The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-03-12
(N. Y. Independently

ing or coal distribution, ana no exc cutive experience whatever"
 What are the facts? In 1901, MT. Garfield became man. ager of a Cleveland syndicate that developed the coal mines in the Piney Fork district of Ohio, built a railroad from those mines to Lake Erie port, and finally sold the properties to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Company at whose request MT. Gar field remained a director and vice. president of the mining company.
 He was present of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce in 1898, was a member of it's executive committee for several years, and as chairman of it's building committee conducted the construction of it's present building. He helped to organize the Cleve- land Trust Company, which has been successful as one of the most ably managed financial institutions of Cleveland. He was one of it's dlrec- tors, it's vice-president, it's counsel, and a member of it's executive com- mittee from the time of it's organiza- tion, until he retired from practice as a lawyer in November, 1903.
 During his years of practice he had sole charge of an estate that had in- terests in Lake Michigan-iron mines, in a shiDbuilding firm, in real estate and in various business companies.
 He took part in the reorganization of the Conneaut Water Company, which he helped to save from finan- cial shipwreck and to put in the way of it's present success. He assisted in forming the Citizens Association of Cleveland, which freed the city from the control of an ancient gang of cor ruptionists. He was for eleven years chairman of the national committee for the reform of our consular ser vice-a committee composed of rep resentatives of various chambers of commerce and boards of trade.
 After sixteen years of practice as a lawyer, he became a member of the faculty of Princeton University. in 1904. A few years later he was elected president of Williams College, where he was as successful in direct ing it's business interests as in over seeing it's educational activities.
 '' This is the man whom the editor of the Metropolitan Magazine accuses of having had mo knowledge of coa, 1aining or coal distribution and nc executive experience whatever"
 It seems incredible that the editor of a national magazine could make such a statement in innocent ignor- ance of the facts. It is even more incredible that he could be guilty of falsifying, for the purpose of weaken ing the faith of the readers of his h. of n ie government. But, most incredible ot all, other magazine editors, scores o1 newspaper editors, and numberles: citizens have repeated the same false hood when the feeblest inquiry into the facts would have convinced then that MT. Garfield was a man of busi ness experience in all sorts of com mercial and financial undertakings including the mining of coal and it! transportation.
 The same ill-informed critics of MT Garfield's personal record have beer voluble in condemnation or his rec ord as a fuel administrator. Ana hert again the facts are easily learned.
 In the week immediately preceding his appointment, the output of bitu minous coal had fallen to the loves point of the year. From that timt until the beginning of December, i . \rose continuously, with slight reces sions, until the total production fo the period was considerably greate than it had been for the same periot of the previous year. The coal prob lem had apparently been solved. Bu a transportation problem had devel oped.
 Beginning with December 8, ba, weather tied up the railroad lines They had been struggling with
 freight congestion. They were shor of locomotives because of the de mands that had been made upo them for a supply of locomotive abroad. They were overburdene with the appalling increase of good for the seaboard-our foreign com merce having leaped from two billio dollars year to nine billions a veal Our docking facilities were made quate. Loaded cars were filling tn seaboard terminals. They were fill ing the sidings on all the easter lines, half way to Chicago. And ( these cars one-half were loaded wit coal.
 It followed that there were nc enough empty coal cars to supply tn mines. The output of coal slowe down to wait for the cars. And tn output of steel and steel product slowed down for want of coal. Frol the first of December to the midd of January shipments of steel plate fell nearly fifty per cent. Projecti steel fell nearly forty-five per cen ''The plotted curves of weekly shiI ments of all steel products,' MT. Ga field says Hooked like a cubist pit ture of Niagara Falls" There was nt enough coal to supply the ships the harbors; therefore they could m move the goods accumulated at u wharves There was not enough co to supply the cities, and the poC were freezing in their homes. M Garfield's order for a closing down ( business and industry on Monda, was not an order designed to sa1 coal but to relieve the railroad col gestion and clear coal for the shi1 and the households.
 The order was successful With twelve days, 4SO ships carrying tv million tons of food. fuel munitio and other war supplies were bunke ed and sent from our ports TT flow of supplies to our army was r stored. The empty coal cars we V started back to the mines. And i
 stead of allowing the congestion
 traffic and the consequent shorta, of coal to cripple our most necessa Industries. blindly, general closil