THE BURDEN OF TRANSPOKTATION 75 



tural depression because of the fact that the 

 increases in rates occnrred almost simultane- 

 onsly with a decline in prices. The experience 

 of past years has been sufficient to warn us of 

 the serious effects when rates become higher 

 than the traffic will bear in the disturbances 

 caused in food production and in the shifting 

 of world trade and markets, all of which are ex- 

 pensive both to the nation and to the producer. 

 Transportation charges are still too high. 



It was believed when the war ended that the 

 return of the railroads to private management 

 would through the restoration of competition 

 serve to promote efficiency and promptly adjust 

 rates. 



But our complex transportation problem had 

 been neglected for some time and the war put us 

 in a situation which required more heroic rem- 

 edy. I proposed a bill early last year calling 

 for the repeal of the Transportation Act inso- 

 far as it directed the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission to make rates which would assure a 

 return of 6 per cent to the carriers, because it 

 seemed to me that readjustment has been re- 

 tarded by the fact that a fixed return was in- 

 cluded in the Transportation Act. It would ap- 

 pear to have been logical for transportation 



