THE TRANSPORTATION EMBARGO 85 



This is another reason for immediate pubHc own- 

 ership. The railroads cannot be trusted at any 

 time, certainl}^ they ought not be trusted at this 

 time, to determine for the nation and the allied 

 cause what freight shall be hauled and what not. 

 The railroads might be trusted in this matter were 

 it not for the fact that it is to their interest in many 

 cases to decide wrongly. That is what is happening 

 to-day, for it is this wrong decision that has caused 

 the famine in fuel all over the country. 



For the railroads must make money. That is the 

 first obligation on the directors and the president. 

 Their patriotism may cany them a long way, but 

 they dare not cripple theii- property or permit its 

 earnings to fall. And much of the freight that is 

 most important to the nation is the freight that 

 yields the smallest revenue. Every temptation ex- 

 ists to make the wrong decision. Food and fuel 

 are carried at lower rates than are non-essentials. 

 It is, therefore, to the interest of the operators to 

 neglect low-class freight and favor the high-class 

 freight that yields the big returns and also to accept, 

 for the same reason, that freight which gives them 

 the longest haul. 



It is imperative that the government should de- 

 cide what freight is most urgent. This cannot with 

 safety be left to be determined by private profit, 

 even though the railroads are acting under a pooling 

 arrangement and are endeavoring to serve the nation. 



