University Missourian

ROAD ECONOMIZES BY DIRT.

A few weeks ago the citizens of a small town in Pennsylvania turned out to wash the windows of an Erie Railroad train when it stopped there. Last week the manager of the road testified that the road was saving $4,000 a month by not washing the windows of its cars. The Public Utilities Commission of New Jersey had called the manager before it for an explanation.

The manager testified that the company was too poor to clean its cars. It was also brought out that the engines were so dirty that it was impossible to tell whether there were any loose bolts on them, a condition that endangers the lives of many persons every day. It is significant in connection with the testimony that the road was too poor to have its cars and engines cleaned, that the manager refused to testify as to the salaries of the officials of the road. He evidently recognized that the pay in our corporations is entirely too lop-sided for the good of the road.

It certainly seems that something radical should be done with a company that is too poor to keep its cars clean. Either the officials of such a road are extravagant, including the salaries they draw, or they are incompetent and should leave the road to the control of others. That a railroad should be so poor as to compel it to practice economy at the expense of its patrons when the mere item of a few thousand dollars would give them comfort, is almost inconceivable.

Such conditions only serve to strengthen the testimony of Mr. Mellen before the Interstate Commerce Commission that government ownership of railroads seems to be on the way. At least government control seems to be certain when this and the New Haven testimony are considered.