The Carlisle independent., 1918-01-03

"The director general of railroads, upon invitation of the Interstate Com lnerce Commission, las accepted of- fees in the Interstate Commerce Building. The commission has also placed at the disposal of the director the entire work and facilities of the | commission"
 Will Retain Judge Lovett.
 It is considered probable that Mir. l McAdoo will retain the services or Judge Robert S. Lovette, director oe ! priority for the war industries board, with whom he conferred at length and that railroads will be instructed to continue to receive orders from that source Another priority question to | be settled soon is that of coordination l the preferential shipment instructions | now issued by the fuel and food ad- | mlnistrations and army quartermast- CTS through single government trans portation director, to supervise only | government shipments.
 The director generals advisors have 1 recommended creation of such an agency, emphasizing that the govern ment railroad administration must justify itself immediately by providing l for speedier transportation of coal. ! MT. MeAdoo is known to have given l serious thought to the coal situation and to have received suggestions that 1 q representative of the fuel admins l tration be included in his staff MT. McAdoo does not expect to ask an appropriation for administering government operation and his staff | probably will be composed largely of men already on the government or | railroad pay rolls. He will receive no 1 additional salary for acting in the dua, capacity Of director general of rail roads and secretary of the treasury. 1 It is expected he also will retain the services of the railroads committee which has been administering tEe equipment pool, with headquarters at l Pittsburgh.
 The pending demand of the four railway brotherhoods for a 40 per cent wage increase will be considered prob ably in month or two, along with the more sweeping question of higher wages for all employees, including those unorganized. The director gen eral advisers will suggest that board of managers be appointed to thresh 1 out general wage matters for his final 1 consideration. A sharp reduction Of high salaries now paid railroad presi- dents may help in a small way to pro vide funds for wage increases.
 Guarantee Average Eearnings.
 If Congress follows President Will sons recommendations concerning the guarantee of the average prewar earTl- ings it will obligate the government to the extent of s91S, S,424,SS5, the aver 1 age annual earnings of all roads for three years ending last June 30. Fig llres compiled by the bureau of rail- way economies, an agency of the com panies, show net operating income for the year ending June 90, 1915, as S695,931,S61 for 1916, s1,005, ,192, 754. and for 1912, s1,054,100.79O.
 Congress might establish this basis of compensation, virtually the lease rate for the period of government ope- ration, but it, could not compel any road to accept the terms, and con- pany would have recourse to the courts if it considered the rate too low. | This course is not looked for from many roads, however.
 Under the bill which officials have drawn for presentation to Congress 1 it would be provided that earnings ex ] ceeding this basis would revert to the government, for general expenditure | or as a special fund for railroad in- provements. Dividend payments would | be subject to supervision and approval l of the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion.
 Roads would make their own i'm provements under the plan and pro- Y ide for their own bond issues, but l both would be under government SUI pervision. The size and interest rate on securities issues would be subject 10 the Interstate Commerce Commits sion's approval and the rate by law would be limited to a minimum of four per cent and a maximum of six and one-half per cent. The president would be authorized to buy on gov ernment account any or all future railroad bond issues, most of which would be to provide additional equip Jnent or improvements, and thus the necessary legal means would be pro- vided for government financing of im- provements. Such plan would auto matically give the government power to regulate improvements and to pre- vent extraordinary and unnecessary expenditures for such purposes.
 May Build New Lines.
 On the other hand, it is understood 10 be MT. McAdoo's intention to re- sort to construction of new lines or additional tracks on trunk lines, if this proves desirable to relieve con gestion. The administration policies