Show Hob Econ mist and Socialist r Tell What 1 They Think of f Seizure by U. U S So f Railways I Industry Is Bound to Be Q Quickened and Improved by Federalization By Theodore H. H Price Famous Economist T EW EV YORK Jan 5 The Th The naI nationalization nationalization na na- na- na N NEW I N of the railroad systems of the United States is is going to cure American in industry industry industry in- in of the ailment from which it has been suffering for years and which has lately become so acute that the patient was In serious danger So o said Theodore II IL Price famous editor of Commerce and and Finance when I interviewed him him- The railroads are the circulatory system of the body called business What happens to the human body when the circulatory system goes wrong The whole body suffers The brain and all the other organs at once refuse to function With the arteries clogged even the smallest veins on onI the very rry ry surface of the body fail to I get th the necessary warmth giving Iving fluid If nothing Is done to accelerate the healthy flow of blood the body I perishes American business has been suffering suffering suf suf- ferin fering acutely since the war SUf 1 has thrown extra burdens upon it from arterio It has had hardening hardening hardening harden harden- ing of the arteries The life of the nation depends upon transportation equally with production It is of little avail that vast organizations of business business busi busl- ness carrY carry on the work of producing I coal steel metals machinery machine munitions munitions muni munI- food products and all the vast I mass of materials needed to feed I clothe and house America and to toI I supply the armies we are raIsing Braising I training and sending abroad if these I products cannot be carried on time to toj toI j I the places where they are to be used I Coal at t the Pennsylvania mines is of little use in producing steam in inI New York or br Cleveland r or Wash Vash I ington Thousands of cases of ofel overcoats overcoats over over- coats ready for shipment in NEI New NEo o England are valueless to an army I amp tamp in South Carolina Furthermore l Further Further- I more even when these products are placed upon the freight cars that are areto I Ito to carry them to their destination they are of no value whatever until their arrive at that tha t destination I The very life Ufe of every single one lof of the American citizens f is dependent upon the proper functioning functioning of railroads the main means of distribution Without distribution I production is valueless In this day and age no man or woman is self I supporting in the sense that he produces produces pro pro- duces his own food his own clothes I and the other necessaries for tor his own life In no state of society short of or I savagery Is this the case and the themore themore I more highly highl developed and complex civilization becomes the more it n. is I dependent upon distribution in ord order r rI that each m man man n woman woman and child member of ot that society shall get the I things he or she needs to eat wear and use tse Our railroads under the strain of war conditions had broken down I Because they were not not had had not been permitted in fact fact to to consolidate into a single unified system under a single single sin sin- gle control they were inadequate to I supply the life giving stream of food clothing and necessities needed at atI home and abroad for our people and our ur armies I What the federal government has done is to assure unification centralization centralization centralization cen cen- and a single control Under private privat ownership it was ts s sIf I if It a dozen brains were trying to control control control con con- a single body Now a single brain will control th the single sing body and obstructions in the blood supply will gradually disappear Instead of at staggering along like a a. old man the railroads and the country will thrive like a red blooded young athlete Industry In general Is bound to be quickened and Improved b by the federalization federalization federalization fed- fed of the railroads J. J H. H RTH Si- Si I |