of Civilization 
 
 And thus are we, representatives of the greatest 
 commercial district in the world, dealing with these 
 very same matters, vitally important to all. I be¬ 
 lieve that we should realize fully what we are doing, 
 conscientiously and enthusiastically seek out the 
 danger spots in the future, and deal with them in the 
 manner that common business prudence indicates — 
 strengthening the weak places which we are ap¬ 
 proaching, or arbitrarily reducing the load which 
 commerce shall carry. 
 
 4 
 
Chicago’s Commercial Supremacy 
 
 In variety and volume of output, Chicago excels 
 any other city in the world — not that Chicago is 
 favored with natural resources for that is not the 
 case, but simply because transportation facilities 
 have been such that concentration of raw materials 
 and distribution of manufactured articles could be 
 pursued economically. That Chicago, scarcely one 
 hundred years old, totally destroyed by fire forty 
 years ago, how enjoys this position of commercial 
 supremacy, regardless of the almost total absence of 
 natural resources, is the greatest testimonial of the 
 value of transportation facilities that has ever been 
 written. 
 
 Now let us not lose sight of these facts. Let us not 
 forget that the matter with which we are dealing un¬ 
 der the guise of ‘‘profit” is a great economic matter, 
 ever remembering that Chicago is an effect, not a 
 cause , and that without transportation facilities, in 
 the wildest flight of fancy Chicago could never hope 
 to enjoy the commercial conditions which prevail 
 to-day. 
 
 Adequate Transportation Indispensable to 
 Chicago 
 
 It is, therefore, a plain matter of logic that if any 
 community needs transportation service, Chicago 
 needs the best there is to be had. Certainly you can¬ 
 not expect to maintain leadership in the race for 
 commercial supremacy if your transportation facil¬ 
 ities are weak or neglected; and just as logically it 
 follows that the better and more efficient the trans¬ 
 portation service, the greater will be the benefits to 
 
 5 
 
your community — all purely a matter of logic. And 
 while we may wrangle amongst ourselves as to de¬ 
 tails, let us not lose sight of the main point that the 
 two factors of commerce — industry and transpor¬ 
 tation, are inseparable, strictly interdependent and, 
 naturally, an influence affecting the one affects the 
 other correspondingly. It cannot be otherwise. 
 
 Therefore let us get together on this common 
 ground, view the situation calmly and earnestly, 
 scrutinizing the future critically, and zealously 
 strengthen the points of weakness which we shall 
 discover. The load which we are carrying is too 
 great, too valuable to accept risk without compen¬ 
 sating features — we cannot reduce the load for long. 
 This is common business ethics. Security first; prog¬ 
 ress follows. 
 
 Panic Averted 
 
 In the early summer months of the prevailing com¬ 
 mercial activity, an imminent danger was sighted; 
 and a note of warning was sounded. Weaknesses 
 were evident in the financial structure supporting 
 the railroad situation. What have we done to remedy 
 this condition? Nothing! Have we lightened the 
 load which commerce shall carry over this structure? 
 No, that is a practical impossibility! Have we used 
 common business prudence in ignoring these con¬ 
 ditions? How long may we expect to maintain the 
 poise of commercial supremacy, standing upon un¬ 
 stable fundamental conditions, eagerly reaching for 
 the greater load so temptingly offered by progress 
 and advancement? 
 
 6 
 
The weakness of the future is the weakness of to¬ 
 day, and it is a crime against reason to ignore it. And. 
 while expressions of sympathy are offered and are 
 accepted in good faith, more substantial and endur¬ 
 ing support is necessary. Our physical ailment does 
 not respond to Christian Science treatment, and the 
 quackery of legislation is nauseating. 
 
