The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-04

for nitrogen, but it would help and its development would encourage bringing other water powers into like use.
 Several offers have been made
 for the purchase of this property.
 Probably none of them represent
 final terms, Much costly experi-
 mentation is necessary to produce
 commercial nitrogen. For that
 reason 1t is | field better suited to
 private enterprise than to govern
 ment operation. should favor
 sale of this property, or longtime
 lease, under rigid guaranties of
 commercial nitrogen production at
 reasonable prices for agricultural
 uso. There would bo surplus
 of power for many years over any
 possibility of its application to
 developing manufacture of nitro
 gen. It may be found advan.
 tageous to dispose of the right to
 surplus power separately with such
 reservations as will allow the grad
 ual withdrawal and application to
 nitrogen manufacture. A sub-com-
 mittee of the committees on agri.
 culture should Investigate this field
 and negotiate with prospective pur.
 chasers. If no advantageous offer
 be mado, the development should
 continue and tho plant should be
 dedicated primarily to the produc-
 tion of materials for tho fertiliza-
 tion Of the soil.
 Railways
 The railways during the past year have made still further progress in re- cuperation from the war, with large gains in efficiency and ability expedi- tiously to handle the traffic of the We have now passed through several periods of peak traffic without the car shortages which so frequently in the past have brought havoc to our agriculture and industries. The condi. tion of many of our great freight ter minals is still one of difficulty and re- suits in imposing large costs on the public for inward-bound freight, and on the railways for outward-bound freight Owing to the growth of our large cities and the great increase in the volume of traffic, particularly in perishables the problem is not only difficult of so lution, but in some cases not wholly by railway action alone.
 In my message last year, empha- sized the necessity for further legisla- tion with a view to expediting the con. solidation. of our railways into larger systems. The principle of goveren- ment control of rates and profits, now thoroughly imbedded in our govern mental attitude toward natural monop' olies such as the railways, at once elim. mates the need of competition by small units as a method of rate adjustment Competition must be preserved as a stimulus to service, but this will exist and can be increased under larger sys- tems.
 Urges Consolidation
 Consequently the consolidation of the railways into larger units for the pur- pose of securing the substantial values to the public which will come from larger operation has been the logical conclusion of congress in its previous enactments, and is also supported by the best opinion in the country. Such consolidation will assure not only q greater element of competition as tc service, but it will afford economy in operation, greater stability in railway earnings, and more economical financ' ing. It opens large possibilities of bet ter equalization of rates between adlf ferent classes of traffic so as to relieve undue burdens upon agricultural pro ducts and raw materials generally which are now not possible without ruin to small units owing to the lack of diversity of traffic. It would alst tend to equalize earnings in such fash ion as to reduce the importance of sec tion 15A, at which criticism, often mis placed. has been directed. A smaller number of units would offer less diff culties in labor adjustments and would contribute much to the solution oi terminal difficulties.
 The consultations need to be
 carried out with due regard to
 public interest and to the rights
 and established life of various com
 mmities in our country. 1t does
 not seem to me necessary that we
 endeavOr to anticipate any final
 plan or adhere to any artificial and
 unchangable project which shall
 stipulate 8 fixed number of sys-
 tems, but rather we ought to ap-
 proach the problem with such
 latitude of action that 1t can be
 worked out step by step in accord
 ance with 8 comprehensive eonsid-
 eration of public interest. Whether
 the number of ultimate systems
 shall be more or less seems to me
 can only be determined by time
 and actual experience in the devel'
 opment of such consOlidations.
 Those portions of the present law contemplating consultations are not sufficiently effective in producing ex peditious action and need amplifica tion of the authority of the interstate commerce commission, particularly IT affording a period for voluntary pro posals to the commission and ln sup plying government pressure to secure action after the expiration of such a pc riOd.
 Other Proposals Up
 There are other proposals before con gress for amending the transportation acts. One of these ,cOntemplates re' vision of the method of valuation tol rate-making purposes to be followed by a renewed valuation of the railways The valuations instituted by the Inter state commerce commission 10 years age have not yet been completed. They have cost the government an enormous sum, and they have imposed great ex' penditure upon the railways. most oi which has in effect come out Of the public in increased rates. This worE should not be abandoned or supplanted until it's results are known and can be be considered. !.
 Another matter before congress l' legislation affecting the labor sections of the transportation act. Much criti cism has been directed at the workings of this section and experience has shown that some useful amendment conld he made to these provisions.
 It would be helpful if plan could he adopted which, while retaining the practice of systematic collective bargain ing with conciliation and voluntary ar filtration of labor differences, could also rrnuide simnlicity in relations and more