The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1905-11-30
RAILROAD EMPLOYEES ALERT.
Are Making strong Fight Against
Adoption Of Esch Townsend Bill.

washington, NOV. lS.-Inat INC Tai''
road employees of the country mean
10 throw their whole weight against
The adoption by congress of the Esch-
Townsend bill or similar rate-ixina
legislation is indicated by the sreas
number Of protests that have beeh
coming to the senate committee on
interstate commerce recently and that
still continue to flow in by every mail.
| When the committee meets on Tues
day 1t will be confronted by a formid-
able array of these protests in the
form Of resolutions by local divisions
Of the railway labor organizations III
all parts Of the country and letters
from local officers and division chiefs.
Not only have the national organ
lzations of the leading orders, such as
brotherhoods of engineers, firemen
and trainmen and the order of con
ductors, taken action which has been
placed before the senate committee,
but hundreds Of local divisions have
reinforced this action by resolutions
of their own. While the expressions
Of sentiment that have reached the
senate committee have net yet been
tabulated, there are some. five or SIX
hundred local divisions of railway
workmen represented in this way,
and all the expressions that have
been received strongly oppose any les.
islation giving to any governmental
body the power to name rates. In
some states nearly all the local lodges
have taken such action. In New
York. for example, thirty-seven of the
forty divisions of the brotherhood 0:
locomotive engineers have protested
against the proposed legislation.
The other protests received include
many from divisions of the engineers.
1remen, conductors, trainmen, teleg.
raphers, baggagemen and trackmen
in different parts of the country. The
railroad workmen claim that witt
those dependent upon them they rep.
resent six million persons who are
vitality concerned in opposing the pass
age of any such measure as the Esch
Townsend bill.
Although the movement. has only
been called to public attention during
the past week by the visit of the com.
mittee of railway employees at tho
white house, opposition to the Esch
Townsend bill apparently has been
gathering force among the working
men ever since the measure was
framed.
The initial action was taken at the
convention Of the brotherhood of 10
connective engineers at Los Angeles
California, In May, 1904, even before
the Esch-Townsend bill had become
a fact. At this time this body voted
that government interference with
the railroads would be detrimental
in their opinion, to the interests OF
the railroad companies, the railroad
employees and the country at large.
At a special meeting of the division
chiefs Of this order at Cleveland, Ohio,
January 81 and % of the present year,
d resolution was passed to the effect
that this representative body is OPP
posed to placing the power in the
hands of the interstate commerce
commission, regulating the rates for
transportation on railways" Twenty,
eight division chiefs of the order at.
tested the minutes of the meeting con-
tanning this expression of opinion and
their statement is now before the
senate committee.
The brotherhood of locomotive fire
men, at the meeting of it's executive
committee at Peoria, ILL.,, last Febru
AIRY, following the example of the en-.
gineers, took similar action. They
were followed by the order of rail.
way conductors, assembled at Port
land, Oregon, and the brotherhood OF
railway trainmen who met at Buffalo
last May. The representatives of the
order Of railroad telegraphers in the
east have also committed themselves
in condemnation of the bill.
Typical of the stand taken by these
various organizations are the resolu.
buttons adopted by the order of rail.
way trainmen, with a membership OF
$4,000. at their national convention at
Buffalo last spring. In this memorial
the trainmen said:
1.-The usual acceptance of the term
rate regulation is rate reduction. The
real issue, then, of rate regulation is
one of rate reduction, which means
a loss of venue to the railway COM
panies, and just how ~far-reaching this
loss would be is a matter of conjec.
ture. This organization does not
stand as an apologist for railway
wrong doing, nor as a champion OF
railway corporations as against the
rights and interests of the general
public. Practices of discrimination are
not condoned, but there is a remedy
them within the present law. We
believe the laws should be forced
against discrimination, rebates and
preferentials, thus e~nsuring fair treat
ment to all concerned, but we do not
believe In empowering any commits
sion with the power to make a rate.
AS railway employees, we feel that the
companies must be protected