The Tomahawk., 1918-01-24
Garfield Says Accumulated SUPP
plies Badly Needed by Al
lies Must Move.
EXPLAINS FUEL ORDER
Excessive Production, Zero Weather
and Snowbound Trains Held as
Causes of Confusion Bring
ing Crisis.

Washington, Jan. 19.-In state
ment explaining the fuel order, DR..
Garfield says:
1.-The most urgent thing to be done is
to send to the American forces abroad
and to the Allies the food and war
supplies which they vitality need. War
munitions, food, manufactured articles
of every description lie at our Allan
tic ports in tens of thousands of tons
while literally hundreds of ships wait
ing, loaded with war goods for our
men and the Allies, cannot take the
seas because bunkers are empty of
coal. The coal to send them on their
way is waiting behind a cOngested
freight that has damned all terminals.
Ships Must Have Coal.
1T is worse than useless to bend
our energies to more manufacturing
when what we have already manufac.
tured lies at tidewater coneesting ter
minal facilities, tanning the railroad
yards and sidetracks for long distances
back into the country. No power on
earth can move this freight into the
war zone where it is needed until we
supply the ships with fuel.
"Once the docks are cleared of valu'
able freight. for which our associates
in the war now wait in vain, then
again our energies and power may be
turned to manufacture more efficiently
than ever so that a steady and un1n'
terrupted stream of vital supplies may
be this nations answer to the Allies
Try for help.
Production Carried to EXCESS.
1T has been excess production
IN our wartime speeding up that has
done so much to cause congestion OF
our railroads., that has filled the freight
yards to overflow; that has flooded the
docks of our Atlantic ports with goods
waiting to go abroad. At tidewater
the flood of freight was stopped. The
ships were unable to complete the
Journey from our factories to the war
depots behind the firing lines.
added to this has been difficulty
of transporting coal for our own do
nestle needs. On top of these diff
culties has come one of the most ter
ribly severe winters we have known in
years.
Clear Line Imperative.
"A clear line from the manufactur
ing establishment to the seaport and
beyond-that was the imperative need.
It was like soldiers marching to the
front. The men of the foremost rank
must have room to move.
More than a shock was needed to
make way through that congestion at
the terminals and on the docks so that
the aid so vitality needed by the Allies
could get through.
THE incidental effect Of this trans
portation situation on coal production
has been disastrous. There is and al
ways has been plenty of fuel, but it
cannot be moved to those places where
It is so badly needed while railroads
lines and terminals are chOked.
Throughout the coal fields scores, even
hundreds of mines are lying idle be-
cause of railroad inability to supply
the cars to carry Sway their products
Mines roust Have Cars.
Goal mines cannot operate without
cars. Cars cannot be supplied while
the railroads are crippled by the pres
ent freight congestion which keeps idle
cars lying useless in the freight yards.
In the past week the production of
coal has been disastrously reduced. Re-
ports in some cases have shown 80 per
cent of the mines in certain fields
closed completely for the lack of cars"