Evening star., 1931-06-01
nv r.. GOULD LINCOLN.

BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
Underlying the railroad problem Is
soms thing more than temporary or
even a permanent increase in rates,
more than wage scales or Federal legis-
latjon. The railroads are faced with
decision whether to seek measure OF
cooperation with each other ana WIN
\ competing agencies Of transportation,
Aparticularly highway and inland water
way transportation, or whether they
Intend to engage, through rate wars
nd through the establishment OF rail-
I'D owned or controlled highway
knsportation agencies, in an effort 10
be out all major competition and
We the whole field to themselves.
There has been no indicated decision
the part Of the railroads that they
kor a war to the limit. If they
-" 4ould undertake such struggle, tney
net consider not only whether they
h survive such struggle, but also
hether the American public and the
herican Congress Will view with
1lanimity that contest 1t Is one thing
4 the roads to demand tnat tnelr
dnpetitors be regulated by the State
ali Federal Governments as they tnem-
s&es are regulated. 1t Is announcer tot
ddelopment to the full of new avenues
ofltransportation.
Cooperation Seems Likely.
The alternative, which is co-opera-
&ion seems much more likely to be the
Anal course adopted toward the solu-
ton Of the railroad problem.
- The suggestion that the railroads can
well undertake to aid in bringing ABOUT
a co-ordinated system OF transpolCatloll
in this country, with the roads contlnu-
ing to carry the great load, but WIN
the bus the motor truck, the pipe llne
and the water carrier also assigned I'M
nortant parts. has been put forward oy
1Ioseph B. Eastman, interstate com
merce commissioner. in recent ao-
dress. The transportation agencies
themselves can carry on In the oeVeIop-
ment of such a co-ordinated system, or
+he Government itself assign this task
to a Federal agency, patterned alter INe
English Transport Ministry.
The railroads in this present time OF
need are seeking aid OF the Govern
ment. This is natural, since IL Is tnS
Government which regulates tnem. IL
it were not for this governmental! regu-
lation the railroads would feel !ree 70
adopt those policies Whlcn tney oeeneo
hest to meet their needs ana com
petition. But regulation has come 10
stay. It seems quite obvious that II
there Is to be any further step by the
Government, it will not be In the way
of eliminating regulation, but TOWARD
Government ownership and operation
of the common carriers. 1t Is assumed
that eventually there Will pe !eglsia-
tion by Congress for the regulation OF
highway transportation. There may
also be further legislation to aid the con-
soidations Of the railroad systems.
Little Chance Of Legislation.
In the session Of Congress which
opens next December there seems little
chance of railroad legislation, or legis-
lation which the roads are seeking
largely due to the political situation
This does not mean that various oillS
regulation Of motor buses, motor
trucks. pipe lines, ETC., will not be OF.
fefed. but that there Is little likelihood
of anal passage. II this be true, then
the roads are looking In vain for ener-
9ency remedial legislation. But the
roads are looking not only TO Congress
but to the Interstate Commerce Com
mission to aid them, especially In tne
matter of rates. II the roads apply
for increases In rates the commission
is-expected to give their applications
prompt consideration. However, the
commission Is likely to take into con-
sideration the Nationwide condition
with other industries struggling oacK
from depression, before it grants In
creases in freight rates.
There are q number OF things
students of the railroad situation point
ont. which the railroads may do for
themselves. One of them has already
been referred to. It is the formation
OF an organization acting in unison
with representatives OF the railroads
competitors to work for better pal
anced transportation system: IL Is
obvious that the railroads will get no.
where with such a project however;
they 60 into it with the idea IN the
hack of their heads that In the END
they must eat up the competitors.
EIectrification Would Help.
AS has been pointed out in previous
articles, the passenger trafnc OF tne
railroads has fallen of, or failed TO ad-
vance, in an alarming degree Ito from rsn- ene
railroads point Of view. Ihe ran
roads can undoubtedly aid themselves
in this matter of passenger transpor-
tation by the electrification OF their
roads, particularly in thickly-p populated
sections Of the country. Some OF them
are already doing this. But there is
much room for greater improvement
Readjustment of Rates.
So far as the freight traffic is con-
cerned, the situation may be improved
for the railroads by read1ustment OF
the rate structure, so as TO bring ABOUT
the most economical handling OF va
rious kinds and classes Of freight. The
railroads, running single trains tnat can
whole
fleet or even hundreds of motor trucks,
: certainly should be able to continue to
do the great bulk of the freight busl-
ness. especially for long hauls. In ad-
dttion to the money tied up In the
trucks. the wear and tear on the trucks,
which would appear to be greater for
a given time than on the freight cars
Of the roads and the locomotives. a
train crew can do the handling OF a
huge amount Of freight which 1t Woulo
require scores II not hundreds OF men
to handle by truck. 1t has been sug-
eested that the railroads could well
better their freight service by the use
of< detachable truck bodies, which can
be. placed on fiat cars of the railroads
at the point of departure and upon
truck wheels at the point of arrival.
Some of the railroads. either through
holding corporations or subsidiaries, are
EO1ng lnJO the highway IIdllSpoi CdCAOAi
business In an effort to meet the COM
petition afforded them on the highways
This may, however, merely result in
eventual waste and lack of economical
handling of the transportation problem
One thing seems to be fairly certain
Congress is not going to permit the
railroads to take over the business OF
highway transportation exclusively or
insvery large part. The transportation
picture puzzle will have to be fitted to-
Qether in some other way than that
The railroads have suffered in the past
from decentralization and watered