PROFESSORS OF AFFAIRS

Any plan to solve the problem of the New England railroads is greeted with enthusiasm by the Boston newspapers. There is reason in this; from coal shortage to lack of passenger trains the conditions of transportation in this section of the United States are always critical. It is small wonder that every suggested remedy should be given full attention in spite of the fact that most of them have failed to stand the test of practice.

The latest solution, offered by the Interstate Commerce Commission, is based upon a voluminous report by Professor Ripley, and would appear to be the most practical of them all. The chief aims of Professor Ripley have been to preserve essential conditions of competition, and at the same time to insure adequate financial relief for the hard-pressed roads.

It is interesting to note that the administrators of the railroads should turn to a university professor for light upon their complicated problems. In spite of the traditional contempt in which "men of affairs" hold "men of learning", the latter are constantly proving the value of seclusion in meeting the difficulties of the every-day world. All or which serves to emphasize the fact that contempt is no more than traditional.