Evening star., 1927-10-09
Congress to Study
Transport Problems
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

| Transportation problems water,
rail and highway-are due for promi.
nent consideration at the approaching
session Of Congress. with indications
that the waterways element. at least,
may assume proportions which Will af-
| feet tax reduction.
There is a growing section of
thought which believes that a cut in
| the Federal tax bill is not the only.
and perhaps not the best, method Of
| reducing living costs and this argu.
ment will be advanced by those who
will seek appropriations for water
ways improvements as benefit to
navigation. Looping off some $780,.
100000 from about 100000 tax bills
| they hold would not be as helpful IS
spending that sum to lower the trans.
portation costs of all the people, or
| a ma jor part of them.
| 1t is possible, Of course, to have
both tax reduction and increased ex.
| penditures for transportation by wa
ter. as the full sum for waterways
| would not be expended in one year,
but the one affects the other to some
| degree.
President Coolidge this, week
| touched upon waterways improve
ment IN an address before the Ma.
| tional Red Cross Society in connection
with flood control
| So far as concerns railroad transpor.
| tation, 1t is apparent that consolida-
| ton of the carriers will come before
| Congress in several forms. An effort
| will be made to fix a policy for the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
Voluntary consultations are consider.
| ed more desirable than those result
ing from compulsion. but the COM
mission has not been able thus far
| to bring itself to approval Of any of
the major grouping plans which have
| been laid before 1t. 1t is possible, how.
| ever, that before Congress again takes
| up the subject the commission will
| have acted in an important case
| which will serve as a precedent for
other consultations, as oral argu.
| ments on the Erie proposal were set
| In an announcement this week.
Regulation Of interstate operations
of busses and trucks will be taken up
| by the national lawmakers at the Ell.
suing session, the Supreme Court hav-
! ing nullified the efforts of several In.
! dividual States to take jurisdiction.
| The subject Is of rapidly growing i'm
| pOrtance, owing to highway conditions
and also because of the competition
motor lines using the public roads are
| offering to the railways. Most of the
well established bus and truck com.
panies favor regulation to protect
themselves against irresponsible
| operators.
| While neither the railroad consolida.
/ ton question nor the problem Of regu.
lating interstate commerce along the
| highways promises to cost much, if
any, money from the public treasury,
proposals for waterways Improvement
reach their hands directly toward
! Uncle Sans till.
| Economists are thinking more and
more in terms Of water transportation
in considering various maladjustments
| in the present situation of the coun-
| try and It's future traffic needs.
The Middle West has been hurt by
| freight rates necessarily higher than
| in the pre.war period. Ocean carriage
at low cost has tended increasingly to
give industrial advantage to the sea-
board areas. The differential has wi.
dened because water tonnage has not
advanced anything like in proportion
to rail freight charges. The East and
West Coasts, coffhected by the Pana-