Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 156, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1916 — RAILROADS GREAT WAR AID [ARTICLE]

RAILROADS GREAT WAR AID

One of Difficulties U. 8. Government Faces Is a Shortage of Cars for Transporting Troops and Supplies. In the cloakrooms of the capitol at Washington some find fault with the federal administration and the rail roads because Columbus, N. M., is on jfc single-track railroad, which cannot handle military troop and supply trains rapidly, the New York Commercial re marks. Congress is finding out how much depends on the condition of rail roads in time of war, yet it does not show much inclination to help them We are lucky to have so much railroad accommodation along the Mexican frontier. We cannot expect Villa to pick out points where railroad service is of the best when raiding our frontier, and we cannot very well ask the Southern Pacific to build a four-track railroad parallel to the border when the government forces it to carry parcel post matter at rates far below cost of transportation. Strategic railroads have been the salvation of Germany and Austria-Hun-gary so far in the European war. The largest army does not always win a battle. Alexander the Great and all successful generals since his time won battles by striking the enemy hard at one important point. In our day overwhelming forces can he concentrated quickly by using railroads, and in no other way. If wd are to keep down the size of our army we must make it as mobile as possible, and the only way to do this is to organize the railroads. It would be easy to hurry troops to New York, hut there are many other points of strategic importance at which troops could not be easily concentrated because the railroad service is inadequate. One of the difficulties our war department faces is shortage of cars for transporting troops and supplies. The government can commandeer all the cars it needs, but if it has to do so, the general trade of the country will be paralyzed. War in Mexico will not hurt business if it does not interfere with the transportation of merchandise. If the railroads had plenty of rolling stock this could not happen, but they would belied up by government requisitions, as it is, if we had to put 200,000 men in the fiel’d, and that is the smallest number that any military expert mentions when talking about a regular campaign in Mexico.