Arizona republican., 1920-04-03
SUGGESTIONS MADE AT l. |. |. HEARING
 TOLD BY OFFICIAL

steps urged by western representa- tiVes toward making the Pacific and intermountain country into a separa te oistrlct for rate making, at the rate making hearing held by the interstate commerce. commission in Washington, March 22, g and "A, were related yes- teroay by ID. F. Johnson, rate expert of the state corporation commission, who attended the hearing with Commis- sioher F. A. Jones. MT. Johnson re- .ui fed nome yesterday, and Mir. Jones Is expected to arrive today.
 The gathering was probably the largest ever held before the commits slon, MT. Johnson said. The main question was on how the commission snail administer the rate-making sec uon Of the new transportation law.
 At the hearing H. w. Prickett. repre- senting the Salt Lake Commercial club and the Utah Traffic Service urged that the western classification terri tory be divided. putting the Pacific coast and intermountain country into a oivision of its own. Mir. Prickett submitted elaborate tables to show that tpis part of the territory has a greater
 Fal1ic density and a better per-car revenue than the eastern half of the western classified ton territory, and de- clared that the intermountain district could stand by itself as a district in ex- isfing rates and give the railroads what the law requires.
 Mir. Prickett's stand was endorsed by commissioner Jones of the Arizona corporation commission. speaking also TOT the New Mexico commission
 Commissioner Jones also declared the suggestion to use the book value of the carrier as the valuation basis to determine returns under the law guar anteeing the roads a fixed minimum return, was ludicrous. The Arizona commission. he said, had had occasion to analyze the property investment ac- counts of important carriers in the state<and had found the accounts were greatly inflated.
 NIT. Jones said the transcontinental part of the western classification ter ritory could stand as a separate group on existing rates, and upon being asked by Interstate Commerce Commissioner Aitchison if he could make a state a group, replied that it could be done and that possibly it would.
 George N. Brown of the Texas Indus trial Traffic league told the commission the suggestion that the three classified tion territories be used as groups was the best that could be made. The | grouping. he said. was not to be per | manent, the law authorizes the com | mission to revise it's work from time | to time. He said he found no warrant in the law to separate the sheep from | the goats by putting the prosperous |
  into another, and that there would be | burden enough to go around.
 The railroad security owners were | at the hearing by $. Davies | Warfield. president of their organiza tion, and Fornay Johnston, wno had | much to do with the formulating of the sixth section of the Cummins bill i which became the foundation on which . congress built the rate-nlal<ing section 1 of the new railroad measure The rail- way executives were represented by Alfred P. Thom, C. J. RiXey and R. r. Bush, and the short lines by Bird Rob- inson. president of the American Short Line Railroad association Mir Thom stated the commission should consider all the principal elementsFof of value un- der the law to determine the aggregate value of the roads. and that it should consider all available data.
 Mr. Johnson said yesterday that he did not expect the interstate commerce to make a ruling before He said that indications pointed toward an increase in rates.