Scientific and Technical Mobilization

The subcommittee met at 10:25 a. m., pursuant to call of the chairman, in room 104-B, Senate Office Building, Senator Harley M. Kilgore, West Virginia (chairman), presiding.

Present: Senator Harley M. Kilgore, West Virginia.
Also present: Dr. Herbert Schimmel, chief investigator.
The CHAIRMAN. The meeting will come to order.

Some time ago refernce was made in the hearings here to the Western Association of Railroads, and we had some testimony on railroad research work in a few limited fields. The Western Association of Railroads and the Association of American Railroads were present at the hearings and asked for an opportunity to make a reply. This hearing is for that purpose. There may be subsequent hearings going into the matters brought out this morning.

I understand, Mr. Fletcher, that you have a very detailed statement which may take several hours. It is customary when we have such long statements to summarize them and file them in full as a part of the record.

(The witness was sworn.)

TESTIMONY OF R. V. FLETCHER, VICE PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS

The CHAIRMAN. For the purpose of the record, please give your official connection.

Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, my name is R. V. Fletcher. I am a lawyer with some 45 years of experience at the bar. I live in Washington. I am one of the vice presidents of the Association of American Railroads.

I would like to say in a preliminary way, in order to see if my views coincide with yours, Mr. Chairman, that my statement will be of a preliminary nature, more a statement that might be expected to come from counsel than from a witness, and it will be an introduction to the statements which I hope the committee will permit us to put in later by two other witnesses who will go into greater detail with respect to the work done by the railroads in the technological field.

The CHAIRMAN. You desire at the present time to make what we commonly call an opening statement?

Mr. FLETCHER. That's right. It would be an introduction to what we have to say on the subject of railroad research, with particular reference to the subjects you have mentioned, Senator, and also a few brief remarks on this other matter of the so-called Western Agreement. I will try to be just as brief as I possibly can.

The CHAIRMAN. All right.

Mr. FLETCHER. I have been with the Association of American Railroads and with one of its predecessors since April 1, 1933.

The CHAIRMAN. May I say one thing? I feel keenly the public nature of railroads. They have become so much a part of the financial structure of the United States that anything that affects the financial operation of railroads makes itself felt throughout the entire United States. It isn't only the stockholders of the railroads or the officials who are affected; it is the whole population of the United States. Railroads have become one of the biggest units in our financial structure. For that reason I am very much interested in their continued operation and profitable operation.

Mr. FLETCHER. I appreciate that, Senator, and I agree with your view. Not only do I think they are important with reference to our financial soundness but they are even more important perhaps in the field of economics, because we think that there could be no hope of a sound economy in the post-war period unless there is efficient operation of the various transportation agencies, one of the most important of which is the railroads.

I was privileged to participate in the organization of the present association in 1934, and since 1934 I have been the responsible head of the law department of the association. Prior to my service in Washington, for some 22 years I was connected with the law department of the Illinois Central Railroad in Chicago.

As I have said, I appear here today more in the capacity of counsel than that of witness. In other words, I shall content myself with making an introductory statement, reasonably brief, I hope, outlining the matters which other officers of the association will discuss, and adding a few observations of my own. I appreciate the fact that this subcommittee is chiefly concerned in this investigation with scientific and technological activities of the railroads and particularly of their central staff, known as the Association of American Railroads-activities directed toward improving the service rendered to the public both in the matter of efficiency and safety. To that end we shall devote the greater part of our evidence here today to a discussion of the research work which the railroads have carried on and are still pursuing actively.

In the letter of the chairman dated March 18, 1944, addressed to the president of the Association of American Railroads, the association was invited to file a written statement along lines broadly outlined in the letter, and was further requested to reply to certain searching interrogatories covering a number of subjects. The written statement has been for some time on file, as have the answers to the interrogatories, and I understand you have made those statements a part of the record in this case this morning.

The CHAIRMAN. That is correct.

(The materials referred to were marked "Exhibit No. 390" and "Exhibit No. 391" and appear on p. 1762 and p. 1853 respectively.)

Mr. FLETCHER. I may say in passing that while I have a prepared statement here, I shall not follow it slavishly and shall be glad to answer questions that may occur to the members of the committee or to counsel for the committee at any time.