 Net Corporate Income of Railroads 
 Decreasing in a Ratio Twice as Great 
 as the Increase in Earnings 
 
 No better evidence of the decline in railroad pros¬ 
 perity can be adduced than the comparative com¬ 
 posite statement of the income accounts of a number 
 of important common carriers in the state of Illinois, 
 including the 
 
 Wabash 
 
 Chicago & Eastern Illinois 
 
 Big Four 
 
 Illinois Central 
 
 Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis 
 
 Toledo, Peoria & Western 
 
 Lake Erie & Western 
 
 Toledo, St. Louis & Western 
 
 Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton 
 
 Vandalia 
 
 Peoria & Eastern 
 
 Chicago, Terre Haute & South Eastern 
 Chicago, Indiana & Southern, and 
 Chicago & Alton 
 
 fourteen railroad systems invaluable to commerce 
 
 7 
 
as agencies of concentration and distribution, par¬ 
 ticularly to the State of Illinois, more particularly to 
 the Central Manufacturing District of Chicago. 
 
 Composite Incomp; Account of Fourteen 
 Illinois Railroads 
 
 Fiscal Years 
 
 1908 1913 Increase or Decrease 
 
 Opr. Rev.$160,664,617 $206,172,785 Inc. $45,508,168 28.3% 
 
 Opr. Exps....... 118,257,987 162,078,777 Inc. 43,820,79 0 37.0% 
 
 Net Opr. Rev.. . 42,406,630 44,094,008 Inc. 1,687,378 4.0% 
 
 Opr. Ratio. 73-6% 78.6% 
 
 Taxes. $ 5,705,564 $ 7,940,289 Inc. 2,234,725 29.1% 
 
 Net Cor. Inc... . ' 10,843,704 4,753,493 Dec. 6,090,211 56.2% 
 
 The year 1908 was a panic year. The year 1907 
 and other years prior to 1908 were better than 1908. 
 
 Net after Taxes in 1912 and 1913 were smaller than 
 in any previous years. 
 
 Taxes increased $1,000,000 from 1911 to 1913. 
 
 Net Corporate Income, after Deductions, shows 
 that these fourteen railroads had $16,155,624 to apply 
 to dividends in 1910; only $4,193,877 in 1912; and 
 only $ 4 , 753-493 in I 9 L 3 - 
 
 Net Corporate Income shows a decrease of 56.2 per 
 cent since 1908; in other words, decreasing twice as 
 rapidly as Total Operating Revenues are increas¬ 
 ing; i. e — 
 
 Total Operating Revenues Increased 28.3% 
 
 Net Corporate Income Decreased 56.2% 
 
 Deductions from Income have increased due to an 
 increase of almost $130,000,000 in new capital put 
 into Additions and Betterments, and to the increase 
 in rates of interest which the railroads have to pay. 
 
 8 
 
Fallacy of the Gross Earnings Theory 
 as a Measure of Railroad Prosperity 
 
 In dealing with the matter of railroad regulation, 
 more particularly with the matter of rate limitations, 
 it is customary with commissions and legislatures to 
 attach marked significance to the continually in¬ 
 creasing gross earnings of the railroads, the inference 
 being that gross earnings constitute a fairly reliable 
 index to the financial results of operation. 
 
 Not only is this theory entirely wrong, but the 
 premises upon which it is based are unsound. Not 
 only has revenue per unit of service decreased very 
 rapidly in recent years, but expenses have increased in 
 even greater ratio—a two-edged sword that destroys 
 the theory of gross earnings representing an accu¬ 
 rate barometer of railroad prosperity. 
 
 To illustrate concretely what this means in dollars 
 and cents, I have only to cite the current earnings of 
 three of the greatest railroad systems in the world— 
 the New York Central Lines, the Pennsylvania Sys¬ 
 tem, and the Southern Pacific Company. 
 
 The July statement of earnings and expenses of 
 the New York Central Lines, recently published, 
 shows: 
 
 Total Operating Revenues, 
 Total Operating Expenses, 
 Net Operating Revenues, 
 
 Increased $2,328,988—10% 
 Increased 3,239,970 —19% 
 DECREASED 910,982—15% 
 
 For the same month the Pennsylvania System pub¬ 
 lished the following statement: 
 
 Increased $1, 995 . 053 — 6% 
 Increased 2,727,745—19% 
 DECREASED 732,745— 8% 
 
 Total Operating Revenues, 
 Total Operating Exp. & Taxes, 
 Net Operating Income, 
 
 9 
 
And the Southern Pacific Company reports: 
 
 Gross Revenue, Decreased $ 1,380—1-100% 
 
 Operating Exp. & Taxes, Increased 784,803 —14% 
 
 Revenue Over Exp. and Taxes, DECREASED 786,183—19% 
 
 Here are two instances wherein Total Operating 
 Revenues increased very substantially, but Net de¬ 
 creased in a much greater ratio; in the latter instance, 
 with approximately the same Gross Revenue, an 
 alarming decrease in Net after deducting operating 
 expenses and taxes, is shown. 
 
