Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-01-21
WV IN CONGRESS AT The
REQUEST OF RAILROADS

.ssssi,s before the Senate Com
-. Interstate and Foreign Com
lAi.ss r8aar F. Clark. chairman of
-. Interstate Commerce commission
Sselered that the Frelinghuysen biii
us..sss1uced at the request OF railroad
,assejsts aud supported by railroad
..stors absolutely defeats any Dene-
- nprposes of the transportation
ana The Clayton antitrust act.
~ transportation act, Mr.. Clark
e,,arantees the railroads re-
So ~ 6 per cent on a cost-plus basis,
-. mis- guarantee is predieated upon
" sssumntion that the railroads
~, u ,iva honest. efficient and eco
..,ssl management II the Freling-
I'm bill is adopted. he said. there
- ho no check 70 railroad rascaiity,
" no intimafed that in that event
lie nuhlie might be prepared Tor the
.ss,.nprion Of an enlarged scale OF
.,st5as manipnlation of contracts In
,ss Interest OF inside concerns.
= do not assume" testified Chair
.an clark. that all railroad officials
nra ne dishonest win not assume that
,,aforitv are dishonest. But we
kaow that a minority of officials, be
,bat minority large or small, nave
hsen guilty of criminal practices. and
they are today doing things That are
Satrimental 10 the public. IL this
bpl IS approved in its present form
,here will be no restraint upon them
and the puolie will be helpless in de-
tending itself from yenal transac-
tions.
Fer several years railroad managers
have been coming regularly TO Wash.
ingfon with the plea that the carriers
yera starved By severe restrictions.
and tbev urged this plea so earnestly
rnon congress that 1t was induced to
naks the most liberal provisions for
The maintenance of the transportation
agencies The Interstate Commerce
Commission was commanded to estab-
liab rates high enough to provide am
ple funds for operation and mainte-
nanee and over land above these
charges an income for dividend re-
ouirements of 6 per cent. No inter-
est ever before was treated so gen.
erously. The railroads had dared to
ask for the maximum and congress
had dared to give IT,
II was argued by opponents OF the
transportation bill that this provision
would invite and encourage waste and
graft. because the railroads., being
assured of their income, would have
no Incentive to be faithful to their
trust. No matter how much money
might be wasted, the public was TO
be forced TO pay freight rates that
would be sufficient to meet the re-
ourements OF the transportation act.
or course. the railroad heads denied
that anything of the sort would hap
pen They succeeded In creating a
prejudieed opinion against govern
ment ownership. and while the pub
lie was of guard got by with the
whole Of its exorbtant demands.
The railroads had not been back in
private hands three months when
manipulation Of contracts began, and
Il has progressed to a point where the
public is being MIXED" according to
Mr.. Lauek. to the tune of three-quar-
ters of billion dollars year ON two
items What the loss will amount to
on all items that enter railroad econo-
my cannot be calculated, With manip-
ulation and the incidental graft OF
printing, rail. tie and other accounts
still to be reckoned, the aggregate loss
to the public must attain staggering
proportions,
The logic of the situation Is that
private management of transportation
and honesty are incompatible. For
more than quarter of century and
until the last two years the trend OF
legislation has been in the direction
OF restricting opportunities for i'm
proper practices and explorations. Yet
IN all that time, despite multitude
OF laws and regulations, little II any
thing in the way of regeneration has
been accomplished. The railroads to-
day are doing the Identical things
that made transportation a byword
and reproach a score of years ago.