Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-17
HALT.

citizen hereafter should Joubt it Tho
drastic order OF the United States fuel ad
ministrator drives the fact into the con
ecicuUnees Of every man. We are u .
Ipselstrom Of the Huns concoctiou and we
have got to flsht our way out Aye, fight
st out not only on the bittlc6clda Of Iu
rope and in tho depths Of tho seas, but
here at home 10y every fireplace, in every
office and at every forge. II Is test
Of efficiency a test OF stamina a test of
national vrilty, and 10y tho shades Of
those who fought and died before that We
might be free We are going 10 meet the
test and the challenge beat back tho ag-
gressor and win for humanity and our.
selves tho peace VIC arc entitled to, aud
no hardship will deter us
We do not question the existence Of an
emergency justlfyng the drastic cdict from
Washington. 4 half million tons Of coal
lie within sight of New York and cannot
be taken across aud other evidences OF
congestion abound but these things do not
in themselves DENY tho reality Of an
oxigency 1t would he folly. therefore,
to criticize the necessity for the order in
the immediate premises, even though some
Of the expedients adopted appear TO be mon
strously foolish and likely to effect sayiugs
so small as to be almost worthless when
measured by the inconvenience occasioned.
But we are not disposed to complain on
that score. Common sense has habit of
asserting itself and a policy that is de-
monstrably foolish IS certain Of rectifica.
ton.
What we do complain about and what
every good citizen ought to complain
about, is that the condition which now
confronts us should ever have been per.
mitted to arise. We are nation Of a hun
dred millions, owning lands which hold
billions of tons Of fuel, served by the most
comprehensive system of railroads i'm ex.
istence anywhere on earth. and supposedly
we are supplied with a modicum of brains,
We went to war in April. We had notice
then that fuel in huge quantities would be
required We had estimates of the vast
new requirements Of industries, we were
advised Of the impending movement Of
men and their families to the cities We
knew that the cantonments would require
heat. we had warning from our allies that
coal with them was vital consideration.
we adopted selective draft in order that
labor should not be taken from 40 essen
tial an industry as the mines, and yet we
went Joy riding into winter with no coal
reserve whatever and all Boreas had to do
was blow few blasts TO cause a general
collapse and bring the country to the
humiliating orders which now arc upon us.
There are a thousand excuses, of course,
a thousand explanations but TO all Of them
there is one answer and it is: The coal
impediments. Tho thing is TO win in spite
OF them Nor is any mans reputation of
the slightest importance in these days.
Results! ResuIts!! Resuts!! And we
will change the fuel administrator and
change him again and again unless he can
arrive.
Industries closed for FIVE days and it
does not make any difference because pro-
dnction is ahead OF transportation, any
how and the ships cannot carry what is
already on the docks BY the love we bear
p
We out on junketing expedition? Put the
apostrophe in cant and label il for what IL
is. Are our armies to have excuses, too,
n they do not hold the Hun? We've got
to beat the coal situation and the distribu-
tion situation before we can wave Old
Glory above the citadels of Kaiserism. We
can't whip autoeracy by shutting down
our industries. We have no right TO ask
our young men in France to hold the lines
when we fail TO hold our own lines at home
II PerEhing has TO put new division in to
stop break. he'll get the division there If
tho men have to ride in trucks. but Wash
ington sits tight and calmly accepts the
proposition that coal cannot be got from
ne bowels OF the earth to Philadelphia or
Nsw York because forsooth, 1t has not
beoa got. That Is the kind OF gospel Ger
mans Ike their enemies to believe. II is
tho Kind of fatalism that puts chains on a
naiion Why. there are some thousands
81 nan at Meade and other cantonments.
n|.o1 ol tbsm know All about mining and