Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-08-16
MOTOR CARRIERS
CONTROL PRAISED
Senator Wheeler Sees Mile
stone in Transportation
In Forum Address.

Putting interstate motor carriers
under control of the Interstate Com
u1erce Commission was. hailed last
night as another milestone In our
transportation development" by Sens-
tor Wheeler, Democrat. of Montana.
In a speech in the National Radio
Forum.
In his address, arranged by The
Star and broadcast on q coast to-
coast network by the National Broad
casting Co.. the co-author of the
legislation providing this control de-
clared:
THE virtue of co-ordinated system
of regulation Is that the body regulat-
ing transportation would have control
of all angles of transportation COMPETE
ton, and would be able to appraise
the situation as a whole and to make
It's orders in the light Of the needs OF
the commerce Of the United States
and the public interest"
Bus Business Tremendous.
The text of Senator Wheeler's adj
dress follows:
Every night when darkness de-
scends, an army of giant interstate
motor trucks begins to move at ex-
press speeds over every main highway
in the country. Both night and day,
motor buses travelling on passenger
train schedules, aid the American citi-
zen to satisfy his wanderluSt. Directly
and indirectly engaged in the motor
industry today are over million
people as many as are engaged in
railroad work. Even to those born
after the close Of the horse-and- buggy
era this signifies rapid development,
for buses and trucks entered the
inter-city field hardly more than IS
years ago.
The appearance of the motor vehicle
In the transportation picture has
greatly changed the business and
travel habits of the American public.
The availability of the ever-present
motor truck and its expeditions service
has enabled the merchant to stock
smaller quantities, confident Of his
ability to obtain new goods on short
notice. The bus and private automo-
bile have created a tremendous reser-
voir of passenger traffic. Millions OF
people travel today who had no OPP
portunity to see beyond the hills which
surrounded their little valleys prior to
the motor age.
The motor carrier industry, while
1t has developed rapidly and recently.
has won for itself a permanent place
In the transportation sun. The pas
sage and approval of Federal legisla-
ton is a recognition Of the fact that
the bus and truck industry has reached
maturity. Under regulation, this in
dustry, which has passed its child
hood, is to share fully with the rail-
roads, the water lines and other car
riers in serving the commerce and
people of the country.
Modern society could not exist
without means of getting from place
to place. Because we are so dependent
upon transportation, is perhaps why
we are always in some sort of row over
1t. 1t is one Of the largest bones of
contention in modern life. For many
years the great struggle was between
the railroads and the shippers. Today
1t is a huge battle royal. Within the
lifetime of most of you, the Transports
ton situation has become complicated
almost beyond belief. 1t is now a
hurly-burly Of railroads, steamships,
barge lines, motor trucks, motor
buses. pipe lines. and airplanes.
Competition between motor and rail
and water transporta ton is now wide
spread and much of it has been de-
structive. Thousands Of miles of
fard-surfaced highways have been
developed, and are teeming with COM
mercial automotive vehicles penetrat-
ing everywhere and engaged in in
tensive competition with each other,
as we'll as with railroads and water
carriers. This competition has been
carried to an extreme which tends to
undermine the financial stability of
each branch Of the industry and to
jeopardize the maintenance Of trans
portation facilities and of service ap-
propriate to the needs of commerce
and the requirements in the public
interest. Never before has the public
had such an assortment OF transporta-
ton service to choose from, or as
serious q problem in seeing that ad-
justments are made along sound eco-
nomic lines.
New Transportation Post.
In 1888 the Congress, recognizing
the existence of an emergency, Gre
ated the office of Federal co-ordinator
Of transportation, and gave that office
the duty Of studying means Of improv-
Ing transportation conditions. Con-
gress. in June, 1888, directed the CO.
ordinator Of transportation, Mr..
Eastman, to make elaborate surveys
and studies touching the whole trans
portation situation. These studies re-
vealed that each agency can do things
which cannot be done as economically
by another, but that the railroads still
form the backbone of the Transports
ton system Of the country. Neither
the motor carriers nor the water car
riers can begin to perform all of the
services which the public has come to
expect. The motor carriers fill the
need for expeditions, frequent. and
specialized short-haul service, which
the railroads proved unable to furnish.
But as the hauls lengthen, and the
bulk and weight of the goods shipped
increase. the motor carriers are at a
disadvantage with their competitors
Out of this situation grows the i'm
portance of maintaining each form OF
transportation, of causing them to
work together and of putting stop
to the warfare which has degenerated
Into q conflict so intense as to threaten
the destruction Of some agencies of
transportation necessary Of preserva-
ton in the public interest.
During the depression the railroads
have suffered in credit, their equip
ment has not been maintained to
prior standards, and their service has
been curtailed. Many Of them are
in the hands Of receivers, or In bank
ruptcy.