Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1921-11-07
RATE CUT
BLUFF IS
CALLED
r;llianls Calls :! Upon
gllilrl,aad gpllliIroads To Make
saod eala5 On Promised
Reductions i

..,ring the good faith OF
QusSs,d Q,sroads in the oft repeated
t1s lan .anements of rate reductions ;
snn0ui'ene ,'era never yet materialized
Ehlsp 4 Williams. chairman ,l. Of the
frsa f., e nnblic service commission
0res0n Iotter addressed to the. va
- roads operating in oregon
.sIIs llg1' upon them to back up up ,he,l tnl
ea,,S CAM i announcement Of good n
recent 4,a,s bv actual reduction on
tsn'.uas .u'hstantial commodities af-
sus.ing ~ this territory.
'SS1lrI Williams letter further demands den alnoa
~, - further proof of their good
.D.a,t;ons .nas Il the railroads LAY pez
inlsAt m mo shipping public the full
l0ls s0sr % and extent to which such
n.oassds luaa will remove the blanket
PIE i'.v centage increases added dur
E, Isr the past two or three years"
'"9 - would be pleasing as an evi.
80 If good faith that you, OF
uo so,,r own initiative, take the sew
.Oty heaviest moving commodities,
G s..h state and interstate, and, by
.So same process as you added
soriyontal increases, at a single
stroFe. Iy apply corresponding reduc-
.ioOs" Williams declares in put
linz the matter squarely up to the
sarriarsto sp make good on their oft
saoaated and widely heralded
nromises Of rate reductions.
Calling attention to the fact
that the general increases in rates
applied during the war were uni
tormly applied countrywide,
Williams declares that "the meth
ods thus far employed in these
necessary reductions are such as
"a largely defeat the restoration of
tbe pre-war relationships which
characterized the rates on which
many Of our industries have been
established and developed, espe-
eially livestock"
'In keeping with this thought
we have noticed considerable
newspaper publicity recently de-
voted to proposed rate reductions
at the instance Of the carriers, al
though, upon closer examination
and final analysis it appears that
they are Of such a character as toI
prove decidedly misleading and
that If such press advices are tol
be fully accredited the matter of
reductions on commodities of ex-
iensiye production and heavy ship
ments in large quantities have stu
dlously or inadvertently been
avoided, 2
When the matter Of increases
tOithe carriers were being consid- |
cred there was no hesitation as to
theiE blanket application and the
contention made that all commodf- |
ties should be raised uniformly"
Williams filings at the carriers. |
NOW" however, he points out, |
N4...I
when 1t comes to the matter of |
reductions to conform to other re-
duced prices generally, it is plain
~ 10 De seen that the gigantic un-
aertaking as pictured by the rail-
roads is deferred through inter
carrier sQuabblings and chickering's |
rs 10 what rates should or should
not be reduced"
In this we invariably note that
majority of the items singled out !.
lor % per cent cuts are either
united in effect or relatively of
l'.le Importance from the stand
'olnt OF production and movement
. affecting the Pacific coast"
,s p far, Williams declares, the
atorts of the carriers nave been
OnIlned to making a noise about
aye reductions without as vet nro-
uelng . any visible results of any
Material benefit to the sb;n
Onsumer. u