The Washington herald., 1920-10-10

ALLEGATION of our national income,
can ali be greatly promoted. Neces-
sary as the budget is, it is not the
solution Of all ills. 1t is, in fact.
merely a limelight upon some of
them
/ may recite one example, as an
indication of the reorganization OF
deeper character than a budget
which must be effected IL we are
to have capable government. We
have six different departments ac-
lively engaged in engineering and
construction work. spending COL
lectively on peace basis from
$20o. .000,o 900 to $500, coo. 600 annually.
These different departments do mot
cooperate; they compete for power.
for material, for labor and for skill.
There is profound waste by over
lap. There is an INFINITE oppor-
tunity for log-rolling, pork barrel
and waste through the lack of cohe-
sion. There is no conception of our
policy of public works as a whole.
No properly organized and directed
saving in public works can be made
until. regrouping and consolida-
1 bioH Is SaFtltu Oul. All Ol lnt
cheese-p pairing that normally goes
on now in the honest effort of Con-
gressional committees to control
departmental expenditure is but a
tithe of that which could be ell
fected il there were some conceH-
tration or administration along the
lines long since demonstrated rs
Necessary to the success Of pri-
vstc business. The engineers as
sociations of the United States, rep
rescnting 100000 skilled profession
al men. have pleaded over years for
the erection OF department OF
I public works out of the old Interior
Department as the first step OF Fed
eral reorganization. These are. but
single instances. The organization
of the whole Federal administra-
tion needs to come under resurvey,
not piecemesl attack on certain bu-
reaus.
Governmental Action Is Problem.
There is a wider problem of gov
ernmentsl action for which the Re-
publican party must hnd solution
than any question of departmental
reorganization. and this Is the pro
found question of the relationship
regard it as the greatest internal
problem facing our nation. For
many years the development Of our
transportation. fuel. power. water.
ETC. by private initiative has been
one of the stimuli that has created
the greatness OF our country. This
was accomplished with great rapid
ity and little need OF government
Intervention when the problems
were local and when they were FILL
, ed with speculative profits.
, The moment, however. that we
, decided as a nation (and rightly
deCided) that we must control rates
and combinations and therefore
limit profits to be earned in the
operation of such utilities. at that
very moment we started to under
mine private initiative in the de-
: velopment of these essential tools
of production and service. Our ma
ltional action in relation to these
matters during the last quarter OF
a century has been devoted almost
entirely to providing vast seri es
of negative checks against misuse
of economic power. We are now
face to face with a great social and
economic problem as to how we are
to produce initiative that will Sc
cure broad economic development OF
our tools of production and service
and at the same time protect the
public from unlimited power in op-
GRAFTON.
Transportation situation Plaques.
We need no more profound ex-
ample of the result of these forces
than h the present condition OF
our transportation system. During
the heavy movement season there Is
scarcely part of the country where
the railways are able to move our
total production, where our pro-
duCers are not suffering from the
immOvable gluts and where our con-
sumers are not suffering from the
shortage in delivery. 1t affects our
farmers. our manufacturers: il af-
fects our work people. Our trans
portation system is not equal to the
movement of the commodities that
we require II we are to maintain
our standard of living.
Nor does this problem alone
plague US in the expansion OF ouT
railway transportation, the first STEP
of which was taken by the last
Congress. ] may cite another In
stance of another category. Our
laws against combination, which are
entirely justified and must be main
tanned. have contributed to produce
and prevent remedy of a growing
disability in another great industry
l refer to the bituminous coal in
dustry in the Eastern States. Owing
to seasonal and other irregularities
of demand. the average term OF
work in the bituminous industry is
less than 1870 days per snnum. If
this industry could be operated on
normal work year of say 800 days,
l25. 600 men could be turned into
other production. 1t is an industry
in which so per cent more capital
is invested than would otherwise
be. necessary. The cost Of coal to
the consumer and the risk to the
operator are greatly increased.
National Progress stined.
Above all. it presents a great hu-
man problem, fraught with all the
misery of strikes and justified dis
content that flow from intermittent
employment. This was really the
foundation of our late disastrous
strike. This intermittency could be
largely cured by cooperative action
of the great consumers. by cooper
ative action amongst the coal oper-
ators, by the development of great
electrical power production at GER
tain strategic points, by the coop
GRAFTON of the workmen. We must
insist on the necessary social view
of the prohibition Of combination,
but il we insist upon this view