Alexander Johnston Cassatt was an American civil engineer and president of the Pennsylvania Railroad system.
Background
Alexander Johnston Cassatt was born on December 8, 1839 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of Robert S. and Katharine Kelso (Johnston) Cassatt. He was descended from one Cossart, a Frenchman, who in 1662 settled in Holland and whose grandson emigrated to America. On the maternal side, his ancestors were Scotch-Irish and settled in Chester County, in 1706. His father was a man of wide influence in financial and business affairs in western Pennsylvania, and was the first mayor of Allegheny City.
Education
After beginning his education in the public schools of Pittsburgh, Cassatt went with his family to Europe, and attended Continental schools and Darmstadt University. Upon returning to this country he was enrolled in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he was graduated as a civil engineer in 1859.
Career
Born into wealth he had no need to engage in hard work, yet he at once entered upon the practise of his profession. After a short apprenticeship as an engineering assistant in locating railroad right of way in Georgia, he returned to Philadelphia on the outbreak of the Civil War and entered in 1861 the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad with which his entire career was destined to be associated. His executive officer was Col. Thomas A. Scott, then vice-president of the road, and also assistant secretary of war. The training he received at this time was invaluable in the duties of his later career. His marked ability led to his rapid advancement through the engineering department to positions of responsibility in management, and by 1870 he was general superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1873 he became general manager of all the Pennsylvania lines east of Pittsburgh and Erie just at the time when the road was beginning its metamorphosis from a local state line into a system covering most of the principal traffic points east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio. In other words, Cassatt's career as a railroad executive was coincident with the period of rapid expansion, not only of his own road but of railroads in general. In 1874 he was elected third vice-president in charge of transportation and traffic. It was while he was holding this position that the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Delaware was purchased, and Cassatt is given the credit for snatching it from under the nose of the Baltimore & Ohio. In 1880 he was made first vice-president, and then was in direct line for the presidency, but in 1882 at the age of forty-two he retired from active duty, retaining only a directorship. Although he had intended to devote his time wholly to recreation, which had largely to do with his stock-farming interests, he nevertheless associated himself with Col. Scott in the construction of the New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad and was its president from 1885 to 1899. The road runs to Cape Charles and operates a ferry service from Cape Charles to Norfolk which at the time was the longest and most difficult seagoing ferry service yet attempted. In 1899, after seventeen years of retirement, Cassatt was called to the presidency of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which position he held until his death. His engineering training was at once put at the disposal of the road, and in many ways which could only be appreciated by railroad men he cleared up traffic difficulties and improved the physical and operating condition of the property. This meant the extension and increase of lines, stations, equipment, and facilities, the provision of necessary terminals and yards, the revision of grades and their elimination, the elevation of track and improvement of alignment, electrification, acquirement of interest in other roads, and all that goes to make up an efficient railroad system. Cassatt did not meddle with the rate structure, but picked out particular kinds of traffic that furnished the bulk of the business and made increases that accomplished the result without arousing the antagonism of the business community. During his administration, earnings nearly doubled, and traffic density increased by half. It was, of course, a period of great prosperity but Cassatt had the foresight to prepare his road to take advantage of it. His attitude toward his employees is shown in the establishment of the Pension Fund to provide for retirement from active service and in the broadening of the Relief Fund so as to include superannuation. Twice during his administration he voluntarily advanced the wages by ten per cent of all the men receiving less than $200 a month, to enable them to share in the increased prosperity of the company. He came to the presidency at the close of the decade which included the panic of 1893. Railroad traffic as a result had reached a low ebb. As markets became stagnant, shippers sought the aid of the railroads in reduced rates, and everywhere the requests were granted because the interests of railroad and shipper were identical. This aid sometimes took the form of open concessions in rates, but more often rebating was resorted to, because the roads were disinclined to make general reductions in rates at a time when they were sorely in need of revenue. By 1899, the year in which Cassatt took the helm in the Pennsylvania organization, the average freight rate had reached its lowest point in the history of the company. In their anxiety to secure business, the railroads had put themselves at the mercy of shippers, and were being played off against one another in an endeavor to get the lowest rate possible. The growth of industrial combinations, which took place on an enormous scale as business recovered from the panic, had greatly strengthened the strategic power of the shipper No one railroad could meet the pressure alone and the roads could look for nothing but moral support from the Interstate Commerce Commission. Although the Interstate Commerce Act had been on the statute book for over a decade, all that had come from attempts to prescribe rates had been warnings from the Supreme Court that the Commission lacked the necessary power. If anything was