The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 24, 1918, Page 13

ol Wasfiington Bureau, Nonpartisan Leader - ment—the government of the United States—is not satisfied -with taking possession of every ocean vessel that flies the Stars and Stripes,- nor with taking possession of the railroads and freight yards and docks and all the land and water ter- : minals of the steamship lines and railroads. It is now going to improve and extend these ter- minals, and use them to merge the whole system . of transportation on land with the system of trans- portation by water. Railroads-are going to serve the water traffic, and steamship lines are going to serve the rallroads, as parts of one big natxonahzed carrying service. Director General McAdoo of the railroad admin- istration saw, as soon as he took hold of the rail- roads, that the eastern terminals ‘at the Atlantic and Gulf ports were in bad shape. The secretary of war went to France and England, and saw how tremendously the needs of war had increased the whole harbor and terminal equipment of those coun- tries. The shipping board saw it, through the eyes of Commissioner Stevens, who went abroad, and through the eyes of Chair- man Hurley, here in the East. And the shipping board created a “commission on port, terminal and harbor improve- ment.” ~At the head of this new job they put Edward F. Carry, who has been director of operations under the shipping board. TO SHIP GRAIN BY WATER What this means to the farmers of the West can be told in a few words —it will make the rivers and canals 2o to work to reduce the congestion of freight on the railroads. Starting" with a program of improvements and extensions of harbors,, docks and channels on the Lakes, the Gulf, the Atlantic and the Pacific and along the Mississippi river, the new commission is going to open up every possible transportation resource. The old feud between the railroads and the public along the navigable rivers, which arose when the railroads choked off water competition and compelled these people to pay higher freight rates, is settled. The government operates the railroads. It will also operate steamboat lines. It wants to have the steamboats carry every possible pound of freight that can be floated. Coal, grain, cotton— every product that is not perishable is to be shifted from rail to water as soon as the necessary bot- toms ean be supphed and to make this plan prac- ticable the river towns are to be glven adequate terminals. Where the railroad companies in past A ‘year ago, when the raxlroads were. m the hands of pnvate corporatlons, these railroad yards were choked with freight cars. Look at the dlflerrence now . that the United States is operating the systems! These are the yards known as 3 Mmuesota 'l‘ransfer, servmg the lines mnnmg fito Mim\eapolls and: St. Paul. R OUR government—our govern- . .. Lakes. years compelled indus- trial plants to locate far from the river, in order to make the use of boat freight lines costly, the problem will be one of connect- ing these plants as cheaply as possible with the steamboat wharves. This wiping out of . the ancient quarrel be- tween rail and water freights will abolish, of course, the notorious discriminations in freight rates made against interior towns under the name of “joint rates.” As fast as the old system gives place to the new, and there is established the one great national carrying service, the favoring of special localities in freight rates will be ended. Ports, such“as Boston, will be given more and better wharves and docks, and the coal supply of New England will be carried to it by water, at a reduced cost. Coal will be carried from the bor- ders of Pennsylvania by canal barge all the way to Buffalo, and thence by boat to Duluth, Milwaukee and Chicago. Most of the ports on the Great Lakes Copyright by Committee on Public Information. Another vessel in Uncle Sam’s merchant marine, the United States Ship Mars. With ocean and land transportation under the control of the whole people, it does not seem possible that these vital functions ever should be surrendered again to private monopolies. will be improved, and railroad connection with all ‘wharves in these ports will be brought up to the standard of the modern port terminals of Europe. BUILDING FIFTY RIVER TUGS This will take time. - Hurley has asked congress -for only $25,000,000 to start with. This will be invested in work on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts chiefly, with emergency improvements on. the first 50 power.barges and the first 50 tugs for river ~.and canal haulage, now being constructed, are merely a small begm- ning in that line. The program - covers ' the whole “of the United States. rapidly. ~“Not only the ship- ping-board,” says Hur- navy and the Trailroad administration have a working out 'of a co- ordinated port and ter- minal = program. The army’s interest is to see to it that embarka- tion ports are so ar- ranged that there will be adequate railroad, warehouse and other facilities. The com- .mission will deal with bunkerage facilities, which is of interest to the navy. The railroad admmlstratlon is work- mg to avmd any waste- But other appropriations will follow. The . It will move . ley, “but the army and - direct interest in the ‘The Revival of Water Transportation Railroads, Under Goverment Control, No Longer Can Stop Cheaper Shipment by River—Linked Up for Efficiency Copyright by Committee on Public Information. One of the government owned merchant ships, the Lancaster. ful journeys of freight. While the proper ports are designated for certain shipments, the distance covered by such shipments will be shortened. The program that will be considered by the commission is designed to eliminate all waste motion.” NO LONGER CHOKING RIVER TRANSPORTATION One big reason why private operation of rail- roads broke down was that the roads had com- peted ruinously in shutting one another out, and in shutting the boat lines out, of terminal con- nections. The government, in its big job- of war, is brushing aside all of these waste- ful factors, and is fitting all the parts of the carrying service together in the way they must go if the best re- sults are to be had. Docks and har- bor frontages, like railroads, are pub- lic utilities from now on. The gov- ernment will fit them with powerful machinery, maintain them for oper- ation 24 hours a day, and make all past performances by the private com-. petitive corporations look like a back- woods siding in comparison. This is fine for transportation, but the owners of stock in steamship and railroad and terminal companies can’t see anything in it for them. IT ALL SPELLS PERMANENT PUBLIC OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION OF THE CARRYING INDUSTRY. - They are making such a roar about it, down here, that Hurley has offered them this word of comfort: he prom- ises that he will favor turning all the harbor and terminal improvements over to municipal governments, to operate them, after the war! McAdoo has not promised to disconnect his rail- roads from the 'steamship docks, nor has the navy agreed to go back to the old inconvenient methods of taking on fuel. So Hurley’s promise don’t amount to much, even with poor corporation stock- holders who beheve everything they hear. - Back in-some. of the. coves of the Kentucky hills they still tie s stone in one. end of the sack to . balance the weight of the corn in the other end, and then throw the saek over the saddle of the mule and ride to the mill. Uncle Sam has untied ° the transportation sack, dropped out the stone, - shooed away ‘the mule, and is buzzing off to mill in an automo’bxle How the Leader Helps a - Student Editor-'Nonpartisan Leader: : The Leader is the paper 1 enjoy most. I have found it a valuable asset in my study of economics and geography as well; it brings us in closer re- lationship with the people around us. I have often been told that the League would not last very long, but I believe that as long as it remains a progressive organization, supported by the people and working for publie interests it. will continue. It is only by an organization of this’ kind that we can hope to secure and maintain the rights which we are intended to have. - The Nonpartisan league will be a great factor in winning this war for both political and industrial democracy It is bound to play an important part' in the reconstruction period after the war. GILBERT LINDGREN Park Rivor, N. D.