New-York tribune., 1919-03-12

tho questlons involved and to give
such aid and cooperation hnd to
make such nuggestione, mr. may be
porslbo, TO tho lndividunl la. to
the Director General 10 The War
Finance Corporation and to tho
bankers, It bclnN understood that
auch committee ir not to havs power
to commit my individual company
without lts nssont;
49, Tint the chair be- and hereby
H., authorized and requested to ap-
point such committee, 90 conslnt Of
seven members, Of which Howard
Elliott, tho chairman Of ths meet
Ing shall be cx offlclo chairman"
shcrey Succeeds Williams
Director General Hines, I'm making
public the action OF the railway ex-
ecutlves, also announced the appoint
ment ~ former Representative swagar
Sherley, uf Kentucky, TO succeed John
SHELTON Willlams, Controller of the
Currency. ns director Of the division
OF finance and purchases Of the United
statea Railroad Administration. An
nouncement Of the resignation of MIR
Williams was made Sunday night.
further meeting between Mr.
Hines and the railroad executives to
work out details Of the financial ar
rangementa with take place here THUS
day Representatives. Of varioua lnrge
banking houses also will be called in
later in the week.
Tho first conference to day WAS held
al o'cloch, at which, besides Mr
Hines mud the railway executives, rep
teHentNliveH Of the War Finance Cor.
toiution were present After this meet
Ing Mr., llineA sHued the following
The Director Ceuerul'a statement
snid
"At the invitation of Walker u,
Hines, Director General Of Enlroads,
conference was held to day between
the Director General md "a group Of
Representatives railroad corporation
executives, members of the War fl~
nance Corporation and members Of
the adVsory finance committee OF the
Railroad Administration to discuss the
financial situation facing the Railroad
Admin strntion and the railroad cor
poratlons as u result Of failure Of
Congress 10 pass the $150,000.0o0 APP
preparation requested by the Railroad
Administration.
Needs Of Roads Summarized
In order to get the problem before
the conference, the Director General
outlined the situation as Follows:
amount needed up to June 30,
1919:
"For interest and other corporate
requirements Of the railroad cor
porations, $l66,O66 TO-
"To meet amounts due equipment
companies by tho Railroad Admins
trauon, 9IS3,6sl.9G5.
"To pay for indispensable addi-
tons and bcttcrments, including
equipment ordered by railroad COM
panies, $IlS,O0O .O0O
ITO meet maturtics of The rail
road corporations, $l00 94S,9G5.
TO meet excess of cash require
ments to pay current vouchers over
the probable receipts UP to March
81, 1919, l91,0O0,0O0
"To bring cash balances in hands
of Federal treasurers up to $780,
100000, which is the normal require
rent for one month. $4,000 900.
"Total $7Ol 697,692
1t was made clear that to a large
extent it viii be necessary for rail
roads to meet their requirements hy
obtaining loans from bankers, the re-
sources OF the War Finance Corpora
tion to be reserved to protect special
cases.
"Thc Director General and the con
ference generally proceeded on the
view that it was highly desirable tc
have the situation met through fnanc.
ing rather than by general suspension
Of work, which would have a deterrent
effect upon business generally
The Director General told the co.r
ference he was considering having the
railroad administration issue warrants
in q form which would serve as col
lateral
Eugene Meyer, jr~ managing drec
tor of the War Finance Corporation
said the corporation vas dcsirous O
doing everything possible to assist il
meeting the situation.
"a spirit of cooperation was evi
denccd by the railroad executives
through Howard Elliott. who anpcarc,
as acting chairman of the railroad ox
ccutlVo committee, and other railroad
corporation officials The conference,
have not yet been concluded"
" eah Roads To BE Helped
Following tho morning session th,
railway executives went into confer
once by thomsclvcs and adopted the req
0lutiOn promising cooperation. while
no details of the financing arrange
mcnts have been worked out, it s said
the general scheme ns hcretofor,
stated in The Tribune is to have thc
stronger roads borrow directly from
the banks, while the weaker properties
will be financed by the War Finance
AbIDpTNlltll.
The proposal Of the Director Genera
to issue TO the roads Federal warrants
not only would furnish them necessary
collateral at the banks, but would meet
1t is said, one Of the difficulties stand
ing in the way Of the weaker road.
getting money from the War Financ,
Corporation.
Several Of the railway executives n
to-days conference are said to hav,
expressed the belief that the casos
way out OF The difficulty would be TO,
the government to turn the roads bacl
to their owners at once, but "a fn
as could be learned no effort WA.
made to require Of the railroad nd
ministration as part Of the agree
ment definite stipulation as 10 tn,
date for return Of the properties
After the resolution had beer
adopted by the executives, Mr.. Hine
was called in and, after further dis
cussion behind closed doors, approve,
the proposal to name the committee
1t was subsequently announced by MI
Illness Office that the Director Gen
eral had "eXpressed his gratihcatio,
yer the attitude adopted by the OK
ecutives, adding that he was yer,
happy to have the committee to CO
operate with the railroad administra
ton
Sherlcy Expert on Finance
Mr. Sherlcy, who succeeds Mr.. win
lams as director of the division Of fin