Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-05-24

.,Sommended that rates in the eastern
s3Sroup of roads be increased 30.4 per
ssffcent, those in the south 800 and those
IN the western group 23.9 per cent.
Method of fixing the valuation OF
kthe railroad properties on which the
government guarantee will be based
s5Will be one question threshed out. All
ganterested parties will be given an
opportunity to present their claims.
s Elliott Makes Report.
Washington, May 24.-1ncreases in
eastern territory, 30.95 per cent in
southern, and 1891 per cent in west
ern, Ito meet the difference between
the = per cent return on property
investments permitted under the
! transportation act, and that nece ssary
to put the railroads on sound finan-
cial footing,". were advocated today
by Howard Elliott, chairman Of the
subcommittee of the,generai rate conf
nittee of the Association of Railway
Executives, in a statement before the
interstate, commerce commission.
Mr.. Elliott pointed out that in the
east railroads for the year ending Oc-
ments less than one fifth of one per
cent" ,.In the south, he said. the re-
turns were less than three-fourths of
one per cent and In the west, slight
ly more than two per cent. For the
country as a whole the return was
said to have been slightly more than
one per cent.
Z Under the conditions of private
ownership and operations of railroads,
with governmental regulation, pro-
lection and encouragement" Mr.. El-
liott said, "the railroads must OBJ
tain earnings enough to meet all OBJ
legations and have sufficient credit
to @~&in them in competition with
other forms of. industry into which
and money" S#t<aaSs sT,ls w
= Must Meet Demands .
Under the new Transports act.
he said. the two pressing 3qaestiohs
being considered by MF interstate.
commerce commission and II ties labor
board, are the request or wagf in :
creases exceeding Is / 90 y 600, ,e0A a
+Near, and an adj a II tioatal s or, S,og0,
nesdessShy the rslsr.,ads 10 IN cet the
andiaal sum for dixidehds and in,r,
Nj: Elliatts.deelared New England
and Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New
York. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois sand
Michigan were in great need Eof i'm
proved transportation facilities. 9th.
err sections notably that south of the
. quire large additions" to keep pace
with the growth Of population and
industry.
Now there is congestion and diff
Guilty everywhere" said Mr.. Elliott:
Fuel. building materials and raw
materials for, manufacture are tied up
and industry is threatened and the
sluggish. movement of grain and food
of all kinds makes the feeding of our
people more difficult and more cost
ly." n
Want Fair Adjustment.
Mr.. Elliott declared that the rail
road operators were just as desirous
of obtaining fair adjustment of
wages for their 100000 or more men
as they were to receive the increased
revenues.
In justifica ton of the railroads
position. he said that the. price of
transportation had not increased near
" as much as the cost of production.
Expenses had gone up at least 100
per cent. while the revenues had in
creased less than 40 per cent. He
pointed out that rates in the United
States had not been raised nearly as
much as in European countries
"The new transportation act" said
Mr.. Elliott, Gin fixing the rate Of re-
turn at SIX and per cent for a two
year period might have been sufficient
in the past but is wholly inadequate
to meet the present situation. The
cost of new capital in the United
States to-day, as is well known. is in
excess of z per cent -
LIN expressing the desire of the rail-
roads to help the labor board and the
interstate commerce commission in
reaching fair and equitable conclu-
sions, Mr. Elliott said that the Off
GERS Of the companies .'as quasi pub
Tic servants, realize their RESPONSE
bility to do their part in adjusting
rightly the two $1,000. 100000 ques-
tions now before both bodies. They
desire to obtain promptly an adjust
ment ,of rates that. would meet the
letter and spirit of the new law, make
the railroads self-sustaining and re-
lieye the treasury from the necessity
of constant appropriations. He said
that the Association of Railroad Elk
rcutives is ready and anxious to do
its part in reaching without confusion
or delay "and settlement-lo of the
major questions of furnishing ade-4
quate transportation in keeping with
the magnitude Of the United States"
Await Developments.
Washington, May 24.-Events OF
the next few months or weeks will
determine whether government owns
ershipS OF railroads will come again
despite popular position-Frederick
Strauss Of New York today warned
the interstate commerce commission.
contending that the main thing at
present is to establish feeling Of se-S
,curity In the minds of investors Mr.
Strauss appeared before the commis-