The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1920-08-05
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
By j. +. Jones.

By j. T.. Jones.
There is no Disgusting the fact tha
the car shortage is occasioning seri
I Gus Interruptions to the normal in
dustrial output of the country. The
association Of railway executives have
! issued an appeal to the public. in
which they state that the cars and
! locomotives at their command are in.
adequate to handle the unusually
large volume of business offered, and
they add that it will be impossible
10 overcome Immediately this def
cheney. The executives state that
conditions require the most intensive
use of the existing facilities" To that
end they have outlined a plan for Sc
curing the greatest possible efficiency
in the distribution and use of cars,
and with the support and co-opera-
ton of the shippers they are in hopes
to prevent a repetition of the condi-
tion of congestion which marked the
oepration of the lines under govern.
ment control. During that historic
epoch the theory was quite similar
to that used by Oliver Wenda!l
Holmes in describing his wonderful
onehoss shay" and had not private
ownership been restored to it's mana
gerial rights we would doubtless have
found the lines soon reduced to the
condition of the shay which took
on the appearance of "a general flavor
of mild decay" But, in reality, upon
the release Of the carriers from fed
eral control, not only were the cars
and locomotives as whole made
quate and in an impaired state, but
also the distribution of the cars as to
ownership was in such a condition as
to prevent the greatest efficiency in
their use. Imagine what would have
been the dilemma had the government
in carrying out some of its war-eccen-
tricities, scrambled all the farm ma
chlnery of the country wherever they
happened to find binders, reapers, or
other machinery. That is practically
what happened to the railroads; and
even today the first impression any
one has who reads the names of the
owners on the cars of passing freight
train is that, Il didn't realize that
there were so many different rail
roads in the country" The constant
labor troubles have hindered to a
large extent, the return of the equip
mi fn hni rf oi o1 l.
new wage award is expected to help
settle wage conditions and assist in
the relocation of cars.
With the harvest season at hand
the only relief from the difficult condi-
tion with reference to the car short
age rests in the more intensive use
Of the existing equipment. The rail
road program, for which public CO.
operation is sought, contemplates the
following: An average daily mini
mum movement Of freight cars of not
less than thirty miles a day; an av-
erage loading of thirty tons per car;
reduction of bad order cars to a maxi
mum of four per cent of total owned;
early and substantial reduction in the
number of locomotives now unfit for
service; more effective efforts to bring
about the return of cars to the owner
roads. While the car performance
proposed has never before been at
tanned. IL is believed that it can be
acquired, and that the whole remed al
plan can be carried out, # the full
cooperation OF the public can be Sc.
cured.
The Interstate Commerce Commits
sion is in close touch with the rail
road plan, and Washington is rather
optimistic since it has found that
there is a stern determination among
railroad operators throughout the
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