Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-17
|. c. c. DENIES RAISE
TONESTERN ROADS
Freight Rate Increase Not
Justified Now, Says Body,
. Except in Detail.

Denying the application Of railroads
In the western district for . blanket
increase Of per cent In freight rates,
the Interstate Commerce Commission
late yesterday declared that the in
crease was not justified by financial
emergency. The commission also de.
MED the petition OF security holders
OF Northwestern carriers for an add.
tfonal Is per cent horizontal increase
In rates in western trunk line terri
tory, and held the earnings of the
roads I'M the West as a whole had not
been such as to warrant at this time
q general downward revision OF rates
on farm products including live stock.
At the same time the commission
admitted there were many inequalities
In the rate structures I'm certain sec
tions of the West which should be
corrected and said its conclusions
were without prejudice to the deter
rgination of issues In its general In
curry into the country's freight rates
as ordered by Congress.
Views ON Farm Freight.
While more complete information
was said to be necessary before any
action could be taken on rates on agri.
cultural products, which IL was spe-
ciffcally required to investigate under
terms of the Hoch-Smith resolution,
the commission suggested that the
roads in proposing rate changes to
improve earnings or rectify ineQuali-
ties should ask no advance in rates
on farm products except where par
ticular charges need adjustment to re-
move Inconsistencies or where 1t
~ ~ a.
not affected by depression.
Carriers in the West, the commits
sion said. appear to be both financial
~ and physically sound, although Il
was added that certain of the impor-
tant carriers In the Northwestern re.
gion and in the Western trunkline
territory We're not yielding SIS per
cent, the figure held by II to be q fair
return upon any rate bases that
could reasonably be adopted i'm adj
, vance of q final determination of
present values Tor rate-making pur-
poses.
The least favorable conditions, as
far as carrier revenues were con-
cerned, the commission said, appeared
TO exist ingWestern trunkiine ter
ritory. It was added, however. that
in the entire Western district condi-
IAOAS ftsau t0t3etttAy SAAOHAL esth ssAAA4RAO w
ing tendency 8
~ Advice 10 Cayriers.
= Provisions in secticn, I5A OF the
transportation act directing the COM
mission to Initiate, modify, establish
OF adjust rates 50 that carriers may
earn q fair return were described as
not relieving the railroads from the
primary duty of Initiating" rates.
That function, the commission said.
belongs to management and not to
regulation.
"It is the right and the duty Of the
carriers" 1t asserted. ito take the
steps necessary to- correct improper
rafe relations as they may be found
to exist, and to supply revenue de.
ficiencies by initiating suitable
changes in rates
mot only did the carriers fail to
present evidence with respect to the
need for changes In individual rates
between particular points or on par.
ticular classes Of traf9c. It continued,
s'but no Stats commission, shipper.
security holder AuF ether representas
tive Of the public, DF OF particular
interests who appeared. offered any
feasible suggestions Of this charac-
ter"
New Rate Groups Opposed.
Even If It had assumed the RESPONSE
bility of prescribing individual rate
changes or Of rectifying internal re-
lations In the rate structures, the
commission said the record Of the case
as 1t stood now would not enable It
to do so to any considerable extent.
The commission also held to be uri-
necessary the creation Of separate
rate groltps which had been proposed
for the Southwest, taking in Arkansas,
Oklahoma and Texas, southern
Kansas, Missouri south of the Mis-
souri, River and that part of Louisi-
ana. west of the Mississippi. A sepa-
rate group also was suggested to be
known as the mountain Pacific
Southern group, which would have
been created by dividing the present