The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-27

inequalities have arisen 1n SerlVce ana rates which demand correction and control. On July S1, 1918, the h. terstate Commerce Commission de- creed that the carrier should own and operate all icing stations and per form the service of refrigeration in transit The packers are now dIspos- ing of their icing stations by salo to the carriers on whose lines they are situated, The Federal Trade Commission believes, however that further legislation hereinafter recom- mended is necessary for adequate remedy.
 '~The livestock cars are at present chiefly owned by the railroads and to a great extent by other companies, though Swift 6; Co. owns over IS per cent. of the supply of double deck livestock cars.
 'In this report extensive data are presented regarding the investment, operating expenses, and revenues, of various classes of private car lines, and also specific data regarding the cost of icing and the charges made for refrigeration where that is fur nished by the railroad company An important fact to be noted in this connection is that there has been gen.
 erally a decline in the rate of profts on investment for private car lines in recent years compared with earlier periods. For refrigerator car lines. in recent years the rate of profit has
 been generally low, especially for the smaller companies. The exclamation
 of this fact Is found chiefly in a Iarge increase in operating expenses, while the revenues remained on a fixed basis until 1918.
 Undoubtedly, the effect of this
 tendency has been to discourage inde- pendent meat packers from attenpt- ing to operate private car lines and in
 consequence to increase the hold of
 the large packers on the trade in
 meat products.
 Tt is to be noted that the private
 car accounts of the big packers on
 their face showed losses under the, three-quarter cent mileage rate all most universally in effect up to Octo4
 Der, 1917. A proper revision of th4
 private car accounts of the big pack
 CTS, however, shows an average profit on the investment of 6.S per cent in
 1912, 3.4 per cent in 1914, and 4.3 per cent. in 1917. Therefore. the recent adjustments making mileage 1 rates of 1 cent per mile throughout the United States promise reasonable profit, though the packers urged that | a rate of l 1-2 cents was neces- Sary.
 The prompt and efficient handling of the traffic in meats and other per [ ishable foods is of great public con- 1 cern, and it is also important that all shippers should have equal and adequate service.
 aHTn nrdnr fhnraPOra 4n
 the present inequalities of service and
 rates as well as to prevent the dan gers of monopolistic advantages in the use of certain types of cars, the fol- lowing recommendations are made. "1. That the Government acquire all cars used for the transportation of meat animals and that such owner ship and operation be declared a Government monopoly, or that such
 cars be owned and operated by the
 railroads under Government license regulation.
 '2. That the Government acquire all
 refrigerator cars and all necessary enjoyment for their proper operation and that such ownership and opera ton be declared Government mono poly; or that such cars and equipment be owned and operated by the rail- OOCILlIuG llCeuSe T6SO- lation.
 These recommendations contem- plate the acquisition and operation not
 only of the livestock cars and refri-
 gerator cars. but also of all necessary facilities for their operation, such as 1 car shops for their construction and
 repair, feeding and watering facilities for live stock in transit, preceding 1 equipment for refrigerator cars and icing stations for the refrigeration of perishables in transit; ice manufac- | turing plants and natural ice produc- | ing privileges connected herewith or l necessary thereto, together with such | other facilities as may be needed to
 secure the efficient transportation of meat animals and perishabIe food pro- | ducts.
 1 The execution of these recommen- 1 dations would give to the smaller | packer, especially, facilities which he | generally lacks at the present time | and for which he is frequently not | able to provide either because his re- ! quirements are not large enough to ! justify the investment or because he
 is not financially strong enough to l procure the necessary equipment t | Assurance of an equitable allotment l of cars would make him a stronger i competitor of the big companies.
 Tn the fruit and vegetable trade,
 also, considerable advantage, both to | producer and consumer. should fol- | low this legislation.
 Further. provided all this equip
 ment is put in the hands of the Gov | ernment, the disposition of the entire 1 supply of refrigerator and livestock ! cars would be under unified direction, | and there would be an opportunity | for considerable economies in util-
 ization and in expense of operation. | Ut is worth suggesting, that as an | incident of the administration of re- 1 frigerator cars under this system. a
 single combined rate might be es4ab- ! lished to apply to each kind of trans ! portation service, and thus do away
 with separate charges for freight, re- | frigerator and icing. This would sim ! plify not only rate and service ac-
 counting. but also the shipperr's mar , keting for he would know his charges : before making shipment and would | be able to quote delivered prices" BANKRUPTCY COURT. voluntary nafffion in baukruutcv