THE BURDEN OF TRANSPORTATION 77 



petitive system has reached its maximum and 

 that efficiency can only be obtained through 

 consolidations of management and operating 

 facilities. Railroads are essentially a public 

 utility and all form a part of a national sys- 

 tem. Any permanent improvement must come 

 through making each part of the big unit per- 

 form its share of the work effectively. 



All industries are alike interested in this prob- 

 lem. In the period of crop harvesting there 

 must be the shifting of cars to the centers of 

 grain production to handle that crop. When 

 the need for fuel increases there must be op- 

 portunity to expand our transportation facili- 

 ties for coal. All of this calls for an inter- 

 change of service between industries to take the 

 place of the haphazard competition for cars at 

 a time when a particular line of business is 

 flourishing. 



Transportation will be one of our biggest 

 domestic problems for years to come. The old 

 question of the highest efficiency of agriculture 

 depends on adjusting rates to the character of 

 the product hauled rather than to any flat ton- 

 nage basis. The development of export market, 

 the use of a merchant marine and the encourage- 

 ment of farmers to produce an exportable sur- 



