Evening star., 1921-11-27

| ing ss.75 per hundred pounds. The
| proper rate for the poles in the rough
| was $1O5 per hundred pounds. but the
railroad insists on billing as the goods
were listed. and so presents Dill Iol
$4334.S0, instead of the proper com
,, mercial rate of $3.50. In view OF tne
use of land-grant railroads over part
! of the route (Which. in consideration
| of land given by the government To
aid the building of the roads, are
bound to allow half rates on all gov
ernuent shipments) the actuai freie nt
bill on those poles should pc oniy
about 1925 or $375. instead of $4,33i,
vet it will require an appeal to the
Interstate Commerce Commission u
get justice in that case.
Government Is "Stung."
There have been shrewd, unpatriotic
and unfair determinations against the
government, in making classif1cations
and rates SO that shipments by the
government cost more than similar
shipments by corporations. Commodl-
| ties that only the government ever
ships get unfairly high rates. For
example. armor plate is not rated as
| cial classified ton, considerably higher,
while ship plate, practically the same
kind of commodity, but shipped by the
] steel corporations, has lower rating.
Steel helmets cannot be shipped as
carloads of steel, but go hrst-ciass as
| hats or caps" no matter If they occu-
py several cars; steel helmets are both
heavy and bulky. in proportion to
their value, and are not easily dam
aged in shipment.
! Undoubtedly, such a federal traf-
| fic board could have aided greatly in
! the traffic problems of the war; 1t
I might have saved hundreds of mil
! ILL ol n
1918. when. because of the wars ex-
igencies. the government traffic ap-
preached billion dollars, and espe-
| cially when expert management OF
the traffic was so vital to expedition
| in meeting the needs of the war. IL
| will be of unmeasurable value in the
near future in connection with the
i extraordinary marketing OF the GOV
| ernment's surplus supplies, variouSiy
| estimated at between one ana nVe
billion dollars, in all kinds of mer-
chandise. which is to be sold to the
J public throughout the country.
Made Worse by War.
| Such a condition of chaotic waste
| in government traffic has been known
to many for years; it has been grow
ing through the decades. but not
until the world war did it become OF
| such serious proportions. Prior to
! the war the governments traff1c was
| about s60,o0O.00O "a year: During
1918 il ran up to about 100000, 900
and since the war it is estimated to
-be from $200,000,00O to $350,0O0,00O
There is no method of exact account
| ing-nobody knows how much 1t Is.
| There is deputy disbursing om-
Ger in the Department of Commerce
to whose desk come the rtaftic &C
( counts of that department. He is
| N M. Potts, formerly railroad train
dispatcher and traffic expert. Mr.
Potts has long studied the traf.
| fic abuses, as they appeared te
him, in his disbursements. He ant
John w. Kean of the Navy Depart
| ment evolved plan in 1912 for the
| organizat ton of an interdepartmental
| TRANSPORTATION committee. composed
/ of a representative from each de.
partment and Independent unit of the
government. The project was pre-.
sented by these two men to the act
ing secretary of the Navy, Franklin
| ID. Roosevelt, in 1912, in the tenn
porary absence Of Secretary Daniels
and received his hearty approval
| Mr.. Roosevelt promptly issued a cir
cular to the secretaries Of all de.
| partments, asking their views. and
\ the plan received unanimous sane.
ton: The committee was appointed
Mr.. Kean became its chairman and
Mr.. Potts it's first secretary, from
! 1912 TO 1914; then Mr.. Potts served
as chairman from 1914 to 1913
| This committee. however. had only