The Cordova daily times., 1918-03-01
SELECTION MAY PROVE WISE

Its all right for Papa-in-law Will son to groom McAdoo for the Presi- dency, but to make him director gen ersl of the railroads, in addition to secretary of the treasury, is going too far" America must be very barren of brains if one man must be given two of the very biggest jobs in the country to run at the same time" Mo Adoo has done we'll in the treasury, but no other country has attempted to make one man run it's railroads and also it's finances"
 These and similar comments are heard on all sides. Yet the selection of the secretary of the treasury as cOmmander-in-chief of the railroads may prove eminently wise, at least as temporary measure, for the straight ening out of railroad finances will be as important task as strengthening out traffic troubles. By having Secre- tary McAdoo as supreme head of the ] nations purse strings and it's transpor- tation system, more prompt and more effective action will be possible than if the railroad director general had no power over the handling of the na- tion's money.
 Were not Mir McAdoo a man of 'ex. traordinary ambition, not to say self. confidence, he would have hesitated to accept such staggering responsibilities, His eye, of course, is on the White House If he demonstrates ability to handle his dual job with success, then. he will have earned consideration at the hands of the electorate in Novem-i Der, 1920. If he is wise he will not flatter himself into the belief that he knows more about running railroads than the brainy giants who have spent their lives in developing Americas railroads into the greatest transporta- tion sSstem the world has ever known. He WIT give these practical railroad managers an unfettered hand in solv- ing traffic and other physical prob. lens and will confine himself largely to issuing such orders as they recom- mend, although, of course, the strict ly financial questions should devolve mainly upon his shoulders.
 He has two invaluable organizations already at his hand, namely, the war board and the federal reserve board, one capable of handling transporta-,, ton and the other ideally fitted to ad- wise him on financial problems. The probabilities are that MT. McAdoo will not run amuck, that he will not i'm agine he knows it all, that he will not act cavalierly, that he will not pitch fork into places of dominating author ity theorists or lightweights cnjoyingt political favor.
 Once comprehensive plan taking care of the financial necessities of the railroads has been devised it will prob ably be found advisable to relieve Mr. McAdoo of his new office so as to give. him time and opportunity to adminis-i ter, the vitally important treasury de-! partment His successor could well. be some practical railroad man en- toying the fullest confidence of the administration, of the railroads and of the public-such a man, for example, as Daniel Willard, now chairman of the war industries board.
 Just where the Interstate Commerce Commissioners will fit into the new These men more than any others in the country have precipitated the rail- road crisis. Appointed at time when hostility to the railroads was rife, they got 1t into their heads that their task was to chastise he railroads. Instead of acting as sort of railroad supreme court, they too often assumed the role of prosecutor. They were not broad gauge enough to realize the change that gradually oVercame conditions. They had not enough vision to see the cliff towards which they were driving the railroads. Under the pe- culiar and entirely undemocratic terms of their appointment, they could exercise virtually unrestrained powers for good or evil. Their course proved disastrous. Will Nemesis now decree that, having acted unwisely, they shall pay the penalty by being rendered im- potent to work evil?