Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-10-10
Whole Country is Appealing to
Int, rstate Commerce Com
mission For Relief
LATTER PowERLEss TO GIVE 1T
The New Rate Law is Not So Trou-
bIesome as the Excess Of Freight,
and Commission Cannot Create
Cars and neutrality-suspicious. Add
Greatly to Burden.

volume of complaints reaching the In
terstate commerce commission is in
dicative Of conditions at large, the
country never faced so serious "a con-
dition In transportation affairs as to-
day The railroads are utterly unable
to take care of the business offered 20
them. They have not the cars and
cannot get them built.
If they had the cars they would not
have motive power to move them; and
1t is almost as difficult TO get locomo-
tives built as to secure cars. II thsy
had the cars and the locomotives, they
would not be able to handle all Of them
over present tracks. Tens of thpu-
sands of miles of additional trachAse,
paralleling present lines, would be
needed. and indeed are needed now,
Much double-track work is going on,
but here again 1t is impossible to pro-
coed 50 fast as business demands. It
requires money and steel rails and ties
and labor in immense quantities
to double track the railroads; and of
all these the money is rather the
easiest to get and the labor the hard
est.
Complaints pour in on the commits
sion for relief. but that body cannot
create cars and locomtives. The bes.
1t can do 10 to assure that the made
quate supply on hand is distributed
equitably and fairly among those who
ask for them. Complaint of this sort is
not much heard nowadays.
The burden that has been tossed up
on the railroads, with the cheerful de-
mand that they move it whether or no.
Is almost inconceivable. The freight
making industries of the country have
probably doubled their output in q dec
ade; but obviously it has been impos-
sible for the railroads to double their
capacity in that time.
COMMUNICATING its output rather
conservatively in comparison-turned
out an average yield, in the first five
years of the current decade. just about
so per cent larger than in the same
years Of the last decade. Wheat grew
from 467,000,000 bushels in 1895 to 692,-
100000 in 1905. The ,sOO,000,00o worth
of live stock in 1895 had increased to
$500, 100000 worth in 1905.
Up and down the list of the coun-
try's productions the same sort Of in
creases are shown. Now comparing
these striking figures on the country's
products to the statement of railroad
easy to see what has happened to the
service. 1t has been
utgrown-swamped under
the avalanche of production Of the last
decade.
In 1894 there were 10000 miles of
railroad in operation. In 1904 there
were $4,000. While iron production
increased 800 per cent railroad mileage
80 per cent.
The number Of locomotives increased
from $4,000 to $4,000 between 1898 and
l904-about SO per cent. OF freight cars
likewise the number increased abou:
one- third-from 1,2S4,O0O to 1,728,O0O.
True, the capacity of the newer cars
ire much greater than that of the old
or ones; but making all allowance for
this, it is still pointed out that equip
nent and mileage have not grown at a
pace that could possibly be expected
% take care of the huge volume of
business
The figures might be given on many
,ther phases of the problem, by way Of
how the business has out
grown the facilities for moving it. Mo-
body blames the railroads, altho one
member of the interstate commission,
n discussing the situation, ventured
hat there We're few railroad men, in
lis opinion, who had realized the inn
nense responsibility that is upon the
executive heads of the great systems
f they are to keep their properties de-
as fast as the country's de-
nand for accommodations grows.