The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-03-21
WARF|ELD'S PLAN FOR REDEEMING
 RAILROADS WILL
 GO ID CUMM|NS
Railroad Security Owners Work Out System to Save Lines From Government.
 Strict Regulation Urged
 By Group Boards
By Associated Press

By Associated Press
 Washington, March 20.-Co-ordina- ton of the facilities and service of the railroads of the country under strict government supervision is pro- posed by the National Association of Owners of Railroad Securities as way out of the present transportation crisis.
 The plan will be submitted tomor- TOW to Chairman Cummins of the Senate interstate commerce committee and s. Davies Warfield, president of the association, announced today that representatives of his. organization would appear later before that com mittee to urge it's adoption.
 MT. Warfield says the plan will in- sure annual savings of millions of dollars. increase facilities and service and lower railroad fares and rates. He adds that American transportation has outgrown the system under which 1t now operates and warns that the S-Ne%S drastic measures on the,r part will save them from being swallowed up in the Generalization tnas government operation and after-war readjustmenr has brought upon them"
 NO ALTERNATIVE
 "Unless intensive economical
 methods in raiIroac ndministra-
 tion are adopted" Re continues,
 "there is no alternative but gov-
 ernment operation, followed by
 government ownership, although
 the country has given overwheIm-
 ing evidence of being opposed
 to it.,
 The proposed plan is supplemental to provisions of the transportation act permitting regional consoIida tions of physical properties by ,ne interstate commerce commission. Certain consoh- dations of railroads are necessary Mr Warfield says, but an emergency now exists and the public is entitled to more immediate and substantial bene- Tits than can be dersvea from the great physical consultations of rail- road properties.'
 The proposed coordination would he brought about through national railroad service to be organized by an Ict of Congress and whfcn also .woul0 oe an agency to purchase cars and
 
 me railroads without proxit
 The interstate commerce commission would select five of it's members who would constitute the service diyision of the national organization. This d. vlslon would have supervision and in- itlatory and regulatory powers to be exercised through the board of the na tlonal railway service
 The board would be composed of 40 \ members, subdivided into two diyi- slons, finance and administrative and railroad officials of 20 members each. Subordinate to the board would be TOUT group railway boaros one in each or the four rate territories into which the committee has dlvsceo the coun- try, eastern, southern, western and mountain-Pacific. Eacn poard would consist of seven members, five to be selected by the railroads or each group and two from the shippers located in each group territory. The 20 railway officials serving on these four boards would serve as the railway officials. division of the national board. Cooperating with the group boards would De ID committees each, selected from the railroads of eacn group
 These committees would cover a large range of investigation and re- port including the normal equipment Iequlrements Of each railroad: addi- | tlonal equipment to be leased from the national railway service; standardiza- tlon Of equipment; use.ess expendi- lures incident to compe,,tfon: a studv | of joint use of termina;s, yards and | shop facilities; surplus property not 1 required Tn legitimate transportation. cost of carrying; purchase of fuel ana | supplies; application of standard of | efficiency in railroad operations. work Ing conditions, wages ana the like.
 The national railway service cor | poration recently orean:zed Nv tha | Association of Security Owners to fur | nish equipment to the carriers by con- ditlonal sale or lease would be super- | ceded by the national railway service | with extended powers For financing | and leasing equipment The 20 trus- | tees of the present service corpora | ton would serve as the finance and ad- | minlstrative division of the board
 EXCESS EARNINGS
 The excess earnings created under the transportation act would be used Tn connection with the sale of trust | certificates of the national railway | service to provide for the purchase of | 1reignt cars and equipment for the | railroads under the plan proposed | equipment would be leased by tho ! service to the roads to meet seasonal r1quIIements and thus used at diff nerent times on different railroads.
 "Fhe savings in this method of
 handling equipment would be very
 great,' snys MT. WarxleId. .orhe
 rental cost to the railroads would
 De gradually cut down and rail-
 road rates correspondingly low
 ered.-
 Discussing the proposed regional Warfield says troublesome question arises in connection wftn the possible