The Mena weekly star., 1918-08-01
SMALL TOWNS
 IRA IS COMING
Federal Railroad Operation Will Re move Discriminations Prediction of Great Factory Growth After
 War in Some Regions.

Washington, July 28.-Back of the country town should be the trend of industrial reconstruction after the war according to Interstate Cam merce Commissioner McChord, who, in an interview yesterday, unquali- fiedly indorsed the advocacy of im- mediate preparation for the read justment of conditions of national life which will be made necessary upon the conclusion of peace.
 Commissioner McChord says that railroad discriminations and other forces have abnormally developed New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chicago as manufacturing centers, but that with government control of the railways, terminating harmful competition, there is now no reason why rate inequalities should not be removed and industrial decen- tralization organized which will re- vive manufacturing in small cities and create better living conditions for the workers.
 Factories Can Operate Cheaper.
 There are many considerations that dictate relocation of our man ufacturing industries" said Mir. Me Chord. "In the first place it costs more to do business in a city than in the country. Land values and costs of construction of plants, taxes, etc, constitute charges that must be met from earnings. It costs more to live in the city than in the coun- try. A lower wage payment in the country than in the city would enable the workman to clothe his family better and educate them more adequately. If the factory is located near the raw product there is saving in transportation costs which will be reflected in net earnings.
 If wage scales are to be readjust- ed downward to meet conditions in times of peace, the wider diffusion of factories presents an alluring wa yout. What the workman desires, and what he has the right to de- mand, is opportunity to secure to himself and his family those neces- sities which go to make comfort in daily life.
 Better for the Worker
 In most any country town of l. 300 or more people that might be named in the Middle West or the South, there is opportunity to live better and enjoy more of the real comforts of life, at materially lower wages than in the same state of livelihood can be secured in any con gested manufacturing center.
 Thoughtful study should now be given to the equalization of rates for freight transportation and as to whether higher rates should for the future be permitted for shorter than for longer distances over the same line or route, the shorter being in- cluded within the longer distances, and whether combinations of rates and transit privileges that now un- duly favor certain jobbing and june tion points should be cancelled and reasonable thru rates be established to all points.
 Boat Lines to Be Encouraged.
 Transportation by boat on our rivers and coast lines should be en- couraged to relieve rail carriers at congested cities and ports. Steps have already been taken under fed eral control to divert traffic from congested North Atlantic ports to those of the South and on the Gulf of Mexico. Rates should be made and facilities provided, so that each port of the United States from Galveston, Tex, to Bangor, Me, shall receive it's share of traffic under the most economical transportation condition.
 Relatively the same facilities should be furnished the factory that ships one carload a day as the one that ships ten ealoads or more. The opportunity to do manufacturing business at profit should be afford ed at any point in the country. The supply of raw material and the pos sibie field of consumption will die tate the location"