DEAR SIRS: I am enclosing with this letter copy of a statement agreed to by representatives of the grain and flour milling trades of the Central West at a meeting held in Kansas City on March 22, together with copies of letters to Mr. J. J. Pelley, president of the Association of American Railroads, and to Col. J. Monroe Johnson, Director, Office of Defense Transportation, all of which relate to the current shortage of box cars for loading grain and grain products and are self explanatory.

I was directed by those present at the meeting to bring this matter to the attention of the members of the Interstate Commerce Commission with the request that the Commission take some action in the matter to inquire into the circumstances and determine if some remedial action should not be taken. Please regard this letter, therefore, as a formal request to that effect.

So far as we are aware the Interstate Commerce Commission has, up to this time, taken no action of any kind to improve the conditions which result in the abnormal dislocation of boxcars, the immediate cause of the severe car shortage in the West. It may be that the Commission has established a policy to obtain during the period of the war to defer to the Office of Defense Transportation in such matters as underlie the car shortage. If this is so, we should look to the Office of Defense Transportation, but that agency has apparently not taken such action as would bring the necessary relief. It was the firm conviction of those attending the meeting that the Interstate Commerce Commission should exercise its powers under the Act in the circumstances here presented.

You are requested to advise me the attitude of the Commission in this matter We have a bad situation, steadily growing worse, and the proper authorities should, in our opinion, do something about it.

Respectfully,

E. R. JESSEN, President.

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION,
Washington, March 31, 1945.

Mr. E. R. JESSEN,

President, The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo. DEAR MR. JESSEN: Your letter of March 23, addressed to Chairman Rogers requesting that the Commission inquire into the circumstances surrounding the present shortage of boxcars for loading grain and grain products and determine if some immediate action should be taken to improve the car supply for those commodities, has been referred to me, as Chairman of Division 3, for reply.

Division 3 has charge of car-service matters, as definied in the Interstate Commerce Act. Commissioner Johnson is a member of this division, as well as Director of the Office of Defense Transportation. All the statutory powers of the Commission with respect to car service, including the issuance of service orders, are exercised by the Commission, through Division 3, which has been currently informed of the shortage of cars of which you complain and of the action taken to minimize the effect.

The Commission has not relinquished any of its powers with respect to car service to the Office of Defense Transportation and could not do so under the statute. The policy of the two organizations has been to work closely together, each having the benefit of the experienced personnel of both organizations.

Since the receipt of your letter the situation has been reviewed again by Division 3 and the Office of Defense Transportation.

I am enclosing herewith a mimeographed statement entitled "Situation with Respect to the Current Shortage of Cars for Grain and Grain Products Loading." This statement, which was prepared after conference between representatives of the Commission, the Office of Defense Transportation and the car-service division of the Association of American Railroads, sets forth, item by item, the allegations contained in your Statement of Grain and Flour Milling Interests Regarding the Shortage of Boxcars, which accompanied your letter, and replies thereto.

I am also enclosing the statement of our Bureau of Transport Economics and Statistics, dated March 29, 1945, showing the weekly revenue freight loadings. It will be seen that for the week ending March 24, 1945, 45,822 cars were loaded, as compared with 44,067 for the previous week, and 43,261 for the week ending March 25, 1944. Assuming that cars can be supplied to continue the present volume until the last week in June 1945, the railroads will at that time have moved 48,000 more carloads of grain and grain products than were moved during the same period a year ago.

I attach also a chart showing the boxcar surpluses and shortages for 1944 and 1945. The boxcar shortage is greater now than at any time during many years. There is furnished also a three-page statement from the Export-Import Section

of the Office of Defense Transportation showing a yearly record of export loadings for 1941-44 by regions.

Your letter states that the Office of Defense Transportation has apparently not taken such action as would bring the necessary relief. For that reason Commissioner-Director Johnson will reply direct to you and each of those shown as signing the statement which accompanied your letter and will furnish the same documents which I enclose.

