Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-08-12

l.
But all of this is water over tho wheel
| The problem of the railroads is still with
! US Inc government and the public
| should render every cooperation in the
utmost good faith. to give thorough test
] TO private ownership. The railroads have
| had their lesson. Government regulation
is accepted now AS not only a safeguard
to the public, but as a conserving proc
ess to the utility. Financial credit ia
necessary to physical rehabilitation and
it should be sufficient for the periods Of
maximum demand.
URGES MORE WATERWAYS
We should not lose sight. however. Of
the vast possibilities of supplementary
service by water. The Great Lakes and
st. Lawrence navigation project. partic-
| ularly, should claim the interest of the
! government. About one-third of our
States would he supplied with an outlet
| for every ton of their exports. The cp-
| portunity to make of the lake harbors
great ocean ports of entry is inspiring
to contemplate. In the crop-moving peri
cd, the call on the railroads is staCger-
| ing. Grain piles up in the elevators with
! stagnation more or less general. the farm
er soils his product under the most I'M
favorable conditions. The trackage and
! the terminals, in middle States particu-
| larry, are clogged with this traffic and
| interference with local movements Of
! freight is inevitable. Tho solution would
be smplified by utilizing the WATERWAYS
Aside from this, the accruing gain from
every crop would be a consideration for
the reason that the price Of grain in this
country is made by the Chicago market
and it is determined by the London quo
| tations. The price in tho British metrop-
or is a stated figure less the cost Of
transportation The routing Of these
! commodities by water would effect
saving Of approximately eight cents
bushel. which means that American grain
would net Just that much more.
LAUDS FEDERAL RESERVE
For more than forty years before Wood
| row Wilson was elected president in
| 1912. reform of our banking and cur
| rency system had been almost univ~s-
| sally demanded and had been year after
year deferred or refused by the stand
pat element of the Republican party in
obedience to orders. The control Of
! money and interest rates had long been
! held by favored groups who were thus
| able to dominate markets. regulate
prices, favor friends, destroy rivals pre-
cipitate and end panics and in short
! through their financial, social and polit-
| ical outposts. be the real rulers of
America The Federal Reserve act was
| originated. advocated and made a law
| by A Democratic president and congress,
against the bitter protests Of the Repub-
| lean stand patters. who almost without
exception voted against it. Among these
| men are the familiar names of Senator's
| Lodge, Penrose and Smoot, the inside
senate caba responsible for the existing
| status in the leadership of their party
Inc Federal Reserve act is admitted to
be the most constructive monetary legis-
| lation in history. At a stroke it trans
forred the power over money and credit
and all they represent. from one financial
district out into the keeping of the peo-
pie themselves and instead of one center
to which all paid tribute, there are Il
citadels of financial freedom where every
citizen has an equal right and where the
principle that the credit OF American
business shall be free is the basis Of
administration. Every citizen should be
alert to guard this great institution which
is his guarantee of |--'it independence.
IL should be kept the hands Of
those who have never .een its friends.
| and who by r>nges in a few obscure
! phrases could islate it into a greater
| power for evil ,..An it ever has been for
good. It is almost unnecessary to speak
! of the Federal Reserve system in con-
, nection with the winning Of the war. as
next to the conservation of our man.
| hood and womanhood itself the greatest
factor was the marshallnE into one unit
I through the Federal Reserve banks of
| the Stupendous wealth Of America. To
| those Of vision who look out beyond our
shores into that commercial domain
where we are SO justly entitled to enter
! in time of peace, latent power Of the
Federal Reserve system can be seen
promoting in every quarter of the glohs
an overwhelming flow Of American COM
merce. We will soon have a merchant
marine fleet of 1l,OOo 00o tons aggregate
every shin flying the American flag and
carrying in American bottoms the prod
ucts of mill and mine and factory and
farm. This would seem to be a guaran-
tee of continued prosperity. Our facili-
ties for exchange and credit. however, in
| foreign parts, should be enlarged and
under the federal reserve system banks
! should be established in important trad
! ing centers. / am impressed also, with
the Importance of improving, if not reor-
ganizing our consular service. The GER
| tain increase in foreign trade would seem
TO demand it. This suggests another
change. Our ambassadors to foreign
countries have had assigned to them
military and a naval attache The stan
should be enlarged so as to include an
officer Of the government whose exclusive
duty would be to make observation and
report development and improvement in
educational and social problems gener.
ally.
ADVOCATES BUDGET SYSTEM
Government bureaus during the war
| had close contact with the business or
| ganization OF the country. That expert
ence revealed the modern need of reor-
| ganization along purely business lines.
| The advantages of a democracy in gov
eminent need not be recounted. II has
been held by experts that 1t involves the
| lied by the law-making power without
sufficient knowledge of the need of the
! service, or the possibilities of extrava-
| gance The answer to this is the budg-
| ct system. No successful business en-
| terpriSe of any size can operate without
| II. For hundred years, the federal unit,
| and the States as well, made appropria-
| tons without DISCRIMINATING the differ
| ence between department need and
caprice. at the same time paving little
attention to the relation as between in
come and expense. Many of the States
have adopted budget system. and with
success that carries no exception FL
ficiency has been improved-department
al responsibility has been conferred and
economies have been effected. The same
can be done by the federal government.
The system will reveal at once. as IL did
in the States. vast surplusage of en-
ployes' 1t awakens individual interest
encourages greater effort, and gives op-
portunity for talent 10 assert itself. The