Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-05
RAIL MERGER PLAN
STILL INCOMPLETE
Commissions Report Indi.
Gates Lack of Agreement
on Proposals.
BY J. c. ROYLE.

Plans for railroad consultations of
the Interstate Commerce Commission
are still far from complete. This be-
came evident today with the issuing
of the commissions annual report for
the fiscal year ending October 81. The
report declares frankly, in effect, that
the commission is not sure of its
ground The commission asks a thor
ough investigation and serious consid-
Grafton by Congress of the so-called
holding corporations" as factors in the
railroad consolidation scheme.
The commissioners are still unagreed
on the actual provisions of the merger
plan which it will submit to Congress,
although many outside of the commits
sion have been insiStont upon fixing a
date for its publication. The commits
SionerS themselves do not know when
1t will be submitted or what all its pro-
visions may be. The latter may vary
decidedly, according to action taken by
the railroads themselves. There are a
large number of proposals now before
the commission submitted by the rail-
roads. The commissioners make it
plain that the railroads can either with
draw these applications or leave them
for consideration by the commission.
If the latter course is followed the COM
mission will investigate and judge them.
missions plan will be amended so as
to permit their execution.
Power Is Limited.
The commissioners realize they are
totally without power to impose any
plan of their own devising on the rail-
roads 1t must be sufficiently inviting
to attract the latter or they do not
have to accept it. The commission in
al =
anticipates long and complicated legal
action in connection with some of the
plans and regulations and proposals
which are before it.
This is the case with regard to
holding corporations" in connection
with which the commission says: THE
subsection of the unification of car
rierS by railroads to the orderly proc
eSseS of carefully planned scheme of
public regulation is very likely to be
partially or wholly defeated by such
holding corporations, subject to the
possibility that the Clayton antitrust
act may, by protracted litigation, enable
the commission to maintain control
over the situation. We call this mat
ter to the attention of Congress because
we believe that it deserves thorough
investigation and serious consideration"
The report says difficult legal and
perhaps constitutional questions are in
volved and to some extent the remedy
must be fixed by the fact which
thorough investigation may disclose.
The commissions report singled out two
corporations as Illustrations of the
holding companies to which reference
was made. These were the Pennroad
Corporation and the Allegheny Cor
poration.
Situations Not Parallel.
Stockholders of the Allegheny Cor
poration, however, make it plain that
the situations of the two corporations
cited as illustrations are not parallel.
They point out that the stock OF the
Allegheny Corporation is not held by
any one group and that the company
has IL, 900 shareholders throughout the
country. They also point cut that the
Allegheny Corporation does not con-
troll any railroads or own any rail-
roads; that it is an investment COM
pany whose activities are not restricted
In any sense to the railroad field.
The Pennroad Corporation in its turn
makes it plain that it is not controlled
by the Pennsylvania, although its stock
holders originally were also stock
holders Of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Copyright, 1929