78 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



government function as it is in almost every other 

 civilized state. ^ 



And this should be done immediately if we are 

 to protect the farmers who are responding to the 

 call of the President to plant, to bring forth wealth 

 from the ground. For they may see their labor 

 and expenditure go for naught, and the consumer a 

 few miles away go hungry for food because of the 

 breakdown of the transportation agencies which have 

 failed in their undertakings. The submarine block- 

 ades the British people, but the railroads of the 

 United States are blockading the people of the United 

 States. 



For over twelve months — in fact, for a half dozen 

 years — industr}^, agriculture, and the life of the coun- 

 try has suffered far more seriously than any one 

 knows from the shortage of cars and the congestion 

 of roads and terminals. For a year there has been 

 a famine in fuel in many sections of the country. 

 Individual industries have been compelled to sus- 

 pend operations because of car shortage or conges- 

 tion at terminals. Many factories have been forced 

 to run at from one-third to one-half of their capac- 

 ity because of lack of fuel. Coal-mines have been 

 closed. The bituminous coal-miners of the Middle 

 West have been reduced to two or three days' work 



1 As indicative of how the raili'oads, when publicly owned, co- 

 operate to encourage agriculture and build it up, see chapters on 

 Australia and Denmark. 



