RAILROADS: Fight for the New Haven

Boston's late Frederic C. Dumaine once advised his hockey-playing son: "If a man hurts you on that rink, don't lose your temper. Give it to him cleanly, according to the rules, but give it to him.'' Young Frederic C. Dumaine Jr. never forgot that advice. Now 51 and head of the family's $28 million New England empire, Buck Dumaine last week was in the toughest scrap of his life, fighting according to the rules but as hard as he could.

Wall Street v. New England. The battle was over control of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. The man Buck Dumaine wanted to "give it to" was Patrick B. McGinnis, the Wall Street railroad juggler who recently collided with the ICC over his expense accounts while boss of the Norfolk Southern (TIME, Feb. 22). In 1948 McGinnis helped old Frederic Dumaine grab control of the New Haven, bought 75,000 shares of stock, largely for clients. But now McGinnis doesn't like the way Buck Dumaine runs the road, and is waging a proxy fight to take over the road at the April 14 stockholders meeting.

McGinnis charges that the New Haven is in poor shape, has not made anywhere near the money it should. Though the road has reported a profit every year since 1949, McGinnis argues that the profits come from the road's real-estate holdings and that the New Haven, as a railroad, has actually lost more than $4,-000,000 under Dumaine management. He says that too much money has been spent on new equipment, dragging the road's operating capital down from $47 million to $11 million in 1953, and that only preferred stockholders have got dividends since the road came out of bankruptcy in 1947. On the operating side, McGinnis charges that in six years the Dumaines lost $61 million on passenger service, which makes up 40% of the road's total business. Says he: "The New Haven is the only railroad that has the density to make passenger traffic really pay." He claims he would do it with better schedules and new lightweight trains.

"Spend It To Make It." In his small, cluttered office in Boston's South Station. Buck Dumaine challenges McGinnis right down the line. As in the American Woolen battle, Dumaine wants to keep the New Haven in New England hands, has tried to run it to bring new trade to the area. When his father took over, Buck set out to become a railroader, worked alongside yard crews, poked his 6-ft. frame into every corner of the business. Buck, who became president in 1951, is proud of his record.