"A LIFT TO THE TAXPAYERS, TOO..."
"AMERICAN RAILROADS paid to the order of United States Government Three Billion Two Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars"
"IN THIS WAR the railroads have done twice as big a transportation job as in the first World War. But they are doing another job which may not be so well known, as is shown by these contrasting facts:
"In the last war, the operation of the railroads took money out of the United States Treasury. In this one, the railroads are putting money into the treasury."
"In the last war, when the government took over the railroads, even though freight rates and passenger fares were raised, Congress had to appropriate over $1,600,000,000.00 to meet deficits. In this war, the railroads have been managed by their owners. A far bigger and better transportation job has been done. And, since Pearl Harbor, the railroads have turned into the United States Treasury the tremendous sum of $3,250,000,000.00 in taxes---and today are paying federal taxes at the rate of nearly $4,250,000.00 every 24 hours. And on top of this, the railroads in the same months since Pearl Harbor have paid for the support of state, county and city governments another $750,000,000.00 and are today paying state and local taxes at the rate of $800,000.00 per day. That's five million dollars a day paid in taxes---ten times as much as the owners receive in dividends.!"
Quoted: "ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS---ALL UNITED FOR VICTORY---BUY MORE WAR BONDS" 1944
"Send Christmas Gifts before Dec 1st"
Yes, do buy more War Bonds, for we once again are engaged in foreign hostilities. I know I use the word "mindless" a lot, perhaps too often, but this post is a superb example of mindlessness. The railroads in WWI, when nationalized, required $1.6 billion to meet deficits, as stated above. What is not stated is that the federal government so mismanaged the railroads during the period of war-time nationalization that $1.6 billion didn't come close to covering the cost to the otherwise private property of the railroads' owners. How about some thinking, please, before posting these historical tid-bits?