The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-02-21

Carl Snyder, In Golfers: I'm 1917
there was no breakdown OF railroad
Transportation until governmental in
reference and priority orders had
done their maiign work. l should
like to set 1t out In very bold type
that in 1917 the railroads OF the
United States carried the greatest
traffic In their history.
This traffic was nearly Is per cent
greater than in 1915, in spite OF a
general smaller tonnage OF basic
products. 1t was more than one
third greater than the greatest ton
mage ever known in the nation before
the war. 1t was fully ole-half greater
than in 1914. And this increase rep
resents the most amazing expansion
of transportation system ever
known In this country or in any coun-
try In the world since railroad trans
portation became general.
Then why, in heavens name, the
bewildered reader may ask. should
there ever have been any coal fam
Inc and .theatless days. and shut,
down OF industry; any Ieup OF the
railroads, any fuel administration,
and any taking over OF the railroads
by the governme / answer again.
A mistaken economic policy, broksn
agreements, governmental bungling,
and, 1t is to be added, lack OF fore
sight in taking care OF freight when
1t reached the seaboard. First about
coal. Here are the facts:
From about April, 1915, up to about
the 1st Of July. 1917, coal production
was steadily on the rise. Early last
summer (June 80, to be exacD, as
Mr.. Wolff set forth in his admirable
article in Golfers OF January ~, the
LanejPeabody agreement, fixing.
basic price of So a ton for the mine
run of soft coal, was repud1ated by
Secretary Of War Baker, as president
of the council of national defense.
And, In consequences of that rasn act'
Herewith the steady and needed in
crease in coal production stopped. II
has only attained the July level In
single month since.
In other words, all the increase In
coal production in 1917 over 1915 was
prior to this act of reputation. II
the coal operators, and the whole
country, could have known that this
price would stand, then the operators
would have gone ahead as they had
agreed and as they were eager to
do, and the railroads could have Laid
In an ample store; everybody would
have been forearmed; the dealers
yards would have been full, and our
allies would have been saved the
spectacle OF the greatest industrial
and greatest coal-prodncing nation on
earth with It's industries stopped,
shivering with cold and unable to
supply its own needs, let alone a
beggarly few million tons for Italy
And we should have had no Garfield?
Instead we had the presidents
fatal order reducing the basic price
to SO per ton-not much more thar
onethird OF the average prices pre-
yailing in June-and this In face of
the fact that the prices of wheat,
tcorn, cotton, and almost every other
commodity were going UP by leaps
and bounds; wheat to 1925 bushel,
corn to over 81. and the like. The
result of this order was more disturb
ing even than all the price fixing
and price breaking which preceded.
1t resulted In the mining of shame
| fully inferior grade OF coal.
| It Is estimated that there were In
| the United States last June around
| 10 600 producing coal mines. This
number was cut down by third or
more On the base rate OF 50 ton,
large part of these mines could not
produce at profit True, this rate
was increased soon after Garfield
| went in, but 1t was done to meet In
creased wage demands. SO that the
operators gained almost nothing. All
they could do was to go ahead and
mine almost any kind of coal, and
| they could do this because they
knew that they could under existing
conditions sell almost anything. They
have And the nation has paid the
| price.
The average content OF dirt and