The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-08-08
-E OF DEMOCRATIC NOMLNA T7ON
Every dollar spent will yield compen- sating results.

|
 is one thing which brings us so in- | termttently to critical conditions than | the insufficieney of our transportation | fa cilities Both ths railroads and he | public are 10 blame. I'nere has been no | material addition to the mileage in the
 last ten years and the increase in ter l minals has been much less than re- quired. At the beginning of the war,
 the rolling stock was sadly reduced and l inadequate. The public had not given in pay for service sufficient revenues on | which credit could be allowed by the | banks. Moral assistance was withheld | b bscause of railroad policies that did not bring approval. Many of these corpora ] tlDns had made themselves part of | political activities, local. state and na- tiotaL- Then. there were more or less sporadic instances of stock watering | opertions and the exploitation of utility properties for personal gain. Abuses were not general, but they were suffi-
 cient to bring the entire railroad sys- | tems of the country in disrepute. Ina | good suffered with the evil. When the l transportation lines were taken over by 1 the government. they were barely able ! to limp through the task of the day. | Unity in operation, the elimination of
 the long haul and the merging of every
 mile of track and terminal and every car and engine into co-ordnated plan of | operation, enabled the government to
 transport troops and supplies, at the
 same time affording under great stress.
 satisfactory outlet for our industries
 THE MOTOR TRUCK
 | It should be remembered in this con
 nection that except for the motor truck l which supplemented transportation by rail- and except for the great pipe lines which conveyed oil for commercial pur- poses. we should not, in all probability, have been able to throw our deciding N fren nlrth intn h. kx,l. thA. war. Any attempt to discredit the fei- eral operation of railroads during the years or grave emergency is unfair lu the case of those who know the facts il Is insincere. Too much cannot be said in praise of those who directed this work, nor of the men who physically operated the lines under the dlscouraging condI- 'tions of poor equipment. But all of this
 Is water over the wheel. The problem Of the railroads is still with us. The gov ernment and the public should render every cooperation in the utmost good
 faith to give thorough test to private ownership. The government regulation
 IS accepted now as not only q safeguard
 to the public. but as a conserving proc ess to the utility.
 CREDIT IS NECESSARY
 1 flnancial credit Is necessary to physi-
 col rehabilitation, and it should be sutti-
 cient for the periods of maximum de-
 mand. We should not lose sight. how
 ever. of the vast possibilities of supple
 mentary service by water The Great
 Lakes and St. Lawrence navigation proj- lect, particularly, should claim the inter- est or the government. About sone-third
 of our states would be supplied with an outlet for every ton of their exports. The
 opportunity to make of the lake harbors
 great ocean ports of entry is inspiring
 to contemplate. In the crop-moving pe S a Gel ing. Grain piles up in the elevators. l With stagnation more or less general, the
 farmer sells his product under the most
 unfavorable conditions. The trackage and
 the terminals in middle states, partcu-
 larly, are clogged with this traffic anu
 interference with local movements oi
 freight is inevitable The solution would be simplified by utilizing the waterways. r Aside from this, the accruing gain from
 every crop would be a consideration for , the reason that the price of grain in th3 country is made by the Chicago market, and 1t is determined by the London quo , tations. The price in the British mo- I tropois is a stated figure less the cost of | transportation. The routing of these l commodities by water would effect a
 saving of approximately eight cents | l bushel, which means that American grain
 would net just that much more.
 BANKING REFORM
 I | f Woodrow Wilson was elected President In 1912. a reform of our banking and | currency system had been almost un!-
 versally demanded and had been year after year deferred or refused by tho stand-pat element of the republican party in obedience to orders. The control Nor , money and interest rates had long been , held by favored groups rho were thus f able to dominate markets, regulate prices. , favor friends, destroy rivals precipitats , and end panics and, In short, through , their financial social and political out ! posts. be the real vulture of America. The federal reserve act was origina ted. | advocated and made law by demo- cratic President and Congress. against I the bitter protests of the republican | stand -patters, who almost without excep- , tion voted against it. Among these meh f are the familiar names of Senators Lodge, Penrose and Shoot. the insice
 Senate cabal responsible for the exist , ling status in the leadership of their
 party. The federal reserve act is ad-
 mitted to be the most constructive none
 tary egislatio in history. At a stroke
 1 1t transferred the power over money
 and credit and all they represent. from : one financial district out into the keep Ing of the people themselves and instead of center to which all paid tribute.
 there are twelve citadels of financial a freedom where every citizen has an equal
 right and where the principle that the - credit of American business shall be free n is the basis of administration, Every Q citizen should be alert to guard this
 great institution which Is his guarantee |. of credit ndepe adence.
 : KEEP IT FROM ENEMIES $ 1t should be kept from the hands or O those who have never been it's frenas. $ and who by changes in q few obscure d phrases could translate it into a sreAtt [ . power for evil than it ever has been Tor ;, good. It Is almost unnecessary to speaS . of the federal reserve system in connec-
 ton with the winning of the war. as-
 Inext to the conservation of our manhood il and womanhood itself, the greatest fac V tor was the marshaing into one unls if through the federal reserve banks of tns l. istupendous wealth of America. To those e of vision who look out beyond our shores q into that commercial domain where wt q are so justly entitled to enter in a time Y of peace, latent power of the federal n reserve systein can be seen promoting L. in every quarter of the globe an ever- V widening flow of American commerce e We will soon have merchant marine '- fleet of u.f00,000 tons aggregate every l. ship flying the American flag and carry if ing in American bottoms the products ol d mill and mine and factory and farm O This would seem to be a guarantee ol ID continued prosperity. Our faculties Is n Iexchange ana credit. however, in foreisi h ports should be enlarged. and under tn" r. federal reserve system. banks should h<
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