Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1917 — MANY CARS AVAILABLE BUT LIE IDLE [ARTICLE]

MANY CARS AVAILABLE BUT LIE IDLE

There is a perceptible lull in freight movement at the present time. Switching crews in the local yards are working shorter hours than has been the case for some time. Empty cars are accumulating and in some instances railroads are refusing to accept empties from other roads. . ' Apparently the efficiency methods that have been adopted by the railroads of the country are beginning to make their effects noticeable. It is likewise barely possible that the food embargo that became effective a few weeks ago is, in a slight degree, responsible for the altered conditions. Nevertheless it is v gratifying .to know that something has made available a surplus of cars for th- re will soon be demand for every one of them, When the new army is mobilized there will be vast quantities of freight to. be moved to various parts of the country. It will bo but a few weeks until one of the greatest crops ever produced in the United States will begin to find its. way to market and then every available car will be in demand for months. << . It is to be regretted, however, that at this time these idle cars are not engaged in hauling fuel to the various chief points of distribution. This might have been- done if the proper control had been provided for the operation of the coal mines of the country. A great many peo-

ple are delaying th© purchase o f their winter fuel, hoping that a more reasonable price will be secured later. But it is probabale that legislative delay has made impossible adequate relief measures for the coming winter,, for the excuse will he offered that the cars are needed tft haul the crops and the coal barons wifi find it possible to -continue their reprehensible robbery of the public at a time when the householder must pay the extortionate prices demanded or freeze." Just now the mines are full of coal, the sidings full of empty cars and the public full of ire. Under the circumstances an empty freight car is an abomination in the sight of the victims of extortion.- —Lafayette Journal.