The Carlisle independent., 1920-07-15
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
(By J. E. Jones'
Candidates

(By J. k. Jones'
 Candidates
 Political Washington is really the most non-political city in the United States, and the near-up view of public men reveals their characteristics and tastes to residents of the Capital in a manner very similar to that by which residents of large or small city dis cover the perfections or imperfections of mayors, aldermen and supervisors. Ihe mere fact that man is a mem- Der of one party or another gets him nowhere in Washington-but heNmay be a Democrat. Republican. or have common garden variety of political him" he will be given full credit for his abilities. In truth, Washington is alert to discover the commonplace, the unusual, the constructive, the rad ical. and all other qualities that dis tinguish statesmanship. Under this human microscopic lens there is re- vealed the true human qualities of the leaders in National thought. Of the nominees at the Chicago and San Francisco conventions all except Gov ernor Coolidge have been analysed by the Capital city. And in spirit of absolute fairness, divested of bias or prejudice. it may be said that Sen ator Harding, Governor Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt represent the highest type of manhood known to public service. Governor Coolidge has not figured in the Washington situa- ton, and judgment concerning him must be based upon his record in New England. But in Washington the three men are known to everybody. and the National Capital takes off it's hat in recognition of the splendid selection of candidates that have been chosen as the standard bearers of the great political parties.
 Crops and Transportation
 The Department of Agriculture predicts a somewhat smaller yield of the principal grains than last year, yet they exceed the figures of normal years. Considering the great short age of railroad equipment and facili- ties resulting from conditions created by the war, and with disturbed labor situation following period of strikes that has slowed up the move ment of traffic generally and caused a loss of transportation capacity, the question arises as to how the railroads of the country can continue to handle the almost unprecedented volume of traffic, and then cope with he further dlfflculty of moving crop of large proportions at time when a large part of the enormous 1919 crop has not yet been moved to it's ultimate des- tination. Some of the more prosper ous railroads have been able to finance orders for equipment amounting to about $144, 100000. but most of the roads have been obliged to await dis tribution of $500, 100000 loan fund placed by the transportation act at the disposal of the Interstate Commerce Commission. While some of the cars already ordered will be available for this seasons crops, and plans have been made for rebuilding 12,000 cars and locomotives, yet this addition to the rolling stock will nowhere meet the added demands that will be placed upon the railroads. Last year empty grain cars were stored throughout the west awaiting the early grain move ment. but this year, when the demand for box cars has continually exceeded the supply, it has been necessary, in order to get the cars in the west for grain, to take them away from the eastern roads and eastern shippers. This has been accomplished by means of car relocation orders issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Commission of Car Service, di- recting the movement of specific num- bers of empty cars, frequently in solid trains to specific western lines, re- gardless of the local demand for cars. This has had the effect of increasing the shortage of box cars in the east but has been regarded as justified in view of the nationwide interest in the movement of vital food crops as well Z as by the fact that the cars ordered west belong to the western lines. During Federal control the cars were pooled regardless of ownership with the result hat when the railroads were returned they were scattered helter- Skelter. Eastern coal cars were in the west and western grain cars were in the east and because of the prepon- derance of east-bound traffic the greater proportion of the cars were In the east, an extraordinary efforts were required to move them westward particularly as the demand for cars for local movement was confined principally to the east. The relocation orders will diminish the supply of box cars for local movements in eastern territories, but the efforts that are be- ing made are in the hopes that waste of transportation will be reduced to he minimum. Many western commu- mites are fully alive to the difficulties of the situation and are working hand in hand with the railroad officials in an effort to assist in the solution of the problem, realizing that it is affect ing not only the farmers, the railroads and the consumers but all business in- terests as well. Under present condi- tions it is not to be expected that the railroads can provide sufficiently prompt movement to do away with the necessity of local storage at the point Of production