New Britain herald., 1926-12-20
10 Per Cent Increase Which Will Hit All h. dustry Advocated by Pearson, Who Claims Special Interests Get Lower Charges.

Washington, Dec. ZOE. J. Pear son, president of the New Haven railroad, in a letter to Congressman Hoch of Kansas, a member Of the House interstate commerce com mittee, warned that the railroads must soon ask for horizontal rate increase of about 10 per cent. This will be necessary. he declared, be- cause railroad credit Is being dan gerously drained by the large num- Der of scattered rate reductions con- stantly being obtained by individuals and community organizations able to afford counsel and experts to take their cases to the Interstate Com merce commission.
 Need Simpler Rate Schedules
 While these reductions are for the most part small. yet the aggregate has become so large that railroad management must consider rate in- creases unless there is some reform in the situation, asserted MT. Pear son, who sent his letter in reply to a request for observations as to the need of further railroad legislation and particularly the advisability ol establishing regional offices of the Interstate Commerce commission. MT. Pearson opposed the latter, maintaining that the essential need today is a national and simple sys- tenn of regulating rates, based on a system which would allow rail- roads in each rate region to form point traffic rate-making commit tees to develop with the approval of the commission, simplified rate scales.
 Railroads must constantly raise and invest more and more capital" said MT. Pearson. "The Interstate Commerce commission Is tre- mendously overburdened with an in- volved, intricate. strongly contested mass Of individual reconstruction work. The great majority of cases seem to be relatively small. Col lectively, the public is no doubt strongly favorable to the present operation of railroads, but each entity apparently thinks its own particular interest is entitled to 8 more favorable rate.
 Changes Only Made Downward
 Tt is practically impossible to raise the rates. but reductions large 1y special in character. are many. Although the carriers have been en- toying the temporary run of rec Lj-t of may very easily become strained and the continuation of good transpor- tation become threatened.
 Through continuation of this process, in which the experts secure the reductions for those they repre- sent, the day will again come when the railways must ask for general increase of 10 per cent or some other per cent But please note this fact particularly. The decreases have largely applied to the special benefit only of the individual, the trade or ganization, or the community which has secured expert representation and has appealed to the Interstate Commerce commission directly for its or their own interests.
 If and when raise of rates must be again considered, the per centage increase would apply to those which have been individually reduced, as well as to those which have not From the viewpoint of the public as a whole, there is lack of equity in the situation for all.
 Decentralization into regional sub-commissions will not a~ord remedy. A uniform national policy over the railways is essential.
 Smaller Shipper at Disadvantage
 '"The present involved situation, with opportunities for the experts and those who can pay them. is dis tinctly to the disadvantage of the small shipper.
 ''The essential question is, how can regulation be simplifed; how can the public be afforded transpor- tation, at minimum cost and of high character, and how can future continuation best be safeguarded?
 "As the railroads have been re- gionally grouped for rate making and revenue purposes. the railroads in each such rate region should be