The Washington herald., 1907-02-17
RAILWAY HOURS BILL
House Commerce Committee
Kills Senate Measure.
ESCH BILL IS SUBSTITUTED
President Roosevelt Openly Refused
What He Asked for Relief of Rail-
way Employees and Safety of Trav-
cling PubIic-WhOIe Proposition
MutiIated-WOrse Than No Law.

The House Committee on Interstate and
Foreign Commerce voted yesterday to re-
port TO the House the Esch hours-of-
/ service bill as a substitute for the Senate
bin known as the La Toilette bill. The
vote was TO Z, and strictly on party
lines. The Esch bill was amended out of
all semblance to a measure intended for
the relief of railroad employees, or for the
promotion Of safety to the travelling pub
/ lie. The minority will make a report
/ pointing out the incongruties of the
measure as modified by the committee
The action OF the committee is all the
more remarkable for the reason that dur
ing the day President Roosevelt impressed
/ on Mr.. Hepburn the chairman of the
| committee, the fact that from every
/ source of information available 10 the
/ Interstate Commerce Commission and TO
the Executive, it was desirable that
/ there should be a minimum Of change in
the Senate BILL" Other members Of the
/ committee had also been thus urged by
the President to give to the country a
good, strong measure which would accom-
plish the end sought.
/ The La Toilette bill passed the Senate
1 January TO- and was referred to the House
/ Committee on Commerce the following
/ day. 1t has been a subject Of almost con-
/ tinual argument before that committee
I ever since. the railroad interests of the
country making a most strenuous and
! compTehensively organized attempt 10 de-
I rsr.rcrrr~a, Ill a..
lied railroad employees associations was,
however, so strong that the committee
found it's only way out Of the situation
was deliberately to eviscerate the meas
ure.
The Two Measures.
The language Of the Senate bill is as
/ follows:
1t shall be unlawful TO require or per-
NIT any employee 10 remain on duty more
/ than sixteen consecutive hours. OF to re-
quire OF permit any such employe who has
been on duty sixteen consecutive hours
| 10 go on duty without having had at
/ least ten hours off duty. or TO require or
/ permit any such employee who has been
on duty sixteen hours in the aggregate
in any twenty -fOuT-hOur period 10 con-
tinue on duty or TO go on duty without
having had at least eight hours of duty
within such twenty-four-hour period"
The Esch bill provides as follows:
Whenever any such employe of such
common carrier shall have been con
/ tnuously on duty for sixteen hours. he
shall be relieved and not required or per-
United again 10 go on duty until he has
| had az least ten consecutive hours OF
duty; and no such employee who has been
relieved from duty after a continuous
service of any period more than ten
hours. and less than sixteen, shall be re-
quiTed or permitted to go on duty again
until he has had eight consecutive hours
OF duty"
Telegraph Operators Included.
The Esch bin was amended by the adj
dition Of the Murphy bill placing tele-
graph operators, train dispatchers. and
tower men under the provisions Of the
law, and as 10 them limiting the hours
they may be employed consecutively to
eight within the twenty-four-hOur period,
except in incidental delays when they
may be kept on nine hours. and, in case
Of emergency. thirteen hours
Prosecutions under the law were by
another amendment placed under the
authority Of the Attorney General rather
than the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion The word knowingly" was inserted
in the third section of the Esch bill so
that any common carrier or any agent.
or officer OF such common carrier, 70 be
convicted must be shown by the govern
ment TO have had knowledge that ne was
working a man in violation Of the terms
of the law. This provision taken in con
nection with an amendment adopted to
the effect that where an employe has had
eight hours rest just preceding the TWEEN
ty-fOur-hOur period or is to have six
hours rest just after the twenty-fOur-
hour period, may be worked continuously
any number Of hours not fully up 70
twenty-four.
An amendment was also put on allow
ing the Interstate Commerce Commission
to employ agents and inspectors las
authorized by law" TO work I'D evidence
of violation Of law. As no such employ
ment has ever been 50 authorized by law
heretofore, this provision is at once sub
Ject to defeat IL a point is made against
appropriating 70 pay for such agents or
inspectors. Another amendment postpones
the operation Of the law for one year
after its passage. The Senate bin was
70 so into effect at once on its passage.
In short, the whole law has been so
deliberately mUtilated that it is essen
TALLY worse than no law, except as a
basis for Improvement by future amend
ment in the hands of its friends The
bill, If acceptable to the House IN the
amended features, will go to conference
The conferees on the part Of the House
IL FT-..r-.
tative Sherman Of the majority end Of
the Commerce Committee, and Represen-
tative Adamson of the minority end The
conferees on the part Of the Senate will
come from the Committee on Education
and Labor, which reported the measure
10 that body. and will probably be Sena-
tors Deliver and PenrOse for the ma
jOrity Of the committee, and Senator
Daniel for the minority.
Prospect of Saving the Bill.
Unless the friends Of the railroad en-
ployes' organizations in the House make
a stubborn fight for the Senate bill. and
President Roosevelt can call a halt in
the stampede to the support Of what the
railways want in this line of legislation.
there is little doubt that the bill will be
passed in its amended form.
As it stands. there is no penalty for
violation of the law, and enforcement
can only be made in civil suits It will
be possible for trainmen to be employed
for three or four hours, making up their
trains in the freight yards and then
when they get their train on the main
track and report 10 the yardmaster or
train dispatcher their period OF service
will begin. When the period of service
ends the trainmen could. after passing
off the main track, be worked another
two or three hours throwing cars onto
sidings and getting train in readiness