The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-11-20
ONE INCREASE AFTER
ANOTHER TO Be URGED
Railroads Declared to Be Planning to
Ask Further Raise IL Present
Petition Lis Granted.
COUNSEL BfCTRaYs PLAN.
Perpetual Round of More Rates on
Program -- Shippers Protest and
May Ask Government Ownership
for Period of War.

Washington. Nov. 1.-THE railroads
increase OF Is per cent II their pres
ent request for Is per cent. now before
the Interstate Commerce commi ssi on,
should be granted.
And IL an additional IS per cent OF
the then established rates should be
allowed, making considerably more
than 80 per cent increase. further adj
vances will be demanded as costs OF
material or labor rise.
This announcement OF policy to at
tempt TO perpetuAte the circle of In
creases, already referred to by the
commission as Vicious WAS made this
afternoon to the commission by one
OF the counsel for the eastern roads
In the closing argument of the re-
- So ss-.i-t cert case
The intention of the railroads of the
United States To continue their de-
mands and maintain a condition that
can be cured. according to Paul NJ.
WarGurg's statement. before the COM
mission. only by governmental nxing
ST prices and wages or as suggested
By al other expert casled by the COM
mission. Frank A. Nan5aflip. By gov
ernmeat ownership, was brought out
unexpectedly by the questions of the
commission after the railroads had
[4VsfA IISAf EGAsFHAiEAue
George stuart Patterson, one Of the
counsel for the roads. who had made
the final argument earlier in the day.
had risen to answer contention Of
the shipping interests and the sur
prise testimony of the session was
ELECTED by questioning Of Commission
ers Anderson and Arhesou. ''Fhe rates
must go az high as the costs 60" MIR.
Patterson declared Our next appli-
90 ha 1 frc
On class and commodity freight and
10 cents a hundred on coal"
Then he added. vehemently:
why, those increases wont COM
pare with the, prices fixed by the. gov
eminent boards last October.
Must He IniversaIixed.
The railroads must nEht requests
for additional increases. The general
burden OF increased cost must be uni
voi salized. and. then. II the burden
should be found to have become local :
lied. II could be readJusted The A.
nancial situation Of the railroads now
constitutes an immlEent and great pub
lie menace"
In reply to questions from the com
mission seeking to learn the attitude
Of the railroads on various suggestions
made by opposing interests for rem
( edies other than rate increases. he in
timsted that the railroads wanted their
/! own remedy. greater earnings rather
than government loans or other fed
1 erai aid.
| On the point of repeating the Sher-
| man law and the antt-pooiing section
of the interstate commerce act to per-
init again the combination of the roads
as suggested by Mr. vanderlip as an
| alternate to federal ownership. he de-
clined to comment officially. but indt-
| Gated the attitude OF the road as eager
| for such arrangement by offering his
own opinion.
shippers Protest.
Summation of the protest of various
big shipping interests was made by
Clifford Thorne, one-tine railway com
| missioner of Iowa. in the contention
| that tbs shippers should not be com.
PEELED 20 pay for building a road and
| them pay additional returns to the road
! for the vse OF It. He argued against
| the railroad contention that their dan,
gerous need was equipment and cap
| ital, and said earnings should not fur.
nish a roads capital as well as equip
ment
| He proposed. instead of rate in.
crcases that the government make
loans or that government ownership
| be established for the duration of tbs
! war. He insisted that the thirty ghi
( systems before ths commission ~ha6
! $145. 1000 900 Surplus last year and
{ $147, 900, 600 surplus the year before
from which to make the improvements
they now urge as the national neces-