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Alfred Holland Smith
Alfred Holland Smith (April 26, 1863 – March 8, 1924) was the President of New York Central Railroad from January 1914 to May 1918 and from June 1919 until his death. The entirety of Smith's forty-five-year career was dedicated to the railroads. He started his career as a messenger boy at the age of fourteen, earning 4 dollars a week, and became the highest-paid railroad manager in the U.S., receiving an annual salary of more than $100,000 according to one survey.
After the American entry into World War I, Smith joined the federal service as the Eastern Director of the United States Railroad Administration and temporarily assumed control over the largest pool of railroads in U.S. history, carrying one half of the nation's freight. He successfully alleviated traffic congestion and the buildup of Europe-bound cargoes in the docks.
Smith spoke and acted in favor of government-sponsored consolidation of American, Canadian and Cuban railroads into larger corporations but opposed direct nationalization of railroads. Smith's last full year with the New York Central Railroad, 1923, was the company's most successful year. On March 8, 1924, before the record profit numbers were published, Smith was killed in a horse riding accident in Central Park.
Smith was a fifth child in a family. Alfred was fourteen years old when his father died; instead of completing high school and going to college, he had to drop out of school and take care of himself. His first job, that of a messenger boy for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway offices in Cleveland, paid four dollars a week. Promotions within the office did not encourage him enough, and five years later Smith transferred to a railroad construction crew in Toledo, Ohio, area, paid $1.50 a day. The change from an office job to physical work was not easy for Smith, but he eventually developed "a physique which was the marvel of railroad men who learned their job only in the office." Later in life his associates noted that Smith "did not know the meaning of the word fatigue."
Smith's proficiency in both physical labor and clerical work led to his promotion to a foreman. In 1890, after eleven years with Lake Shore and Michigan, he became a superintendent for Kalamazoo, Michigan, division. He spent the 1890s supervising different construction teams of Lake Shore and Michigan, and in 1901 became the principal construction superintendent for the railroad, based in Cleveland.
In 1902 Smith transferred to New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (a division of New York Central Railroad) as General Superintendent. In the next year he became General Manager for this division. In 1912, after nine years of service and a few career moves Smith was appointed VP for New York Central Lines east and west of Buffalo. On January 1, 1914, Smith succeeded William C. Brown as the President of the company. His first reign as the President was marked by the reconstruction of the subordinate lines of New York Central and bringing these troubled lines to profitability.
On July 13, 1916, Smith, Henry Lumley Drayton and William Mitchell Acworth were appointed to the Royal Commission formed by the Governor General of Canada to examine Canada's railway system. The three commissioners agreed on their assessment of preexisting conditions, that of excessive government aid and overdevelopment of railway lines that undermined their performance, but split on the future role of the government in reforming the system. Drayton and Acworth called for the nationalization of three principal Canadian railroads (Grand Trunk Railway, Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and Canadian Northern Railway) and argued that the expense of tax dollars was in the best interest of the Canadian nation. They insisted on separation of business from politics through an elaborate corporate government scheme.
Smith opposed nationalization. His 1917 minority report noted that no legal safeguard can prevent the parliament from changing its mind and taking direct control of the nationalized assets. Smith analyzed each railroad and found that each one had a healthy, profitable component. He advised stripping the railroads of redundant, loss-making lines through exchange or closure: "The scrap heap is frequently the most economical disposition available for inefficient plant and machinery." The role of the government, wrote Smith, must be limited to that of a regulator and a clearing house. Smith's plan, "in all probability, would have saved the country a great many millions of dollars" but the government of Canada settled for nationalization along the lines of Drayton-Acworth report.
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Alfred Holland Smith
Alfred Holland Smith (April 26, 1863 – March 8, 1924) was the President of New York Central Railroad from January 1914 to May 1918 and from June 1919 until his death. The entirety of Smith's forty-five-year career was dedicated to the railroads. He started his career as a messenger boy at the age of fourteen, earning 4 dollars a week, and became the highest-paid railroad manager in the U.S., receiving an annual salary of more than $100,000 according to one survey.
After the American entry into World War I, Smith joined the federal service as the Eastern Director of the United States Railroad Administration and temporarily assumed control over the largest pool of railroads in U.S. history, carrying one half of the nation's freight. He successfully alleviated traffic congestion and the buildup of Europe-bound cargoes in the docks.
Smith spoke and acted in favor of government-sponsored consolidation of American, Canadian and Cuban railroads into larger corporations but opposed direct nationalization of railroads. Smith's last full year with the New York Central Railroad, 1923, was the company's most successful year. On March 8, 1924, before the record profit numbers were published, Smith was killed in a horse riding accident in Central Park.
Smith was a fifth child in a family. Alfred was fourteen years old when his father died; instead of completing high school and going to college, he had to drop out of school and take care of himself. His first job, that of a messenger boy for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway offices in Cleveland, paid four dollars a week. Promotions within the office did not encourage him enough, and five years later Smith transferred to a railroad construction crew in Toledo, Ohio, area, paid $1.50 a day. The change from an office job to physical work was not easy for Smith, but he eventually developed "a physique which was the marvel of railroad men who learned their job only in the office." Later in life his associates noted that Smith "did not know the meaning of the word fatigue."
Smith's proficiency in both physical labor and clerical work led to his promotion to a foreman. In 1890, after eleven years with Lake Shore and Michigan, he became a superintendent for Kalamazoo, Michigan, division. He spent the 1890s supervising different construction teams of Lake Shore and Michigan, and in 1901 became the principal construction superintendent for the railroad, based in Cleveland.
In 1902 Smith transferred to New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (a division of New York Central Railroad) as General Superintendent. In the next year he became General Manager for this division. In 1912, after nine years of service and a few career moves Smith was appointed VP for New York Central Lines east and west of Buffalo. On January 1, 1914, Smith succeeded William C. Brown as the President of the company. His first reign as the President was marked by the reconstruction of the subordinate lines of New York Central and bringing these troubled lines to profitability.
On July 13, 1916, Smith, Henry Lumley Drayton and William Mitchell Acworth were appointed to the Royal Commission formed by the Governor General of Canada to examine Canada's railway system. The three commissioners agreed on their assessment of preexisting conditions, that of excessive government aid and overdevelopment of railway lines that undermined their performance, but split on the future role of the government in reforming the system. Drayton and Acworth called for the nationalization of three principal Canadian railroads (Grand Trunk Railway, Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and Canadian Northern Railway) and argued that the expense of tax dollars was in the best interest of the Canadian nation. They insisted on separation of business from politics through an elaborate corporate government scheme.
Smith opposed nationalization. His 1917 minority report noted that no legal safeguard can prevent the parliament from changing its mind and taking direct control of the nationalized assets. Smith analyzed each railroad and found that each one had a healthy, profitable component. He advised stripping the railroads of redundant, loss-making lines through exchange or closure: "The scrap heap is frequently the most economical disposition available for inefficient plant and machinery." The role of the government, wrote Smith, must be limited to that of a regulator and a clearing house. Smith's plan, "in all probability, would have saved the country a great many millions of dollars" but the government of Canada settled for nationalization along the lines of Drayton-Acworth report.