Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-01-06
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT is DOING

fore, the experts urge that skim milk
should be used for human food and
only the excess fed to live stock.
Buttermilk. the expsrimenta show. 70
equal to skim milk for feeding ho9s.
being low in protein. is not well suited
Tor young pigs ana should be fed TO
older animals.
Extraordinary war demands on NOR
chant tonnage OF the world have
nece STATED .
Merchant Tonnage severe .emp 20 ~
Dislocation. ist,nr shipping,
and the task of procuring the requisite
tonnage for military purposes. with
the least possible disturbance OF COM
mercial and Industrial enterprises, has
deyolyed upon the United States Shipping
Board.
Naturally the first consideration has
been to the military necessities OF the
governments united in the war against
Germany. as presented by the niai.a as
according to officials of the shipping
board, it often has been necessary to
take vessels out OF trades which In
normal times would have been regarded
as of great Importance. Members OF
the board state that there has been a
patriotic spirit manifested among
shipping interests, even where IL mas
entailed serious individual losses. when
these ships had to be taken over by
the government.
Oficials of the board have. however,
borne in mind that too drastic cur
fnil Of Ia
would defeat its own ends. Raw ma
terials essential to the production OF
military supplies and nitrates vitality
needed to sustain the output OF farms
could not be neglected. With the
acute congestion of rail traffic coal
must be transported by water. so that
the war industries of the Atlantic coast
should not be deprived of sustenance.
In the emergency shipping fund
section OF the recent urgent def1c-
iencies act the President was given
power to requisition ships. payment OF
just compensation to be made. and
this power was delegated by the Presi-
dent to the shipping board. That this
power was essential, the officials say,
can easily be seen from an examina-
tion Of charter and freight rates at
the time of Americas entrance into the
war
officials of the board, taking up the
question of such high freight rates.
point out that portion OF these in
ereases has no doubt been justified by
larger cost of operation. Because of
the hazardous nature of the service Of
hcers and crews are entitled to special
war bonuses. The cost of bunker fuel
and supplies has advanced. The haz-
ardous nature Of the enterprise per-
haps justifies somewhat higher re-
vested. The cost of war-risk insur-
ance on the ship is included in the
freight rate. Yet all these factors do
not justify, the officials say, the pro-
gressive multiplication Of charter
rates. nor the hitherto inconceivable
heights to which freight charges have
advanced.
After a careful investigation of costs
and values by experts of the shipping
board and after full conference with
representative shipowners, the board
determined that the inflated war
normal conditions. due to the subma-
rine, and to the diversion Of tonnage
for military purposes. did not repre-
sent fair and Legitimate values of the
kind that are conclusive in determin-
ing just compensation. The board.
therefore. fixed d tentative scale of
requisition rates. substantially higher
than the pre-war basis which took full
account of increased costs and 1egiti-
mate increases in ship values. but
under the unjust market rates then
prevalent. The rates so fixed became
effective at once for all vessels reaui-
sitioned by the board for military serv-
ice.
4
The engineer division of the War De-
major part Of its
Army ENGINEERS energy to works of
internal m We
Of, Improvement and main
tenance of navigab1e waters, but in
time Of war it immediately becomes a
fundamental part of the military es-
1t was, therefore, called
upon not only to render assistance of
an engineering kind in the establish
ment Of training camps throughout the
country, but had to establish camps for
the rapid training in military engineer
ing of large additions to its own per-
sonnet, and to undertake the rapid
and training Of additional
engineer troops. of which at the begin
ming of the war there were but two
Military experts who have
watched the work Of this division of the
department nave HotHlHS DuI TIE HIGH
est praise for the work accomplished.
One Of the earliest opportunities for
actual assistance to the countries asso-
ciated with us in the war was presented
to this division. IN the war against
Germany transportation, and particu-
Iarly railroad transportation, is Of the
utmost Importance. It was easily fore
seen that our own Army in France
would require large railroad facilities,
both in the operation of permanent rail-
roads for the handling Of our equip
ment and supplies and in the construc-
ton and operation of temporary roads
behind our Army. In the meantime regi-
ments of engineer troops, IL speedily
organized and dispatched to Europe,
could both render valuable assistance
acquire the training and experience
which would make them valuable at a
later stage to US. Accordingly nine such
regiments were organized, and have for
some months been rendering active and
important service along the actual
battle front. In addition to these, a
tenth regiment. composed of men skilled
In forestry and numbering. was organ
lied and sent abroad. and Is now oper-
ating In "A foreign forest, cutting out
lumber supplies for the use of our as
sociates and ourselves
Along with the formation of these
special engineer troops the department
undertook the collection Of material for
the establishment and operation of our
own lines OF supply abroad. The rail-
ways or France have been maintained
IN state of high efficiency by the
French people. and they are perform
ing the tremendous transportation task
imposed upon them by the French and