II INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION CHARLES D. MAHAFFIE, Chairman CLYDE B. AITCHISON WILLIAM E. LEE CARROLL MILLER WALTER M. W. SPLAWN JOHN L. ROGERS J. HADEN ALLDREDGE W. P. BARTEL, Secretary. REPORT OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C., November 1, 1949 To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Interstate Commerce Commission has the honor to submit herewith its sixty-third annual report to the Congress. The period covered by this report extends from November 1, 1948, to October 31, 1949, except as otherwise noted. A statement of appropriations and aggregate expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1949, is contained in appendix F to this report. TRANSPORTATION DURING THE YEAR The year covered by this report has been one of great difficulty for many carriers and shippers. The process of inflation, which has had so important a bearing on our work in recent years, was checked and price declines began to appear. Demands for consumer and producer goods which had been backed up during the war came to be satisfied in many lines, industrial production showed a general decline, and a buyer's market, with all it implies, developed in most branches of industry. Strengthening factors began to appear in the summer, but adverse conditions in certain major industries subsequently lowered the scale of production. Faced with higher costs, mainly as the result of the pending conversion of their nonoperating employees to the basis of a 40-hour week, the railroads petitioned for a further general increase of about 13 percent in their freight rates and charges. We handled this petition with all possible expedition, considering the magnitude and complexity of the issues. An interim increase of about 5 percent became effective January 11, 1949, and a further increase, which brought the total authorized to 9 percent, became effective on September 1. These decisions are reviewed later herein. Some of their economic aspects may be discussed briefly at this point and, where possible, in the light of subsequent developments. While the increase allowed was considered unlikely to have any important bearing on the problem of inflation, on the general function 1 |