The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-09-27
BENEFITS
ER|VED FROM
TRAFFIC SERVICE
'B. McNeeIy Gives History
of This Division Since
Its Organization.

EN- Service rendered by the freight and
raffic division of the Chamber Of
.ommerce is Of benefit to all citizens
according to H. B. McNeely, division
commission.
ut is Of most direct benefit to the
local merchant, who ships his product
out of Indianapolis, or brings his
raw materials into the city from
points outside, but in keeping down
the cost of shipping materials and
products into Indianapolis, the di-
vision saves local consumers thous-
ands of dollars yearly, for, in the
end, they are forced to bear the
burden Of high freight rate, Nc
Nelly declares. He outlines the
history Of the department as fol-
lows:
Freight and traffic work always
has been a major interest of the In
dianapolis Chamber of Commerce. In
fact, the present freight and traffic
division is only the continuation Of
the old Indianapolis Freight Bureau,
founded long before the present
Chamber of Commerce came into ex
istence. The old bureau was estab-
lished in 1906 and was merged, with
four other organizations, the Com
mercial Club, the Indianapolis Trade
Association, the Board of Trade and
the Merchants Association, to form
the Chamber of Commerce in 1912.
Reviews History
perhaps a brief review Of the
history of the freight and traffic di-
vision is not inappropriate. In June,
1905, Congress passed the Hepburn
act, amending the interstate COM
merce commission over common car
riers. 1t was empowered to prescribe
just and reasonable rates. The es-
tablishing Of rates resulted in necess-
ity of a number of hearings before
the commission and it therefore was
logical that some one trained in traf-
fic and familiar with the require
ments Of the law should be selected
to advise shippers in their dealings
with carriers.
I'm order to meet these changing
transportation conditions and to
equip the shipper to help himself,
the freight bureau was organized.
Looking backward over the years
since 1906, the conclusion is unescap-
able that the interests of shippers
could have been properly protected
fhrOI1srh no Thor. aooncU
AT the time of the formation of
the Indianapolis Chamber of Com.
merce The transportation situation
was not bright and the traffic di-
vision committee faced the very diff
cult task of Obtaining relatively
equal rates at a time when decid-
ing revenues stood in the way of any
voluntary reductions by carriers and
advances were being proposed on
every hand.
In 1913 carriers service sched-
ules were deranged badly because
of the spring floods and the principal
work of the division was in keep
ing members informed of open
routes. In 1914 and 1915 the efforts
of the division were concentrated on
combating proposed unreasonable
rate advances.
Policy of the division underwent a
decided change in 1916, when it be-
came apparent that carriers gener-
ally were in great financial difficult
ries, 1t was decided to cooperate
with the carriers, the belief being
that with them in better financial
condition, chances of obtaining rel
atively squal rates would be en-
HANGED greatly. This proved true.
I'm 1916 and 1917 the demands
made on the countrys transporta-
~tion system for the movement of war
materials necessitated a lessening
of our usual activities and efforts
were turned to other channels
Through joint committees, formed at
large shipping centers to cooperate
with carriers, attempts were made
to relieve congestion and speed up
traffic. The work in 1917 consisted
mostly of combating rate increases
and assisting shippers to make the
best of bad situations generally.
Federal Control
Federal control transferred the
rate making authority from the cor
porate carriers and the commissions
to the United States Railroad Ad-
ministration in 1918. Although au-
thority of state commissions was
wholly removed thereby, rates made
by the administration could be ap-
pealed to the interstate commerce
commission. Our dealings wero there
for confined to committees of the ad.
ministration. One development Of
the year was the raising of rates on
Illinois live stock shipments to a
parity with Indiana rates, removing
advantages previously held by Chi
cago and st. Louis.
Early in 1919 the commissioner
was appointed a member of the ad-
ministration rate committee having
charge of rates in this territory and
necessarily, a large part of his time
was devoted to committee work.
However, time was found for sue
cessfully combating a proposal of
carriers to discontinue all intracity
switching and trap cars and much
effort was expended in working out
rountings which would avoid embar-
goes and affect deliveries.
with the passing of Government
control in 1920, roads were left in a
deplorable condition. Service was
poor and the unauthorized strike of
switchmen made it worse. Consid-
cradle difficulty was experienced
with various forwarding companies
Some failed to make deliveries and
It became necessary for the freight
and traffic division to straighten out