Evening star., 1916-11-05
| c. c. INVESTIGATES
4 BIG CAR SHORTAGE
Inquiry to Go Into Questions OF
/. Supply and Exchange for
Whole Country.
MAY THEN ISSUE ORDERS

cars. the most acute for many years.
will be the subject of a general formal
4nvestigat tion covering every part or the
United States, the interstate commerce
commission announced yesterday. Inc
commission stated the investigation
would go into questions of supply. ex-
change and return of freight cars with
the view of issuing such orders as the
commission may deem appropriate
a copy of the order was served upon
representatives of all interstate car
riers and the first hearing fixed Tor
Wednesday at Louisville before Com
missioner McChord. who is already
there conducting an informal confer
ence on car shortage. Such further
hearings as the commissioners may de-
ternline necessary will be subsequently
announced.
COMPLAINTS From All Sections.
The action in extending the informal
conference at Louisville into sweep
ing general investigation of formal
character. with hearings prooaple IN
such shipping centers as New York.
Chicago, Omaha. St. Louis. Kansas CITY
and others. is the result of complaints
sion from all sections recording serious
conditions as the result of the car
famine. 1t directly follows a confer
ence early in the week with commits
sion officials by members of the Indus
trial Traffic League. comprising snip
pers in Boston. New York. Kansas
City Minneapolis and other large tramc
centers-
Traffic committees may be organized
to cope with the situation, as the
league suggested. and as was done
last spring, when a serious conSestlon
of freight in the east was threatened
At that time committee. agreed TO
by the carriers for the purpose, and
sponsored by the commission, met
daily in New York for the purpose OF
handling the congestion of cars, and
1t furnished the unusual spectacle OF
officials on the committee giving d1-
rections for handling of traffic on
competitors road as part OF the trame
clearing The league of shippers and
the commission favored the committee
plan at that time and are said to favor
1t now.
Step Taken By Railroads.
The railroads already have taken
one step with view of helping them
selves in their dilemma by filing tar
ifs increasing the demurrage charges
on cars remaining over the time al
lotted to shippers for either loading
empty cars or unloading full cars.
They want this increase effective De-
cember /. but shippers. as in the past,
have protested against it and may
force either suspension or cancella-
tion of the demurrage tariffs.
The car shortage is mostly felt in the
middle west coal fields and at ports
where export shipping facilities are in
some degree in every state. according
to reports to the commissioners. Ele-
vator and warehouse facilities also are
overtaxed. The railroads point to the
unprecedented traffic requirements ow-
ing to the European war and other
factors, and contend that the commits
sion has not been sufficiently liberal in
allowance of rates to permit them to
spend much money in new equipment.
LAX in Ordering Cars"
Shippers say the roads for approx
mately three years past have been gen.
orally lax in ordering new cars, that
comparatively little new equipment
has been bought during that time, and
that when the roads were confronted
with abnormal demands of the past
year or two they were caught by the
rising tide of prices and demands from
abroad, SO that in many cases they
could not get the cars they ordered.
and in other cases, when cars could be
purchased at all, they had to take
wooden equipment when they wanted
steel cars.
What the commission may finally or
der after investigation is a question, as
its power over purchase of equipment
IS admitted to be limited. The in
vestigation is expected, however, to
accomplish much through publicity.
An effort will be made to learn how
much additional equipment would be
required on each road to handle all
traffic offered. whether shippers are
being disseminated against in car dis
tribution. whether they are really CO.
operating with the roads to relieve the
situation, how many cars have been
discarded recently and how many new
ones have been ordered and when de-