Evening star., 1936-01-19

policies. To one form Of transport,
railroad We saw in effect:
"'You shall pay all your own costs,
not only the cost of moving your
vehicles, but also the cost of preparing
the way on which they move. You
shall then pay taxes on both vehicles
and way, real taxes which go to the
support of the Government. not
merely contributions toward the cost
of furnishing the way you use. Should
Government aid you. it shall be by
way of secured loan which must be
repaid with interest All these costs
must be met out of the rates which
you age allowed to charge the users
of your service, and that service must
be rendered under conditions of strict
regulation in the public interest,"
Way Is Free for Others.
Contrast this with the attitude of
Government toward other forms of
public transport by highway, by water
way and by airway They have no
problem of finding the money or the
credit with which to provide them
selves with a way on which their
vehicles may move. That is provided
for them and maintained for them,
out of public tax funds. at cost eX
ceeding whatever they may pay as
taxes so-called With SO large a
part of their costs of operation paid
from the public funds, these agencies
of transport are enabled to divert to
themselves a considerable volume of
business which could move by rail at
lower real cost In many instances,
failure to regulate effectively the hours
of service or conditions of safety
among such transport operators has
allowed them to hold down even that
part of their costs which they do pay,
often at the expense of safety. AS to
large part of their operations, they
have heretofore been allowed complete
freedom to make such rates as would
get the business. regardless of dis
ordinations or preferences as be-
tween persons or places.
THAT railroads have been able to
stay in business at all under such
unequal conditions of competition,
and to do the major transportation
work of America, Is due to the inher-
ent superiority of the rail method
Of hauling"
The emphasis laid on the safety
factor. by the way. is something more
than a talking point" for in 1885
there was not a single loss of life in
the millions of passengers carried by
the railroads.
Back. Pettingill Bill.
Another point of attack by the rail-
roads-and Pelley drew attention to
this also-is the long ng-and-short-haul
clause of the interstate commerce act
which makes rates between two dis
tant points conform to the aggregate
of those between its intermediate
points unless the Interstate Commerce
Commission authorizes exceptions. The
Pettingill bill to knock this section
out is on the House calendar for
action. with favorable report from
the Committee on Interstate and For.
eign Commerce, and the rail lines are
hopeful of passage. Here again the
waterways issue enters prominently.
When this section. designed to help
intermediate communities, was put
into the ect in 1910. Pelley points out,
railroads were the only important
form of inland transportation.
THAT was before the Panama Canal
was opened and before we had spent
billions of dollars on waterways and
highways. Today conditions are en-
tirely different. Other forms of trans
portation using these new publicly
built facilities are not restricted In
their competition by any long -and-
short haul clause, nor y there any