 I call your particular attention to the fact that 
 these are the current results of operation of three of 
 the foremost and most progressive railroads in Amer¬ 
 ica, at the present time enjoying the heaviest volume 
 of traffic in their histories. And, incidently, I ven¬ 
 ture the question — what can be expected of the 
 weaker lines? And what may be expected of even 
 these strong lines themselves in a period of adversity 
 which is sure to come and which, in its very nature, 
 will take away the remedy now at hand? 
 
 While these figures in themselves are convincing 
 that Gross Earnings do not constitute a reliable in¬ 
 dex to the financial results of operation of railroad 
 properties, as you are aware they do not include Fixed 
 Charges; the higher rates of interest now demanded 
 on railroad bonds and notes; and the prohibitive rates 
 for new capital necessary for improvements to handle 
 economically the volume of traffic that is now 
 moving, and the prospective traffic of the future, are 
 factors which will influence the results of operation 
 for years to come. 
 
 10 
 
How Depression Would Still Further 
 Affect the Results of Operation 
 
 You will all remember the panic year of 1908, 
 following the exceptionally prosperous business year 
 of 1907; and as business depression is likely to come 
 upon us at any time in this country under present 
 business methods, it occurred to me that it might be 
 interesting for you to note what would have been the 
 effect, had the year 1913, following the fairly good 
 business year 1912, suffered a business depression 
 corresponding with the depression of 1908. By 
 applying to the results of operation in the year 1912, 
 the same ratios of decreases as in 1908 compared 
 with 1907, eleven important railroads operating in 
 the central west would show the following decreases 
 in 1913: 
 
 Total Operating Revenues, Decrease $28,091,581— 5.2% 
 
 Total Operating Expenses, Decrease 6,992,276— 1.8% 
 
 Net Operating Revenues, Decrease 21,099,305—34.6% 
 
 Considering the railroads included in the fore¬ 
 going comparison individually, four of the lines 
 would show deficits in Net Corporate Income rang¬ 
 ing from $300,000 to $3,850,000; three of the lines 
 would show comparatively small margins of surplus 
 under Net Corporate Income, ranging from $336,- 
 000 to $682,000; there being only four of the larger 
 and stronger railway systems that would be able to 
 maintain a sufficient surplus to insure stable finan¬ 
 cial conditions, even during a depression of one 
 year’s duration, and a continuation of such adverse 
 conditions would no doubt produce more disastrous 
 results. 
 
 11 
 
This takes no account of the continually increasing 
 Taxes and Fixed Charges; nor is there any substan¬ 
 tial assurance at hand that a recurrence of the 1907 
 panic is impossible or even improbable. Apparently 
 we have averted a panic this fall — or, have we only 
 postponed if after all? Have we been treating the 
 cause of the trouble, or only a sympton ? Have we 
 eradicated the cancer or have we only chloroformed 
 the patient? 
 
 Time will tell — time is telling. 
 
 It is extremely urgent that commerce should recog¬ 
 nize these conditions and display some activity to 
 relieve the situation. Kind words of sympathy are 
 not out of place at a funeral, but sympathy is a poor 
 substitute for nourishment; and what the railroads 
 need now is nourishment — in the shape of increased 
 freight rates and it is up to the manufacturin'g 
 interests of Chicago, as a matter of self-defense, to 
 take the lead in fighting for this cause. 
 
