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Show Coolidge Is for Railroad Consolidation THE President Is convinced that a solution of the railroad problem prob-lem lies In consolidation of the transportation companies of the country into a limited number of regional systems. The President's conviction con-viction has been that he will express himself on the subject In his first message to congress In December. The President, It is declared, believes be-lieves In the consolidated plan as a cure for railroad Ills, first, because it will make possible material reductions in commodity rates, a reduction which he regards as necessary. He believes, further, that consolidation will assure security holders a fair return and promise greater efficiency In transportation. transpor-tation. The convictions of the President became be-came known following a conference with Nathan Amster, president of the City National Railroad league of Boston. Bos-ton. The President and Mr. Amster are old friends. According to information informa-tion obtained after the conference, the President outlined for the first time his attitude toward railroad mergers under the terms of the transportation act. He did not, however, make known whether he believed congress should amend the Cummins-Esch act to make consolidations compulsory. In the President's judgment the most Important phase of the transportation transpor-tation problem is freight rates. Agriculture, Agri-culture, he believes, is strangled to a degree by the excessive cost of transportation. trans-portation. Ih his opinion the same is true of other products known as "commodities." "com-modities." The President, it declared, has become convinced that the railroads cannot put horizontal rate reductions into effect without losses which they cannot stand. This seems to be true particularly of those lines engaged In moving heavy grain products from the field to market and to export centers. Also the President Is convinced, it is added, that the only means he knows of assuring the investor in railroad stocks and bonds a fair and continuous continu-ous return Is so to group the lines as to cut down operation expenses, overhead, over-head, and other outlays incident to the existing system. All this, it is said, has placed President Presi-dent Coolidge squarely on the side of railway consolidations in principle. How he will go about putting his policy pol-icy into concrete form remains to be determined. He will talk with Senator Cummins and other congressional leaders, lead-ers, it Is learned. |