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Show DO THE RAILROADS WASTE MONEY? . .Long-continued harings have been oinqf on before the Interstate Commerce commission to see whether the railroads should be allowed to increase their freight rates. The roads toke te stand that with the wages and everything else increased, they must charge more for carrying" freight if they arc to give the public good service and make a fair profit for their stockholders. The shippers argus that the railroads are already making too big profits on the actual value of their properties, and that before they charge the public any more they should squeeze the "water" out of their stocks. Louis D. Brandeis, a leading young Boston lawyer, sprung something some-thing of a surprise when he declared that the railroads are poorly Tianaged, and that they waste a lot of money. Ho is ready to show them, he says, how they can run things so as to save a million dollars dol-lars a day on thoir present running expenses. Several of the roads offered to pay him a large fee if he would point out the leaks but he has offered to do this without pay. If the railroads will only look out for the pennies and make use of modern business methods, the freight rates will take care of themselves, them-selves, he declares. President McCrea of the Pennsylvania railroad, talking with President Taft, said that business at present was "marking time" waiting to see how things turned out. His road, he said, had just placed an order for 150,000 tons of steel rails ; ho hinted that if the railroads were let alone the country would continue to be prosperous, but that if the agitation against them was kept up it would do great harm to industry and trade. |