Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-02-12
A

well, Of all the fool propositions
that were ever before the legislature
that flfty-car train bill is about the
worst, and I hope 1t doesn't get by"
said an old employee Of the Southern
railway yesterday.
why, I would have thought you
were in favor Of that BILL" replied the
newspaper man.
NO, sir, not me. 1t will do more to
hurt the railroad workers in South
Carolina than anything that ever hap
pened. You see we are getting good
wage now, and 80 far as I am con-
cerned I am satisfied. Yes, I know"
he continued, that the idea is that
the ffty-car train law will give work
to more men, because it will require
more men to handle the business. 1t
might do that for a little while, say
three months, until the railroads can
re-adjust things to get away from the
law, and they will be compelled to do
1t or go out Of business. You know
there Is being made a continuous pull
to make Charleston a shipping termi-
nal for coal. Well, suppose this law
becomes effective, 1t will kill Charles
tons prospects as a coal port. Be-
cause Of the high scale Of wages the
Southern IL paying its men 1t Is abb
solutely necessary that it handle trains
of seventy-five to one hundred cars to
break even. But If this law cuts the
maximum train to fifty cars, the rail-
roads will simply go around South
Carolina. For instance, take the veg
etable business from Florida. Those
trains frequently are made up Of more
than fifty cars going north, but they
don't nave to pass through South
Carolina. They would come to Jes-
sup, Ca. then to Atlanta, thence to
Knoxville, across to Asheville, to
Salisbury and go on to destination. L
don't see where the men in South Car
olina would be helped by that. Then
the business of hauling coal to Char
lesion, on account Of which the South
ern Is spending about a million dollars
for docks and coal yards, would come
to a %standstill, and the business would.
go to Savannah, Norfolk or elsewhere
in states that don't limit the trains"
We'll, who is behind this proposed
train limit law"
MY idea about it is that there some,
little srheming politician who is play
ing for the vote Of the railroad work.
ers on p~retense of trying to do m
thing for them. Then Of course there
are lots of railroad men-engineers,
fremen, brakemen, conductors and so
on, who are in favor Of the law be-
cause they haven't figured the thing
out ahead. In three months they will
be kicking themselves for fools, be-
cause instead of increasing the num-
Der of trains the law will actually re-
duce the number. The through freight
business from other states will not.
come through South Carolina when it.
ran be avoided. and the business that
is developed in South Carolina, except.
the fertilizer traffic, doesn't require.
100 car trains. Take away the
through business and there is not.
much left. Then too. some of the en-
gineers talk about it being such hard
work to handle a hundred a train.
That is buncombe. 1t Is not any hard.
err work on an engineer to handle a.
hundred rar train when he has the
power to do 1t with, than it Is to-
handle twenty-five or fifty cars when.
he only has power enough to handle
that many. No, it is just another
scheme with a political niger in the
w~oodpile,' and for one think it is a
proposition and hope it won't.
pass"