PART 8. RETURN OF THE RAILROADS TO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP. COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. John J. Esch (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. This morning we have assigned to Mr. Thom and the railway executives for the presentation of their views on railroad legislation. Mг. THOм. Mr. Cuyler, the chairman of our association, Mr. Chairman, will first address the committee. STATEMENT OF MR. THOMAS DeWITT CUYLER, CHAIRMAN ASSOCIATION OF RAILWAY EXECUTIVES, COMMERCIAL TRUST BUILDING, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Mr. CUYLER. Mr. Chairman, I might say that my railroad affiliations are that I am director of the New York, New Haven & Hartford and member of the executive committee, and also of the Long Island Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad, and chairman of its road committee, which is the operating committee, and of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and its executive committee. The association which I represent, Mr. Chairman, is a voluntary association of railway executives which was formed several years ago for the purpose of conferring on matters of mutual interest to the railroads bearing upon legislation and other matters that were important from their standpoint, and since the roads were taken over by the Government under Federal control it has practically acted as a clearing house between the Federal Railroad Administration and the railroads; that is to say, all questions such as negotiation of the standard return, various questions that have arisen under the standard contract, and practically all such matters, are now cleared through our association by Mr. Hines to the various railroads. The bill which I have to submit to the committee is a bill which was originally prepared in Philadelphia at a meeting of the executives in the latter part of December of last year. We had a meeting there of practically all the members of our association, and I might say that they represent about 95 per cent of the trackage of the country, the only road of any large size that is not in it being the Southern Railway. After a five-day session a special committee having been appointed for the purpose, a plan was drafted and submitted to the general meeting and adopted by that meeting. This plan was submitted to the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce in January of this year. Since then there have been some important modifications of the bill. 1123 The CHAIRMAN. Was it presented in bill form or only a synopsis! Mr. CUYLER. No, sir; it was presented only as a plan. It was not known as a bill then. We have now prepared a bill, as we thought it might be more convenient for the committee to have it in that form, and I want to ask your pleasure whether I shall read the bill as such or simply explain the bill. The CHAIRMAN. I think if you have copies of the bill here and can distribute them, we can follow your explanations better. Mr. THOм. We have a number of copies here. Mr. CUYLER.. There are certain parts of the bill that are so important that I ought perhaps to read the phraseology, but as to the details of the bill and when we come to unimportant items I will omit them. Mr. SIMS. It is neither what is known as the Watson bill or the Underwood bill? Mr. CUYLER. No, sir; we have never presented or fathered any bill of any kind. We thought so far as the Senate committee was concerned that it was better not to do that. (The bill referred to follows:) AUGUST 1, 1919. A BILL To provide for the relinquishment of Federal control of railroads and other transportation systems, for the further regulation of interstate and foreign commerce, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, CHAPTER I. RELINQUISHMENT OF FEDERAL CONTROL OF RAILROADS AND OTHER TRANSPROTATION SYSTEMS, AND FURTHER REGULATION THEREOF. SECTION 1. That the Federal control of railroads and transportation systems provided for in section 1 of the act of Congress, approved August 21, 1916, entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917, and for other purposes," and in the act approved March 21, 1918, entitled "An act to provide for the operation of transportation systems while under Federal control, for the just compensation of their owners, and for other purposes," shall cease at midnight of the 31st day of December, 1919, at which time the President shall relinquish control of such railroads and transportation systems. The rates, fares, and charges in force at the time of the passage of this act shall remain in force until changed as in this act provided. As soon as practicable, after the passage of this act, the interstate Commerce Commission shall, in consultation with the Director General of Railroads and, if then appointed, with the Federal transportation board hereinafter referred to, proceed to a consideration of the financial condition, under the scale of expenses and of revenues put into effect during Federal control, of said carriers and shall, as far as necessary, change and adjust the rates, fares, and charges and the levels thereof, in such way as to establish a just relationship between the carriers' operating revenues and expenses, to the end that the said carriers may, as far as practicable, be placed upon the basis provided in |