The gain on the map is not all. As the military line advances the people of the farms and cities retreat. Leaving everything except a few belongings that can be carried, they trudge toward the west to seek support and protection. This rush of humanity throws another burden upon the already overloaded Polish Government.

Even with the crops from all her eastern territory, Poland would have been hard pressed to carry on through the winter. Now, with the loss of these crops, with the extra thousands to feed, and with all her transportation facilities devoted to the army, Poland's position, even if she stops the military offensive, is a tragic one.

Summary

If Poland breaks and comes under the sway of Bolshevism, the offensive of Lenin and Trotsky for the year 1920 has shown marked success. We must not forget, while considering mideastern Europe, that in the Caucasus, Armenia and Persia the Bolshevist cause has made great strides in the last few months. If reports are correct, the Baku oil fields are cut off from Europe, and western influence in Persia, Georgia and Armenia is badly shaken.

A new, strange force is at large in the world. It is armed with many of the modern weapons of war. It has at its service the most modern equipment for spreading its poison of anarchy, discontent and destructive ideas behind the lines.

Western civilization, touching the North Atlantic Ocean on both sides, has brought forth a tremendous development in the arts, in science, culture, progress, comfort and safety. Lenin and Trotsky seek by any means within their power to enforce their will upon the western nations. They claim to see in the success of this movement the attaining of a new era for the peoples of the world. It is for us to judge whether we wish to change what we have for what they may bring us. There can be no question as to the answer. We want what we have. We will fight for it to the end. But how can we fight?

Against an attacking army at our doors we would know what to do. Against a force which works seditiously and underground to break down the orderly, reasonable methods of our Government we must mobilize the law-enforcing machinery of that Government. Whenever by physical outbreak the rights of the community are threatened, as in the Boston police strike or the destructive outbreaks of the I. W. W., it is the duty of

every citizen to take a hand and protect what America has given us.

The whole nation and the welfare of each individual is founded upon law and order. If there are wrongs in this country, the means are provided in our Constitution for righting them. As long as we, the American people, appreciate the benefits which our Constitution has given us and have the virility to fight for them, no individual or minority sect, within or without this country, can force upon us a new theory of government.

MR. HOWARD ELLIOTT ON RAILROAD RATES AND EFFICIENCY

Mr. Howard Elliott, Chairman of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, who was Chairman of the Rate Committee of the Association of Railway Executives, in response to inquiries about the recent decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission, has given out the following statement.

What Mr. Elliott says is so far-reaching and strikes so squarely at fundamental conditions as they exist today that I feel very strongly that every member of the Stone & Webster organization should read this article.

CHARLES A. STONE

Mr. Howard Elliott's Statement

"The decisions of the Labor Board about wages, and of the Commerce Commission increasing rates to meet those wages and to establish the earning power of the roads on the basis of present costs, make a new platform for the transportation system of the United States, which will have far-reaching effects on the economic development and history of the country.

"Ever since the Cummins-Esch bill became law, I have had an abiding faith that the Commerce Commission would so interpret it that its fundamental principles would be established. The Commission have now done this with commendable promptness, considering the complicated situation with which they had to deal. Arguments may be made for and against some of the figures and percentages named in the decision, but the principle is now plainly declared that the unrivaled railroad system of this country shall not only be regulated in the interest of the public, but also shall be protected, encouraged and developed in the interest of that same public.

"The will of the people as declared by Congress is now made effective; namely, that their railroads shall be owned and managed by individuals, and that owners are as much entitled to a return on railroad property as are owners of any other kind of property that is necessary to the public welfare, and is honestly and efficiently administered.

"Everyone interested, however, should bear in mind the fact that this decision is not a rubbing of an Aladdin's lamp so that communities, shippers, travelers, employes and owners

will at once obtain their every wish. Improved service and enlarged facilities, rehabilitation of road and equipment cannot be obtained in a few days. Much hard work remains to be done, a great deal of courage must be displayed, and much self-denial and patience exercised.

"The transportation machine has been under-nourished for many years, and particularly so for the last ten. In addition, the complications and dislocations in methods of maintenance and operation that developed during the war and Governmental control are serious and can only be adjusted slowly. The return of freight cars to the owning roads and restoring them to prewar condition is one very large task that is vital to shippers and railroads alike.

"The great essentials of the transportation machine should be put in complete repair and increased in capacity and number before money, men and material are used for non-essentials that are desirable, but can wait. Trackage, terminals, motive power, cars, both freight and passenger, facilities for caring for equipment, and suitable working conditions for employes are behind the necessities of the country today, and we must prepare now for the next uplift in business.

"It is to be hoped, therefore, that prosperous, progressive and ambitious communities will not assume that this decision of the Commission furnishes unlimited money for things like elaborate passenger stations, grade separations and other nonessentials, and that they will not make insistent demands that such projects be undertaken at once. Every dollar that the railroads can save under the new rates and under the new wages will be needed to make payments for interest, taxes and reasonable dividends, so as to sustain their credit, and to do the essential work above outlined, so that the commerce of the country can be moved satisfactorily. Desirable but nonessential work should, in the interest of the country as a whole, be postponed until we know more about the results to be obtained under the new conditions.

"The law and the Commission both say that operation must be honest, efficient and economical. This, however, can only be accomplished by having individual consumers and producers of transportation honest, efficient and economical. As citizens, it is to be hoped that all railroad users and workers will carry out the spirit and the letter of the law, and will help the country by working hard and faithfully, by conserving

transportation, by eliminating waste, and by co-operation to make the railroad system adequate under the new law and the new conditions.

"Suppose that the 2,000,000 men in the railroad service, from the water boy on the extra gang to the highest executive, could save five cents a day, by greater and more intelligent effort, by greater care of plant, materials and fuel, by the elimination of waste, and the adoption of improved methods, the total saving would be $30,000,000 for a 300-work-day year. This is enough to buy 400 heavy locomotives, or 10,000 freight cars. Suppose only an average of one hour a day could be saved by shippers in loading and unloading the 2,400,000 freight cars; this time for a 300-work-day year would be 720,000,000 car hours, or 30,000,000 car days, or 100,000 cars per year added to the available supply of the country without the investment of new capital.

"Now it is necessary for all good citizens, whether in or out of railroad service, to obey the new transportation law in spirit and letter, and to work and save day in and day out, until the wastage of the war is made good and the transportation system brought back more nearly in keeping with the needs of the country.

"I have just returned from an 8,000-mile trip to the North Pacific Coast and back, and never was I more impressed with the possibilities of growth and development in the United States than I was on this trip. Nature has been very good to this country in nearly every way, and if man will only do his part, work, save, and not expect perfection in every walk of life, our progress in the next thirty years will be more wonderful than in the last thirty. An effective and adequate transportation machine is necessary for that progress, and it can only be obtained by the hardest kind of work and economy."