Norwich bulletin., 1920-03-22
BETTER RAiRoAp SERVICE
 COUNTS FOR CONNECTICUT

AO1lASCt4Cul <1AQ 1SeW EQklanQ gem orally are Interested and will be ben eitted by the new railroad law in the proportion in which the railroads are increased as a national transportation machine, says Representative Schuy- Ter Merritt, who was on the congress sional committee on interstate com merce.
 Representative Merritt has pre- sented the following statement for the Manufacturers Association of Con- , necticut:
 Tt is difficult for anyone who did not serve on the Committee on Inter state and Foreign Commerce to ap- | preciate the conlpiexity and variety of l the interests involved to every one of which the committee desired to do 1 justice and yet it often happened that | what seemed to be justice to one in- terest would work injustice to anoth- ed. This state of facts necessitated 1 compromises in many details of the l the conclusion that the basis for all
 railway legislation must be. not pri- Harily the interests of the railways l not of their SA9urity holders, nor of the shippers, considered as separate classes. The only sure foundation on which a proper bill could be built was to consider railways and water car
 riers as part of great national transportation machine machine and to legislate so that that machine could be made efficient at the present time and so that means could be afforded l to increase the capacity of the ma
 chine to meet the constantly expand
 ing demands upon 1t. All the great
 features of the bill as to regulation by
 the Interstate Commerce Commission
 the matter of finance, and finally the supreme matters of rates and of la
 boz: were drawn with the above end in view. It needs no argument te conyihce the intelligent manufacturers of Connecticut that prompt and eff
 l cient service Is more essential to theil prosperity than unduly low rates , Sufficient object lessons have beer 1 given them during the past two ol ! three years to show the cost of de. lays, embargoess shortage of fuel anC shortage of material and to demon strate that no possible freight rate could be so expensive as an in eff ? lcient transportation machine.
 "New England is a great worl , fshop and must import It's rnw ma ! I teriais for manufacture and a larg , part of it's food for operatives. Tt is in effect a great railwa, . terminal. and it is essential to al manufacturing and mercsptile inte !, rests that the efforts of the railway : to get loaded freight cars in. and tn . unleaded. cars away promptly shoul be seconded by manufacturers wit |, their besteooperation and efforts. Espeefaily In this time of trans IA ition, when the ordinary difficulties Y management are complicated by spe "A cial difficulties due to necessary re " adjustments and to the efforts of a D the railroads to get back their ow
 rolling stock, the utmost forbearant v should be shown to the roads and z y little as possible should be added 1 ,a their troubles and endorsements [
 mtnnr claims and minor disputes ovl ,t matters which could well be passt .h by and which will in time core ar themselves.
 rr- Our own great Nef Haven syste s has been and is still suffering f t- the sins and r1istakes of former maj w cement. This $ only another reast d for. good will and cooperation wi ', the prara~ -~t which 1- wing to correct the results oe tho C. errors s.Ae operatl'
 d of the roads under existing law c; e. only result finally in governme n- management. Anything more d tv structive to efficiency, to che
 transportation. or more corrupting he frailway management and the countl e. or menaeing to the very censtituti as itself, cannot imagine