must have food, clothing, shelter, and fuel, and nearly all of the food, clothing, shelter, and fuel of the people of this country is carried all or part of the way from producer to consumer in freight-cars. The use that the railways make of their cars is, therefore, of the utmost importance, not only to the railways but to the people. When a freight-car is standing still, it is doing no good to the railway or to the people, but the railways have had to pay for that car, and a part of their capital is invested in it. When it is standing still, it is not earning anything on that capital, and as the capital of the railways is a part of the national wealth, the usefulness of the national wealth is impaired by the loss incurred through the idleness of the car. When a freight-car is waiting to be loaded by a shipper, or when it is waiting to be unloaded by a consignee, that car is not in the service of the people, whose demand for transportation is now in excess of the capacity of the railways to supply.
It would be a very happy condition if the
