The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1918-12-27
WHY DELAY DUTY
OF LEGISLATING
FOR RAILROADS I?
No Need to Wait Five Years to
Solve Transportation
Problems
WHY PROLONG UNCERTAINTY?
Proposal to, continue War Leg.
isIation for Five Years
Unwise

"Mr. : Kellogg. Mr., President, ]
send to the desk communication to
Congress sent to the chairman of the
Interstate Commerce Committee by
the Director General of Railroads,
and ask that the same be printed in
the Record and Referred to the Com
ylmittee on Interstate Commerce.
shall not ask the Secretary to read
the letter, as presume most Senators
have read it, but ask unanimous
consent to make few explanatory re-
marks as to the letter"
The Vice President. Is there objec-
! ton? The Chair hears none.
- (The letter referred to was the COM
munication of Director General Nc
,Adoo, under date of December IL,
1918, to Senator Ellison d. Smith, of
South Carolina, Chairman of the In
terstate Commerce Committee, in
which Director General McAdoo, ad-
vocated the continuance of govern
'ment operation of the railroads for a
period of five years after the close of
the war. At the conclusion of his let
ter, Mr.. McAdoo said: "The Presi-
dent has given me permission to say
that this conclusion accords with his
own view of the matter.")
Continuing, Senator Kellogg said:
Mr.. President, this is a most re-
markable document, coming as it does
Immediately or within a few days af-
ter the message Of the President, in
which the President said:
The question which causes me the
greatest concern is the question of the
policy to the adopted toward the rail-
roads. / frankly turn. to you for coun.
ell upon it. have no confident judg-
ment of my own.
A few days later comes deliberate
well-considered plan, which Mr.. Nc
Adoo says is made with the approval
of the President, not to keep the rail-
roads for 81 months after the close of
the war, but for years, to make
test. The President, on the contrary,
in his message frankly said he had no
judgment. of his own on the subject,
sbut suggested three alternatives:
We can simply release the roads
and go back to the old conditions of
private management, unrestricted
petition, and mqltiform regulation,
by both State and. Federal authorities,
or we can go to the opposite extreme
and establish complete Government
control, accompanied, if necessary, by
actual Government ownership, or we
can adopt an intermediate course of
modified private control under a more
unified and affirmative public regula-
ton and under such alterations of the
law as will permit wasteful COMPETE
ton to be avoided and considerable
degree of unification of administration
to be effected; as, for example, by reg
ional corporations, under which the
railways Of defineable areas would be
in effect combined in single systems.
Mr.. President, shall not discuss at
length what Congress should do, but
1t seems to me we ought to do this at
least: Congress, through it's Commit |
tee on Interstate Commerce, ought to
take action at once upon a railroad
bill b We ought to authorize the rail-
roads to coordinate all their facilities,
equipment, terminals, route, freight
where it can be routed cheapest, and |
The same with passengers, SO as to
make most effective the entire trans
portAtion system Of the United States.
But this should be- done under strong
control. We ought to
regulate the issuance of securities of
'ailroads engaged in interstate COM
nerce, and we ought to authorize the
commission not only to regulate the
ervice of the railroads in a unified
but give the commission
'ower to compel them to grant unified
md effective service; for instance.
hat the railroads entering New York
Ilall use the New York Terminal Of 4
he Pennsylvania Railroad. lam not |
gine into q discvssion Of that; ! do L
ot wish to take the time Of the Sen 7,