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Show ITER RATES ARE HURTINGBUS1NESS BANKERS AND MANUFACTURERS OF WEST SEE DANGER IN SITUATION President of Chicago Association Declares Existing Rail Rates to Coast Detriment to Factories - New York, Bankers and manufacturers manufact-urers from the Middle West Monday added their voices to those of transcontinental trans-continental railroad officials in asking ask-ing the interstate commerce commission commis-sion to permit a revision of rail rates, which would meet the lower freight rates between Atlantic and Pacific ports. Tuesday's hearing was a resumption resump-tion of the series conducted in many cities, the lust at Chicago. It is expected ex-pected the New York session will conclude the commission's accumulation accumula-tion of evidence for and against rail rate reduction. Witnesses were unanimous in declaring de-claring that the existing differential in rail and water rates was hurting the Middle West and that the carriers should be permitted to reduce rates to half tiro diversion of transcontinental freight to steamship companies operating oper-ating via the Panama canal. President Dawes of the Chicago Association of Commerce summarized the testimony of other witnesses when he said : "There is a constantly diminishing shipment of freight by rail from the Middle West to the Pacific coast. "If Panama canal transportation hurts Midwestern railroads thereby affecting manufacturers in the Middle West, we should have an adjustment that would equalize the rail and water wat-er rates." Mr. Dawes said he came here to help bring about direct rail transportation trans-portation to the Pacific coast. "We want the people of the Middle West to stay there." he continued. "We don't want them to bring their manufacturing plants to the Fast because be-cause of cheaper freight rates to the Pacific by water than by land. We should have a coast to coast rail traffic. traf-fic. The Panama canal should be used to the benefit of the entire country, coun-try, but n"t to the detriment of the Central states." Ib. ben Hula of the Chicago Assocbi-tion Assocbi-tion of CVmr.ierce asserted the freight rate differential was keeping Investment Invest-ment capital awny from the Mbbl 0 West and that every manufacturer who c 'iiU abandon his M idwi-t'-rn pr. .perries crH cove to tho Allan:!' coast was doing so. |