 Hasty and Ill-considered Legislation 
 
 The disregard and contempt displayed by the 
 makers of our laws for the knowledge and experience 
 of thousands of trained experts in railroad matters, 
 and the extravagant recklessness and utter foolishness 
 in tampering with the most delicate and evenly 
 balanced machinery of commerce, are serious matters 
 which call for prompt and heroic treatment, and 
 nothing can be as effective as a serious, conscientious 
 and persistent protest on the part of the shipping in¬ 
 terests of the Central Manufacturing District. With 
 knowledge and experience, even actual necessities so 
 
 12 
 
liberally discounted in legislative matters, the rail¬ 
 roads themselves are at the mercy of an unsym¬ 
 pathetic public, bound and gagged with legislation 
 and plucked to a finish by the harpies of politics. 
 
 Interests of the Railroads and Industries 
 Interdependent 
 
 In this connection it might be well to look back to 
 the early days of railroading — wherever we may look 
 we find the railroads nursing industry, defending in¬ 
 dustry with every means at its command — lawful or 
 unlawful, the railroads defended industry , for the rail¬ 
 roads always have recognized that industry is indis¬ 
 pensable to successful railroad operation. In many 
 instances, we find that the railroads donated building 
 sites, and transported building materials, either free 
 of charge or at a nominal cost. The old-time rate 
 wars, destructive to the railroads themselves, were 
 sacrifices to industry. 
 
 The acute business instincts which prompted the 
 railroads to accept the dangers incident to their 
 pioneering work of development, were always sound¬ 
 ing the future. The railroads anchored their lines 
 with industries and pushed on farther and farther into 
 the wilderness, always looking to the future for reward. 
 Profits, so called, lay far beyond the span of life of 
 the great men who undertook this hazardous work in 
 the interest of civilization; they responded to a 
 mightier cause, and bequeathed to us the legacy of 
 their efforts — the railroads and the industries which 
 the railroads have encouraged and protected always— 
 the elements of peace, happiness and contentment. 
 
 13 
 
However, changed business conditions have come 
 about — purely and simply through the efforts of the j 
 railroads to protect industry. 
 
 Discrimination, a Thing of the Past 
 
 Discrimination, manifestly an unfair instrument 
 of protection but a perfectly natural weapon in the 
 early pioneering days, has been condemned; discretion 
 is indicted and held as an accomplice. The fine 
 economic poise of commercial conditions, ever chang¬ 
 ing and shifting to meet the varying needs of indus¬ 
 try, hitherto has been established automatically by 
 freight rates which maintained more or less definitely 
 a perfectly natural balance in commercial relations. 
 In the nature of things this compensating influence, 
 the most delicate and perfect, withal the most 
 potent regulating influence, cannot be fixed perma¬ 
 nently and arbitrarily without immediately disrupting 
 and finally wrecking the entire machinery of com- ] 
 merce itself. We are straining here and there, some 
 pieces of this vast machinery already are broken, 
 and it is the sheerest nonsense imaginable to further 
 withhold the relief that is now within our hands. A 
 recurrence of the panicky conditions of 1907 or a 
 serious stringency in the money market under present 
 conditions, without doubt, would remove the remedy 
 forever. 
 
 Rate Adjustments Should be Made to 
 Meet the Conditions of Commerce 
 
 The right to adjust rates to meet the conditions of i 
 commerce is an inherent right with the railroads, I 
 
 14 
 
 
automatic and self-adjusting in every respect. De¬ 
 nying the railroads the right to adjust rates, except 
 on a downward scale, is pernicious and destructive; 
 it wholly disarms the railroads of defensive measures, 
 either for itself or for industry, which is one and the 
 same thing, and we have now arrived at the point 
 where industry should protest, with all the vigor 
 and insistency of which it is capable,—not only in 
 recognition of services performed in the past, but in 
 recognition of the requirements of the future. 
 
 The Present Rate Situation is the 
 Result of Natural Evolution 
 
 The serious predicament in which the railroads now 
 find* themselves, is due entirely to the defensive meas¬ 
 ures which they adopted to protect commerce. All 
 the talk we hear about “extortion” on the part of the 
 railroads is merely the modern version of “the world 
 am flat and the sun do move” theory. It has no place 
 in the ethics of railroading, as any one at all familiar 
 with the situation well knows, wholly incompatible 
 with the theory of rate-making or the upbuilding of 
 industry. The present rate structure is wholly a nat¬ 
 ural evolution along economic lines, and the less 
 interference we interject into the situation by legis¬ 
 lative means, the better it will be for all concerned. 
 
