URGES CENTRALIZED CONTROL

In an interview with a CRIMSON reporter last week Mr. Daniel Willard, Chairman of the Advisory Commission of the National Defense Council recently appointed by the President, and also Chairman of the Executive Committee of the combined railroads of the country, told how the railroads have already organized for the purpose of adopting every means in their power to expedite and facilitate the military and other traffic of the Government, and also expressed his appreciation of the value of such organization as the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

By placing the executive power of the railroads in the hands of a few men stationed at Washington, Mr. Willard said, the roads of the country can respond without delay to the transportation needs of the Government whenever they arise, and according to the opinion of railway officials the efficiency of the roads as a whole can thereby be increased by about 25 or 33 per cent.

In reply to an inquiry as to the probable effect of this action upon the question of governmental ownership and operation of the railroads, Mr. Willard said that it was a remarkable manifestation of the patriotism of the railroads that all lines which generally conflict among themselves should so promptly subordinate their individual and competitive interests in order to advance the general welfare of the country, and that if the committee in charge of the railroads takes hold of the situation as promptly as he thinks it will, the result will be to put off for a generation any serious question of governmental ownership and operation.

"It is important," said Mr. Willard, "to mobilize the industrial, agricultural, transportation and labor resources of the country as well as the military and naval forces. Our Allies must be kept supplied with food, munitions and all the materials essential to our common success. To accomplish this, serious transportation problems by land and water must be solved. One of the most serious problems confronting us is the threatened shortage of foodstuffs. Owing to the failure of the winter wheat crop, one-third of which is ruined, we probably will not even be able to raise the six and one-half bushels of wheat per capita which the people of the United States consume annually. To meet the emergency, every effort must be made to stimulate production, avoid waste, and better the distribution of articles of food. The problem of transportation includes the transportation of seeds, tools, fertilizers and labor to the sections of the country, as well as the transporting of the crops raised. The problem of water transportation will be met in part by diverting to the ocean service many of the ships now engaged in the coastwise trade, thereby making it necessary for the railroad companies to handle the additional traffic now carried by our coastwise vessels, and I believe that they will be equal to the emergency.

"With respect to the best way in which an individual can be of service to the government, I think that what is being done by so many college men in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and the army and navy is fine and right.

"I believe in universal training and in military service based upon universal obligation. All men of suitable age and who are qualified should prepare themselves for active service in the army or the navy, unless there is some other service of greater importance to the cause for which they are better fitted. This, I take it, is what is meant by a selective draft. It might be well if all men of proper age and not otherwise disqualified could enroll for the service of the government under a universal obligation to serve in the capacity to which they might be assigned by the public authorities. All men so enrolled should be subject to the control of the government and be liable to be drafted for other service as necessity might arise. Some such method might bring about universal service for the government, performed by the civilians as well as the military and naval forces.