to be done at this time, the railroads must do it themselves, but again they had just been deprived by the Supreme Court of any right to combine if such combination constituted restraint of trade. Pooling was prohibited by the Interstate Commerce Act. Cassatt, while general manager and vicepresident, had had opportunity to observe the pressure that large shippers could bring to bear upon railroads, especially in the relation of the Eastern roads to the Standard Oil Company. In the hearings conducted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1879 Cassatt's testimony was startling in its candor and completeness and substantiated the claim of the oil men that the Pennsylvania had become the creature of the Standard Oil Company. It is not unreasonable to assume that this experience made a deep impression on Cassatt and turned his mind toward possible solutions of the problem. During the seventeen years that he was free from official responsibility he was by no means out of touch with railroad affairs, and his position as director gave him leisurely opportunity to mature plans which he was able to put into execution when he took the reins of management into his hands. His plan was that of purchasing a sufficient amount of stock in competing roads to give a voice in management and was known as "community of interest. " It involved an agreement with the New York Central which through the Lake Shore was to buy some of the stock of the Reading. The Pennsylvania made large investments in the Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, and Norfolk & Western. The Baltimore & Ohio in turn bought into the Reading. The strategic roads were thus so interlocked as to be able to present a united front to the industrial combinations that were depleting their revenues. The roads then announced that no further rebates would be granted. This announcement was not received kindly and the Carnegie interests especially refused to comply, first diverting traffic from the Pennsylvania and then threatening to build a road of their own to the seaboard, but the railroad combination refused to be frightened, and the worst of the discrimination in this territory was over. In 1903 the Elkins Anti-Rebate Law was passed, largely at the instance of the railroad, and Cassatt was a powerful factor in the movement for its enactment. While the "community of interest" plan did not at the time appeal to the people of the country as a sound solution of the problem, and while the Northern Securities decision of 1904 and later decisions of the Supreme Court led to the dissolution of many of these corporate relationships, it must be conceded that Cassatt's plan accomplished much at the time and that it was a bold adventure and demanded ability of the highest order. That he yielded to popular opinion and sold many of his holdings did not mean that he was in agreement with the prevailing view. Up to the time of his death he held to the belief that cooperation between railroads was essential to a sound and stable rate system, but, at the time, the country, led by Roosevelt, was hostile to combination in any form, and it was not until 1920 that it came round to Cassatt's point of view. Cassatt took prompt action to eliminate the improper use of railroad passes on his lines. He believed in clothing the Commission with power to fix rates and put himself and his company behind the Roosevelt railroad program. He died a few months after the Hepburn Act had been signed which was to put real power for the first time into the hands of the Commission. The disadvantageous location of the Pennsylvania Terminal on the west bank of the Hudson had been a matter of concern for thirty years before Cassatt's presidency, and many plans for crossing the river had been suggested; but all for one reason or another had been rejected. In 1901 Cassatt studied the extension of the Orleans Railway in Paris and became so impressed with the possibilities of electric traction that, upon his return, he set actively to work upon the New York tunnel and terminal project which, however, was not brought to completion until after his death. For the bold conception and for the inauguration of the work, however, the credit must be his. His statue was unveiled in the new Terminal in 1910 and on it are inscribed the words: "Whose foresight, courage, and ability achieved the extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad into New York City. "
Achievements
He was one of the first of the railroad managers to see the immense possibilities of the air brake and its introduction by him after exhaustive tests served as an encouragement to other railroad officers.
The greatest achievement of his career, in the opinion of many of his contemporaries, was his solution of the rebate problem.
Another of Cassatt's achievements was the construction of the Pennsylvania Terminal in New York, the most gigantic project of railroad enterprise that has ever been undertaken.
In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS A. J. Cassatt was named in his honor.
His statue at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
The street crossing the former Pennsylvania Railroad tracks at Berwyn station is named Cassatt Avenue. Gramercy Mansion in Baltimore, Maryland was built by Alexander Cassatt in 1902.
Interests
His life outside the railroad was an active one. He was a constant advocate of good roads and for nineteen years was road supervisor of Merion Township in which he lived. He also served from time to time as director of insurance and trust companies. He was associated with others in the construction of the race track at Monmouth Park and raced horses there with great success. When the sport fell into disrepute he transferred his attentions to breeding at his Chesterbrook stock farm at Berwyn, where he raised sheep, cattle, draft horses, and hackneys.
He was an enthusiastic horseman. He was one of the pioneers of coaching and an enthusiast over cricket, hunting, and yachting.
Connections
In 1869 Cassatt married Lois, daughter of Rev. Edward Y. Buchanan, and a niece of President James Buchanan. They had four children.
Father:
Robert S. Cassatt
He was a man of wide influence in financial and business affairs in western Pennsylvania, and was the first mayor of Allegheny City
