The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-12-06
STATESMEN DIVIDE ON POL
ICY AND WILL GO SEE
THE PRESIDENT
Three Groups Found
Among Solons
One Crowd Would Loan Roads
Money, Another Would Allow
Them to Pool, Third Would
Operate Them During War.
BY John Edwin Nevin

Il. n. S. Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6-Congres-
sional action on revolutionary plans
to deal with the railroad situation
will come early in the new year. This
was certain today following impor-
tant conferences between administra-
tion chiefs and leading senators and
representatives.
AS in every war move to date, the
wishes of President Wilson will con-
troll. The interstate commerce COM
mittees of both branches of congress
will call upon him at an early date.
Then the entire railway situation will
be threshed out. Already the presi-
dent has made an intensive study of
the intricate problems. Today he has
before him all of the data on which
the interstate commerce commission
based its recommendation of complete
coordination of the railways of the
country under a railroad committee
under presidential direction; the mass
of information compiled by the food
and fuel directors which shows how
utterly impossible the present sys-
tenn is, and data submitted by the
railroads themselves showing that
their present revenues have made it
impossible to get the equipment
which would bring the railroads up
to the necessary standard for war
efficiency.
The situation admittedly is com
pick and it will probably be several
days before sentiment crystalizes suf-
| ficiently to allow the drafting of a
comprehensive bill AS a matter OF
fact there is a very wide divergence
of opinion among senators and rep
resentatives as to what must be done.
Everywhere it is admitted that the
present system is intolerable With
winter now commenced. practically
the entire country is in the throes of
a coal famine. Food supplies are
short in many places. Farmers bit
terly complain that though they plant
ed all vacant land to get food to win
the war" much of this remains on the
ground either because men could not
be hired to harvest it or the railroads
have failed to furnish the cars tC
send it to market
But the membership of the congress
today was divided into three groups
favoring three separate plans to rem
edy the situation. as follows:
The first includes in its membership
many of the older members, which be.
lieves that the government should
loan the railroads two billion dollars
with which to build new tracks t
parallel the present system. equip
ment and to increase wages so there
would be no shortage of men.
A second, in which are many of the
first group, who favor pooling al
I railway systems as a single railroad
by repeating all anti-combine laws
operating the roads as a unit through
the medium of a committee represent
/ ing all roads and guaranteeing to al
bond and stockholders "a reasonable
dividend" on their investment for thu
: period of the war"
A third. comparatively small bu
very influential, who agree with In
terstate Commerce Commissioner Nc
Chord that the president should TAX
over the railroads and operate then
as a government institution for tn
period of the war, and if that prove
successful to continue governmen
} ownership as a permanent institution
r 1t will be necessary to reconcil
these elements and this is what tn
president and his advisers must dc
Already they are undertaking this bi
task. 1t is realized that immediat
action must come. There can be n
: temporizing. The railways situation
! is a serious handicap to winning tn
war, the supreme test which has bee
set by the nation and the remed
must be applied without months of de
lay.
With the president directing tn
roads, the government will be in
much better position to deal with an
. possible strike. There would hav
!, to come as a part of the scheme
wage fixing plan. AS a matter of faC
! the fixing of wages of labor alread
G | is regarded as an inevitable step L
. wards winning the war