Evening star., 1947-09-06

WI kIIol olIlICuAHIJCv
Young Says, Is hCaIIs
His Freights Slow
BY the Asseeiotsd Press
NEWPORT, r. l., Sept. g.
Robert r. Young. the railroad ex-
ecutive. today answered an Once
Of Defense Transportation criticism
of slow freight on his Chesapeake
g. Ohio line by quoting what he
said was q congressional charge
that the Interstate Commerce
Commission is controlled by the
charmed circle" that controls the
railroads of the South and West
Ito the injury OF every one"
Mr.. Young, chairman Of the
c. 81 o., linked the ODT and the
ICC by saying that membership in
both is held by ODT Director j.
Monroe johnson who charged yes
terday that the c. g. o. freight
speeds are less than the Western
roads which Mr.. Young criticized
in newspaper Advertisements.
Asserting in a statement that
"Mr. johnson defends the roads
responsible for the shortage of box
cars roads that operate on
time schedules identical to the
minute though they vary in dis
lance as much as 425 miles," Mr..
Young continued:
This is strange position for
Mr.. johnson to take with a mem
Der of Congress when Mr.. johnson
is also member Of the Interstate
Commerce Commission.
Charges "Voting Trust"
ut is that commission, members
Of which so long opposed the c. g.
o. in the establishment of competi-
tive bidding for railroad securities
and some members of which pub
licly and privately pooh -poohed
c. A O.'s many efforts to improve
the lot Of the traveller and shipper
'It is also the commission that
Congress has charged with aiding
and abetting Wall Street and the
RFC in the Baltimore 81 Ohio and
other bankruptcy frauds which have
revived the odorous device of the
voting trust =.
Many members of Congress, Mr..
Young continued, have repeatedly
said that this commission does the
will Of the charmed circle that con-
trolls the railroad of the South and
West for the alleged benefit of the
East, but to the injury OF every one"
Mr.. Young described Col. john
sons statement as "a coal smoke
screen" and said that Col. johnson
compared "haulers of fast freight
with the coal-carrying c. 81 O., a
completely misleading comparison
="
Claims Increase Of Fleet.
The c. & o. chairman declared his
road has increased its feet of all
all kinds of cars rs per cent when all
other roads have allowed their fleets
to dwindle IS per cent" and added !:
Our Rip Van Winkle ad attacks
deliberate freight slowdowns by
agreement on roads which are failing
to move foodstuffs and perishables.
The c. A o. Is not party to any
such agreement. 1t is meeting every
demand of its shippers and the min
ute it fails to, 1t will do something
about it"
The ODT statement was made in
answer to the C. Sy O.'s Rip Van
Winkle ads aimed at freight slow
ness due to "old line management"
and the ODT said that the Western
carriers which Mr.. Young criticized
all maintained higher freight speeds
than the G. 81 o. in the first half Of
this year.
Statistics Offered.
The national average, Col. john
son wrote, Is 16 miles an hour, while
that of the c. 6s o. Is 1873 miles.
Norfolk 81 Western, coal haul
ing" road like the c. a. O., had an
average Of 15.9 miles, Col. johnson
said.
He gave these averages for West
ern roads:
Santa Fe, 1913; Union Pacific,
1919; Burlington, 1855; Southern Pa
cific, 1877, and Missouri Pacific, 1871.
Memorandum Quoted.
Col. Johnson's statement included
an office memorandum prepared by
A. H. Gass, ODTs railroad traffic
expert, which said:
THE tenor of Mr.. Young's plea
was to quit delaying cars by sending
them over the long >circuitous route
and put them all onto the short
route and eliminate car shortage.
This ad made me curious with
respect to how the Chesapeake &
Ohio would fare II Mr.. Young had
his way. $50 I am rather surprised
at some Of the results"
Mr.. Gass then presented seven
analyses of freight routes on which
he said G. & o. solicited business,
at rates even with competing lines,
although its connections were more
"circuitous. For example, he said,
the short route" from Washington
to Detroit is 565 miles, but freight
moving on C. & o. between these
points was hauled 856 miles.
Col. johnson said In making the
correspondence available that the
recognized delivery time on perish
able fast freight coming into Chicago
from California Is "the sixth morning
after departure" and that the only
way in which one road could gain
q competitive advantage over an
other would be to beat that time
by "A hours"
"And the fastest among them can't
do that" he asserted.
A. Lynn Mcdowell Rites
To Be Conducted Monday
Funeral services for A. Lynn Nc
Dowell, So, vice president of the
Washington Petroleum Products,
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