Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-07

Al the banks. or To the stability OF manu-
featuring and trade units, or to the agen-
cies interested in exportingY
REMOVE PENALTY ON HOME BUILDING.
our objective should be decreased
tenautry. With the period of occupancy
uncertain, the renter strips land OF ITS
fertile elements and each year dlminishes
our national assets. Under the operation
of the Federal Reserve and the Farm
loan acts, encouragement has come TO
thousands who find that industry, cparac-
Ter and intelligence are golden security
to the peoples banker, the government
az the United States. Multiply our home
owners. and YOU will make the way of the
scditious agitator more difficult. Bring
INTO the picture of American life more
families. happily part of garden and
flowers all their own, and you Will md
new streams running into the nationai
current of patriotism. Help to equailze
tho burdens of taxation by making the
holders Of hidden wealth pay their share
with those whose property is In sight.
In short, remove the penalty imposed
upon homc-building thrift, and thousands
of contcnted households under the stslter
of their own roof, will look upon govern
ment with affection. recognizing that IN
protecting il, they protect themselves
than ever before. The prosperity OF the
country under Democratic rule has been
widely ditTused. Never before has the
great mass of the people shared IN the
blessings of plenty. There Is much to he
done. however, IN multiplying our home
Owners Nothing will bring more golden
return 20 the welfare of the republic
Common prudence would suggest that
we increase to our utmost, our area OF
tillablc land. The race between increased
consumption and added acreage has been
an unequal one. Modern methods oil SOIL
treatment have been helpful, but they
have their limitations. There are stili
vast emprcs in extent, in our country,
performing no service to humanity. lhey
require only the applied genius Of men, to
cover them with the bloom and harvest
of human necessities The government
should turn its best engineering talent to
the task Of irrigation projects. Every
dollar spent viii yield compensatlng
results.
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.
ANY discussion Of the question of food
sipply leads very quickly to the closely
related matter of transportation. There
is no one thing which brings us so inter
mittentlv to- critical conditions than
the insufIiciently of our transportation
facilities Both the railroads and the
public are To blame. There has been no
material addition to the total mileage IN
the last ten years, and the increase IN
terminals has been much less than re-
aured At the beginning of the war, the
rolling stock was sadly reduced and in
adequate The public had not given IN
my for service sufficient revenues on
winch credit could be allowed by the
hanks Moral assistance was withheld
because of railroad policies that did
not bring approval Many of these cor
poratinns had made themselves a part of
political activities. local, state and ma
tnnal Then there were more or less
sporadic instances of stock-waterlng op-
cratlons, and the exploitation Of utility
properties for personal gain. Abuses were
not general, but they were sufficient to
hung the entire railroad systems OF the
,oyntrv in dlsrcpute. The good suffered
with the evil When the transportation
lines were taken over by the government,
thcy 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 ter
mlnal and every car and engine into CO.
urdlnated plan of operation, enabled the
government To transport troops and sup
nlles, az the same time affordlng,' under
great stress, q satisfactory outlet for our
industries II should be remembered in
this connection that except for the motor
truck which supplemented transporta-
tion hV rail, and except for the great
Wpe lines which conveyed oil for COM
mCr-al purposes, we should not, IN all
prohahlhty have been able to throw our
deciding strength into the balance and
win the war. ANY attempt TO dlscre9lt
Nsr 20 Rt
the years Of grave emergency IS unfair.
In tho case Of those who know the facts It
Is Insinccre Too much cannot be said IN
praise of those who directed this work
nor of tho men who physically operated
the lines under ta1 dlscOuraglng condl-
tons Of poor equipment But all Of this is
water over the wheel The problem of
the railroads Is still with us. The gov
cmment and the public should render
every cooperation in the utmost good
faith 10 give thorough test to private
ownership. The railroads have had their
lesson
Government regulation is accepted
now as not only a safeguard to the pub
lie, but as a conserving process to the
utility. Financial credit IS necessary to
physical rehabilitation and it should be
sufficient for the periods of maximum de-
mand We should not lose sight, how
ever of the vast possibilities of supple
mcntarv service by water. The Great
Lakes and St Lawrence navigation
project, particularly, should claim the in
tercst Of the government. About one
third of our States would be supplied
with an outlet for every ton of their ex-
ports. The opportunity to make of the
lake harbors great ocean ports of entry Is
inspiring to contemplate. In the crop
moving period, the call on the railroads
is staggering. Grain piles up in the ele-
vatOrs. With stagnation more or less
general. the farmer sells his product under
the most unfavorable conditions The
trackage and the terminals in middle
States particularly, are clogged with this
traffic and interference with local move
ments of freight Is inevitable.
The solution would be simplihed by
utilizing the waterways. Aside from this,
the accruing gain from every crop would
he consideration for the reason that the
price Of grain IN this country is made by
the Chicago market and it is determined
nv the London quotations. The price In
the British metropolis is a stated figure
hess the cost OF transportation. The
routing of these commodities bv water
would effect saving of approximately
eight cents a bushel, which means that
American grain would net just that much
more.
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM.
T,r fulra sIau fnrfx, 1-aare