NO POLITICS

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 5, 1 October 1929, Page 11

NO POLITICS

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS

ENORMOUS UNDERTAKING “A railroad is never finished,” states Sir Henry W. Thornton, chairman and president of the Canadian National Railways, in an article that gives some idea of the enormous responsibilities there are in running a national transport system. Sir Henry took over the position of president in 1922, when he found it necessary to rehabilitate what the Canadians called the “national white elephant.” “A. railroad or set of railroads can make or break a country,” remarks Sir Henry Thornton. “There is no true development without them; in rare cases there is an arrested development because of them. This latter was the condition In Canada. True, there was no feeling of despair, but there certainly was an atmosphere of anxiety, particularly among the financial institutions. Here was more than 22,000 miles of railroad, far from solvent, and crippled in equipment, but thoroughly robust in its ability to run on the red side of the ledger. Indeed, it ran in the'red far more steadily than it ran on time. I like a good fight. Here was certainly the place to have it. Not Always One. “The Canadian National Railway was not always State owned, and it was not always one system. In it are gathered the visions, the achievements and mistakes of Empire builders ever since the 1850’s. Then, in the Maratimes, began the building, under Government control, of various lines which, came to be known as the Intercolonial Railway, and which, at the time of its amalgamation into the Canadian National, consisted of eight railroads and a weakness for deficits. To-day the cost of these railroads stands on the Government’s books at nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. “That was the one ingredient of the present system which can wholly be called State owned in its original state. The other segments were private or semipublic accomplishments which drifted into Government ownership. One of them was the 4775 miles of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada, which started in 1851, expanded tremendously, made almost every blunder possible in rail-roading, and gave up the ghost as a failure in 1919. Another was the Grand Trunk Pacific. . . . “The thought arises inevitably when a State-owned utility is mentioned —the intervention of politicians, using that utility as a weapon against the party in power, the holding up of appropriations, the heckling of men in command, the burden of patronage. Sadly, there is good' enough cause for this opinion; the rule is proved by its exceptions, but here, it seemed, - there was to be the experiment of a State-owned road without politics. “No Politics.” “Frankly I was looking for an opportunity. There was to be a consolidation of English railroads, and I didn’t like the prospect. I was quite willing to give up my position with the Great Eastern Railway of England, where I had gone after a number of years with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Long Island Railroad, during which time I had, at one time or another, worked in every department, from the job of draftsman at fifty dollars a month for the Pennsylvania. to the position of general superintendent of the Long Island. I didn’t know Canada. But, as I have mentioned. I love a good fight. So I crossed the ocean and had a talk with the Right Hon. Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister. He, too, said there would be no politics. I took the job. “There never has been any politics But that wasn’t the fault of a great many persons. Premier King kept his promise. And during the period between elections when the Conservative Party was in control no one laboured harder in the real interest of the property than Sir Henry Drayton, who carried on Governmental administration during the election period. Within a year a bulwark had arisen to back him—the opinion of the people of Canada. To-day there is as much chance of politics getting into the Canadian National Railways ns there is of an elephant walking a tight rope. Both have yet to be done. “A railroad.” concludes the writer, is never finished. The minute satisfaction sets iu. so does mortification. It must be self-competitive, figh’ing for new life, new’ business, new progress, new know ledge and vision. For the true railroad man. there is so much to be 'done that ther" are not enough days in the year, not enough years in a lifetime for him to accomplish everything he wants to do. He is as much a pioneer ns anyone who ever discovered new country: the urge onward is ceaseless, and that is what makes life worth while.”