The Raymer enterprise., 1920-08-12

Under the operation Of the federal re-
serve and the farm loan acts, enc0ur-
agement has come to thousands who
Hnd that Industry. character and In
Jtelligence are a golden security to the
peoples banker. the government Of
the United States. Multiply our home
owners. and you will make the way Of
the seditious agitator more difdcult.
Railroads and Waterway.
"Any discussion Of the question q
food supply leads very quickly to the
closely related matter Of transports
ton. There Is no one thing which
brings us 30 internationally to critical
conditions than the insuficiency Of our
transportation facillties.- 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 required. At
the beginning Of the war the rolling
stock was sadly reduced apd inade-
quate. The public had not given In
pay for service sufficient revenues on
which credit could be allowed by the
banks. Moral assistance was withheld
because Of railroad policies that did
not bring approval. Many Of these
corporations had made themselves
part OF political activities, local, state
and national. Then there were more
or less sporadic instances Of stock wa.
tering operations, and the exploitation
Of utility properties for personal gain.
.Abuses were not general, but they
were sufficient to bring the entire rail.
road systems Of the country In dis
repute. The good suffered with the
evil. When the transportation lines
were taken over by the government,
they were barely able to limp through
the task Of the day. Unity In opera.
ton, the elimination Of the long haul,
and the merging Of every mile Of track
and terminal and every car and en-
zine into n co-ordinnted plan Of op-
Grafton. enabled the government to
transport troops and supplies, at the
same time affording, under great
stress, a satisfactory outlet for our
industries. II should be remembered
in this connection that except for the
motor truck which supplemented
transportation BY rail-, and except for
The great pipe lines which conveyed
oil for commercial purposes, we
should not. In oil probability have
been able to throw our deciding
strength into the balance and win the
war. Any attempt to discredIt the.
federal operation Of railroads during
the years Of grave emergency ls un-
fair. In the case Of those who know
the facts II Is lnslncere. Too much
cannot be said In praise Of those who
directed this work, nor Of the men
who physically operated the lines un-
der the dIscouraging conditions Of
poor equipment. But all Of this Ii
water over the wheel. The problem
Of the railroads 10 still with u. The
government and the public should
render every cooperation In the Ut
most good faith, to give thorough test
to private ownership. The railroads
have had their lesson. Government
regulation Is accepted now az not only
4 safeguard to the public. but rs
conserving process to the utility.
Financial credit Is necessary to ply
steal rehabilitation and It should be
sunicient for the periods Of maximum
demand. We should not lose sight,
however, Of the vast possibilities Of
Supplementary service By water. The
- -