Speaking for Division 3, and after current investigation, it is believed that the policies and methods so far pursued will more quickly furnish the relief you seek than would the methods you propose because the methods now used are in keeping with the other gigantic demands on transportation which you obviously overlooked.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) Carroll MILLER, Chairman, Division 3.

Interstate Commerce Commission Bureau of Transport Economics and Statistics Interstate Commerce Commission-Office of Defense Transportation Traffic Forecast Section, weekly revenue freight loadings, Association of American Railroads

Mr. CASE. The newspaper account said 2,500 cars were to be delivered daily to the western connections until the situation had been corrected. The newspapers did not say that the railroads would be turned over to three men, but that the Board of Trade made a petition to the Director of the O. D. T., and he regards the right of petition as presumptuous on the part of the American people.

Colonel JOHNSON. No; I did not say that. I was so mad I could have shot that man then, so I have no apologies to make.

Mr. CASE. Did you tell him that you could have shot him?
Colonel JOHNSON. Yes. I have seen him since.

I want to put into the record an editorial from the Bismarck Tribune on the subject thanking God that there is one man in the Government that is not going to be pushed around.

Mr. CANNON. The editorial may be included at this point.

(The matter referred to is as follows:)

REFRESHING INCIDENT

Office of Defense Transportation Director J. M. Johnson recently "told off" the Kansas City grain trade in a manner which is distinctly encouraging and refreshing. He'll "catch hell" for it, of course, but if the Nation is lucky there will be other instances of straight talking and the country will benefit immensely thereby.

Johnson "sounded off" when the grain interests of the Kansas City district sent him a resolution demanding more cars to move grain from that area. The group was concerned because a new harvest will be coming in within a few months and they want to clear their elevators and warehouses. As is the custom in such cases, they demanded that 2,500 cars be delivered daily to western connections until the "dislocation" has been corrected. Furthermore, they pointed out that a great many cars owned by western railroads and ordinarily available now are being used by eastern roads.

Said Mr. Johnson:

"It is not unusual for some group interested in a certain commodity to insist on its relief in utter disregard to transportation of others, including the military, but your action is the most outstanding instance of disregard of the transportation of others I have yet experienced.

"It is a little discourging that a group of men such as you, without any general knowledge of transportation difficulties, would attempt a solution by allocating to yourselves a profitable and easy transportation road which would, if followed, paralyze the whole transportation situation and have an immediate effect on the war effort and would result in ultimate disadvantage to yourselves.

"American transportation, in view of the record it has established in this world war, with 600,000 fewer freight cars and other serious deficiencies as compared with the first world war, deserves more confidence than you exhibit.

"It would seem to me that you would appreciate that you are presumptious to make such recommendations. I consider you so.'

There are two ways of looking at this forthright declaration. One group doubtless will shout that public servants shouldn't talk back to their bosses in that manner and say the letter proves how arbitrary government is becoming.

But a sounder view is that public officials should be encouraged to state their views with as much frankness as others enjoy and should be permitted to do so without penalty.

The fact, of course, probably is that Johnson doesn't care whether he continues as Office of Defense Transportation chief or not; that he can make as good a living or a better one in some other job. It is rather obvious that the Kansas City men got his goat and he let them have both barrels.

If every public official would do the same thing we would have a greatly improved situation. There would be plenty of unholy screams but a lot of truth would come to light. If such a condition prevailed for only a short time we might even develop a situation wherein people would try to see national problems from more than their selfish viewpoint. This would be a consummation devoutly to be wished. In fact, it would almost mark the millenium.

TRUCK TRANSPORTATION IN THIS WAR

Mr. CASE. You said that there were 600,000 fewer freight cars available during this war to work with than we had in World War I. What is the volume of truck traffic, or traffic carried by trucks and motor transportation in this war compared with World War I?

Colonel JOHNSON. We did not have any trucks to speak of then, but I referred to what the railroads did in World War II, and it is generally with 600,000 fewer freight cars, and 22,000 less locomotives, and 15,000 less passenger cars we are carrying double the freight and passenger loads that were carried then.

