THE Transportation Act of 1920 deals with the
consolidation of railways into a limited number of
systems by the amendment of section 5, paragraph
4 of the act to regulate commerce, of 1887, making
it read as follows:

"The Commission shall as soon as practicable pre-
pare and adopt a plan for the consolidation of the
railway properties of the continental United States
into a limited number of systems. In the division
of such railways into such systems under such plan
competition shall be preserved as fully as possible
and wherever practicable the existing routes and
channels of trade and commerce shall be maintained.
Subject to the foregoing requirements, the several
systems shall be so arranged that the cost of trans-
portation as between competitive systems and as
related to the values of the properties through which
the service is rendered shall be the same, so far as
practicable, so that these systems can employ uni-
form rates in the movement of competitive traffic
and under efficient management earn substantially

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