The Republican journal., 1913-05-08

Various lnHueNcee Drought 10 Dea- IN MS
behalf, the judge who was to have tried
the case dismissed the indictment, and
the man solely responsible was allowed
to go free without trial. The engineer
continues today a member, in good stand
ing, of the Engineers Brotherhood, of
the Masonic fraternities in which he is
prominent, and the community in which
he resides.
"By contrast, in another locality a
special agent Of Lackawanna, employed
to protect It's property. in SO doing, en-
gagged in driving gang of trespassers
off one Of its trains, accidentally, though
carelessly, shot and killed one of them.
sentenced to pay a substantial fine and
imprisonment for six months"
The judiciary committee of our legis-
lature recognized the same condition
when in it's report on compulsory arbi-
tration it said:
IF the decision of the court of arbi-
tration is in favor of the employees,
that their contention is right, that they
had just cause to strike, thautheir wage
was too low, that they should receive a
higher compensation, or that other con-
ditions surrounding their employment
should be corrected by the public utility,
what then? The legislature has no pow
er to arbitrarily fix the wage between
the public utility and its employees, or
to obllge the utility to receive back into
its employment its striking servants.
The right of the public service corpora
ton to hire its servants and to discharge
them cannot De taken away by any act
OF the Legislature. On the other hand,
IT the decision of the arbitrator is in
favor of the public utility, and decides
that the public service corporation was
right in it's contention in the matters in
dispute, what then? No law enacted by
this legislature and no decision from such
arbitration could compel such striking
employees to return to their work and
accept the same wages or return to their
labor under the same conditions"
Two serious results follow the attitude
taken by the press, the legislatures and
the Government toward corporations and
particularly towards the railroads, one
moral, the other financial.
The first is shown by the feeling on
the part of otherwise honest people that
they are doing Gods will when they get
anything out Of railroad company. l
recall an incident where a young woman
boosted that she rode So miles on rail-
road without cost because the conductor
overlooked her. She would not have
taken cent from me unfairly but
thought it fair to cheat railroad, and
that feeling IN young person can de-
velop until it extends beyond railroads.
Now comes the financial loss, and to
illustrate this will take the New York,
New Haven and Hartford railroad.
There has been vindictive attack on
this road during the last year, or longer,
and seemingly every possible means has
been used to injure it, ranging from
petty things to the indictment of its
president on the charge of conspiring
with the Grand Trunk road.
When railroad company is attacked
the injury is not confined to its rails, it's
rolling stock and its buildings, but is felt
frs by the stock.
The stock Of the N. Y, N. H. & H.
road sold for $279 share in 1889 but has
gone to $116.50 this month. This slump
is partly the result of the demand for a
greater income from investments, but
largely from fear that the road cannot
maintain its dividend rate, and if it's rate
is reduced it is said that one cause will
be the continued blocking of President
Mellen's attempts to develop its bust
ness.
Nearly half this shrinkage in market
value, which amounts to many million
dollars. falls on women, for 10, 102 of the
%, 719 stockholders are women; and they
will suffer loss of one-fourth of their
income from this stock if the dividend
rate is reduced from eight to six per
cent. 1t will thus be seen that the
efforts of certain people to injure the N.
Y, N. H. & H. R. R. Co. really results
in the serious injury of more than ten
thousand women besides the other hold
ers of its stock.
Some corporations may have done
wrong, but the great enterprises of our
country have been carried to success by
the union of forces and others can sue
coed only by similar cooperation.
1t is union that makes our nation the
world power that it is. 1t was the union
of several States that made Germany
what it is; and what is true of nations
will always be true of business. We
cannot get along without corporations
nor without the great financial houses;
they are necessities in our business life
and if we want business to prosper we
must use them fairly.
For Group or sore throat, use DR.. Thomas