The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-16
THREE FACTIONS
PLAN RAILWAY
PANACEA
cunamins and McAdoo Back
Different Consolidation Ideas
Against a Third.
BY WILLIAM HARD.

The vexed railroad consolidation
problem took on a new political
light today when It became mani.
fest that there viii be a fight of the
bitterest sort between what can be
called the Senator Cummins idea
and what can be called the William
Gibbs McAdoo idea of what sort of
railroad consolidation Is needed.
The sort of consolidation support
ed and promoted BY. Senator Cum
minis OF Iowa, as chairman Of the
Interstate Commerce Committee of
the Senate, is competitive" CONSOLE
dation. The consolidation demanded
by the adherents of McAdoo is q
consolidation which in way Is the
precise opposite of competitive" It's
central notion IS that there shall
be not q competitive but a joint use
Of the great railroad terminals of
cur great railroad centers and a
joint use also Of great deal OF
equipment and even Of great deal
Of trackage.
Three Factions lineup.
It accordingly develops that In
the next Congress, on this consoli-
dalton question, there will be not
two factions but three. There viii
be the anti-consolida tionists, the
competitive consolid tionists, and
the regional or "joint-usen consolf-
dationists.
These last have no patience with
Senator Cummins' consolidation
policy. They regard it as merely
giving US q little bit more of what
We have now. They are not at all
interested in what they regard as
simply strengthening of the great
trunk lines against one another.
What they want to do is to make
these trunk lines themselves "co-
operate"
In the consolidation hearings
which begin today before the Inter
state Commerce Commission. this
variance OF views is illustrated. To-
day there will be testimony pre-
scented by the Kansas City, Mexico
and orient, by the Union Pacific,
and by the Atchison. Topeka and
Sante Fe. These three railroads, &C.
cording to the consolidation plans
Of the Interstate Commerce Commits
aion, win become parts of three
separate consolidated competitive
systems in the West and Southwest.
The admirers of the unified Fed
oral control. which McAdoo operated
during the World War, are not salts
He'd with that outcome Of the mat
ter. They would like to see all over
the United States a railroad organ
tzation developed similar to the one
which the Interstate Commerce
Commission has suggested for New
England.
New England Plan.
System No. In the Inter
mfafa No,,nrnoroo 5rs1,,,.,,s-,-s,,.s.. -.
Of consolidated railroad systems.
would be a combining of virtually
ell of the railroads of all New
England. It would include the New
York, New Haven and Hartford, the
Boston and Maine. the Maine Gen.
tral, and the Bangor and Aroostoolk.
Thereupon it would come to pass
that virtually all terminals and vir-
tually all equipment and traclage
IN New England would pass into
Joint use by virtually all the ex-
isting great New England railroads.
That sort OF development Is the
sort of development desired by the
school Of thought which finds in
McAdoo'S Federal MANAGEMENT of
the railroads the model for its idea
and policies. It is school which
now includes q considerable number
OF United States Senators and which
necessarily attracts the favorable
consideration OF sixteen Of the sew
0nteen railroad trade unions as
wembled here this week.
Sixteen OF these seventeen unions
are committed to the so-called
sPlumb Plan" Of railroad orgapiza-
ton which goes even beyond re-
gional consolidation into complete
unified national operation. The
political power Of these unions is
now undeniably great and It finds
its chief Republican hero in Robert
Marion La Toilette and it's chief
Democratic hero in William Gibbs
McAdOo.
McAdoo denies that he is in
favor Of national public operation
OF railroads and La Toilette Is not
giving any such project any imme-
date active support. Both McAdoo
end La Toilette. however, are by