Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-04-20
FULL CREW BILL
PASSES THE HOUSE
Vote on the Measure Is lbs to 68
and Voting Is Watched by
Very Large Crowds

The full crew repeater, subject of
the most remarkable letter writing
campaign ever known in the Penn
sylvania Legislature, and given two
spectacular hearings. was passed
finally in the House of Representa-
tives las night by IS5 to 6S and goes
to the Senate for action. The result
was surprise to a good many people.
who did not expect the affirmative
vote to be so large, but neither the
railroads nor the trainmen and con-
ductors who are active in the cam
paign mean to give up and the battle
will be carried to the Senate and
then to the Governors desk.
one of the largest crowds of the
session crowded into the galleries and
lined the sides of the big hall to hear
the debate. The speechmaking took
almost two hours and was heard with
. close attention. Several men had
planned to speak, but gave it up be-
cause of the lateness of the hour when
the vote was taken. The announce
ment by Speaker Amber was received
with applause.
The Dauphin, Cumberland and
Perry men voted for the repeater, as
did Mr.. Weimer, of Lebanon. DR..
Urich was absent.
The Long Debate
MIR. Myers. Washington, opened the
ueBalc pN an aItdCk OH liS law as
rigid and impractiCable and asserting
that the supervision of trains could be
left to the Public Service Commission.
Mr.. Kuhn, Greene, also spoke for the
bill, saying that the law put an unfair
burden on railroads and that the rail
roads could be depended upon to take
care of their patrons.
MIR. Palmer, Schuylkill, declared
that the railroads had not established
by preponderance of evidence that the
law was not needed. He attacked the
railroads for raising fares after being
granted freight rate increase. Pc
titions had been poured in on legis-
lators from people who did not know
what they were signing. The extra
rates. he said would yield $50, 200, 900.
whereas the full crew law cost but
100000. Death rates go up and SO
does tonnage, said Mr.. Palmer, who
predicted that the repeater would
throw many men. out of work, and
that for himself he preferred to see
money spent for wages that bought
food and clothing than for steel cars.
In closing he warned that if the law
was repealed it would cause people
to demand still more drastic laws.
An extended speech against the bill
was made by Mr.. Maurer Berks, who
charged that the railroads had started
an unheard-of campaign of letters.
He had received 10000 letters and
thought other members had received
more. He calculated that the postage
in the campaign cost 100000 and
the printing and stationery $500, 900
more. In addition there were expenses
running into thousands. Mr.. Maurer
said the letters were not q true express
sion of sentiment and charged that
men were coerced into signing letters.
The Berks man alleged that railroad
lnhhViSfS had hnap httSNr ,.ie
floor and that he had heard some
legislators had been taken on an au-
tomobile trip to Gettysburg. He ridi-
culed the claim that the full crew law
was responsible for the business de-
preston or diminished the purchas-
ing power of the railroads After
some attacks on railroad corporations
he made a plea for defeat of the bin
on behalf of organized railroad men.
NO legislature ever required Penn
sylvania's s railroads TO adopt the tele-
graph or the block signal system. con-
tended Mr.. Walter. Franklin, and the
men managing railroads could be de-
pended upon to safely run the, prop
critics as a matter of plain business
The cry that men would lose their
jobs, he said, was raised when reaping
machines came into use in the grain
fields and was as old as modern indus
try. Replying to Mr.. Maurer, who
read a letter against the repeater writ
ten last fall by Senator Penrose, Mr..
Walter said the repeater was not a
party measure.
Mr.. Ehrhardt, Lackawanna, who
presented the bill passed in 1911, de-
clared legislators should not heed the
letters which had been mailed in such
large numbers. He said there are
members of the present House who
voted for the full crew law, but none
who voted against 1t sit.
A fair play plea was made by Mr..
Spangler, York, who said that a law
requiring wages to be paid when there
was no fair return brought about an
economic waste and was a mon
strosity.
MIR. Rich. Clinton. declared that
good many people in his district
believed the present law unnecessary.
Mr.. Herman, Wyoming, spoke in
favor of the bill and Mr.. Baldwin.
Delaware, sponsor for the bill, asked
leave to file his remarks. The call of
the roll began at Ills .. m.
The announcement nf tho vote w.. .