Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-26

contract was virtually entered into by
the owners of these properties and the
State whereby the former bound them
selves to perform the duties Of common
| carriers for the public, and the latter
| bound herself to protect them IN the
peaceable performance Of those duties.
Not one word was said in those char
! ters giving the owners the right to sus-
| pend operation Of the roads to the detri-
ment of public convenience, or giving
| the employees the same right. so long
| therefore, as either Of those companies
attempts TO perform the duty II as
| sumed the State is under obligation 10
use extreme force, II necessary, to pro-
| tect it in thus serving the public.
Labor Trust" Scored.
Furthermore, in the amended Railroad
Commission law, as embodied in Sec
tions 1868 and 1854 OF the Code Of Geor-
gia. the Railroad Commission is author
lied to require all common carriers and
other public service companies under
its supervision ito establish and main
tain such public service and facilities as
may be reasonable and just" Also, to
order and compel the operation Of SUI
iicient and proper passenger service
when In its judgment inefficient or in
sufficient service is being rendered the
public or any community"
Again, Il has been very aptly said by
one writing on the status of the State
In relationship to the common carriers:
Inc power TO TX rates ana CndTBeH
for transportation Is an attribute OF Sow
ereignty. because in operating q public
highway a transportation corporation
exercises the power Of a sovereign. This
power over public highways constructed
for public use to accommodate public
travel and secure public convenience is
a matter of public concern and Is alb
solutely essential to government"
Hence. II necessarily follows that any
person or combination OF persons who
obstruCts, intimldates or otherwise pre-
vents the operation OF the common car
riers strikes a blow at the interests Of
the public and puts his or their will in
conflict with the mandate of the SOW
creign.
Augusta Strike Rebellion.
There is no escape, therefore, from
he conclusion that those employees Of
the street car company In Augusta and
" the Georgia Railroad put themselves
In state Of open rebellion to the laws
Of Georgia. They ignored the cardinal
tenet of republican government, viz. !:
There shall be equal rights to all spe-
'ial privileges TO none" and arrogated
to themselves the exercise OF special
privileges for settling their quarrels with
their respective arrangements at the eX-
pense and serious inconvenience of the
public. and In manner which embodied
defiance OF the law which requires all
dwellers in the State having differences
which they can not peaceably adjust
20 submit them to the States courts.
Again, their acts In leaving the ser
vice of the employing companies, and
virtually encouraging the formation
Of mobs to intimidate and personally as
ault those citizens whom these COM
mon carriers induced to take the places
they had vacated, that the carriers
might obey the law which created them,
was logically a claim which can be ex-
dressed In these words: This is your
property, but 1t is my job on 1t. I and
my partners, the union win defend our
IN are n IN
# the position which we hold on your
property. We will determine for you
whom you shall hire and whom YOU shall
not hire and what wages YOU Shall pay
While it is true that we have not in
vested dollar in this public service
'iltty and you have invested millions
In II, yet we have vested rights in these
positions, rights which we have acquired
by usurpation, and we will hold them
while defying the laws of the State and
Subtecting the public to serious incon-
venience and loss, even against you. On
your property chartered to serve the
public we are supreme over you, su-
preme over the public. supreme over
the law. The union label carries more
authority. than does your Great Seal
Labor Exacts Tax"
In considering the status of the public
service corporations and their employees
there is one factor which can not he
ignored. This is embodied in the follow
Ing words found in the last annual re
oort of the Railroad Commission OF
Georgia:
I'm 1908. the railroads operating IN
Georgia employed in Georgia, 81 500 per-
sons; in 1912, they employed 80. 691
The wages paid these SO, 691 employ
ees IN 1912 exceeded the wages paid the
34,S0e employees in 1905 S5,77l, lO4 %
more than in 1908. This, however, was
to a larger number of employees. The
individual wage scales show that had
the number OF employees for 1912 been
kept the same as in sos they are being
paid $S,66S, 1881 more than in 1908.
In other words, the "a 500 employ
eeS in 1908 received SO SOS, 1875 p more in
1912. which is an average increase to
each railroad employee in Georgia in
1912 over 1908 of more than sos fer
annum.
The Commission has taken ten trunk
line roads in the State, to dit the
Southern, the Seaboard the Atlantic
Coast Line, the Louisville and Nash
vile. the Georgia, Southern and Florida,
the Georgia Railroad, the Atlanta and
West Point. the Atlanta, Birmingham
and Atlantic. the Central of Georgia
and the Western and Atlantic and their
wage accounts show that they paid in
1912 TO the same number of employees
as in 1905, in wages. S2.604, 794. 90 more
than in 1908.
The individual wage scale further
shows that by far the largest increase in
wages has been paid to EMPLOYEES be-
longing TO labor unions. such as engi-
neers. firemen, conductors. train hands.
etc "
In other words. while the average in
crease to each Of the "a 500 employees in
1912 over 1908 was Sl05.00 per annum,
the average Increase to each member OF
labor union was larger by far, in some
instances, doubtless approximating $500
or more.
Holds Unions Menace.
Hence, we are brought race to face
with the fact that these unions. or COM
hinaions of employees. not only on pub
lie service corporations but. as is gen.
orally known on practically all other
corporations have forced their wages up
above those received by workmen in all
other departments of life who have not
formed these aggressively militant COM
hlnauOns. Tens OF thousands of other
citizens who are not in these unions
therefore, are confronted by the fact
that the unions are levying a tax upon
them TO the extent that they are forcing
from the employers an inequitable pro-
portion Of the wages paid TO tn general
classes in the state
II the State not only authorizes these
unions, or combinations. to exact higher
wages than others receive. but also per
mlts them by authority OF law or by
wlnking at their violations Of II TO hold
up the general public and rob Il OF the
facilities for transportation, then she can