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Show I RAILROAD RATE I CHANGES URGED i Hoover Thinks Charges on Some Classes of Traffic Too Low WASHINGTON'. Nov 1.'.. NcnI for a reconstruction of the railroad rat i structure of the country--ln boiih! rsvj with upward readjuetnienta- will bo brought to the attention f rongrens by Secretary Hoover, It isj understood, in Ms forthcoming an-nual an-nual report Some relief both to the. railway and to the farmers. In the 1 secretary's view, may ! obtained through BUCh a reorganization Mr. Hoover's report. According to! drafts alread completed, la planned to present comprehensive discussion of the national transportation pr i-im i-im covering car shortage regulation, weiikness in the t rn nsportatlon act, I rates and labor regulation. Losses through short transportation.! Mr. Hoover finds, are a tax upon the community, stifling production, in- troduclng speculation and disturbing j price levels. Despite the lack of equip- ; incnt, he maintains, American rai) road management Is the most efficient In the world In so far as It is not limited by uncontrollable clrt instances. in-stances. Regulation In some form is necessary neces-sary hf contends, hut constructive development de-velopment of this regulation to preserve pre-serve the initiative of railway exec I-i I-i tlves and at the same time o secure puiilic protection and assure adequate Kprlce are vital and not necessarily incompatible. I x. OWNERSHIP RAPPED 'Nationalization would be a social , and economic disaster," draft? of the reports say. Tree operation IVOU I reconstruct the vicious practices ' SO years ago The present transpor-' tation act. possesses many construe-1 tlve features and some weakness I' was the result of compromise in , many particulars and these very compromises com-promises are some of Its weaki )( points." Failure of the carriers to earn the amounts provided undei the act as n fair return. Mr Hoover Serl disproves the "current fiction" that earnings are "guaranteed" while the I recapture provision whereby rnlnps nbove ft per c.-nt would he turned over to the government to be loaned to railroads, would not seem to extend to those 'anaemic carriers" who are unable to give the government the color of assurance of repayment through their own Inability to pm-duce pm-duce earning:) Consolidation, however, how-ever, he suggests might sohc the problem ACTTTATi LOSSES NOT! n Rates, according to the report, We. a 'vivid question" In the transportation transporta-tion situation, a heavy burden on agriculture In an area of wide disparity dis-parity between the farmers' Income and that of Industry, while at the same time railway earnings are nol large enough to assure railway expansion. ex-pansion. "Some classes and areas ol traffic are carried," the report declares "at actual loss, others are carried at low r rates than the relative value of th commodities "warrant, and B BSrles of scientific upward readjustments should be made in some cases in order to rive the railways and the shippers of primary commodities and agricultural produce some rell.-f ' STRIKE PREVENTION. Wage control and strike prevention phases of the arts are considered unsatisfactory un-satisfactory by Mr Hoover on the ground that failure of the local adjustment ad-justment boards for direct contarl hetweene employers and employes has thrust all labor disputes ip in the railroad labor board. resulting in practically government fi.xlnq of all wages and conditions oflabor. HJ "There can be no question." the re port says, "that action in some direction direc-tion is Imperative If Industry and commerce are not to be further strangled by a shortage in transpor HJ lion. Whatever may hav boon 'Ur HJ ains of railway finance m the last generation we are not only suffering from them but Ire have main! an attitude of bitterness In our public pub-lic relationship to. our railway for which we pay thrieo over in pr Mon of their proper development Wi must have increased transportation. If we aro to maintain our growing HJ productivity. Me must therefore find a way out of the cycle of systematic starvation of a large part of our mileage and tho denudation of our railway managers Of their responsibilities responsi-bilities and initiative." |