The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-02-09

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its transportation facilities. Its great
est products were wheat and wood and
the former is still it's most valuable
output. Transportation, swift and sure
has always been a dominant need in
the state and it's lending citizens in all
walks of life have devoted much
thought to the problem. Governor
Preus is no exception as the follow
ing shows.
The transportation problem has be-
come the most important and at times
the most acute problem before the
American people. Previous to the
nineteenth century, people got along
without any general transportation
systems. They lived where they
could get fuel, food and building ma.
terial at close range. Commerce, such
as existed, by ship or caravan, IA
largely in luxuries. There was no
general exchange of everyday neces-
stiles such as exists today.
Under such circumstances a re-
gion which was rich in some special
but which lacked in others,
could never hope for rapid develop.
men The fertile plains of the cen.
trail states could produce food to sup
port millions Of people, but those peo-
pie could not reach the degree of com.
fort and culture which they enjoy to.
In,y ,r;thnrt ~, tIcnnIe 20 1rip r ia ~
abundance of fuel, lumber, machinery
and other necessities.
In like manner the coal regions of
Pennsylvania, the cotton fields of the
South, the Lake Superior iron dis
tricts the orchard valleys Of Califor-
MIA, the copper country of Montana,
and dozens of other regions would be
limited TO q small fraction of their
present output
Tht greatest era Of railroad devel.
opment came during the 25-year period
following the Civil war, when a net
work of lines was built all W. the
continent. Railroad managers were
criticized and ridiculed for building
through thousands of miles of wilder
ness. But the rails turned wilderness
into civilization. Soon business de-
veloped which taxed the capacity of
the railroads. Railroad building
slowed down, but business kept on
growing. During the last decade or
two we have all too frequently crops
going to waste and business of all
kinds hampered because railroads
were unable to supply cars or move
materials expeditiously.
A group of 16 central and western
states, of which Minnesota is one, sup
plies rs per cent of the wheat, IS
per cent of the corn, 100 per cent of
the flax, IS per cent of the iron ore,
IA per cent Of the zinc, and more than
half Of the beef, pork, butter, cheese,
eggs, potatoes and beet sugar produced
in the United States.
The question now is: Shall we in
crease u production of these things,
as the demand increases, and ex-
change them for things which can be
produced more easily and profitably
elsewhere? Or shall we slow up and
begin producing articles which we
now import? We can do the latter if
it becomes necessary, but we prefer
to do the former if we may. Our fu-
ture course depends upon our trans.
portation facilities.
1t has been estimated that 4,OOO,-
600 900 would be needed to supply the
tracks, terminals and rolling stock
which would enable the railroads to
handle expeditiously an amount of
traffic such as they had to handle in
1917 and 1919. Before investors will
contribute money to railroad building,
1t will be necessary to increase the
earnings of the railroads. But there
is a point beyond which freight and
passenger rates cannot be increased
without destroying the business. That
has become quite plain during the last
year and a quarter.
What then must we do? We cannot
get along without the railroads. We
must see that their earnings are suf-
ficient to enable them to maintain a
high standard of efficiency, but we
must develop supplemental transpor-
tation systems if we want to continue
our agricultural and commercial de-
velopment. This must come along
two lines: Better highways and greater
use of automobiles and trucks for
short hauls and cTepter use of water.
ways for Ions hauls and bulky articles
Mos, q" Tie states have made a
start along the right lines in highway
building al II they continue accord
ing to present programs we will in a
few years have an excellent system