As stated in Mr. Pelley's letter of June 1, 1944, addressed to the chairman, the written statement proper consists of four parts. The first deals with the organization and activities of the Association of American Railroads, with special reference to its research activities. The second part goes into considerable detail with respect to such research. In order to simplify the labor of examining the material so submitted, the second part is supplemented by a series of exhibits filed as appendixes, each dealing at some length with particular subjects. To illustrate: One exhibit deals with research of an engineering character, having to do particularly with roadway and structures. This consists of 15 pages. Another exhibit deals at some length with research as applied to motive power and rolling stock, to which very important subject 24 pages are devoted. Another exhibit takes up the subject of research in electrical fields, which covers signaling as its principal topic-a phase of railroading which is closely related to problems of safety as well as efficiency of operation. Another rather closely related exhibit deals with electrical research as applied to telegraph, telephone, and radio activities as they relate to railroad operation. Another exhibit deals with research in the field of safety insofar as safety depends upon the human element. Another exhibit, of peculiar interest and importance in time of war, has to do with research work and its results in the matter of transporting explosives, which demands constant care by intensively trained experts. Another exhibit deals with the use of containers in the transportation of freight of a certain character-work entrusted to a special bureau which has for its purpose the reduction of claims for loss and damage, and the delivery of the shipments in better condition. There are other exhibits dealing with special research efforts to reduce loss and damage claims and to improve accounting methods and practices. These exhibits are implemented with numerous tables and charts explanatory of many statements found in the text.

The third part of the written statement consists of a carefully prepared statement submitted by the association's bureau of railway economics, showing the effect of all these research activities as reflected in operating results. This statement will be explained and summarized by the director of the bureau of railway economics, who will testify later. I content myself with saying at this point that the written and oral statements on this aspect of the matter will, I confidently assert, convince any fair-minded student of railroad performance that the progress made by the industry in recent years, as shown by its successful handling of the unprecedented war traffic, equals, if it does not surpass, the most brilliant accomplishments of American industry. The statement is accompanied by charts and tables, which explain and illustrate many of the statements found in the text. I invite your careful attention to this statement and the explanatory oral presentation to be made later by Dr. Parmelee.

I should have explained earlier in my statement that the matter of railroad research in the technological field will be summarized and explained by Mr. Buford, vice president of the association in charge

of its operations and maintenance department, under whose general direction all the research activities of the association are carried on.

The fourth part of the general statement deals with a special subject, viz, the so-called western agreement, which was for some years in existence on western railroads, and under which there was employed a commissioner, whose principal function was to deal with competitive wastes. This question probably has very little to do with the general subject of research in the railroad field. However, the Honorable Wendell Berge, Assistant Attorney General, in his appearance before this subcommittee, discussed this agreement, and it seems appropriate to deal with the subject briefly in view of Mr. Berge's rather obvious misunderstanding of the history, purposes, and operation of the agreement.

I may say in passing that Mr. Berge, in his testimony, mentioned two other matters; viz., the contract between the air lines and the Railway Express Agency and the relation of the Pullman Co. to the railroad industry. The Express Agency contract has been fully and satisfactorily dealt with by Mr. Frey of the Agency, and the Pullman situation has been fully and convincingly covered in a statement filed by Mr. Crawford, president of the Pullman Co. A decree of the Federal court at Philadelphia, now become final, makes it necessary for the Pullman Co. to divorce its manufacturing business from the business of operating sleeping cars, and this necessary change presents a major problem, which must be solved in some way if the railroads are to continue to offer sleeping-car service to their patrons.

The CHAIRMAN. Have the railroad companies even considered operating their own sleeping-car service? Have economic studies been made on that?

Mr. FLETCHER. Oh, yes. There was a time, Mr. Chairman, I can well remember it, when some of the railroads owned their own sleeping cars.

The CHAIRMAN. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul did.

Mr. FLETCHER. Yes, sir. The difficulty has always been that if a railroad owns a certain number of sleeping cars adequate to take care of the normal traffic, there will be occasions when there is necessity for a great many more sleeping cars than they would have to have throughout the year-excursions would be held, or conventions would be held, and there would be a great demand for extra sleeping cars, and the advantages of having all of the sleeping cars owned and operated by one company are that thereby there is created a pool which will permit the shifting of sleeping cars from a road that doesn't need them at a particular time to another road that needs them sorely for the public convenience, and that presents the serious question which arises now and which faces the railroad industry at this time.

The CHAIRMAN. Much the same thing is true of freight cars.
Mr. FLETCHER. Yes; to a certain extent.

The CHAIRMAN. The railroads solved the freight-car problem by rental arrangements, in which the using road pays a rental to the owning road for the time in which the freight cars are in use.

Mr. FLETCHER. They pay $1 a day at the present time. The freight cars of the country are pooled so they go freely from one part of the country to another.

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Scientific and Technical Mobilization: Hearing[s] Before a ..., Partes 8-16