The Washington times., 1922-03-06
RAILROADS
FIGHT PLAN To
CONTROL CARS
Movement to Unity Authority
Over Freight Carriers Meets
Firm Opposition.
By WILLIAM HARD,
Coemopolitan News Service.

Railway Service Corporation the Of
fetal agency for financing and build
ing and distributing and supervising
all the freight cars Of the whole
country in so far as they are used In
interchange traffic between differ.
ent railroad companies. Thus the
big bulk Of the freight cars OF the
United States would pass under one
great centralized control.
Views on this subject have been
exchanged between Senator Capper.
leader of the farm bloc, and Walter
Fisher, ex.secretary Of the Interior,
now attorney for the National AS
ISOLATION Of Owners of Railroad Sc
curities.
Whether Senator Capper and Mr..
Fisher came to any harmonizing Of
their views is not known. 1t Is GER
tain. however, that the attack now
made on the railway executives by
the National Association Of Owners
Of Railroad Securities is the most
damaging attack that has ever been
made on their reputation for eff
cheney in railroad management. 1t
appears. according to the engineer
ing figures brought forward by the
National Association Of Owners Of
Railroad Securities, that at the very
time while the railroads have been
demanding higher rates they have
been wasting hundreds OF millions
Of dollars a year on practices con-
trary to common sense. The farm
bloc wants cheaper transportation.
The National Association Of Owners
Of Railroad Securities representing
$11 .000, ZOO. 900 of railway stocks and
bonds. wants better and cheaper
transportation methods. Thus there
Is a ground for alliance between
these two usually opposed groups.
In the matter OF freight cars the
engineers employed by the National
Association Of Owners of Railroad
Securities point out six ways in
which central joint management
Of freight cars would produce large
savings. One Of them is in the in
crease which would be produced in
thu number Of on-miles of work
done each day by each freight car.
To prove this point these engineers
go back to the results secured by a
central joint management Of freight
cars while the railroads were under
public governmental control during
the war.
DUNG the war under public gov
ernmental control and with the help
OF a partial pooling Of freight cars
the number OF ton-miles OF work
a..
OF heaviest traffic went up to $50.
The best previous record under un-
controlled private management and
with no pooling OF freight cars was
QUO. The saving from this one source
alone, II freight cars were put back
under central control, would be. ac-
cording to the engineers of the Ma
tonal Association of Owners Of Rail.
road Securities, more than $50 ,OO0,-
900 year.
The total savings from central con-
troll or freight cars, according to
these engineers, would be certainly
as much as 5000, 900 900 a year,
which Is almost one-third Of the
amount paid by the railroads In
interest and in dividends in the year
1920. II then the railroads want
more interest and more dividends.
and IL the farmers want lower
freight rates. II would seem that an
effort to deal with the problem Of
railroad freight cars would be leg
ically the first effort both for the
railroads and for the farmers as
well as for the Government.
What the National Associate Of
Owners OF Railroad Securities pro-
poses Is that the National Railway
Corporation. which they have
organized. shall become the Officially
recognized semi-governmentaI ncn-
profit agency for bringing all the
interchange freight cars Of the
United States under one cooperative
control. Thus the National Railway
Service Corporation would become
a sort Of non-profit Pullman Com.
pany for freight cars and for freight
car operation. 1t is probably the
biggest business project now before
the country.
United States Senators opposed to
the four.power treaty were not dis
turbed today by the reports Of the
petitions got up by the Federal
Council Of Churches in America for
the ratification Of the four-power
treaty. One Of these Senator's, who
refused to allow his name to be used
in quoting from him, said:
These clergymen speak as repre-.
sentatives Of the church. They or.
ganize themselves together as
spokesman for the church. The
church is the voice of God on
earth. These clergymen. speaking
as clergymen, and calling in the
authority of the church to give
weight to their words, seem accord.
ingly to be intimating that they
know that God is in favor Of the
four-power treaty. II they are
right, they certainly have an i'm
portant piece of inside informa.
ton. However, I doubt their hav.
ing It.
"I remember that they seemed
equally convinced that It was the
divine will that the United States
should join the league Of nations
In 1919. Evidently II was not. They
were mistaken about It then. They
may be mistaken now"
johnson, Borah. La Toilette.
France and some ten otheer Republi.
cans were the Republican "irTec-
oncibles" BY the vote on the