Mr. CASE. What job has been done by truck transportation in this war?

72467-45- -51

Mr. RICHARDSON. In the case of intercity for-hire trucks they are transporting about 20 percent more freight than in 1941. Considerable variation is found in other forms of truck transportation, but generally the level of traffic is greater than before the war. This traffic has been handled with about 15 billion fewer truck-miles than were operated in 1941.

Mr. CASE. What is the ration of that to the job that was done in World War No. I by the railroads?

Colonel JOHNSON. They did not do a job in World War I. You had paralysis from one end of the country to the other.

Mr. TABER. You had Government operation.

Colonel JOHNSON. Yes; Government operation.

Mr. CASE. That still does not tell us what I asked for.

Mr. RICHARDSON. As far as intercity carriers go, it is about 15 percent of the tonnage and 6 percent of the ton-miles. As far as trucks as a whole go, including trucks in local service, it is about 62 percent of the tonnage and about 8 percent of the ton-miles. There are about 633,000 for-hire trucks, and there are 4,100,000 trucks being privately operated on farms, and so forth.

Colonel JOHNSON. A large part of that was done before by horsedrawn vehicles and everything else.

Mr. CASE. From the standpoint of handling freight, has motor transportation relieved the railroads in the same proportion or a greater proportion than the ton-miles would show? Mr. RICHARDSON. A great deal more.

INCREASE IN WATER TRANSPORTATION

(See p. 772)

Mr. CASE. How much increase has there been in what the waterways have done in this war compared with World War I?

Mr. TURNER. There has been a considerable increase, I would say, probably 25 to 30 percent.

Mr. SNYDER. I think it is more than that. You better look it up. Mr. TURNER. No, I think not; because we lost some tonnage in waterways which cuts it down.

Mr. SNYDER. He is speaking about compared with World War I. Mr. TURNER. There was, of course, very little transportation by water in World War I, except on the Great Lakes.

Mr. CASE. So, that the waterways have taken a great part of the load in. World War II?

Mr. TURNER. As against World War I.

Colonel JOHNSON. They are taking a great proportion of it in this war.

Mr. KING. This is part of the statement that Colonel Johnson made to the Senate committee just a few days ago, and quoting from page 23 on the subject of waterways, he said:

In

There was, however, increasing freight carried on inland waterways of the United States including the Great Lakes for the years 1943, '44, and '45. 1943, 141,600,000,000 ton-miles were carried by water. In 1944, 152,000,000.000 is estimated to have been carried, and for 1945, the estimate is 155,000,000,000. Tonnage moved on the Great Lakes falls into four important classes-iron ore, coal, grain, and limestone. In 1943, 175,000,000 net tons of those commodities were carried; in 1944, 184,000,000 and for 1945 the estimate is 188,000,000.

In 1944 Great Lakes tonnage amounted to more than 21⁄2 times the total of all off-shore tonnage including all exports of every description. Our Inland Waterways have transported substantial quantities of petroleum and petroleum products in 1943, 292.5 million barrels; 1944, 352.3 million barrels and the estimate for 1945, is 394.1 million barrels.

Mr. CASE. I did not catch right at the first whether that is simply the Great Lakes or does that include other waterways, the Ohio and the Mississippi?

Mr. KING. This is everything.

OIL TRANSPORTATION

Mr. CASE. Has there been any substantial increase in liquid transportation made by the pipe lines?

Colonel JOHNSON. Yes; after they got into operation. We have a statement giving the percentage hauled by rails and pipe lines, and it brings it on down, and shows the relationship.

We were hauling more than a million barrels a day for the whole. week at one point.

Mr. CASE. At this point will you put in the paragraph that relates to the pipe-line transportation when you correct your transcript? (The matter referred to is as follows:)

Percentage distribution of petroleum and products by rail, pipe line, tanker, and barge into district I