341 MANAGEMENT OF EAILROADS IN OPERATION. 



If this be the tribute paid by the west on one line of railway, with 

 a mileage less than one-seventieth of that of the United States, 

 what must be the burden imposed by this cause upon the industry 

 of the whole country ? 



Not a little of the poverty of which some railway companies com 

 plain, and not a little of the ill-feeling here and there manifested 

 towards them, is due to the want of skill and good judgment in 

 conducting their practical affairs. In too many instances they ap 

 pear to act on the theory that the railway company is alike superior 

 to the will of the State, and independent of popular favor; and 

 naturally enough, in such cases, this view of the matter enters into 

 the understanding of all subordinate officers and employes. 



The subject of unjust discriminations has been already alluded to. 

 Such discriminations are not always made, however, in the interest 

 of managers, or the friends of managers. Sometimes they have 

 origin in the false impression that ikey are essential to the business 

 prosperity of the company. A prominent shipper is supposed to be 

 able and fully disposed to advance the interest of the company in 

 some manner, and is thought, on this account, to be entitled to 

 special favors. 



Another evil of practical railway management, and a crying one 

 in this country, is inefficiency. No one who has traveled extensively 

 upon European railways, can have failed to note that a certain slack 

 ness is too common with us in every department of the service. 



The system of book-keeping is rarely such that the general agent, 

 the chief-engineer, the superintendent, or the general manager can 

 report, under three months time, the exact amount and kind of busi 

 ness done, the cost to the company of operating any one division of 

 its road, or the average cost per passenger or ton of freight per 

 mile, or the cost per train-mile. Scarcely anything is done with 

 that scrupulous precision, efficiency, and thoroughness so much 

 more common in Europe, and so very essential to economy, comfort, 

 and security elsewhere. 



Unjust charges for transportation are commonly denounced, be 

 cause just here is the point of universal and painful contrast between 

 the public and the corporations, And yet, in most cases, they are 

 only the immediate result of the more primary evils already noticed. 

 They are the symptoms in many cases, rather than the disease. Con 

 sidered as an evil in themselves, they are hard to deal with, for the 

 reason that, beyond the rather uncertain limit, it is quite impossible 

 for any one not possessed of the data for a nice mathematical calcu 

 lation to say whether this tariff or that is excessive. 



If, in the absence of such data, the attempt is made to determine 

 the question by a comparison of the tariffs of different roads, such 

 method is likely to be found unsatisfactory, owing to the great num 

 ber of modifying circumstances that require to be taken into the 

 account. But leaving out of view causes and particulars, it is un 

 questionable that the public in almost every State have had to pay 

 more for transportation than should have been necessary; certainly 

 more than was compatible with the welfare of the industrial 

 classes. 



