Arizona republican., 1917-12-30
UNIFICATI0N OF RAILWAY FACILITIES AND RELIEF
 0F CONGESTION IS PLAN
Republican A. p. Leased WireJ

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29.-Definite steps toward national ratification of railroads and improvement of congest- ed conditions, were taken today by Director General McAdoo in the ap- pointment of q temporary staff and the issuing of his first formal order direct Ing absolute pooling of all traffic the common utilization of terminals, roll ing stock and other facilities. hauling of freight by the shortest routes, and retention of all present officers and employees.
 Special instructions were issued for the clearing of congestion in New York and Chicago through pooling of ter m1nals and other traffic facilities, and Alfred H. Smith, president of the New York Central, was named temporary special assistant to supervise trans portation in the trunk line territory east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio rivers where congestion is the greatest.
 Walker D. Hines of New York, rail road lawyer and for many years a special student of government opera tIon, was appointed assistant director general pending the formation of a permanent staff. The interstate com merce commission was drafted for an immediate investigation by its in spectors of general freight conditions on eastern trunk lines.
 While the director general was con ferring today with a number of rail road heads, interstate commerce com missioners and members of congress, and planning immediate action to rem edy faults of transporta ton it became known that the demands of the four | r-ail lrrAsa d hr-r,+l +l,a cent wage increase had been denied by the railroads and that consequently the labor men had decided to postpone for probably sixty days the presentation of their case to the government It was thought probable that President Will son would take up the labor situation 1 in his address to congress next Thurs 1 day or Friday.
 ] Congressional agencies went to work | today on the new railroad situation | The senate interstate commerce com mittee at a special hearing drew from Chairman Hall, of the interstate com merce commission, the statement that the governments failure to centralize ! pTlorlty aomlnlStration was largely re- | sponsible for freight congestion. Senator Cummins, ranking republi- can member of the senate interstate
 commerce committee in d conference
 with MT. McAdoo expressed the opin-
 ion that legislation to prescribe the
 basis of government compensation to
 the roads would be passed speedily
 thousn not without some opposition to
 the presidents suggestion of guaran-
 teelng 10 the companies the average
 earnings for the last three years.
 The railroad war board, whose ser
 wees nave been solicited temporarily
 by the director general today presented
 recommendation for speedy moving of freight Tn the Chicago congested cen- ter ana made a number of other sus-
 eestlons for economies and efficiency
 under the new unification plan The
 Tallroad chiefs freely predicted today . that the advantages of the great non competitive system now being devel- oped the needs. of general commerce. 3. All transportation systems cov- cred by said proclamation and order
 snail be operated as a national system ol transportation; the common and ma tional needs being in all instances held
 paramount to any actual or supposed corporate advantage. All terminals , ports, locomotives, rolling stock and otner transportation facilities are to be f Iully utilized to carry out this purpose
 without regard to ownership. , I. The designation of routes bN
 snlppers to be disregarded when speed i, ana efficiency of transportation ser. . wee may thus be promoted.
 D. Traffic agreements between carriers must not be permitted to in , ter1ere with expeditions movements, g b. Through routes which have no heretofore been established because O 5 snort hauling or other causes are to b. a established and used whenever expedi I tlon and efficiency of traffic will there
 py be promoted and if difficulty is ex = perienced in such through routing, no tice thereof shall be given carriers q r shippers or by both be given at once t | the director by wire.
 7 '. Existing schedules or rates am , outstanding orders of the interstat ,, commerce commission are to be ob = served but any such schedules or rate
 or orders as may hereafter be found t
 conflict with the purposes of said proc
 lamation or with this order, shall b
 brought immediately by wire to the at
 tention of the director"
 Through the railroad war board MI
 McAdoo called on all railroad presi
 dents to take up vigorously the ques
 tion of common use of terminals an
 parallel lines, wiping out competitiv
 pronlDltlonS ana WalVlng competlt1V
 control or solicitation of traffic. Tn
 result of this action may be the as is signment of through traffic movin a one way to certain systems and tn 2 reservation of other lines for traffi e movement in an opposite direction. d A committee of presidents of raj l. ways entering New York was ar IS pointed would soon become so appal 1t
 Continued on Page Two)