New Britain herald., 1919-01-09

ture, which will provide sufficient re- l venues and create sufficient credit to i accomplish these purposes"
 l To this end said Mr. Cuyler, "pri- l vate ownership, mana cement and , operation of the Aulerican railroads i should. as a matter of national policy 1 be continued,
 ] In Governments Hands. ] The power of regulation of the in- l 3trumentalities of interstate commerce 1 as to all things substantially affect i ing them. including all rates. state i and interstate should be exclusively 1 in the hands of the national govern ! ment. State commissions should not ! be interfered with by the federal act ] except far as necessary to carry ] out the purposes herein mentioned. The interstate commerce commits ! sion should act as a uuaS-judiCial l body clothed with authority to pass 1 upon all questions concerning the reasona hleness and adequacy of rates ] and concerning discriminatiOns. No new or branch lines of rail road or large and expensive terminals 1 should be constructed unless a certi- i ficate of public convenience and neces- | sltN is first obtained from the Secre- 1 tary of transportation. The executive l and administrative functions of the ] interstate commerce commission eX- 1 cept as to accounting and as to federal i valuation of railroad properties should 1 be transferred to the secretary of 1 transportation.
 'Tha carriers should have the pow ] CT to initiate rates. schedules of ] which should be filed with the inter- 1 state commerce commission with the [ ! the state commissions in which the ! rates are applicable"
 1 The secretary of transportation 1 might approve the rates. let them go ] into effect without approval or sus- pend them and refer them to the in tcrstatc commerce cOmmis ion for de- termination The commission might also hear complaints by shippers or others, and have authority to pre- scribe minimum as well as maximum rates.
 Wants Reasonable Rates. MT. Cuyler's statement specified that the statute itself should pro- vide the rule. of rate making, and should require that rates be not only what has been called reasonable. but adequate and sufficient to enable the C3rrlGGS to prON1Qe Salo, allU sufficient service, to protect existing 1 investm ent and to attract the new l capital necessary in the public inter | est.
 It was declared further that "the
 statute should provide that existing 1 rates put into effect by the director l general of railroads, should be con- ! tinued in effect until changed by the l interstate commerce commission as l provided by law or through initia- 1 tion of new rates by roads Express rates should be dealt with in the | same manner as freight rates. Regional federal rate tribunals, said Mr. Cuyler, might be created in
 this manner: The interstate com-
 merce commission should divide the United States into a number of re- gions for each of which the president should appoint q regional commission
 which should be a board of primary
 jurisdiction, consisting of one mem
 Der for each state in the region. The
 regional commissions should have au-
 thority to determine all complaints
 and to report to the interstate com
 merce commission. If no objection is
 made to the interstate commerce
 commission within a limited time and
 the commission does not Cvtrrule the
 lower tribunal the oruers and findings
 of the regional commissiCrs should
 automatically go into effect.
 Funding Roads Indebtedness.
 The railroad executives plan pro- 1
 vid es for federal incorporation of in ]
 terstatc carriers for government su- !
 perNision of security issues, and for ]
 funding by the government of rail- 1
 road indebtedness growing out of fed |
 eral contlo during the war.
 Broad supervisory powers should 1 be granted the secretary of transporta-
 ton, said MT. Cuyler. These would ] include authority to require re-rOut- 1 ing of traffic to prevent or eliminate
 congestion, 10 require common use ] of terminals, to compel complete uni l
 fication in war times or other periods l
 of national emergency, to require l
 roads to distribute cars among pa
 irons fairly and to other roads to pro- ]
 vide for proper movement of traffic. |
 Mergers or consultations, inter-c com l
 pany agreements on rates or practice, l
 earnings in connection with elimlna- ]
 ton of unnecessary train service, l
 should be subject to his approval, ac- l
 cor ling to the railI Oad plan. The in |
 tCrstate commerce. CT mmissiOn would i
 receive appeals in case of disagree
 ment between a road and the sccre-