The Sentinel=record., 1917-12-29
RAILROAD WAR BOARD
 IS 10 OPERATE ROADS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

1 Sestion, it was intimated tonight. | would be denial of transportation
 to non- essential commodities. Traffic
 that is considered unnecessary will ! be cut off, including both passenger
 and freight movement Members of l the war board urged strongly on Mir.
 McAdoo today the necessity of cut ! ting down on some forms of traffic
 Tney pointed out that the United States is the only nation at war which
 is attempting to move great amount l of war freight and at the same time
 asking it's railroads to transport as well, all commercial freight regard
 less Of it's importance
 This subject will be left largely to Robert s. Lovett, government director of priority, who attended today's con ference, priority questions generally will be given early attention The
 railroad board today told Mir Nc Adoo that there should be named 1 immediately q manager for governr ment traffic who should recommend to Mir Lovett the order in which war supplies should move. CO ordinating the hundreds of priority orders now
 issuing from various government committees
 There was a question tonight as to
 whether the great mass of railway 2,000 LOO in number-now become government employees. Some officials hold that they do not on this ground give in, assuming that the control of the railroads is only superimposing
 it's authority on them and that as the roads are owned now, as before by their stockholders, railroad employees are still employees of the owners of | the road
 The railroads passed under govern | ment control without any formality. At l2 o'clock the director general and | the members of the railroads war | board were so deeply engrossed in | the discussion of measures to relieve | congestion that they did not note the l passage of time and 1t was not until half an hour later that someone, glancing at the clock in Mir. McAdoo's s | office, called attention to the fact
 that the roads were out of the hands
 of their directors.
 | Not only did members of the war
 board assure the director general of
 their fullest support for the govern
 ment under the new arrangements
 but hundreds of telegrams reached
 the treasury department from railroad officers throughout the country prom ising cooperation.
 Railroad finances were touched or , lightly at today's war conference Legislation to guarantee the railroads
 pre-war revenues has been drafted al
 the interstate commerce commission
 along the lines suggested by tht
 presidents proclamation. This vii be introduced in both houses of con
 gress when the president goes to tho | capitol to outline his recommends r tions for financial arrangements. There was considerable speculation . today as to the governments policy | respecting the means of raising rundE ) to reimburse the roads if operating
 revenues under government control
 fall off. This can be done by paying kthe deficit out Of the treasury or by
 raising freight rates The railroads are anxious that rates be raised Their Iposition is ihal if the railroads are run at loss they will al the end Of the war be forced to resume private operation on basis that will not give
 them revenues enough to pay ex-
 penses The disposition of govern Iment officials apparently Is to agree
 with them in this respect
 It is considered unlikely that there will be any strong sentiment for transporting government freight free of cost as is done in England.
 Officials hold that if government freight Is paid for as 1t is hauled, the
 government will be in much better position to determine exactly the fi- nancial effects Of government opera tion.
 | The interstate commerce commis- tston, under railroad operation by
 the director general is held to loose
 it's standing as an independent agency, l deciding on their merits requests for rate increases and the subject of in creases will become a matter of gov
 ernmental policy to be decided prob ably by the president
 Some railroad ofricials today ex- pressed the opinion that once the rall-
 roads are run as single unit it will be impossible after the war to go back | to the old system of competition. Lift | ing anti-pooling restrictions, they
 hold, will disrupt elements of organi-
 zation necessary under a competitive system, and al the same time demon | strate that competition is wasteful
 and uneconomic.
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