Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-08-22
TRANSPORTATION
VITAL IN WAR
The Administration Is Getting
Ready to Use Land and Water
Lines to Their Fullest
Extent


WASHINGTON, Aug. 81.
TRANsPoRTATIoN just now is one OF
L the nations creates, problems. No one
in authority in Washington will deny 1t;
most men in authority assert II. Railroad
men complain of legislative conditions that
discourage the investment Of capital for the
purchase OF equipment and the extension
! OF lines They declare their purpose to
serve the country TO the limit. but insist
that restrictions and governmental over
| sight have retarded railroad development
| and tend to set IT behind the actual needs
Of commerce As far back as 1907 James
J. Hill declared II would take 100000, 900
to bring American railroads up to date. He
then talking in favor Of a Mississippi
River transportation route TO the sea. Sub
sequcntly John f. Stevens. at one time chief
engineer of the Panama Canal, made
similar statement. He was then third vice
president of the New York, New Haven and
Hartford Railroad Company. The rail-
roads were up against 1t in 1901 They
could not carry tho freight. They are not
much better off in equipment now than they
extensions Of railroad lines since then. The
physical conditions now. when every in
dustrial nerve Of the nation is on edge,
are not much different from what they were
in 1907. This makes the transportation
problem a most serious one In view Of our
war necessities. II involves tho movement
Of munitions as we'll as the transfer Of
de bay ip,p
sibly in the one matter Of organization.
They are now operating under a sort Of
Government control and their collective re.
sources are more efficient than they were
under separate and competitive direction in
1907. But even this does not bring the
railroads up TO the full measure Of service
required by the Government and the people
President Willard. of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. head of Transportation com
mittee of the Council of National Defense,
admits it. Secretary Redfeld, Of the De-
partment of Commerce. proclaims IT, And
now comes Vice President Burnham, of
the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Rail
road, with an open appeal for the co-ordi-
nation Of waterways with railways.
and the public generally" says Mr.. Burn
ham in letter made public by the Secre-
tary of Commerce. have in the past been
inclined to the view that the railroads would
by all means in their power discourage the
use of water facilities by making low COM
petitlve rates and through refusal to par
ticpate in joint rates and through billing
arrangements declining to build tracks to
docks, etc, and want If possible. to
have this view changed as quickly as possi-
BILE"
Such are among the evidences Of n re- |
newal Of interest in the long neglected and |
oft-derided opportunities for service afford |
ed by our natural transportation opportuni |
ties.
Government Needs the Waterways /
1t is this turning to waterways in our
great national crisis that emphasizes the |
Importance of the rivers and harbors bill |
which was recently fought so bitterly in
House and Senate. President Wilson at
tested his interest in that bill as an emer-
eency measure by promptly signing it. The
appropriation carried by II, about $4,000
900, was a mere bagatelle compared with
the billions for war purposes being author
lied by Congress, but the approval of II |
means no more nor less than that the water |
ways and harbors of the United States are |
TO be kept In order for working purposes In |
war as we'll as in peace. II means that ex- |
sting projects already serving the country |
as carriers of commerce are TO be main |
tanned and that wherever possible they are |
to cooperate with their more successful |
the railroads, in protecting and |
developing our national interests. It means, |
also, that certain new and important prof. |
ects are to be undertaken that seemed to |
need the spur and lash Of war to SECURE a |
beginning The Government is b,ilding |
and needs lumber and other |
material for purposes of war. The |
will not brook delays II has |
the power to commander railroads and |
ships but when the Government learns |
what shippers already know, that railroad |
cars are limited In number and can carry
only so much. and that ships are scarce and
Of limited capacity, the Government begins |
to think along the line of the shippers
thoughts and something happens lust now
the Government Is observing what the At
lantic coast shipper knows. that It is very
difficult to get lumber from Canada to the
or New York. Rates are high
and trains are comparatively few Where.
under normal conditions il costs $3.50 ner
thousand feet TO send lumber by water fron,
Mobile to Philadelphia, It now costs sl6 per
feet or more. The cost by rail is
greater The Government feels that extra
cost just as the individual consumer feels
IL. The Government, at war, believes in ex-
pedition, II cannot get expedition even AZ
such high rates without increasing its means
of transportation. That In part accounts
for the interest II is taking In our interior
waterways. Properly improved. where need.
ed, they will advance and facilitate trans
portation, develop sections Of the countr,,
not traversed by the railroads and repay
their cost In taxes.
President Gets Commission
In signing the new waterways bill pr.s,-
dent Wilson not only recognized the rela-
tion of our inland waterways to the trans
portation problem, but he also had H.
satisfaction of establishing a Commission
for which he has been contendine s,noa