The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-21
|. &C. PROPOSES TO
ASSIST RAILROADS
BY SPECIAL RATES
Will Permit Carriers to Make
Surchanges on Some Items;
to Pool Earnings

! OCAAACO Pei AAA0oAOA W IaGS 1TclSuL
rates Is per cent, Americas railways
have, before them new and untried
Interstate Commerce Commission
proposal for pooling monies derived
from surcharges on freight bills to aid
the less prosperous lines.
! The railroads were left with no ap-
parent alternative but to accept the
plan. They were told by the COM
mission their Is per cent proposal
would be harmful to themselves be-
cause of the growing use of trucks and
pipelines. Their executives were d.
rected to submit plan for handling
the pool by December l and were In
formed it would not operate longer
than March 81, 1888.
The effort of the carriers, as a
whole. was brought to q conclusion
with announcement late Tuesday Of
The commission proposal. Railroad
n.en and attorneys had scoffed at the
plan when shippers suggested it at
hearings. It was unworkable. they
said. The commission, however, as
serted it was workable.
10 Per Cent Is Maximum
At the same time the commission
oI.lined the commodities on which
it would permit surcharges and the
amount of those surcharges. They
were limited to a maximum of 10 per
cent. Some commodities, including
coal. ores of all kinds and forest
products were limited to So a carload;
some others to Sc a car and still 9TH
ers to one and twc cents 100 pounds.
Major farm products - including
wheat, corn, cotton, livestock, and
most fresh fruits-are not to be lev
led against further.
The commission disclaimed any re-
sponsibility for keeping the income
of the railroads up to the require
! ments of the New York and other
state laws for investment purposes.
The carriers were joined by savings
banks and other bond holders Of the
roads in their petition for the i'll
crease on the grounds that the value
of the securities was threatened.
A yield from the surcharge plan Of
$100, 100000 and $125, ,000, 900 annually
on the basis of present traffic was
estimated by the commission. This
would be pooled and Tie needs of the
carriers unable to earn interest on
their bonds cared for. The remain
der would be returned to the mole
prosperous roads on the basis Of the
amounts paid in.
Roads Taken To Task
The carriers were taken to task for
failing to put their traffic men on
the stand in the hearings.
1T is our conclusion, said the
commission, that q is per cent IN
crease on all freight rates and charg-
es would increase revenue, If at all,
only temporarily and that its ulti-
mate effect, not very long postponed,
would be. to. harm rather than help
the railroads. It Is similarly our
conclusion that such an increase
would raise rates upon many kinds
Of traffic above just and reasonable
level. This latter conclusion applies
particularly to the products Of agri-
culture, including livestock"
| The commission after reaching its
conclusions went into the railroad
future.
"The most effective remedy for the
immediate ills of the railroads is the
economic recovery of the country, it
said. "The present low earnings are
not the result Of low rates but re-
fleet general industrial conditions.
The earnings will continue to reflect
those conditions as business improves
just as they have In the past.
while the tide may be slow in
turning, there is no more reason for
thinking that business will not i'm
prove than there was in 1928 for
thinking that depressins were thing
Of the past and that we were in an
era of permanent prosperity"