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Show 9 EXPRESS coiais RAISE Increase in Cost of Li v. ing and parcel' Post Competition Basis of Action for More Funds By Intarnatianal Nawa Service. WASHINGTON, May 16. The nine principal express companies com-panies operating in the United States are to file with the interstate inter-state commerce commission a petition for a general Increase In their rates. It waa learned here today. to-day. It also Is likely that other public pub-lic utilities doing an Interstate business, busi-ness, such aa telephone and telegraph rompanlea and pipe lines, will ask the federal rate regulating body for additional revenues. The plea on which the petition will be baaed is that the high cost of living has bit the public utility cor-poratloh cor-poratloh aa hard aa the individual During January . 1917, the last .month for which figures bave been compiled, the express companies showed a deficit of $112,000. This deficit baa been Increasing for several sev-eral months, and forecasts of later figures fig-ures Indicate that the rate at which the deficit Is increasing is accelerating. accelerat-ing. UTILITIES 8UFFER. The public utilities hsve suffered from the same upward trend of prices which forced the railroads of the t'nttrd Slates to ask the commission for a general Increase of IS per cent In freight rates, l-abor and auppllea of sll kinds and taxes, both state and federal, have showed a larger and larger aggregate on the hooka of these companies, while they have been forced to keep thHr rates stationary, being under federal rates supervision. The pnhllc utility 'commission, as well ss the railroads of the country, ! declare that the war la bringing i added burdena to them, aa there is a heavy trafflo made up of government govern-ment business which commands rates lower tlian th usual commercial rates. MAIL COMPETITION. While all of tha communication NORTHERN BAPTISTS ! MEET AT CLEVELAND ! .. 'r I By Aaaeeiatad Praaa. " i CLEVELAND. O.. May It. Three j thousand delegates and aa many alter- - : nates from thirty-eight states attended !" the Northern Baptist convention. : ' which opened today and will continue f through Tuesday. - ' ; "Vitalizing the I.ocal Church ' W i the general topic, discussed front va- . rious points of view by experts, with j sessions devoted to home and foreign ; missions, young people's work, rellg-' t ioua and denominational journalism. men's work, the rural church, el'v j missions and vacation Bible schools: ; agencies have suffered by reason of higher operating costs, tha express companies declare they have had the hardest time because of the competition competi-tion brought about by the United States parcels post service. This service, ser-vice, operating at lower rates than those which the express companies give, cuts Into their reveuuea materially. mate-rially. It Is understood that these corporations corpora-tions are marking time for the prea-ent. prea-ent. waiting io see what attitude the Interstate , commerce commission adopts toward the railroads' petition for a general increase. If the commission com-mission lends a friendly ear to the arguments ar-guments of the railroads, which are , similar to those which the express companies and the public utilities hsve to offer, the prompt filing of a petition pe-tition for a general Increase may be expected. - |