Charles DeLano Hine (March 15, 1867 – February 13, 1927) was an American civil engineer, lawyer, railway official, and Colonel in the United States Army. He receives academic credit for studying organizations as a separate field, rather than a "smaller sister of sociology.".

Early and family life

Born in

Vienna, Virginia Vienna () is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Vienna has a population of 16,473. Significantly more people live in ZIP codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, and 22182), bordered approx ...

to former Union veteran Capt. Orrin E. Hine and his wife Alma, Hine graduated from

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, West Point in 1891, and served as a lieutenant in the 6th United States Infantry. He later graduated from

Cincinnati Law School The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...

.Hine (1909, Foreword) He married Helen Underwood on March 27, 1915.

Career

Leaving the Army to enter railway service, Hine worked as freight brakeman, switchman, yardmaster, emergency conductor, chief clerk to superintendent, and trainmaster. When the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

began in 1898 he quit railway service and participated in the Santiago campaign as a major of volunteers. After the war he re-entered railway work, rising to trainmaster and later general superintendent. Subsequently, he did special railway work in various staff positions for both large and small railways in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Hine inspected safety appliances for the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

. In 1907 Hine assisted in the revising the business methods of the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

at Washington, D.C. Then he was appointed bankruptcy receiver of the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Electric Railway. In 1910, Hine became temporary special representative of

President Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

, planning ways to improve the organization and methods of the executive departments of the United States government. Meantime, in July, 1908, he had become special representative of Mr.

Julius Kruttschnitt Julius Kruttschnitt (July 30, 1854 – June 15, 1925) was a German American railroad executive. Biography He was born on July 30, 1854 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1873 and worked briefly as a s ...

, director of maintenance and operation of the Harriman Lines, and had entered on a study of the needs of the operating organization of those railways and of the means that should be adopted to meet those needs. This report led most of the Harriman Lines to adopt the unit system of organization. On January 15, 1912, Major Hine became vice-president and general manager of the

Southern Pacific Lines The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

in Mexico and the Arizona Eastern, responsible for about 1,600 miles of railway. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, on August 5, 1917, Hine (then living in New York City) was drafted to serve as Colonel of Infantry for New York's National Guard. Hisunit was sent overseas, and participated at

Saint-Mihiel Saint-Mihiel () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Saint-Mihiel lies on the banks of the river Meuse. History A Benedictine abbey was established here in 708 or 709 by Count Wulfoalde and his wif ...

before the war ended and he was honorably discharged on January 10, 1919.

Death and legacy

Hine died in Manhattan in 1927. After a funeral at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in which pall bearers included the President of the

Lackawanna Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

, Orlando Harriman Jr. and various distinguished military officers, he was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, and his widow awarded a pension based on his military service.

Publications

''Modern Organization: An Exposition of the Unit System,'' 1912

In the 1912 article "The unit system on the Harriman Lines" in the ''

Engineering Magazine ''Engineering Magazine'' was an American illustrated monthly magazine devoted to industrial progress, first published in 1891. The periodical was published under this title until October 1916. Sequentially from Nov. 1916 to 1927 it was published a ...

'' Hine wrote:

Organization has been termed a smaller sister of sociology, the science of human nature. Industrial organization, including that of transportation and commerce, reflects and typifies in a greater or less degree the sociological development of a people."

His series of articles were republished in the 1912 book, entitled "Modern Organization: An Exposition of the Unit System." In this work Hine also stated:

The greatest present need is an antidote for the unwillingness of men to profit by the previous experience of others. It would be amusing, were it not so expensive, to watch the gropings of many corporation officers for methods to test efficiency. Ignorant of fundamental principles, intolerant of outside suggestions, unable to detect the analogy in other undertakings, they repeat the expensive experiments of the past.

A 1913 review in the '' Journal of Accountancy'' stated that Hines was "a firm believer in the personal equation in industry, commerce and all departments of business. Basing his argument to a great extent upon the successful operation of the unit system as applied on the so-called "Harriman lines" he goes step by step through the ideal method of management and operation to what he considers the practical solution of the difficulties which he encounters."''The Journal of Accountancy,'' Vol. 15 (1913). p. 76

Selected publications

* Hine, Charles De Lano.
Letters from an old railway official, to his son, a division superintendent
'' (1904) * Hine, Charles De Lano.
Letters from an Old Railway Official: Second Series. His Son, a General Manager
'' Vol. 2. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company, 1912. * Hine, Charles De Lano.
Modern Organization: An Exposition of the Unit System, by Charles De Lano Hine
'' Engineering Magazine Company, 1912.

References

Attribution

This article incorporates public domain material from: Hine, Charles De Lano. ''Letters from an Old Railway Official: Second Series. His Son, a General Manager.'' Vol. 2.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hine, Charles DeLano 1867 births 1927 deaths American business theorists American civil engineers United States Military Academy alumni University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 19th-century American lawyers