Evening star., 1939-04-09
Forecasters Doubt
Railway Legislation
Al This Session
Declare Pending Bills
Fail to Answer
Questions
BY the Associated Press.

Some of the best forecasters in
Congress believe no railroad legisla-
tino will be enacted at this session.
Railroad legislation gets to be
more and more of a bugaboo in the
mind of a congressional committee"
they say. THE closer a committee
gets to the subject. the more inclined
it is to shy away from action.
when the railroad people bring
in bill, the labor group is scared
of it, When labor brings in one,
the railroad management is afraid
of it. When the two combine on a
bill. the people may be forgotten"
Those who have lived longest
with the railroad problem in Con-
gress say they do not believe any
of the measures now being talked
about supply anything like a full
answer to the questions that sur
round it. A unified regulation of
all forms of hauling is the subject
of several bills, but there is by no
means general agreement on that
idea.
COmpeIlL1On heen.
Members of Congress agree that
the plight of the railroads is un-
pleasant They see traffic falling
away and costs rising. The roads are
laden with high fixed charges for
interest on their debts. They see
competition leaping up on all sides.
Most of this competition gets a
subsidy of one form or another.
Waterways have channel-deepening
projects, lights, markers and other
aids to navigation, where the lines
to not have direct contributions.
Buses and trucks have roads that
are kept in shape by State, Federal
and county governments. Airlines
have beacons and radio and emer-
gency landing fields that are MAIN
tanned by the Government.
For the most part. these three
forms of hauling are free to set their
own rates. The Interstate Com
merce Commission has power to de-
eide what the Government shall pay
the airlines for carrying the mail.
This is the guaranteed revenue on
which many lines depend for Gov
ernment aid.
Yet If the amount of postage
stamps sold for airmail be balanced
against the amount paid the air lines
last year for hauling that mail, the
Federal Government made money
on its domestic airmail service But
1t lost money on foreign contracts,
and put many millions into markers,
beacons and landing fields.
Many Inquiries Made.
The right of fixing their own rates
was taken away from the railroads
more than a quarter of a century
ago. History records numerous in
vestigations preceding the crea-
ton Of the Interstate Commerce
Commission in which the public had
been squeezed by rate wars and
monopolies had been fostered by rate
determinations against competing
concerns.
Legislators, who are not con-
vinced that uniform rate regula-
ton holds the answer. say that after
such regulation would come a hint
OF balancing subsidies among the
different forms of transportation.
All agree that the railroads would be
the principal way of hauling heavy
goods in any national emergency.
But many members of Congress
are almost as eager to back away
from plan to subsidize the railroads
as they are from the idea of having
the Government take over the roads
and operate them. There still is one
employe left over from the old World
War Railroad Administration.