When traffic is blocked and the railroad yards of the principal cities are filled with cars that cannot be moved, the railroad suffers the loss of a portion of its earnings; but the business man loses a larger share of his trade, and the workingman his employment. No industry can do more than protract a starved existence when the currents of transportation cease moving freely. When the commerce of an industrial empire whose magnitude is partly indicated by the clearing house exchanges of $102,000,000,000 in New York City alone during the past year is blocked, the whole nation suffers. Whenever we have a big crop or a general revival of business, the country hears most of the danger of a car shortage. The public assumes that if enough cars are provided they can be moved on schedule time from point of origin to destination, wherever these may be. This is not the real trouble. What is really needed is the greater movement of cars. The average movement of a freight car is about 24 miles, or two hours, per day. Delays in loading and unloading by shippers are partly responsible, but much of the lost time is consumed in getting into, out of or through terminal points where there is not room to handle the cars. More cars intensify instead of reducing the trouble. No other business could endure the loss of the use of its machine plant for twenty-two hours out of the twenty-four. One thousand cars will cover nearly eight miles of track. Each car must be switched, loaded or unloaded, or all three. This multiplies the trackage requirement.