 Railroad Operating Conditions Daily 
 Becoming more Burdensome 
 
 With the public clamoring for steel passenger train 
 equipment, the government heading the. procession 
 with mandatory orders for steel postal cars regardless 
 
 15 
 
of everything else; the public still further demand¬ 
 ing new, elaborate and exceedingly expensive pas¬ 
 senger stations, not only at Chicago and Kansas 
 City, but at many other points, none of which means 
 additional revenue—only additional expense; the 
 public also demanding and enforcing the elimination 
 of grade crossings, and innumerable useless and im¬ 
 practicable “improvements”—it is a plain case of 
 “money down and hands up” inconsistent with either 
 justice or common sense. 
 
 Other Regulations of the Post Office 
 Department 
 
 By the installation of the Parcel Post system by 
 the government, followed by heavy reductions 
 in express rates, the earnings of the railroads from 
 this source are seriously affected—first by taking 
 away from the Express companies a traffic upon 
 which the railroads received a portion of the earnings; 
 in the second instance, the very marked reduction in 
 Express rates affects the railroads to about the same 
 extent that it affects the Express companies, under 
 the contract relations which exist between the rail¬ 
 roads and the Express companies; and while the 
 railroads previously were not receiving a fair com¬ 
 pensation for postal services, they were compelled to 
 accept the additional burden of the Parcel Post sys¬ 
 tem, at wholly unremunerative rates, the maximum 
 increase being less than five per cent of the allowance 
 before the Parcel Post system was inaugurated. 
 
 Meantime taxes are increasing, labor organiza¬ 
 tions are pressing their claims persistently, and all 
 expenses incident to operation are advancing. 
 
 16 
 
Railroad Bonds Should be as Safe as 
 as Government Bonds 
 
 Measured by the hazards undertaken and the in¬ 
 dustrial development induced, railroad securities 
 should be free from disturbing influences of this kind. 
 By all means railroad bonds should be as safe invest¬ 
 ment as government bonds, for the physical property 
 of the railroads constitutes the underlying value of 
 government bonds. It is a parody on business meth¬ 
 ods to tamper with a security of this kind. Withdraw 
 the railroads, and all that railroads imply, and gov¬ 
 ernment bonds would represent an entirely fictitious 
 value, a wealth of the nation that would be wealth 
 unavailable. And to the extent that these artificial 
 measures are restricting railroad development, we 
 are withdrawing the railroads as a tangible security 
 of national prosperity. 
 
 Railroad Stocks Should be Free from 
 Unnatural Influences 
 
 In 1910, 33.29 per cent of the stocks of railroads 
 operated in the United States had never paid a divi¬ 
 dend, yet these railroads are invaluable to the thou¬ 
 sands upon thousands of persons they serve. Surely 
 there is no sound reason for making the conditions of 
 operation so onerous and burdensome as to crowd out 
 many of these lines serving territory where traffic is 
 light. Every one of these lines should be protected, 
 should be enabled to maintain the physical condition 
 of such property at a high standard of efficiency, 
 yield to capital invested in such stocks a fair return 
 commensurate with the hazards undertaken and 
 
 17 
 
development created, and, further, to provide from 
 operation a surplus to guard against reverses of the 
 future. 
 
 Railroad stocks, however, are delivered by legis¬ 
 lative enactment to the tender mercies of the pirates 
 of labor and the sharks of finance—merely weather 
 vanes of speculative sentiment, responding to the hot 
 breath of summer and the cold blasts of winter. Rail¬ 
 road capital is reduced to a beggar at the doors of 
 justice. 
 
 All this is arbitrary, unnatural and fraught with 
 grave dangers. With reasonable rates for service per¬ 
 formed (which is all that is asked, and all that is 
 wanted), railroad property could be maintained at a 
 high standard of efficiency, railroad securities no 
 longer would be financial traps in the hands of wily 
 speculators, but savings banks—anchors of the 
 nation, and the impetus to industry that would be 
 afforded by permitting the railroads to supply current 
 necessities, would be nothing short of wonderful. 
 
