burden of proof will rest upon those who hold 
that instead of carrying on the commerce of 
the country in light of existing conditions it 
should be continued to be carried on as was 
necessitated by the unsatisfactory transporta- 
tion conditions which at one time existed. 
Tae LABOR SITUATION 
. Mr. Eugene G. Grace, president of the 
Bethlehem Steel Corporation, in a recent arti- 
cle in the Saturday Evening Post, stated that 
“hand-to-mouth™ buying insofar as the Beth 
lehem Steel Company is concerned, has had 
a very stabilizing effect with respect to their 
labor situation. - It is interesting to note that 
Mr. Willard is of a different opinion insofar 
as rélates to the labor situation on the rail 
roads. Commenting upoii this Mr. Willard 
makes the following statement: 
“There is one thing that might be urged in favor 
of a departure from the so-called ‘hand-to-mouth’ 
method and that is the expectation that such a 
course would tend to stabilize labor employment, and 
I believe it would be helpful from that point of view. 
It is a fact that at certain seasons of the year the 
railroad facilities at least in certain parts of the 
country are used to the utmost because of the crop 
movement. There are seasons of the year when the 
coal movement is heavy, with alternate seasons when 
it is light. To the extent that the needs of the peo- 
ple for certain staple commodities could be foreseen 
and the transportation service in that .connection 
performed during what might be called the periods 
of light traffic, such an arrangement would tend to 
stabilize railroad employment and it might be help- 
ful in other directions. I have in mind particularly 
the anticipated requirements of coal which could be 
met by transporting more coal than currently needed 
during certain seasons of the year in anticipation of 
the enlarged requirements later on. The same 
thought would perhaps apply in greater or less de 
gree to the movement of cement for road building. 
Other instances might be cited” 
Tar VreNniaNn Rainway CoMPANY 
Mr. Craries H. Hix, president of Vir 
ginian Railway Company, believes that with 
improved railway and transportation facili- 
ties it is possible to get quicker transportation 
and therefore delivery of material in one-third 
of the time in which it was formerly possible 
to secure it. From the standpoint of railroad 
requirements he states that a standardization 
of railroad track and equipment has.been 
worked out to such an extent that a large 
portion of the material is interchangeable, and 
in that way a substantial reduction has been 
made possible in the store stock carried by the 
railroads. Mr. Hix's own efforts in this re- 
spect are interestingly illustrated by the fig: 
ares which he gives. He states that in Janu- 
ary, 1919, the store balance of the Virginian 
Railway was $2,302,504.86; in May, 1926, 
it was $1,221,212.77, a decrease of $1,081, 
292.09. The outside material balance in 
January, 1919, was $3,330,691.19, and in 
May, 1926, it was $2,556,023.57, a decrease 
of $774,667.62—or a total reduction of 
$1,855,959.71, and these reductions, he 
points out, were made even in the face of a 
large accumulation of electrical material to be 
ased in the electrification of the line. 
Mr. Hix also gives an interesting example 
of the results of forward buying under former 
methods. He states that they have about 
$100,000 worth of engine material and plates 
on hand, of which one-half is obsolete, and 
‘hat they have in the neighborhood of $60, 
J00 worth of bar iron of obsolete sizes that 
they will have to work up in small lots in 
order to get anything at all out of the invest 
ment. He believes that this was caused by 
either unnecessary buying or bad judgment 
on the part of the purchasing agent or the 
mechanical people at the time the purchases 
were made, and states that it looks to him as 
though they were purchased for the same rea 
son that it was reputed the old woman bought 
a barrel of gimlets “because they were cheap 
—not because thev were needed.” 
Tae NORFOLK AND WESTERN RAILWAY 
COMPANY 
Mr. A. C. NeepLgs, president of the Nor- 
‘olk and Western Railway Company, be 
lieves that “hand-to-mouth™ buying within 
reasonable limits should not be curtailed; that 
it has been made possible by better and more 
dependable transportation service, and that 
in turn its adoption has aided in establishing 
dependable service through, to some extent.