New Britain herald., 1930-12-31


 resolution to suspend all railroad consolidation under certain condi- tions by a vote of 46 to 27, with 23 not voting.
 Resolution Goes to House This resolution went to the house, where it was reported by the committee on interstate and for eign commerce in amended form, and is now on the house calendar.
 This in my judgment indicated the congress was not in favor Of proceeding with further consolida- ton until congress had had an op- portunity to make further investiga- ton.
 "A confirmation of this view is tablished by the fact that on June 16, 1880, the senate passed a resolu- tion authorizing the committee on interstate commerce to make an in- vestigation of what had been accom- plished by consolidation and to make report to the senate.
 ''The committee on interstate has
 
 inquiry based on the resolution. A tentative report will be ready to be submitted to the committee within few weeks. Until that report is made and studied there will be no opportunity to discuss il. Cannot Be Passed Upon "The merits of the proposed con- solldatlon cannot be passed upon be- cause the plan has not been sub mitted to the public or the interstate commerce commission and until that is done of course l will not be in position to comment upon this particular proposed consolidation.
 While l hesitate to criticize the ethics of the president of the Unit ed States, the issuance of this state- ment by him in my judgment is most unethical. In the concluding para graph of the presidents statement he says the plan of course must be submitted 10 the interstate com merce commission who have the in dependent duty to determine if it meets with every requirement of public interest.
 Tn view of the presidents sup port of the plan it is questionable whether the Independent duty Of the commission can be ascertained. Everyone knows the power and In- fuence of the presidential approval, and everyone knows that these com missionerS owe their position to the president Of the United States and while it is the duty of the senate 10 confirm these appointments no name can get 10 the senate without first having been selected by the president of the United States. -.
 Based on Unemployment
 "It is unfortunate that this great consolidation proposal is based upon the great suffering now because of unemployment. It is unconceiVable to me that this great consolidation proposal can be consummated with in the year 1881 and therefore will not have much if any effect upon the recovery of business or enlarge the opportunity for employment. "Whcthcr or not the economies outlined by the president will ma terialize is questionable, but there do appear to be other economies not brought about by consolidation that might be practiced by the railroad For example, during the past ten 1 years there has been no reduction | in the price Of rails by the steel companies to the railroads, l an informed that they have been pay 1 ing $43 per ton for steel rail dur 1 ing all this period while other steel | products have been reduced on an average of 20 per cent.
 1 "I am informed that approximate l ly $9U,00O,OO0 has been spent by the railroad for steel rails, and had that l been reduced the same percentage as ! other steel products, the savings oi | the railroad would have been $1S,- | V00,0U0.
 1 Sees Possible Collision
 "The fact that all companies seem 1 to have been charging the railroad | $43 per ton would make it appear | that there must have been some col fusion between the railroads and the steel companies.
 l There is also practice engaged | in by the railroad of letting much | of their work be done without secuS- ] ing competitive proposals and this | .r-l lt11t I Ir | the public interest,"
 Couzens quoted Willard as having said the only way to reduce railroad rates is to save in operating costs and that 50 per cent of such savings would come from labor.
 Couzens added, however, that Will 1 lard said the Baltimore & Ohio
 would attach memorandum to the
 merger agreement that none of its | labor would be discharged.
 'But he does not give me as.
 surance that any other railroad 1 would do the same thing Couzens
 said. "Mr. Willard explained that , by reducing labor costs he did mol l
 that the doors would be closed tc
 further employment.
 Predicts Less EmployeS That means in the final analysis 1 that there would be hundreds ot 1 thousands less railroad worker.
 after consolidation than now"
 Congress reserves the right tc i fx the tariff rates on chewing gun
 but designates to the interstate com. m-rce commission that power to set aside the antitrust laws with re- ] gard to the railroad" Couzens went on.
 "Thoso interstate commerce com
 Face Facts?