Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-12-28

property OF the government And one man In. Washins-
ton will have charge Of all this vast System Of transpor.
tAuon. VIII have complete authority over the handling Of
AL is details and will be held responsible for its man.
Iagenent.
Few Of US will realize in our actual experiences. tina,
there has been any change in railroad conditions.
will buy our tickets from the same ticket agents. board
the Same trains and hand our tickets to the same con.
ductors. We will take our freight to the same depot.
and deal with the Same clerks and agents. The same
superintendents and dispatchers will be on the job. and
the same management will be maintained in the general
offices. little is likely to come to the attention Of the
average individual to remind him that he is doing bust.
n..s with the government Of his country rather than with
the corporation to which he has been accustomed in the
past. Ja
Nevertheless. a great change will have taken place
After various experiments in the direction OF pooling ar.
rangements and partial government Control. the govern
ment of the nation will have assumed absolute control
over property valued At hundreds Of millions Of dollars
upon the income from which hundreds Of thousands VI
people depend for their livelihood. It will have taken
charge of activities by means Of which half "a million
men earn their daily bread. And 1t will have taken under
its own immediate direction a service which is as neces-
sary to the life of the nation as the circulation OF blood
is necessary to the life of the body. 1t is a tremendous
undertaking.
Those who have regarded government ownership of
railroads as the panacea for all our transportation ills
are quite likely to hail this change asa justification of
their opinions, and to assume that the plan which has
been adopted as a war measure will necessarily be con-
tinued under conditions Of peace. This does not follow.
Many Of the expedients which have been adopted under
pressure of war conditions will be abandoned as soon as
those conditions cease. This may be true of the railroad
changes. The railroads Of the country have been bare
~ able to handle the ordinary transportation business Of
the country under peace conditions. Now there is add
ed to that business the task Of transporting close to two
million men from place to place, to carry all their equip
ment to the places where it is needed, and to provide for
the enormous increases in the transportation of war ma
terial of all kinds, which includes both the raw material
war business is urgent. 1t must have first place. And
at the same time provision must be made for the carriage
of the food and fuel and other necessaries which must
BE- supplied to the general population. There is need,
such as has never existed before. and such as may never
exist again, for unification of management, and that uni
fication is possible only under the centralized control OF
the federal government.
years Of war will point the way to permanent government
ownership. At this time no one knows, and it is idle to
make predictions. 1t is to be hoped and expected that
now and after the war the American people will be big
enough. and broad enough. and discriminating enough
to retain that which has been shown to be good, and to
discard that which is valueless, regardless of any precon-
ceived opinions. There are people Of whom it is said
that they never learn and never forget. 1t is to be hop.
ed that we are not of that class.