President Reagan in a speech urging the sale of Conrail, declared that
”government ownership is no way to run a railroad.” The tenor of the speech was that Conrail represented a wasteful intrusion by the government into private enterprise.
Actually, Conrail came into existence when the Penn Central and other privately operated railroads were unable, because of financial problems, to provide essential freight services to the people of the Northeastern and Midwestern states.
I suspect the background information was omitted from the speech because it did not support the President`s oft-repeated theme that the government is a burden on the backs of the people. Rather, it demonstrates that in certain circumstances, when the private sector fails, the government must step in to meet the essential needs of the citizens.
