The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1946-04-26
Powerful Rail
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crowded throughout the sessions BY
these spokesman for the conspiracy.
Arnall, after citing the money contri
buttons made by the railroads to the
various groups, said they explain why
the organizations were so easily vic
timized and used to sing the railroad
song"
He urged the committee to discount
the testimony of these groups that
walk up to testify like pigs going to
slaughter" At one point the young
Georgia governor asserted that moth
ing is too big or too little" for the
Association of American Railroads TO
control.
In support of that statement he read
evidence from the AAR's files indi-
eating that it has ordered the railroads
not to contribute to the Presidents
Birthday balls which raise funds to
combat infantile paralysis.
Arnall contended the railroad-bank-
| ing combination through the AAR has
resulted in such vast aggregation
of economic power concentrated in
the hands of a few large interests that
no public regulatory body, not even
congress itself, can deal effectively
with it,"
mo Use,' Wheeler's Position
He urged Wheeler and his associ-
ates to investigate the lobby as "a
mockery of the democratic process"
int I, int
est required finding out how much
money it had spent to get the Bull
Wrinkle bill enacted. The lobbying
costs, he explained, are being charged
by the railroads to the public.
Wheeler conceded the extent of the
lobbying operations of the AAR and
cited the fact that the names of or
CARNATIONS appearing for the measure
in the house hearings filled Is printed
pages, a majority of the names being
of chambers of commerce and similar
organizations. But he gave the Geor-
gia governor no encouragement that
the senate committee would investi-
gate the lobby. He expressed the opin-
ion that it would get nowhere. This,
he explained was because the rail-
roads have learned how to cover up
their track in such operations as a
result of the investigation Wheeler
as chairman of the same senate com
mittee conducted eight years ago.
Little Roads Behave
Arnall went into great detail por
traying how the AAR functions as a
railroad monopoly dominating and de-
flying the ICC and whipping all smaller
railroads into line. The whip used by
the big roads against any possible re-
AAR to divert traffic from the road
that won't play ball. Arnall testified
that the railroads had been defying |
for nine years an ICC order lowering |
feight rates on textiles.
"This great organization, he de-
clared, "can thumb it's nose at the
ICC. 1t can thumb its nose at con-
gress. That's why this bill is here, so
it can thumb its nose at the courts.
Following Arnalls testimony the I'M
DERIVING argument of the AAR that
the ICC would protect the public even |
if the Bulwinkle bill is adopted came
in for devastating refutation. Arne G.
Wiprud, former special assistant to
the attorney general, who was Thur
man Arnold's right hand when the lat
ter was in charge of the antitrust di-
vision, testified that the ice reviews
only about one per cent of the rates
liked by the railroads through their
AAR
Wheeler Wrong
They review only those rates on
which protests have been filed, and
ne pointed out that there aren't very
many protests because of the pressure
through fear of reprisal exerted by
he AAR against such individual roads
md shippers as have the hardihood
o think of protesting.
Wheeler took issue with Wiprud on
his statement He claimed that the
CO reviews many rate proposals to
determine whether hearings ase nee
,ssary AT that point an ICC official
vas called to the stand to back. up
contention. He did just the
'everse. He explained that the reviews
If rate proposals are merely to see if
hey have been filed in proper form.
they do not go into the question of
airness of the proposed rates.
Wiprud, who is author of book on
abroad rate-making entitled Justice
n Transportation, testified that it
would be Enthusiastically impossible {,
or the ICC to review the thousands !,
# rates filed with it each year. He :
aid that the ICC was set up on the ,
heory that there would be enough /,
to control most rates, that
he regulatory body would be called
pom to investigate only fraction of
hem.
Would Abolish AAR
The only way 10 restore that COM
etition, the witness declared, is to !,
bolish the AAR. Republican Senator !,
lbert w. Hawkes. of N. j., asked ;
viprud why the AAR should be brok- :
n up any more than CLIO or ALL. =
o that Wiprud replied that the evil q
ence was overwhelming that the
combination to control >
ates has assumed economic power :
ven beyond the ice ITSELF" that is,
eyond the government, which clearly :
annot be said of Clio or AFL.
The antitrust cases, Wiprud con- !,
ended, "are designed to free the West =
nd the nation from the domination :
( the traditional railroad bankers, J. =
). Morgan & Co., and Kuhn, Loeb &