The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1918-01-24

dependent SOCIALIST paper, the organ
Of no organization or party. The ten
or Of the artirles in the paper, which
now goes by the name of "The New
Appeal, have changed considerably
and the paper says some mighty good
things in nice way. Political and
social problems are handled without
gloves and under its new policy the
paper can be wonderful power for
good. Commenting on the railroad
question, the New Appeal says:
MANY inefficient practices of pri-
vate management are already being
eliminated from railroad operation
and changes ordered by the govern
ment that will make for efficiency.
everything in the way of competition
and duplication must go. The handl-
ing of traffic is to be reduced to sci
entific system that will apply to all
the roads of the country. Getting
shipments to their destinations by the
shortest and quickest route is the
only thing the government is inter-
ested in and every bit of rail mile
age in the country will be utilized to
the best advantage for this purpose.
One of the first things that is being
done to relieve the congested condi-
ton Of traffic and expedite essential
freight shipments is the removal of
many passenger trains throughout
the country that are considered
largely superfuous. Only the most
direct and important travel routes
will be used. Instead of a numbW of
train schedules and several routes ac-
commodating territory there may
be only one route and in many cases
one train day carrying passengers.
Many short runs of one hundred
miles or less can be dispensed with.
Thefacilities used in handling passen-
ger traffic will be generally reduced
by fifty per cent. With, say, six pas
senger routes from Kansas City to
Chicago, three of these routes may be
removed from passenger traffic and
devoted to freight traffic or only half
the number of passenger trains may
be used. At any rate, there will be
great gain in efficiency.
In moving freight, the equipment
of different roads will be used freely
whenever it is most needed. For in
stance, railroads in the West and
South whose traffic does not demand
their full equipment will be required
to furnish locomotives and cars to
tighten the burden of traffic in the
East where it is most congested.
Again, instead of having almost the
entire export traffic Of the country
pouring into New York City and
over-crowding the terminals there, a
great deal Of this traffic will be d.
verified to other Atlantic ports, thus
insuring its more rapid movement
and more efficient handling. Roads
that are not SO heavily lined with
traffic will be used to take care Of
the overflow from roads whose facili-
ties, are taxed to the utmost. The
railroads will be run as one cooper
ating system, not as many different
and competing systems.
A case in point showing the differ
ence between the old and the new
system of railway operation is that
of the report of the Rock Island rail
road disseminating its two through
freight trains running between Kan
sas City and st. Joseph, Mo. "The
Rock Island route between the two
points is not the most direct, was
the explanation given by the Kansas
City freight agents of the Rock Is
land. This freight will hereafter go
over roads making more direct con-
nections.
Economy will be effected in anoth-
err direction by doing away with gen.
eral offices and other offices kept up
by competing lines, that are not in
dispensable to railway operation.
Many freight and passenger offices
in the downtown section of the big
cities will be discontinued. Thus, the
other day, the heads of railroads in
Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona and New
Mexico met in Dallas, Texas, and de-
cided to discontinue all such passen-
ger and freight offices and to dispense
with passenger and freight solicitors.
An enormous amount of legal and
clerical assistance formerly required
to look after the interests Of the diff
ferent roads will be made unneces-
sary. Much of this sort of work en-
ployed to avoid compliance with state
and interstate regulations, to secure
concessions and to conduct cam
paigns for increases in rates, will be
dropped.
Greater efficiency and less expense,
that is what government operation of
the railroads means: The public will
be the gamer. Even il the govern