New-York tribune., 1917-11-27
Committee Is Named to
Pool Lines East of
Mississippi
Shortage of Cars
Causes a Crisis
Must End Congestion at
Once, Says War
Council
By lanes Arthur Seavey

NASnlNGION' wv -''
s-,. time in the history Of this coun-
80 the managers Of American rail-
,,ads have 8 genuine fear Of the posi-
biIjtv Of government ownership. In
loss the present alarming railroad con-
,.,s.;ou IS relieved st Is believed the
'.ovcramert will b. obliged 20 take
over the operation Of the roads east Of
the Mississippi, at least.
Once the government has become the
c,srator Of the railroads, even for
limited length Of time-and that is the
oply contemplated possibility at pres
.,t-railroad men fear that the general
rv for government ownership will be
"a loudly raised that there may be
difficulty in turning the roads BACK to
he stockhold,r-.
That. perhaps, is the chief reason
vhy thcre WAS quick and decisive &C
toa on the part OF the Railroads War
Bosrd. Of which Fairfax Harrison is the
,bsirnan, to-day. One Of the persons
connected with this board said to me:
I've now thoroughly well realize that
re must end This congestion or stop"
aWhat DO you mean By 'stop'?' /
asked.
"You NAV answer the question IN any
~sy you like. I am not offering any
Interpretation to-day"
Chairman Issues Statement
Half an hour later Chairman Harri-
scn issued the following statement:
On accordance with the recent reso-
luton Of the War Board directing the
pooling Of al available facilities of all
railroads east Of Chicago, to the extent
necessary 70 furnish maximum freight
movement. the operating officers of the
Eastern lines net to-day at the head
quarters Of the Railroads War Board
and created q committee which will be
IN full charge Of the operations Of the
railway pool.
a. ". Thompson, yice-president OF
he Baltimore & Ohio, was made chair
nan Of this committee. The other
nsnbers are c. r. Gray, president OF
he Western Maryland; 4. T. Dice, pres
dent Of the Philadelphia & Reading;
P. Z. Crawley, vice-president of the
New York Central; Elisha Lee, acting
viee-president of the Pennsylvania
Lines East of Pittsburgh; G. L. Peck,
yice-president Of the Pennsylvania
Lines West of Pittsburgh, and A. ].
Stone, vice-president of the Erie.
"The committee will establish head
quarters in Pittsburgh at once, and will
sit continuously until the entire traffic
problem produced by the abnormal way
business in the district east Of the Mis-
issippi and north Of the Potomac and
Ohio rivers has been solved. To-day's
session OF the committee was devoted
% organization and making q prepara-
tory survey Of the traffic conditions in
the eongested district"
Committee Goes to Pittsburgh
All the members Of the newly sp-
pointed committee attended the session
of tie Railroads War Board and left
io-night for Pittsburgh. They will en-
aesyor 70 find officers there tomorrow
and be az work on Wednesday morning.
he subsequent meetings Of the com
aittee will be held in Pittsburgh.
While this meeting Of the Railroads
Var Board was in session there was d
fpeeisl meeting Of Chairman Hall, Of
ne Interstate Commerce Commission,
and four other members Of the com
mission 20 discuss the general railroad
situation and 70 determine whether
there should be called a meeting of the
entire commission tomorrow or the
next day. Il was said that no announce
ment o. what had been done would De
made tonight.
The only territory in the United
States which is seriously affected oy
ne freight congestion is east OF the
Mississippi and north Of the Ohio ana
Potomac rivers. Freight conditions IN
20 other parts of the country arc IN
sair.y good shape In the highly con-
Eegted area the worst conditions pre-
sail IN and around Pittsburgh, between
Yusturgn and Cleveland, and Cleye-
and and Chicago. The situation be
tzsen Pittsburgh and Cleveland is said
% be worse, II possible, than anywhere
else !n the congested area
Railroads Short of Cars
Pooling or nc pooling, government
Operation or no, the fact remains ina.
ne roads are 45 900 freight cars snort
sf tae demand. That is, wnen tne num-
Der of surplus cars is DEDUCTED from
he car orders the roads are s5,OVV cars Is
thy. Bat even Il they haC the 4o'OVV
ears tonight. neither the kailroaos
Var Boa-4 nor It's special committee
ecs.d use them. The cars IN the CON
4fgted area first must be moved 10
'aeir terrninah and unlOaded.
The mznzgeme of The railroads' !
an informed, find themselves short OF
both terminal facilities and sidings'
Cle reagon for this 10 attributed TO the
the unufllingness or tardiness Of con
...igness 70 promptly unload tne carr
hhen this reason was ADVANCED 70 nne
MA eyening / asked this question;
But surely somebody must nave ths
yoNer 20 compel the conSignees 70 uh-
Ioad rapidly. or, At least, within feA-
DSnsbiy short tlme7"
@Altsouyb 7 an Identified intimately
With the Railroads War Board, was
ne reply, II have not been able 20 hno
Pat the board has any such power ano
ara inclined 70 think that no one
Mort Of the President Of the United
States can exercise the power when
1ea suggest"