The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-01-18

|RST DAY Of |D[ENESS FOR LABOR
IS OBSERVED IN STATES Of EAST
Of the orders scope before
1t waa iGsIled

knowledge Of the orders scope before
| 1t was issued.
But Garfield says that rail conges
ton, not car shortage-need for re
stricting manufacture to save freight
space-is the underlying reason for
the order. Cessation Of output for
fourteen days will enable the national
railroad to clear its tracks and get in.
to shape for more rapid handling of
freight in the future.
Throughout the coal fields, scores,
even hundreds of mines, are lying idle
because of railroad inability to supply
the cars to carry away their product" !"
the fuel administration stated. Goal
mines cannot operate without cars.
Cars cannot be supplied while rail-
roads are crippled by the present
freight congestion, which keeps idle
cars lying useless in freight yards"
WAR munitions. food, manufactured
articles of every kind, lie at our At
lantic ports In tens of thousands OF
tons. while literally hundreds of ships
waiting, loaded with war goods for our
men and the allies, cannot take to the
sea because their bunk are empty
OF COAL" the fuel administration stat
ed. 'The coal to send them on their
way is waiting behind congested roads
that jammed all terminals. It Is worse
than useless to bend our energies to
more manufacturing, when what we
have already manufactured lies at tide
water congesting terminal facilities,
jamming the railway yards and side
tracks for long distances back into
the country.
Added to this has been the diff
Guilty Of Transporting coal tor our own
domestic needs. The wheels are chok-
ed and stopped. 1t was useless to con-
tinue manufacturing and pile confus-
ion on top OF confusion.
Dr.. GarneId's final order. issued In
its complete form, did not vary in. es-
sential details from the preliminary
statement issued Thursday.
State fuel administrators are en-
powered to divert fuel in carload lots
to meet current requirements and to
provide for the normal requirements
Of the preferred industries.
Food manufacturers, not working on
perishable products. or food for no
cessary or immediate consumption may
operate, provided they made applica-
ton to their state fuel administrators
through Federal Food Administrator
Hoover.
Extensive preparations against dis
order among the million Of workers
forced into idleness, are under way.
Today found thousands Of kilograms
coming into the departments from hun
DO ~ atrio cyir-- Firth o,- fY1tar-
probation of perplexfng questions.
What Is to be done in case Of a
building housing Offices some of which
are entitled to regular heat and some
of which are not? Can saw mill
as usual? These and hundreds of
ministration pause, were recorded.
Each district had it's own particular
difficulty for solution.
Water power companies were given
poser" when the fuel administration
stated their power did not come under
the order and Garfield told the senate
committee he would ask water power
users to suspend the same as others.
though admitting he had no power to
force them to. The department is
swamped with work today, trying to
straighten out the tangle placed upon
the country. AS confusion continued
today. there was marked disposition
to criticize what was generally regard
ed as bungling handling of publicity
"a failure to take the public into the
administrations confidence and pre-
pare 1t for the shock Of the Garfield
order.
On "the passing the buck" charge
it was noted that at first the order was
generally labeled as a "cpar' measure,
while Garfield was saddled with the
burden Of complaints for it. Late yes
terday, Secretarys Daniels and Baker
and others began to talk of 1t as
Transportation problem-an order de-
signed to free ships tied up in ports.
This was after Garfield had been a
center Of storm all day though the tide
was yeering to criticism of railway
system under Director McAdoo.
Last night when Garfield openly re-
vealed that the order was to release
transports mainly. there was q tend
ency to say Garfield passed the buck"
to McAdoo.
McAdoo's friends said he knew vir-
tually nothing of the scope of 1t though
he and Garfield had been in touch.
Some took occasion to cast the buck
to Secretary Baker, barking back to
the time. m&nths ago, when he dis
agreed with Secretary Lanes tentative
price fixing arrangement on coal. It Is
a matter of publicity-and confidence
in the public--it was noted that Gar
field originally planned to let ship
Yards and munitions factories operate,
ibut not to say anything about it. Then
"wednesday night late, at a confer
ence with Secretarys Daniels and
paker this was abandoned and the
fContinued on pare ~