Evening star., 1922-06-06
Reduction of Freight Rates Re.
ceives General Approval,

| 4AoouCtlou VI 1lCISut LdtcS NC.
ceives General Approval.
| Newspapers approve the 10 per cent
horizontal reduction in freight rates
ordered by the Interstate Commerce
Commission. There are many, how
| ever. who do not think that 1t goes
far enough. Others express sincere
| regret that passenger and Pullman
charges were not also acted on. But
was made which will go far toward
| restoring normalcy to the business
Of the nation. A few papers profess
to see political motives behind the
action, but they are far In the mi
nority and for the most part there Is
concerted ignoring Of politics In
| the editorial comment.
That the commission allowed its in
tention to leak" to President Hard
ing and Senator Watson is the charge
of the New York Evening World
tdemocratic), claiming that there is
too much evidence of political pres
sure" in the timing of the announce
| ment. The paper believes, however,
that until lower rates have been
tried no one can be sure they are un-
reasonable. The lower rates may
mean better business for the country
and better profits for the railroads.
Give the new schedule a trial" The
present plan. also, In the view of the
Boston Post independent demo-
cratic). probably is temporary and
the general idea of running the rail-
roads on the service at cost plan is,
therefore. being continued. With this
longer period of trial il Is to be hoped
that more satisfactory results VIII be
obtained than in the past two years.
Even if the horizontal reduction Is
not scientific" the New York Even
ing Post independently believes 1t
appealed to the commission as "a di-
rect, quick and practical way OF
dealing with an unsatisfactory situa-
ble,' the Post thinks it shows the
necessity OF the roads securing re
lief in the matter Of costs. Cheaper
transportation 10 a public necessity"
By coupling the cut with a reduc-
ton Of the net fair return the COM
| mission kills two birds with one
stone" the Newark News Gndepend-
submitted to no dictation or moral
pressure by either the President or
the roads" There Is no chance for
| national prosperity, the Lynchburg
News (democratic) adds. excepting
with reduced rates. and the roads can
well afford to sustain the slight re-
| duction in view of the larger good
that will thereby be insured to in
dustrial America" And regardless of
dispute as to whether a fiat reduc-
tion was the proper method the In
dianapolis News independently ar
gues that there has been an ap-
preciable reduction Of rates that af-
fects everything, and the buying pub
lie will, in consequence. expect a
| corresponding recession of prices to
accompany the expected increase of
business"
cessity why the question of passenger
rates should have been passed upon
at this time Is argued by the Syra-
cuse Herald Independently. because
they affect the relative few. whereas
freight rates are matter of concern
to every consumer" Not only that,
but there can be no return to normal
times while freight rates between
southern and eastern points," the
Birmingham News (democratic) says.
"and between northern and western
points make prohibitory the ship
ment Of commodities essential to the
comfort Of the American family" The
action Is welcome because public
sentiment has long favored and ex-
pected a rate reduction order by the
commission, the Chicago News (inde-
pendent) declares. "At the same time
the feeling is strong and widespread
that at least some of the railroads
will be unable to earn fair returns
on the value Of their property under
the lowered rates unless the Railroad
Labor Board orders substantial wage
readjustment." Such an order a few
months ago would have thrown the
stock market into a panic" the Gin
~ n
calls, adding that "the fact that such
an order is possible today without
immediate unpleasant results speaks
well both for the effort to restore
railroad efficiency under private man.
agement and for the basic soundness
Of economic conditions in the United
States" The commission should have
taken action to reduce at least Pull
man rates, the Savannah Press (demo-
cratic) believes, because to the men
who fly by night sleeping car is
not luxury, but necessity"
That the existing rates have "im-
paired the prosperity" of the rail-
roads is the opinion Of the Appleton
Post Crescent independently. and the
reductions will unquestionably in
crease volume and we may expect
to see before the end Of the year a
earnings Of the railroads" This posi-
tion is squarely indorsed by the
Buffalo Times (democratic). which is
convinced that with freight charges
approaching normally traffic all over
the country will respond. The ac-
ton of the Interstate Commerce
Commission is the most encouraging
news that business, and the great
public whose interests in the ulti-
mate analysis are synonymous with
those Of business, has had for a long
while.
But, while business will welcome
the reduction, the Raleigh News and
Observer (democratio) believes that
it does not go far enough. as there
IL yet . long way to 80 before we
are back to normalcy In freight
and Pullman rates cut. There also
II danger that the emect Of the dee