Evening star., 1924-01-27

the war, II is time we con-
slider a long view and more
/ vigorous national policy Of improve
ment in our national plant and equip
! ment-transportation power, flood
control, reclamation. The federal gov
ernment must be a party to such a
policy. 1t controls the navigable
! rivers, interstate commerce and pub
lie lands, and through these activities
| 1t controls the destiny of the most
important transportation lines and
! flood control. reclamation and power
| developments. Many of these projects
require finance beyond the powers of
/ private investment. Public utilities
are under rigid national and state
regulation. Therefore, any great ma
| tional policy in all these matters
must be carried out with the CO.
operation Of the federal government.
The expenditures from tile national
| Treasury on those enterprises, which
cannot be compassed by private en-
! terprise-such as flood control, navi-
J CATION and reclamation-are not an
| imposition upon our policies OF econ
| omy in national administration. They
| are the vital reproductive works at
the very heart of our national prog
| reSS. Their development is funda-
mental If we are to support larger
populations at an increasing standard
of living and comfort. Increased ef-
| ficiency in transportation. decreased
| cost of power, increased land recla-
nation, decreased destruction by
! tioods-each of them permits the pro-
duction OF more commodities at less
effort for division among US all.
Threshold of New Era.
Furthermore. the advances in sci
ence during the past score Of years
have brought US to the threshold of
new possibilities in all of these di-
rections. The Jobs Immediately be-
fore us are the economic development
of our railway transportation, our
water transportation. power, and
reclamation. The larger items crysal-
lize into certain policies and certain
projects.
The growth of our national activ-
| double the capacity of our railway
years. Unless we evolve definite
policies for railway deelopment we
shall have the nation strangled for
lack of transportation. Any maximum
OF rates In our complex of railways,
whether established by competition
or by government regulation. is found
TO render the earnings OF certain rail-
roads too low for progressive devel-
opment and service, and We can only
hope to assure such development by
their absorption into larger systems
OF stronger financial foundations.
Competition No Protection.
Under our firmly established ma
tional and state policies OF regulating
rates Of monopolies and semi-monop-
olies in public utilities we have, in
fact, absolutely abandoned the idea
| that the public can be protected as
to just charges through competitive
action. We should. therefore, seek
the advantages Of larger economies
! IN operation and better service
through the consolidation Of our rail-
ways into larger units. Our problem
! is to secure their most expeditions
consolidation. Tentative steps IN this
! direction have been taken in the
transportation act Of 1920, but there
is nothing in this legislation that will
absolutely assure the contamination
+; Of these consultations. We need more
; positive action-not compulsory con-
solidation but provisions that will
naturally lead to consummation.
In our water transportation one of
| the outstanding opportunities given
US by the topography Of North Amer
lea Is the st. Lawrence waterway. The
development Of this avenue to the
sea at a cost Of perhaps $3.50 000,060
or $500, 100000 will make II possible
for every port on the great. lakes to
become a seaport. That this must be
an advantage to the whole Of our
seventeen graet agricultural states
and to western Canada Is indicated
by the effect it will have on one COM
| modify alone. At the present time
oceangoing rates on grain and pro-
visions to consuming centers In Eu-
rope are the same from Montreal and
from New York. The grain rate from
Buffalo to New York is from to 12
cents a bushel, whereas with the St.