The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1936-08-13
SEEN and HEAR
around me
NATIONAL CAPITAL
By Carter Field !
FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

ton of the federal power commits
sion that some $4,000 additional
miles of railroad trackage in this
country should be electrified. in
Guiding that of the Boston and
Maine railroad from Boston to Troy
and Rotterdam; the New York,
New Haven and Hartford line from
New Haven, Conn, to Providence,
r. l.; and the New York Central
from Croton to Buffalo (Which
would mean an electric line all the
way from Boston to Buffalo, and
from Providence to Washington
and various other projects.
There is some suspicion that the
power commission was seeking fur
Their customers for proposed and
existing federal government owned
electric plants, such as IVA. But
this suspicion is rather discounted
by the fact that of the three men
who drew it up, two had formerly
been in railroad electrification
work, and might be regarded as
knowing some of the practical ends
Of the business.
To begin with the bulk OF the rec
concentrations would affect rail-
roads in the Northeast, whereas the
government electric projects, for
the most part, are in the West. 1t
might be suspected by someone
who knew little OF railroad inter-
ests that the proposals for the
Chesapeake and Ohio, and the Vir-
giniar railway, were designed to
provide customers for IVA power.
But no one familiar with the two
railroads in question would figure
that as logical. The answer here is
that the Virginian and the G. & O.
have such close tieups with coal
mine operators, who provide most
OF their revenue tonnage, that 1t
is almost unthinkable they would
buy power to operate their trains
from a distant Water-poWer source.
1t is common knowledge that
electricity can be produced just as
cheaply, by modern devices, from
coal as from Water-power, taxes
and interest rates being what they
are. Whereas the pressure Of the
coal miners would be heavy on the
railroads in question to use coal
produced current.
St. Lawrence Seaway
c. f,r - fhc Nav, Lrrc1cnd -
Middle Atlantic roads are con-
cerned-several projects for the
Pennsylvania and the Baltimore
and Ohio are uggested-those who
suspect an Interior government
ownership objective have suggest
ed the St. Lawrence seaway.<
But two facts stand in the way OF
this theory. One is that the off
Gals Of the railroads involved, if
they thought that any electrifcation
they did would help the St. Law
renee seaWay, would rather have
their freight trains drawn by oxen.
Obviously the St. Lawrence seaway
would divert SO much business
from the New England and Middle
Atlantic roads, especially the New
York Central, the Pennsylvania,
the Baltimore and Ohio, as to make
serious dent in their gross re
ceipts.
Which is especially pertinent be-
cause there are only two good eco
nomic excuses for Identification
density of traffic, which justified
electrification of the Pennsylvania
railroad from New York to Wash
ington, and the New Haven line
from New York to New Haven
and sharp mountain climbing, in
volving pusher engines where
steam is used, and wasting the
power of steam trains going down
hill-Which justified the Chicago,
Milwaukee and St. Paul in its
Rocky and Sierra mountain electri-
fcations.
Diversion of traffic to the St.
Lawrence would cut into the densi-
ty of traffic of the Eastern roads
make their electrifcation uneco-
nomic.
But the st. Lawrence project is
dead as Hector anyway, for some
years to come. President Roose-
Welt discovered that. He found he
could not induce senators from At
lantic and Gulf states to vote to
approve the necessary treaty, re-
CARELESS OF politics, regardless of
their views on government owner
ship of electric plants, regardless
of everything. Their states did not
want their ports hurt by diversion
of traffic, or their railroad en-
ployment cut down by the same
thing.
Lemke's Importance
William Lemke's Importance in
the presidential race is not-as so
many commentators have seemed
to think-hoW many electoral votes
he may win. 1t is how many cleo
toral votes he may switch from one
of the regular parties to the other
by the simple expedient Of taking
enough votes from what otherwise
might have been the stronger to
make it the weaker of the two
Much has been said in the last
few weeks about the fact that the
elder La Toilette. when he ran for
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