New-York tribune., 1919-01-15
Entire Abnormal Cost of
improvements Charged to
Carriers, He A sscrts
tive-Year Plan Protested
commissioners Woolley En-
plains Advantages of the
New Mileage Schedules
New fork Tribuo :
|lusIinUfon Bul-,u

the government has used the credit Of
the railroads Of the country to spare
Its own purse, Alfred p. Thom, general
counsel for the Association of Railway
Executives, to-day pleaded with the
senate Interstate Commerce Committee
not to approve the McAdoo proposal
Tor tive-ycar extension Of government
control.
Coniending that Congress, in ,hc
creation of tho government revolving
fund of $500, 900 ,0O0 had intended that
the government should assume d pro-
portion of the emergency costs of
equipment demanded by the war, Mir.
nom declared it had been the policy
of Director General McAdoo TO saddle
all the costs on the roads
because of the annormally high
charges for all materials and labor
Mr., Thorn said the actual value Of the
$l,l13,00O,000 programme Of better
ments and extensions, by the time the
roads are turned back to their owners,
would be not more than third of that
sum. Only in opposition to the manner
or placing that entire cost on the roads,
SAID Mr.. Thorh, had the railroad cxecu-
tlves departed in the slightest degree
from policy of full and free coopera-
ton with the railroad administration.
Contract Cited as Unfair
He appealed against five-year period
under which this power to administer
the credits OF the roads might be CON
tnucd, and he read from contracts be :
tween the railroad administration and
the roads under which, in any future
adjustments, no consideration shall be
given to the abnormal nature Of the
costs during the war period but such
costs shall be regarded as making up
the fair value OF the improvements.
The committee completed its exami-
nation of Robert W. Woollcy, the only
commissioner favoling the McAdoo
proposal, and then proceeded to hear
Mr.. Thom. The programme of the exec
utlvcs is to place julius Kruttschnitt,
/ Of the Union Pacific, on the stand fol-
/ lowing Mr.. Thorn. whose examination
! will be continued Tomorrow 1t is
probable, however, that before the
executives have finished tcstifying,
Walker y. Hines, who succeeded Mr..
NcAdoo as director general, will be
called to discuss the mileage basis of
late making which Commissioned
Woolley said the railroad administra-
ton contemplated adopting
Short HauIs 20 Govern
During his testimony to-day, Com
missioner Woolley said under his mile
age plan the rates on all railroads be-
tween such competitive points as New
ork and Chicago, for example, would
be fixed on the basis Of the mileage Of
the shortest line, that of the Penn
: sylvania railroad. This, however
would presuppose continued govern
ment operation he said, permitting the
government, while charging shippers
ON all lines the same, to route slow
moving freight by the longest hauls
and perishable goods and high grade
traffic by the shortest hauls
He admitted he had not attempted
to work out any sample schedules on
this basis to show the net result to
shippers and the public in on?parison
with the effects of the present rate
structure. but promised Senator Nc
Lean. of Connecticut, to work out a
Tow and submit them later.
He also admitted he did not claim
to be "infallibie" and if the committee
had better system of rate making to
suggest, he would gladly support it,
81 may" he said, 'be entirely wrong
III my reaSOning.'
CuNler Programme lndorscd
On taking the stand Mr. Thorn read a
letter from the Western Association Of
Short Line Railroads indorsing the plan
submitted to the committee by T. De-
witt Cuyler, chairman of the Associa-
ton of Railway Executives. concerning
the time and manner of returning the
dc 10, nnir
the proposal for q Secretary of Trans
portation to take over the administers
tive and executive functions Of the In
terstate Commerce Comm ssiOn
Mr.. Thorn had no prepared statement
to read to the committee. He said:
"At the very outset | will venture to
say a word IN reply to what has been
said as to lack of cooperation on the
part of the railroad executives in their
dealings with the railroad admnistra-
ton. If there has been any lack of CO.
operation on our part we have not
known of it, for it would he in entire
violation of the spirit of our policy and
our Instructions The record of tho ex-
ccutives from April II. 1917. when they
were called TO Washington by the gov
ernmcnt and asked to bend their cf-
forts to an organization of railroad op-
Grafton for war purposes, has been one
of patience, dignity and cooperation.
Roads Waived All Complaint
"You have seen no complaints from
us, and lave witnessed no agitation
originating with the railroads. Y ou have
had no approaches from executives
seeking to throw obstacles IN the way
cf the government. In less than five
hours after the executives net in
Washington on April IL, 1917, at the
call of She government, they had sub
merged every individual interest to the
supreme and national task of winning
the war.
$50 far as I individually know. the
one subject upon which there has been
any decided disagreement between the
railroad executives and the railroad
administration has been in the matter
Of allocntion of equipment purchased
by the government for the account of
the railroads. We believe we owe it
to The nto rests we represent and to
the public to express in quiet, careful
and digniiicd manner our objections
to what has been the governments
policy ir this respect.
"The government, on taking over the
railroads, did not only take over the
physical property Of the roads, nor has
it merely been using the rails, engines,
cars and terminal facilities. IT. has
been using in addition the credit Of
the railroads. Assuming it had the
right to do this for the purposes of
the war, we will accept this use as hav-
ing been legitimate and necessary, but