Evening star., 1922-12-12
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL v. COLLINS.

I necessaries which have been produc-
90 oy our energy and industry. Gold.
labor. but the value Of gold lies al
most exclusively in its exchanReabil-
iey Tor other commodities. which have
| intrinsic value for actual consump-
has gold
! Too much stress is laid on our mere
soio. The nations Of Europe spend
their brain-power in envying us be
| cause Of our great wealth" our
the identical element tha: all men
possess-working energy. Before the
J war the United States possessed less
than one billion in goid-now moro
| than three times that. But how MANY
wear and better homes than they had
before the war? Even those who are
getting higher wages are finding that
all that they buy costs in proportion
to their own increase Of wages. Does
enjoyment of iifeo No. only the
smooth-running wheels OF business
and energy Of manufactures and
building trades giving jobs 10 the
workers assure comfort. II is our
own work which brings us profit.
equitable distribution OF opportuni
Ties to share In production through
the work OF all classes. It is produc
tion-not Treasury hoards-whici'
! portunity is the only remedy today.
or ever. for Europe's distress. Moth
| ing else is wealth. by the sweat Of
thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread
| The gambler never profits permanent
ly-hls is not labor of production.
! All he gets is lost by another gam
| bier. The worke- actually creates
| wealth. and nobody else does.
| Presiden, Harding IN his message
1 20 Congress expressed the though
that motor transportation should not
/ compete with the railroads. but mere
iy serve as local feeders 10 the freight
trains. He said: IF freight traffic b.
motor were charged with its proper
tionate share Of highway construc-
tioa we should find it wasteful and
j more costly than like service by rail"
Undoubtedly that is true. yet when
has cost alone been accepted S th'
deciding factor in the acceptance oi
modern improvements? The Use o!
kerosene was more expensive thar.
the tallow din: the electric light costs
| more than the "coal-o;i" lamp. Yet
| as better ways are found the old Is
1 superseded. The use of motor vans
for many kinds Of freight. aithous
| costing more per ton-mile than RAJ!
| transportation. will force its way int"
| favor because II is more convenient,
! Household goods can be thus trans
ported hundreds of miles withou'
Grating. and without the extra haulS
at both ends of the railroads; th'
haul by motor is completed and de
livery made even before the fre!ga-
! train is certainly made up and clears
rhe yard. The huge vans travel q.
the rate of 200 miles a day. OF twenty
| four hours while the actual averas-
, movement of freight cars Is orr
twenty miles a day-inclusive of tim"
lost.
| Railroad freight is avkward!y
! handled in that il has not acopse"
the unit system OF loading som"
years ago a ST. Louis inventor piah
ned a steel unit TO be made IL varioUS
sizes. so thar all units would MT VIZ
Others to make up car. THESE OniIS
i made square like steel safe. cou!"
he filled and locked at the station. arr
when the train arrived a crane Nou;
SET them upon the skeleton car. az
ready loaded. The process of loading
onto the train then would be one o.
| seconds instead o. hours ana IN.
| mileage of the train. relieved OF tns
DAYS OF idle cars. would be increase"
| many times
with the steel units SO that they couid
hes loaded and locked on the farm:
| bs,,,ed 10 the station ready TO be t.fte'.
directly onto the skeleton cars ana h''
ooened until they reach the market
That will help solve the economy oi
TRANSFORMATION fnr the farmers freishi
/ and will utilize both rail and motor I"
far better advantage than ts done now
I Sneed Of service would eliminate inc
present extravagant requirement al
| rolling stock
| Z y
1t is all very well to argue that II Is
not fair to the investors Of railroads for
the highways to be used free for not"'
traffic which parallels railroads oui
/; that is not the way to meet business
competition The only way that rai'-
roaAs will keep up with motor traffic is
to demonstrate that they can give more
satisfactory. service. and since the oN'-
cal statistics now show an average h:u
. per car Of only twenty miles per t"entH-
| four hours who will say that they have
/ no room for improvement"
| AS to the use OF highways trec nE
motor trucks, why not? The hishT1H>
we're used free by OK carts. they sb2'-
. ished tol,-Gates even for huggies. years
ago. In most civilized localities. and cav
the highways for free use to the public
! The streets Of cities are used free by
all kinds Of vehicles and eve', b. stree
! cars The railroads exercise lie iEhi
of condemnation for any route tn
! want. The highways belong 70 tine
people. and are for whatever use is for
the greatest convenience of the most
,,eople; they are more than feeders foi
railroad stockholders. Let the railroads
keep Up with modern progress ard they
! will demonstrate their own usefulness