The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-13

' Paul Thompson.) recoseieu iioiil .ie t. fusion of the war. Every year at har- vest time there is tangle on the trans continental lines like an old-fashionad traffic jam on Broadway. The Pacific coast sends eastward mostly agricultural products and raw materials, which are mainly bulky; and it receives from the east manufactured goods, which are compact. Yearly, just so many emp ties'' must be hauled westward to han dle crops of the Pacific coast. Give the railroads a rate enabling them, to com pete with the Panama canal ships, and they might fill part of these empties on their western journey, so working econ omies for both the railroads and the public.
 The law provides that any land car rier, applying for a lower rate on the long haul than the short over the same line, must prove that the price will not run below the margin of profit. Now to haul hundredweight of dry goods from Chicago to Seattle or Los Angeles for $1.1O is in itself probably losing ven ture. But the car must be hauled any way; either full or empty. The addl- tional cost to the railroad if it goes full includes merely loading, unloading and the slight steam-power necessary to draw the extra weight. The railroads could afford, on these terms, to handle dry goods at much less than $1.1O a hundred.
 Which, according to the intermoun- taineers and other proponents of the Panama canal, is an alarming feature of this tangled situation. The railroads, if they obtain permission to charge low hack n with an application for still lower rates; and so on until, taking advantage of this strategic position, they wipe the Panama boats off the ocean.
 Roads Cite Laws Intent
 And what them" remarked west crn senator. ''The Panama boats also carry raw materials and agricultural produce on their westward runs. When they are gone from the Pacific ports, the railroads will be left to handle this business. And the percentage of emp ties going west will be exactly the same as at present.
 The railroads, too, stand squarely on what they interpret as the intent of the law. The transportation act of 1920 speaks of maintaining in full vigor both land and water transportation" The interstate commerce act uses similar language. Here is an untrammelled con- petitor hauling to the Pacific coast some fifty commodities at rates which the railroads are not allowed to meet-tak- ing away their business at the rate of two or three million tons year. Is this preserving land transportation in full vigor?
 Then the western railroads point to their own sad condition. The law, at present, allows railroad to make only 5% per cent profit. Returns last year show that while the southern lines ex- ceeded this figure and the eastern almost reached it, the western made only 4.S7 per cent on their capital investment The sums accruing from use of their westbound empty cars would help to put them on their feet.
 Also, too, they wrap themselves in the mantle of patriotism. Suppose we have another war? The likeliest chance nowadays lies to the west. In that event our land and naval bases would lie in and about Pacific ports. They would require enormous shipments from the east and the middle west At the very beginning of hostilities. the shipping on the Panama canal route might be driv- en from the seas, and the transconti- mental railroads would be left to handle