The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-04-15
HENRY CLEWS'
 WEEKLY LETTER

The spread of anarchy in Europe is
 a decidedly unsettling factor Ger
 many is in a greater ferment than
 ever; so too, are several of the other
 enemy powers, whose governments
 have been either destroyed or weak
 ened by war. Nevertheless, construct
 i've forces are at work beneath the
 surface, probably making more pro
 gress than appears. Newspapers have
 a fashion of exploiting the abnormal
 and paying little attention to what
 remains normal which is not regarded
 as interesting. Similar remarks ap-
 ply to the Peace Conference at Paris,
 where progress is undoubtedly being
 made in spite of the temporary but
 rigid differences which occasionally
 obtrude themselves. Considering the
 effects of prolonged intense war
 strain upon national sentiment, public
 impatience over delay is to be eX-
 pected. No task of such vast dimen-
 sins as the present peace treaty ever
 pressed for solution. The questions
 are multitddinous and highly intri-
 cate The diplomatic bodies to be consulted are large and unwieldy,
 while nerves upon all sides are over
 wrought Our own little war with
 Spain required four months in which
 to make peace. It is only five months since the armistice was signed; and in view of the immensity of the prob lem progress has been remarkably
 rapid It is fair to assume that a so-
 lution is not far distant, or MT. Will son would not be coming home during the current month; though his return is hastened by the urgency for his presence at home.
 At home signs of reaction are mul- tiplying against the various forms of radicaIism which tend toward anarchy and Bolshevism. Even the socialistic drift is meeting with a check, as the impracticability of such vaSaries be- comes more and more evident to the initiated. It is safe to say that gov ernment ownership of railroads in the United States is much less popular than at any time since it was seriously considered. Government management has proved unsuccessful, lowering service and raising costs as to create general dissatisfaction Not only are 1 our railroads inefficiOntly operated at present. but they are running down | in condition and piling up a huge debt. thus becoming a load upon tax | payers that would not be tolerated were it not for the war, which Com- pelled temporary government con- troll The roads are now threatened
 with an enormous deficit which the | country must pay. To even up wages a further raise of $65,00OO00 has | been granted. making an increase of | $1,365. 100000 since the war began.
 It is not to be supposed that public | opinion would wrest the railroads from their owners, push them into ! confusion and then throw them back | upon their owners in a bad condition. | This would be a piece of dishonesty which no Congress would dare to inn | pose. There is nothing to be done eX- | cept for the government to lift the | roads out of the difficulties which it has thrust upon them. Remedial ac- | tion should be undertaken without | delay: and in all probability an early | session of Congress will be called to deal with this highly important prob l lem. A very similar experience is
 being endured by the telegraph and 1 telephone systems, which have dis
 tinctly deteriorated and become more
 costly than necessary under public management. Moreover. the arbi- | trary and autocratic manner in which these concerns were treated by the l auth horities has raised considerable l antagsnism to government operation, plus no little sympathy for aggrieved
 owners and officials, which otherwise l would not have developed. Perhaps l it is fortunate that these soCialistiC | experiments have been tried out be-
 fore ownership was actually trans | ferred to the government; for the test | has overwhelmingly proved that pri-
 vate initiative and efficiency far sur
 passes that of the government. It is
 conclusively proved that government
 control means a decline in service and
 an increase in costs, resulting in losses . which taxpayers must ultimately pay