OCR Text |
Show AN UNWISE EXPERIMENT ' Few pieces of legislation passed in recent years have been more impractical imprac-tical than the law requiring the Interstate In-terstate Commerce Commission to determine de-termine the valuation of railroad property. Congress and the people were assured as-sured that the tital cost would not exceed 510,000,000, and could be accomplished ac-complished in about three years. Already 13 years have lapsed and the cost exceeds $120,000,000 with only tentative .valuations effected on less than three-fourth of the total mileage. . By the time the tentative valuation valua-tion is completed, the railroads wil! , have been practically rebuilt; which ; means that for any practical purpose pur-pose the valuation is worthless, and $120,000,000 wasted, about $28,000,-' 000 of which falls directly and the balance indirectly on the public. I At the time the valuation bill was ; proposed, economists of recognized ; ability throughout the country said ' it would serve no purpose, in that the time required to make the valua- tion even tentativelly would be so long ' that at the end it would have to be started over again and continue in i this manner, owing to progressive ; expenditures for improvements, bet-. terments and extensions. j Authors of the bill may have ' meant well, but that in no way compensates com-pensates the public for" the waste of money occasioned. 1 I |