Charles DeLano Hine

Name: Letters from an old railway official (second series) — Letter 4
Author: Charles DeLano Hine

Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

Summary

“Letters from an old railway official (second series) — Letter 4”, published in 1912, is a work by Charles DeLano Hine. It explores elements such as superintendent, bankers and clerks.

Quotes from Letters from an old railway official… (Charles DeLano Hine)

Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

“ The professionally equipped railway director is a desirable evolution. Supply always follows demand, and the broad solution will be a composite made up of many elements of progress which perhaps have not yet unfolded themselves to any of us.
It is a great game, this transportation business. The more you study it, however, the more you discover that it is amenable to the same underlying principles on which rest the great and small activities of the human race. Like all professions, it has its distinct technique. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

“ When both the banker director and the general manager learn that signatures on letters and tram orders must be as sacred as when signed to bank checks, we shall be winning back a little of that old-time sense of personal responsibility which is so needed for improving composite efficiency today. What better epitaph could any man desire than this, “He helped to teach corporations to remember that lasting composite strength comes only from intelligent recognition of individual manhood?” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

“ After reading recently an article on scientific management, I had to recall my catechism to feel certain that handling pig iron is not the chief end of man. We all, you and I included, sometimes show up smaller than we really are, because we seem to think only in the narrow terms of the things to which we are closest. It once fell to the lot of a young official to escort over his road some of its directors, bankers from New York. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

“ There is too much Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. The directors seem too far away. It is a step forward that the overlords of transportation are bankers who have won their way rather than hereditary descendants of once reigning families. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

“ Like all professions, it suffers from the inborn tendency of human nature to segregate itself behind an exaggerated class consciousness. “We are a little different,” or “You do not quite understand our peculiar local conditions,” are the arguments with which ultra-conservatism has opposed progress in all ages, are the obstacles which make so interesting all real contests for principle. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

“ Q. You do not seem to regard the office part as very important, as you permit a lot of clerks to take final action all day long.
A. The office is not as important as the road. I try to give the most attention to the important matters on the road.
Q. You feel that by doing so the office will in a large measure take care of itself?
A. That is it exactly.
Q. Do you not think that most railway administrative offices have grown too large to take care of themselves? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official… (1912)

“ A. Not as important as some others. That is a matter for which the superintendent of transportation is responsible. I look to him.
Q. Do you think every man charged with duties should be allowed to select his own type of organization and decide as to his own methods?
A. As far as possible, yes.
Q. Then why not let each conductor make his own train rules, and each station agent keep his own kind of accounts?
A. Because confusion would result.
Q. Is it not a fact that on most American railroads six or eight clerks are signing the name or initials of the superintendent of transportation? ”

Charles DeLano Hine

Summary

Quotes from Letters from an old railway official… (Charles DeLano Hine)

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