The Valuation of Public Service Corporation Property / Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, / vol. LXXII, June, 1911, ASCE 1190

by Henry Earle Riggs

That a few changes were made in 1904 was to have been expected; that these forms were almost in their entirety made a basis for the similar work of the Wisconsin appraiser, some three years later, was in the nature of a high compliment and goes far toward answering the criticisms of this part of the work, generally to the effect that the forms call for much more information than could possibly be used, and that they show lack of care in arrangement.

It may be said here, properly, that the uncertainty as to the final attitude of the companies made it essential that the appraiser prepare, if need be, to make his inventory by personal inspection in the field. Indeed, this was done in the case of several roads, and, while most of the companies finally accorded every courtesy, either giving the appraiser access to their records, or furnishing the information desired, it is not probable that the shortness of the time limit would have enabled the appraiser to secure any sort of result had a modified plan been adopted.

The law provided no requirement that the companies should furnish any information. In order to secure the data, it would have been necessary to employ a large number of men, and this would have been such a serious expense to the companies that refusal to comply would probably have followed such a request. Many of the companies had no men in their service able to prepare the required data; and, finally, eight or ten men after having worked in the files of companies owning reasonably full records, were much better able to take off the desired data intelligently from the records of other companies than men unfamiliar with the needs of the appraiser and with no prior experience. Then, too, the work secured was that of one body of technical men, all experienced in different phases of railway work, and thus was uniform and consistent. Had seventy-five or eighty different men or sets of men prepared these inventories, there would certainly have been a great variation in their worth and reliability.

It must be kept clearly in mind that lack of time was the main feature which kept the appraiser from considering any such plan of co-operation with the railroads as was adopted later in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and that no distrust of the railroads, or lack of desire to co-operate, had anything to do with the appraiser's decision to use the method which was adopted.

Shortly after the preparation of the blanks, access was granted to the records of the Ann Arbor Railroad, and almost immediately thereafter several other companies opened their files to the appraiser; the State Board of Auditors determined to pay the bills, as approved by the appraiser; and the initial difficulties were so far removed that it was possible to carry out, without any further delays, the plan of organization which had been perfected.

The personnel of the staff was considered to be of the greatest importance, and, in the selection of men, the requirements desired were: experience in the construction and operation of railroads, thorough technical training, high standing in the Profession, as shown by membership in the American Societies of Civil or Mechanical Engineers, or of other Societies of high standing, and high moral character. Politics, residence in the State, or local influence, had absolutely no weight in the selection of any of the men. In a number of cases men were secured who had for some years occupied the position of Chief Engineer of important lines. In a very large number of cases men who were engaged on this work have since its completion held the position of Chief or Principal Assistant Engineer of important railroads, and practically all of them returned to railway service. Dozens of these men are well known, and their work deserves that full credit should be given to each, but it is impossible to do so within the limits of this paper.

The minor positions, such as assistants in the field and in the computing and compiling rooms, were assigned to younger men, generally with some railroad experience, and in many cases they were graduates of technical schools, Cornell, Yale, Rensselaer, Michigan, Ohio State, and other schools having representatives.

The writer believes that no more harmonious or loyal organization was ever gathered together before, or has been since. Men who had held Chief Engineer-ships trudged miles in the wilds of Michigan on foot, inspecting and inventorying property, and came into the office and worked long hours at the computing tables with the utmost cheerfulness and camaraderie. There was complete harmony, absolute loyalty, and as perfect a spirit of unselfish devotion to the work as the writer has ever seen in any organization.

The fact that such a staff of engineers, of wide experience in railroad construction and maintenance, had been assembled, made it feasible to carry out a plan of the appraiser which proved to be of great value. At frequent intervals, during the progress of the work, conferences were held which were attended by all the heads of departments and by many of the older and more experienced engineers. Matters of policy, details, general principles, and rules and methods for conducting the appraisal, were fully discussed, and stenographic records were made of the discussion and conclusions. These conferences covered practically every question that arose; they were of such a nature as to draw out the opinions of the men fully and freely; and their effect was to eliminate the error due to individual judgment, and harmonize and unify the methods and results of the appraisal.

Special emphasis has been laid on the organization of the staff, because the criticism has been made that this work was lacking in care, was hurriedly done, and was unreliable. The work must be judged by its results, but the criticism that it did not receive proper care is absolutely unjustified in fact. The men engaged were of the highest type of experienced, technically educated, and highly qualified engineers; they entered the work unreservedly, and gave the best there was in them. The Michigan appraisal was not a one-man job; it was the work of many men, and all are entitled to credit.