The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 8, 1921, Page 9

R R SR NI e | | | | | t > cept a valuation that it is now proving Railroad Rates HE Esch-Cummins bill commanded the interstate commerce commission to fix rates on freight and passengers carried by railroads at a figure sufficient to return a profit of not less than 5% per cent on the valuation of the roads. That does not mean the actual valuation of each road fixes the rates that road shall charge, but that the roads are to be considered as one property and valued as such. When the rates were raised last year the inter- state commerce commission claimed it was compel- led to put the roads’ valuation at $18,900,000,000, - which is practically the “property investment” or “book” value placed upon the roads by their man- agers. This is the valuation upon which are based present freight and passenger rates. On this valua- tion the roads are permitted to earn profits provided for by the Esch-Cummins act. For years the commission has had its agents‘ making a valuation of the roads according to provi- sions of law, and those valuations in a g . majority of cases prove the charge that the so-called “property investment ac- counts” on which the interstate com- merce commission based the $18,900,- 000,000 valuation, are swollen with fic- titious claims. ° Eighteen roads which have been val- ued, the commission’s engineers find, could have been reproduced new, even at the relatively high costs of labor and materials prevailing in 1917, for just half what the carriers claim they are worth, -if a proper depreciation charge is included in the calculation. ‘While the books of these 18 roads show as an investment in road and equipment the sum of $104,934,031, the engineers declare that only $50,854,506 would be required to outfit their entire properties with new equipment. This includes land at its market value when the appraising was made in 1917. The most flagrant overcapitalization is revealed in the accounts of the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico railroad, which claims to have invested $35,171,- 019 in road and equipment. The com- mission reports that this property can be reproduced new for mot. more than $8,694,019, with the necessary depre- ciation allowance. The actual value of the road is, therefore, less than one- third of the claimed value, upon which the public is compelled to pay exorbi- tant freight charges that dividends may be guaranteed under the Esch-Cummins [ act. The railroad lobby put over the Esch- Cummins bill before a valuation of the roads could be made, and compelled the interstate commerce commission to ac- to be away above the actual figures. Because of that valuation, freight and passenger rates are about 100 per cent higher than they would be under a fair valuation, which means that ‘the rail- roads have sandbagged the people out " of twice as much as they are legally entitled to. . Public opinion forced a reluctant congress to pass meat packer legislation, but friends of the interests cut the heart out of the original bill and the meas- ure which finally passed won’t hurt the packers— for it is said to have been drafted by their attor- neys. The senate passed the house bill, substitut- ing it for the senate bill which had teeth in it. Sena- tors La Follette, Norris and Kenyon tried to incor- porate some real regulatory amendments in the bill, but under the leadership of Smoot they were voted down by the reactionaries. " ROLLCALL SHOWS WHO ARE REAL FRIENDS OF PEACE A number of United States senators will attempt to rose as friends of world peace because of their vote in favor of the Borah resolution, authorizing and requesting the president to call a conference on disarmament. But the Borah resolution was a bandwagon proposition after President Harding and the militarists, in the face of an overwhelming i } { af i | ORGANIZATION 1 OINTMENT S AsiTES € PARASH Sfigfimifé FARME & e R T T T R e i T R W il o e NATIONAL CAPITAL NOTES public opinion, decided to let it pass. The vote was practically unanimous for it in the senate. The backers of the big army and navy program feared to oppose it. But there was an amendment offered by Senator Pomerene to the Borah resolution, ac- ceptable to Borah himself. The vote on this amend- ment shows the true friends of world peace. The amendment was as follows: 7/ “The president is hereby authorized, in his dis- cretion, to delay for a period of six months, in whole or in part, the building program provided for in this act in order to enable him to arrange for a conference with the governments of Great Britain and Japan with the view of reducing substantially the naval building programs of the several govern- ments so participating in said conference; and if they agree upon such plan of reduction, the presi- dent is hereby further authorized to suspend in whole or in part the said building