Evening star., 1932-10-16

wv thing, it's another. Aren't
we all in the same boat
business. industry, workers,
everybody?
That's Mr. Average Man speaking.
He has troubles of his own, you see.
You'll have to pardon him if he's bit
profane.
Well, here's something for you to
ponder, Mr.. A. M: The plight in which
the railroads find themselves these days
has ceased to be something merely for
anxious railway executives and rails
security holders to worry about. A lot
of others are affected-yoU included.
1t is hardly necessary to explain what
the railroads plight is. Reduced earn
ingS. with not enough compensating cut
in cost of operation, is getting to be
rather an old story in business and in
dustrial circles. And the railroads are
beginning to wonder where they are
going from here even after the coun-
try finds its way out of the Depression
Woods.
The States of the Pacific area-'Cali-
fornia, Oregon. Washington. and those
in the arid second tier backing up to
the Rockies-have Special reasons of
their own for being genuinely concerned
about the railroad situation. Others
than they. Texas and Florida for eX-
ample, haven't any reason to be happy
about il.
Links of Steel
The Pacific States. separated from
the Atlantic and central sections by
desert wastes and mountain walls, are
largely dependent upon fruits and vege-
tables for their agricultural income
IN vast stretch OF the American con-
t1nent in which agriculture is the big
business. The rails form the vital con-
meeting link between their millions of
acres of fields and orchards and the
- millions of consumers of the East and
Middle West who buy the great bulk of
their production. Fruits and vegetables
are highly perlShable and can only be
shipped under refrigeration where the
travelling is more than a few hours.
writers. boosters. dreamerS of CONNER
clal dreams may visualize to their
heartS content waterways effectively
linking West to East. but ocean trans
portatlcn has not taken and apparently
cannot take. the place of the steel rail
KIND when 1t comes to carrying perish
aoie stun great distances: and that
statement need not even take into ac
count the fact that sea carriers with
cargoeS billed for points inland from
the Atlantic or gulf ports have to un-
LOAD Tor further haulS overland to des-
tlnatlon. Anything. therefore, that hits
lne rails IN way to threaten the eff
clency or their service hits at the great
est business of the Far West. And, take
the word of railway men for it some
things got to happen or long-haul eff
cheney is likely to suffer
II goes without saying that limitations
placed upon WeSt-to East hauls bv the
steam carriers would affect the stability
OF now dependable food supply that
the East could not get elsewhere in
amount sufficient to meet its seasonal
needs and that there is an East-to-
west trade in manufactured goods,
proiltable to the East, that would be
mussed up by any rails breakdown.
1t Is not too much to say that the
development of railway refrigeration 35
or 40 years ago marked the real be-
ginning OF economic interdependence
between the Far West and the popu-
louS East beyond the Rockies 1t was in
the late 60S that the first crude refrig-
orator cars delivered fresh fruit from
CALIFORNIA; great interior valleys into
New York and Chicago, opening a vast
new market for the versatile producers
OF the Western States and definitely
changing the trend Of their agricultural
development. The West had found gold
again, not gold to be dug and panned
from the ground. but gold to be har-
growing in that ground-pay dirt in
another form.
Depend on West.
Today over 100000 carloads of fresh
fruits and vegetables are moved annu-
ally from California. Oregon. Washing
ton. Idaho and Arizona into Eastern
markets. That's 40 per cent of the
100000 carloads representing the ma
ri not nf riSi1 h 10
crops. California contributes close to
100000 carlots of the grand totals, and
a goodly part of its lions share is in
the form of products for which the rest
of the country looks to this one State.
California gives the East its vitamins,
for example, when the country on the
sunrise side of the Rockies is mantled
with snow.
Proof of the dependency of Eastern
and MidWestern population centerS on
Pacific Slope growers for fruits and
vegetables is found in records of the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture showing shipping receipts In
Philadelphia, just to take one OF the
cities covered by the departments study
the figures show that 80 per cent of the
toal fresh stuff supply comes from the
five States already mentioned. There IS
no use loading this discussion with sta
.tistics-let it suffice that the case OF
Philadelphia is typical.
It's been a bonanza for the west
naturally The Pacific area never really
found itself until it centered on agri-
culture as its big industry and it truly
arrived" agriculturally when it tcox
I'D the business of supplying the rest OF
the country with fresh fruits and crisp
, vegetables Again just one Illustration:
A recent check on the source of agrl-
cultural income to Southern California
indicated that 25 per cent OF it orlgi-
mated in the Eastern seaboard States
and Is per cent in the Middle west
But the East has profited. too-those
p loaded railroad trains run both ways.
1t is a story of refrigeration in con-
nection with rail transportation. as far
as the Pacific States are concerned.
Jim up" this service and something
akin to disaster is bound to follow IN
their producing center5. In the ship
ment of periShables it is question OF
having thousands of cars available
when where and in the numbers need
ed in a growing district. with train
crews. icing facilities and a whole vast
organization ready for quick action
the harvesting % truck crops and fruits
won't wait! Can crippled rails cor
porations meet such eNacting require
ments?
What is this thing that is cutting
down the earnings of the railroads,
menacing their efficiency and thereby
threatening to spoil the perfect eco
nomic picture we have painted? The
depression has hit rails hard, it is true.
but you can't dismiss the subject IN
wcrd that way There's huge volume
of shipping going all year out OF the
West Coast country-people haven I
thnv met U'atrh their 1000
bills a little more closely The West.
shipping as usual pockets the loss due
to poor prices; the railroads get
theirs" This breakdown hint was seen
before depression, as we know 1t,
started.
The railroads themselves attribute
their financial predicament to various