The Washington herald., 1918-11-09
RAIL CONTROL
MAY REMAIN
Issue Likely to Be Decided
at Next Presidential
Election.

An early orientation of the issue of
government ownership and control of
railroads is expected in official cir
cles here as the result both of the
elections and the apparent approach
of peace.
The United States Railroad Admin
istration yesterday issued an analysis
of freight operations on the railroads
in August going to show that as a
result of increased efficiency under
unified control" the railroads handled
2 600 100000 ton-miles of freight more
than was handled in August, 1917, or
an increase of 81 per cent.
Continued satisfactory operation Of
the railroads under government con-
troll is likely to be emphasized. 1t is
pointed out that the act giving the
government control over the roads
provides that they shall be turned
over to their owners twenty y-one
months after the proclamation of
peace II peace comes in the near
future, therefore. the return of the
roads to their owners will come al
most coincident with the election of
the next President of the United
States.
Permanent Control Probable.
The fact also that the act imposes
upon the government the double duty
of bending it's attention to the prob
lem of unscrambling the roads upon
the proclamation of peoe and of
operating them efficiently must bring
up soon and sharply the question as
to whether the administration shall
plan to make by new legislation the
present temporary control perman-
ent.
But here the result of the elections
comes in, it is pointed out. With a
Republican Congress 1t can hardly De
hoped to obtain any such legislation
but with a Presidential campaign
coming on and still another Congress
to elect at the same time. the rail-
! road issu might well be expected 10
form a leading issue of the cam
paign.
A Political Issue.
How much the coming Republican
Congress shall be able to interfere
with the Railroad Administration is
doubtful. The railroad act, ii is
pOinted out, vests control OF the
roads in the President OF the United
States. The Railroad Administra-
tion. therefore, is not an executive
department which the Congress may
directly investigate or make answer
able to it. it is argued. The Presi-
dent himself is in control of the
roads and any attempt to interfere
with their operation through the
! United States Railroad Administra-
tion may be expected to have the
successful opposition OF the Pr si-
dent, if he wishes to interpOse such
opposition for any purpose.
All of these elements go to bring
| the railroad issue before the public
I at an early date. 1t is shown, and
| to keep IL there probably until the
! Presidential election two years
| hence shall show the disposition OF
the country toward its solution.
The statement issued by the Rail-
/ road Administration today also
| shows that the increased tonnage
movement in August was accom-
| plished with an increased mileage
1 run by freight trains of only two
tenths of l per cent. The number
! of tons of freight per train was
increased from 6S4 to 729 tons, &C
per cent, it was also reported. and
/ the number of tons carried by each
/ loaded car was increased from 27,S
/ to 3O.1. or SO per cent
/ \ decrease OF Il per cent in load
{ ed car miles is shown by the Au-
/ gust report. attributable principally
| to prepOnderanCe of eastbound traf.
| fic.
King Olaf Wilhelm-What was thar
! | heard?
Einar TamberskeIver Hindenburg-