program in order to snz’v;ble him to carry out any agreement thus made. | THE MEANEST CROP BUG . | PESTS Could anything be fairer or in better faith than this proposition to suspend the United States navy building program to await the outcome of the in- ternational conference on disarmament? It would have saved money and it would have shown the world that we were in earnest and that the Borah resolution was not a sop to the people, a mere meaningless gesture. But the senate rejected the Pomerene amendment 29 to 36. The rollcall is as follows: : For Pomerene Amendment — Ashurst, Borah, Broussard, Capper, Caraway, Dial, Fletcher, Glass, ° Harris, Harrison, Johnson, Jones (Wash.), Kenyon, King, Ladd, La Follette, Lenroot, McKellar, Over- man, Owen, Pomerene, Sheppard, Simmons, Stan- ley, Swanson, Trammell, TUnderwood, Walsh (Mass.), Watson (Ga.)—29. : Against Pomerene Amendment—Ball, Brandegee, Bursum, Calder, Cummins, Curtis, Dillingham, Edge, Gerry, Gooding, Hale, Harreld, Kellogg, Keyes, Lodge,;McCormick, McNary, Moses, Myers, Nelson, Newberry, Norbeck, Oddie, Phipps, Poin- dexter, Shortridge, Smoot, Spencer, Stanfield, Ster- PAGE TEN —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris. Disarmament ling, Sutherland, Townsend, Wadsworth, Walsh (Mont.), Warren, Willis.—36. Not Voting—Cameron, Colt, Culberson, Elkins, Ernst, Fernald, France, Frelinghuysen, Heflin, Hitcheock, Jones (N. M.), Kendrick, Knox, McCum-~ ber, McKinley, McLean, New, Nicholson, Norris, Page, Penrose, Pittman, Ransdell, Reed, Robinson, Shields, Smith, Watson (Ind.), Weller, Williams, Wolcott. i HEARINGS ON GRAIN GRADE MEASURE HELD IN HOUSE Favorable report on the Steenerson grain grading bill, which abolishes the complicated and arbitrary 39 different classifications of existing .federal grades and substitutes three easily understood grades, with only nine subdivisions, probably will be made by the house committee on agriculture. Hearings for the past three days have brought out friendly expression from a great majority of the committeemen. Senator Ladd overwhelmed the com- mittee with evidence proving the un- fairness of existing grades and wound up by relating the infamous “Feed D” wheat steal in 1916, when the entire North Dakota crop was given a special grade and purchased at prices of from 40 cents to $1 a bushel under the price for usual grades. Later this wheat was milled and the millers actually adver- tised that it made superior flour. Sena- tor Ladd declared the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce had an illegal combine to fix prices and opined it should be prosecuted under the Sher- man anti-trust law. He concluded by saying the farmers never would get a square deal until they controlled their grain ‘until it reached the final con- sumer. J. A. McGovern, grain inspector of North Dakota, Professor W. C. Palmer of the agricultural college and Thomas Saunderson, state miller, also attacked the existing federal grades. They lined the committee room walls with charts showing discrepancies between grades and prices and McGovern displayed samples of wheat showing unfairness in grading. C. M. Bendixen, Elias Nordgren and George Sullivan, members of the Min- nesota legislative commission, also vigorously attacked the administration of the present grades, and Dan O’Neill .of Thief River Falls, well-known Non- partisan leaguer, told how farmers were cheated by the manipulations of the grain buyers. James Manahan, attor- ney for the Equity, concluded the evi- dence from the Northwest by assailing the bureaucracy of the department of agriculture. He said the rules, design- ed by theorists and “arm-chair” farm- ers in the government department, wound up the administration in so much red tape that relief from congress was needed. The United States Chamber of Com- merce has commenced a nation wide campaign against the passage of the soldiers’ bonus bill. When the boys were marching away to war mem- bers and officials of the United States Chamber of Commerce were the first to cheer them on, but now that legislation is proposed which will give many of the jobless and wounded veterans much-needed relief, this big business organization opposes it on the ground it will increase taxes. Heads of soldiers’ asgociations in Washington are very indignant and some blistering language is being applied to some of the war profiteers who looted the government of ‘ millions and are now trying to block a miserly com- pensation for the men who did the fighting. On September 9 222 farms will be opened to homestead entry by soldiers of the World war on the North Platte irrigation project in Wyoming, and one week later, September 16, 57 farms will" be thrown open under the Shoshone project in the same state. About 19,000 acres of land are in- cluded in the two openings. For 60 days no one but soldiers of the World war will be permitted to make filings on these farms.