The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-21
HE is OPTIMISTIC
Many Postwar Problems Un-
solved, Says Chambers.
Vice President of Santa Fe
Visits Topeka Today.
BUSINESS REVIVAL IN KANSAS
War Finance Corporation Does
Big Work.
Dairy Business Has Made
Steady Progress, He Says.
BUSINESS Revival IN KANSAS

The year 1929 opens with many
postwar problems unsOlved, altho the
situation generally shows signs of i'm
provement, according to Edward
Chambers, vice president of the Santa
Fe railroad, who passed thru Topeka
today on his way to California. 1t is
encouraging to note, Chambers said,
that in Kansas and the other states
served by the Santa Fe there is re-
vival in several lines of business
which encountered serious slumps in
1921.
Perhaps the most noticeable up
ward tendency, he said, is in the live
stock industry, where funds from the
United States War Finance corporation
have been freely used to assist in re-
building depleted herds in practically
every locality that speciaIizes in cat
tie. Kansas has a committee of bank
ers to represent this ganization.
When necessary, loans have been
made on a three-year basis to enable
stockmen to rebuild from the calf
stage to maturity.
War Finance Corporation Helps.
''The War Finance corporation has
done several other highly important
pieces of work in the last few
months" Chambers said. Eugene
Meyer, Jr., managing director, made
a trip of several weeks over the coun-
try, collecting first hand information
aboU- every industry that required
help as a result of difficulties growing
out of the world catacly3m which end
ed with the signing of the armiStice.
For instance, Meyer found the
wheat raisers of the north in distress,
and his organization relieved them.
Going to the Pacific coast. he learned
that the California fruit growers were
in a pinch, and the war finance cor
poration aided them in their efforts
GIIRCPCCf1llW fn yUo1f thor tho Ct In
Colorado the fact was developed that
the sugar companies were short of
cash to handle properly this essential
industry, so assistance was forthcom-
ing. Farmers in the corn states were
caught with a heavy surplus of corn
on hand. The war finance corpora
ton is going to their relief by pro-
viding funds to enable them to feed
their corn profitably to livestock, or
to hold it. All told, a score or more
of industries have been pulled out If
the hole, as it were by the war fl
nance corporation and the operations
have acted as a sort of 'bracer' for
every kind of business carried on il
the country.
Progress i'll Dairy Business.
Chambers said that notwithstand-
ing the complaints heard about bust
ness depression in most lines in 1921
the dairy industry has made steady
progress. Reports in the Santa Fe
states are uniform in this respect.
Where the milk COW abides there pros
perity is found. Similar reports about
poultry raising have been received
Some years ago the COW lot and the
poultry yard were regarded as side
lines. Now they are counted as lead
ing factors in farm operation, growing
in importance rapidly. AS a rule,
farmers with a few hogs have done
we'll 1921
large number of farm communities
to adopt as their slogan, The Cow,
Sow and Hen"
Chambers was one of the principal
witnesses for railroads in the hearing
last week before the interstate COM
merce commission in Washington on
the general rate situation. He told
the commission that thousands of
freight rate adjustments had been
made on thirty-five western roads
since August, 1920, most of them
downward. The reductions already
made and the proposed reductions on
grain and grain products mean a saw
ing to western shippers of 2,500,00O
on a years tonnage, and, of course, a
corresponding loss to the western rail-
roads.
Using the tonnage for the year end
ing September 80, 1921, as a basis, the
reduction in gross revenue of the
th1rty-f1Ve western lines resulting from
rate changes approximated $37,500,-
600, Chambers said. On the same
basis, he testified, the proposed 10 per
cent reduction on grain and grain
products, would approximate $45.000,-
600, making the annual aggregate of
$50, 2,50O.O0O. He supported his state
ments by detailed exhibits, with refer
ence to which he invited a searching
cross examination. According to his
~
ern roads are not sufficient to meet
their financial requirements, and are
not in amount up to what the law
entities them to receive.
]. r. KoontZ. assistant freight traf
fic manager, and F. P. Cruice, mana
ger of the agricultural and indus
trial development department, Joined
Chambers here to accompany him thru
Kansas.