Page:Hine (1912) Letters from an old railway official.djvu/171

 remedy is to appoint a superintendent of terminals reporting direct to the general offices. The difference in viewpoint thus legalized may cost the stockholders much money. To the terminal superintendent the trains are always made up on time and the power and road crews are seldom ready. To the division superintendent the trains are seldom made up on time and the power and road crews are always ready. Much energy of both officials and their offices as well as that of the general superintendent and his office is then directed to holding useless post mortems and negotiating unnecessary treaties of peace. Remember, my boy, that typewriters exert no tractive power and explanations move no cars. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. We must so organize that this law will operate to keep the company into clear, not to put some other fellow in the hole. All of these questions are largely matters of opinion. After working with every kind of terminal organization all over the country, your old dad believes that the best is to have a division superintendent at the big terminal with an assistant superintendent in direct charge of and responsible for such terminal, the superintendent controlling