 Looking to the Future 
 
 Opportunities which prevail to-day may never be 
 equalled in the future. What have we to gain by 
 working to this ideal? And what have we to lose 
 by continuing to ignore it completely? Everything! 
 
 The truth of the matter is that opportunity is being 
 prostituted—an economic condition that is intolerable, 
 inconsistent with healthy development, and abso¬ 
 lutely contrary to the recognized code of business 
 morals. 
 
 18 
 
Legislation or other arbitrary measures cannot 
 force a healthy reduction in freight and passenger 
 rates. These things will have to come by the natural 
 process of evolution, just as they have come in the 
 past. We must cut our cloth to suit our needs. Give 
 arrogance and ignorance the tools and they can hack 
 away at it, just as our legislatures are hacking away 
 at railroad rates, and we are going to get exactly what 
 might be expected; in fact we are getting it now and 
 it is far from satisfactory to either the shipper or 
 the railroads so far as fitting economic conditions is 
 concerned. 
 
 Releasing Freight Cars Promptly 
 
 Under the conditions which the railroads are now 
 operating, the influence of which will extend over a 
 long period of years regardless of anything that now 
 may be accomplished, rigid economy will be a factor 
 of increased value. In the matter of loading and un¬ 
 loading freight equipment promptly, I wish to assure 
 you that the charge for demurrage is disliked no more 
 by the shipper than it is by the railroads. Freight 
 cars can earn more money in active freight service, 
 than by standing idle. Less expensive storage should 
 be provided by the shippers or receivers of freight, 
 and cars should be released promptly as possible, per¬ 
 mitting such equipment to exercise to the fullest pos¬ 
 sible extent the functions for which it was created— 
 an economic proposition pure and simple. Demurrage 
 is the instrument which progress uses to whip the 
 demurring into line—one of the little helpers toward 
 efficiency, and it should be so recognized. 
 
 If a shipper or a receiver of freight can release a car 
 
 19 
 
a day earlier, regardless of demurrage, by all means he 
 should do so. Useless handling is an unremunerative 
 expense, a waste of effort—lost motion in the 
 machinery of railroading. Some other shipper is 
 waiting for that car; some day that "other shipper” 
 will be you. 
 
 The railroads have invested many millions of dol¬ 
 lars in freight equipment, much of it of special design 
 for special purposes of the shipper, and it is unjust, to 
 say the least, to inflict another burden upon the rail¬ 
 road by uselessly restricting the earning power of 
 its investments, particularly under present adverse 
 conditions. 
 
 The Chicago & Alton Railroad is now receiving 
 2,900 new freight cars. Every day that this equip¬ 
 ment remains idle represents a loss of at least $7,000 
 in efficiency, yet by the hearty co-operation of ship¬ 
 pers and consignees, many idle days might be saved 
 in the course of a year, and better service made pos¬ 
 sible at considerably less expense. 
 
 Delay to .freight equipment is devoid absolutely of 
 compensating features. It adds to congestion in 
 crowded terminals and the terminal- proposition at 
 Chicago already is very expensive to say the least, 
 and the Central Manufacturing District should take 
 cognizance of this fact and lend to each other, and to 
 the railroads, your hearty support in working out the 
 economies of our undertakings. 
 
 Close Co-operation Between Shippers 
 and Railroads 
 
 Rest assured that the Railroads are always willing 
 to assist industry, to serve it in every way possible. 
 
 20 
 
They have always done so in the past, they will al¬ 
 ways do so in the future, as long as railroads last, as 
 long as industry endures. It is a mutual reciprocal 
 arrangement—an answer to the question propounded 
 at the very beginning of history, “Am I my brother’s 
 keeper? ” 
 
 Railroading, industry, commerce itself is a matter 
 of fact proposition after all. There is not much mys¬ 
 tery about it, if we but reduce it to its elements 
 and consider them sanely and intelligently—justice, 
 experience and co-operation, all that is legitimate, 
 all that is honorable, jewels in the crown of success, 
 whose luster never dims. 
 
 21