Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-11
Freedom of X. RS
Mdy Be Restored

issue in Iowa. upon which the anti.
machine candidate. Mr.. Brookhart, may
be carried through to victory.
If any one thing will cause the Re.
publicans to lose the House next fall
it will be the Esch -Cummins law. and
the failure to reduce freight rates.
No Clear Case Tor Reduction
There is not clear case for rate
reductions upon the basis of present
railroad earnings. 1t is true that
the financial showing for the roads was
better in March than for a long time.
The Glass roads reported average
earnings Of 5.S per cent. certainly
not an excessive amount. The eastern
district lines showed rs per cent. the
southern lines 4.09 per cent, and the
western lines 4.12 per cent.
But even if the figures were much
better than ihs. il would be hard
to justify rate reductions upon them
March was an exceptional month. And
not be sustained. At any rate, 1t has
not lasted long enough so that one
may safely predict Il boom In railroad
earnings.
So the policy. question arises. Is
the present policy Of fixing rates JUS
titled! Would not lower rates stim-
ulate business and bring the railroads
larger return? Would not the re-
mOval of present restrictions upon
railroad enterprise improve their earn.
ing capacity and thus make lower
rates possible?
1t is cheerfully predicted here that
he railroad presidents gathered in con :
ference will cut rates themselves. But
dispatches from railroad ccntcrs throw
some doubt on this.
May Lift Restrictions
Virtually the problem comes down to
this: vii the Administration be able
TO offer the railrond presidents such a
lifting of the restrictions which the
I law has imposed upon them that they
Will OF their own accord, cut the rates
which the 1ntcrstaatc Commerce Com.
mission is too divided Ia cut?
You hear. for example. tho question
raised whether it would not be we'll to
lift the prohibition against railroads
owning steamship lines and making
combination land and water rates to
stimulate business. The Government
has ships to sell and perhaps might sell
An illustration, tho importance Of
owning steamship lines used TO have
for the railroads is found In the his.
tory of james J. Hill. When he built
railroads into the Northwest not
enough people lived there. 80 TINT his
lines had freight to carry west. The
timber and grain Of the West his lines
cnrriel east. but on the way west the
freight cars We're nearly empty.
To meet this situation Mr.. Hill built
Il line Of steamships to the Orient and
made n combination freight rate over
his railroads and on his ships from
Chicago to Japan and China. This rate
wnS low enough to insure business, but
it paid better than hauling empty freight
cars westward.
Freedom Taken Away
| All freedom Of that kind now has
! been taken away from the railroads by
regulation. Rates have to be treated as
IL whole, Special situations cannot be
met.
Behind the calling of the conference
lies the hope that in some degree there
can be restored to the railroad man
ayers liberty to exercise their brains IN
building up business and thus cutting
their costs and that the railroads vii
pay for freedom by cutting rates.
But though it is rnsy enough to rer0g
nize that regulation has brought IL
many evils in its train as 1t has cured
it is not easy to reverse the whole ten,
dcncy of the last two decades.
There is Congress to be dealt with
Most Of the restrictions upon railroa,
enterprise have been the result Of lcgi"'
linton and this years. experience ha
urOypd thut il is difIicult TO nut through
Congress any relief for the roads.
Then. too, the railroads themsclvc
have NOT been able to agree upon an.
policy with respect to rate reduction
The weaker roads pull one way and th
stronger roads another.
The division in the Interstate Com
ncrcc Commission Is typical. There /
no unity in Congress nor among th
roads Themselves. If Il policy evolve
from the conference, il will be an un
expected achievement.