Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-03-12
PLANS LAID TO
 FINANCE R. R'S,
 THROUGH LOANS
Will Borrow Funds Con
 gress Failed to Provide.
ELECT ELLIOTT HEAD
 OF FINANCE BOARD
Administration May iSSue Govern. m"nt Warrants for Amount
 Due.

Washineton. March 11.-Railroad executives and government represen- tatives today laid the foundation for the machinery through which loans on banks and the war finance corpora tion will be made available to rail- i roads during the next few months in lieu of the funds which congress fail l ed to provide.
 After conferences between a num- Der of leading railway corporation officials and officials of the war fi- , nance corporation, and railroad ad- 1 ministratiOn, special finance con- mttee of seven headed by Howard Elliott president of the Northern Pa | clfic, was created by the railroad ex- | ecutives to cooperate with govern
 ment agencies as a clearing house
 for financial arrangements. Sherley Made Director. Swagar Sherley of Louisville. who has just retired after serving It years in the house of representatives | recently as chairman of the house l appropriations committee, was ap- pointed by Director General Hines
 as director of the railroad admins l trations division of finance, succeed 1 ing John Skelton Williams, resigned. | On Mr Sherley, who will take office April 15, will fa much of the work of administering the financial plans
 yet to be developed
 1 An important feature of the finan- eial arrangements to be made may 1 be the issuance ,bv the railroad ad-
 ministraton of government warrants 1 for the amounts due on settlements l of last years accounts and other debts. These warrants, virtually certificates of indebtedness, would
 not be cashed until congress appro- 1 priates funds at the next session, but would serve as collateral for loans. 1 The loans would be arranged by 1 each railroad company individually 1 with it's bankers. or in special cases with the war finance corporation. The railroad executives specia com mittee together with the railroad | administrators financial agencies. 1 would facilitate the negotiations and 1 distributor of these loans. Compan-
 es whose financial strength was not l great might be helped by the rail-
 road administration which will get some funds through repayment by l railroads of advances already made 10 them.
 Hines Outlines Plans. ! These plans were outlined today 1 by Director General Hines and the 1 railway executives, but it was em- ! phasized that final plans remain to ! be made.
 1 Railroad administration and war finance corporation officials will
 confer tomorrow with Secretary
 Glass of the treasury and Thursday
 Mir. Hines will discuss the financial
 situation with railroad car and lo- comotive builders and with the exe-
 cutives' committee
 l Although no bankers participated 1 directly in the conference today, they will be consulted informally. A
 number of prominent bankers were
 here during the day to confer private
 ly with railroad heads. ~
 Every effort will be made by the
 government agencies to encourage
 bankers to take up most of the loans
 required. At the same time, the rail-
 road administration will try to es-
 tablish large degree of uniformity
 in interest rates.
 Secretary Glass at the conference tomorrow is expected to emphasize
 the desire of the treasury to keep
 railroad securities off the market un-
 til after the Victory Liberty Loan, :, which probably will close May 10. This can be done through negotiat-
 ing short term bank loans.
 Need 200 Billion