The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-05-21
BY CHARLOTTE G. MOULTON

Washington, May 21-(UP)-The lons-standing economic conflict be- tween the north and south flared anew today when New England con- gressmen made it plain they were not at all pleased with Saturdays railway freight rate decision.
 The south was jubilant over the victory wo1 in it's long-fought bat tie for lower rates on manufactured goods.
 Southern Reps. John J. Sparkman D., Ala, and Jere Cooper, D., Tenn, hailed the decision as just and fair"
 T am delighted to see the inter- state commerce commission come through with it." Sparkman said. ''It's a thing we have been fighting tor 8 long time.'
 Sen. Walter F. George, D., Ga, said he felt the new rates would be ''very helpful to the south.
 But New England spokesmen view ed the coming changes with alarm.
 q am fearful that the decision will be prejudicial to the interests of New England" senate Republican leadee Wallace H. White, Jr., of Maine said.
 Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers, R., Mass, said:
 "This is just another instance of the south being in the saddle. A fewer wage scale and other factors already favor that section. We have been fighting to keep what we had. Now we'll have to fight to get 1t back. I think the decision was very unfair"
 Wilbur Laroe, Jr., Washington at torney representing a group of southern manufacturers who had opposed 8 change in rates, express ed satisfaction with the new charges set by the ICC after a six-year in- vestigation but believed the order will raise cain in the east"
 Shippers represented by Laroe were satisfied with the old system because they ship large quantities of bulk products which move on a special point -to-point low rate ar rived at between shipper and rail- road. Laroe said the changes or hered by the commission were not sufficient to affect these individual or commodity rates, which had no place in the ICC proceeding.
 The rates affected are so-called tclass" rates. These constitute the basic rate schedule created so that charges may be applied to all pro- ducts moving on the rails.
 The railroads accompliShe this task by sorting all freight into classes, fitting each article into a glass with others of the same gen. eral character. Valuable manufac- tured goods are in top classes and bulk inexpensive products in lower classes.
 With everything fitted into its class the railroads then apply spe- cif1c rate per hundred pounds to the first class and charge decreasing percentages of this for lower classes
 The ICC indicated that these class rates apply to only Al per cent oi the shipments and 6.3 per cent oi the revenue of the nations rail roads. However they apply to highly competitive manufactured good: such as radios, sewing machines and typewriters. It is around these things that the rate controversy has centered.
 Two factors have operated to con- fuse the issue. One is that methods of classifying freight vary in the northeastern, southern and western sections of the country. The other C that charges in proportion to first class likewise differ in each terri tory, with highest cvharges in ef- feet in the south. The south has fol years maintained that these higt freight rates deprive it of its share of the nations industry.
 The ICC resolved these differ 4ences last week by setting up a new uniform set of classes for the en. tire country. It has given the rail- roads 90 days in which to notify i of their willingness to agree inte just which class each article is go. ing.
 If they decline to act the ICC i prepared to make the survey itself The commission also prescribed { uniform mileage scale Is per cen higher than present eastern rates tt be applied to products shipped il first class.
 To carry out these far-reachinl changes may take more than twt years of labor on the part of ratt experts. So that southern and south