Book Reviews : Railroad Transportation and Public Policy. By JAMES C. NELSON. (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1959. Pp. 500. $7.50.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296001300239
• Published date: 01 June 1960
• Date: 01 June 1960
• Author: Winston W. Crouch
• Subject Matter: Articles

547

Now,

there

is

something

unfitting

in

combining

these

two

themes

in

a

single

argument.

If

political

democracy

is

bad,

it is

bad

for

the

fifty

states

as

well

as

for

the

central

state;

yet

Morley

argues

throughout

as

if

the

states,

if

allowed

to

retain

their

&dquo;sovereignty,&dquo;

could

do

no

wrong.

The

reader

is

presumably

left

to

hope

that

most

of

the

states

would

refrain

from

going

democratic

if

left

to

their

own

devices.

In

his

discussion

of

Brown

vs.

Board

of

Education

the

author

amply

supports

this

presumption.

For

a

generation

convinced,

however

unhappily,

of

the

need

for

a

strong

national

government,

Morley’s

essay

breathes

an

aura

of

splendid

unreality.

States’

rights

may

be

a

formula

for

local

injustice,

as

well

as

for

freedom;

and

the

case

against

political

democracy

must

rest

upon

something

more

solid

than

an

aversion

to

heavy

taxes.

LOUIS

WASSERMAN

San

Francisco

State

College

Railroad

Transportation

and

Public

Policy.

By

JAMES

C.

NELSON.

(Washington,

D.C.:

The

Brookings

Institution,

1959.

Pp.

500.

$7.50.)

This

study

was

undertaken

by

the

Brookings

Institution

in

an

effort

to

clarify

issues

that

were

raised

in

the

report

of

the

Cabinet

Committee

in

1955

which

was

concerned

with

the

plight

of

the

nation’s

transportation

systems.

Although

this

report

discussed

all

forms

of

public

transportation,

Professor

Nelson

has

concentrated

upon

the

problems

facing

the

railroads.

An

earlier

Brookings

study

(Charles

L.

Rearing

and

Wilfred

Owen,

National

Transportation

Policy,

1949)

considered

the

broader

aspects

of

national

policy

and

organization.

In

the

present

study,

the

author

deals

with

the

competitive

elements

in

the

markets

in

which

the

railroads

and

other

public

carriers

operate,

and

concludes

that

the

striking

growth

of

transport

competition

over

the

past

three

decades

has

severely

limited

both

the

traffic

and

the

revenues

of

the

railroads.

Railroads,

however,

still

have

a

high

proportion

of

the

long-haul

traffic.

The

author

analyzes

traffic

and

market

diversion,

effects

of

traffic

shifts

on

the

transport

economy,

rail

earn-

ings

and

capital

formation,

efficiency

in

operation

and

pricing

policies

for

the

railroads.

He

also

considers

at

some

length

public

promotion

of

transport

facil-

ities

that

now

compete

with

railroads,

and

the

effects

of

public

regulation

upon

the

railroad

problem.

He

is

appropriately

critical

of

both

government

policy-

makers

and

railroad

management:

&dquo;To

an

indeterminate

but

probably

significant

extent,

public

promotional

and

regulatory

policies,

along

with

failures

of

rail-

road

management

and

technological

substitution,

have

contributed

to

railroad

decline.&dquo;

He

identifies

the

most

serious

deficiency

of

management

to

be

a

hesi-

tancy

to

engage

in

vigorous

competitive

pricing

and

too

great

dependence

upon

general

rate

increases

to

offset

increases

in

wages

and

prices.

Management

also

has

a

great

opportunity

to

improve

service

by

increasing

car

utilization.

Economist

Nelson

boldly

recommends

that

&dquo;the

carriers

reduce

costs

by

taking

aggressive

action

to

reduce

unneeded

labor.&dquo;

Political

scientist

readers

of

his

book

would

like

to

have

seen

consideration

given

to

the

political

problems

that

are

involved

in

reaching

this

goal.

In

the

public policy

field,

he

recommends