The Washington herald., 1907-01-12

Several incidents connected with the
passage by the Senate Of the La Toilette
bin limiting the hours Of duty of rail-
way employees are worthy Of notice as
illustrating the difficulties in the way Of
legislation Of this class. There was
scarcely a difference Of opinion. as the
final vote shows. as TO the desirability Of
attaining the end aimed at by the bill
which is the safety Of railway operation
and travel. But the bill was passed over
the objections Of both railway managers
and railway employees as well as ever the
objections Of those Senators who thought
that its provisions would take from the
States all control over hours Of labor on
intrastate railroads.
4 considerable number Of protests was
presented in the Senate from individual
railway employees and from organizations
of trainmen against the limitation of
hours Of duty on two grounds: First.
that such limitation would in many cases
prevent the trainman from returning to
his home for rest. and second. that il
would reduce the amount Of his earnings
By cutting of extra time 1t was shown
in the debate that a great many train
men are not at all averse 20 long hours
and high wages. and that their employ
ment for long periods without rest is not
compulsory. on the other hand, the
methods Of railway operation frequently
require lhst u3inmen shall 0vertaX their
strength, in too many eases with unfor-
tunate consequences TO public safety.
Senator Ia Toilette presented an i'm
pressiye exhibit Of the causes Of uumcr-
Gus railway wrecks. in which responsible
trainmen had been on duty from sixteen
TO forty-eight hours Senator Daniel told
of a journey he had recently made on
train the crew Of which told him they
had been on duty ifty-three hours Forty
cases where trainmen went TO sleep on
duty with serious results to themselves
or 20 railway property were reported TO
the Interstate Commerce Commission in
three months. In one Of these cases, typ
zeal in several respects. q collision Oc-
CURED doing 1850 damage to cars. but
injuring nobody. The engineer was on
duty fOrty-five hours. and the report OF
the wreck gives the cause as follows.
"Engineman dropping TO sleep after he
had been tagged; was on his fourth trip.
and had had but two hours rest at end of
each; was not required to make so many
continuous trips, but desired TO earn the
additional wages" Such reports lend
force to the contention Of Senator La
Toilette and other supporters Of the bill
that its provisions are in the public inter
est, and that the hours Of continuous serv-
ice rendered by railway employees have a
direct bearing on the character and
quality Of that service. We should think
this last consideration would appeal as
strongly to railway managers and rail-
way employees as 10 legislators.
The State rights objection TO the bill
does not appear TO have been taken Sc
rioasly by any considerable number OF
Senator's. Mr.. Bacon sought TO have in
corporated in the bill a provision ex-
empting from its jurisdiction railroads
lying wholly within state boundaries,
but it was decisively voted down, such
strong State rights men as Culberson.
Daniel. and Rayner ranging themselves
against il. together With a majority OF
the Southern Senators present and vot-
ing. Both the Senator from Georgia and
the Senator from Texas declared that the
bin would regulate the hours Of employees
engaged in moving trains wholly within
the limits OF State, but both of them
voted for II on final passage. IN face OF
the practical and very serious evils which
the bin is intended 10 prevent. these Sen