Evening star., 1922-09-30
BY j. C. ROYLE.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, September S0.-The
homeless freight car is the dominant
factor in the business situation Of the
United States today, and will be for
some time to come.
The idle car surplus has become
nonresident for the first time in two
years. Embargoes on many roads and
divisions now are in effect, and more
curtailment of non-priority freight
may be expected. OF even greater i'm
portance is the shortage of motive
power. In many sections freight cars
are available, but engines to switch
and haul them are lacking.
Railroads are placing orders Tor
both cars and locomotives with IN
creasfng freedom, but while the Bald
win, American and Lima Locomotive
Works are rushed to the utmost, To-
comotives do not lend themselves to
quantity production, and the shortage
will be untitled for some months. In
the meantime business Of every char
acter Is operating under a drag I'M
posed by these conditions.
Subject Of Discussion.
The situation has already been the
subject of discussion between the
President and his cabinet, according
to dispatches from Washington re-
ceived within the last twelve hours
One member of the Harding official
to have advocated the pooling Of
freight cars on an arrangement SIM
liar to that under which Pullman
equipment is operated. Such meas.
ure, it's advocates assert, would teno
to reduce the time for repairs and aid
in yneofjnp- the IRISH of fall tTafflC,
The proposed move to enlist the
anthracite miners to aid the return
to work of the striking shopmen
on some Of the eastern roads; IS
of coal company reports received
from the Scranton and Wilkes-Ba
districts in the last twenty-four
hours. These reports bear notations
Of delays running from forty minutes
to an hour two or three times & day
cut deeply into the eight-hour coal
loading day and explain in part why
fuel supplies are being spread thin
over the eastern section of the coun-
try by state and federal fuel admin
istrators.
Miners Jobs Lucrative.
The effect of such a combination
as is being discussed at scranton to-
day between the miners and the shop
men, however, loses much OF its po-
tentcy in view of the fact that COM
parison Of pay rolls reveals that hun
dreds of the miners who struck in
the anthracite fields for the enforce
down into West Virginia and cut
coal in non-union mines under nom
union conditions throughout the entire
strike.
Coal men telegraphed today that
they considered 1t extremely unlike
>st vay~ AL
walk out OF jobs in which they now
are making as high as $125 to $3.50
week in sympathy with railroad
shopmen on roads which have not
come to agreement with their former
employees.
Rail congestion is checking the
steel trade, is hampering shipments
of grain and delaying transportation
Of live stock, lumber, cement and other
basic commodities. Producers have
raised output to point commensur-
ate with demand, but full business
the problems Of transportskiu, are at
least partially solved.
Appeals to government authorities
are being dispatched from every Sec
tion. and some governmental sugges-
ton for regulation and relief of traf-
fic may be expected in the Immediate
future.
Tremendous Trade Prospects.
Possibilities for tremendous in
creases in the volume Of business in
the basic industries are seen by ex-
perts in the decision of many cor
porations to abandon plans for mer-
gers which had approached conclu-
sion. Many business men and bankers
here declare that the decisions to "go
1t alone indicate that corporations
see profits ahead now where short