The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-03-31
Former Attorney Gen.
eral Bell ChargesMis
representation InFull
Crew Fight
MANY TRAINMEN
AT THE HEARING
Scarlet Declares It Is Far More I'M
portant to Put $2,OOO,OOO Year
Into Pockets Of Wage Earners Than
Into Railroads Golfers

The railroad trainmen side of the
full crew repeater was fully set forth
yesterday afternoon at the hearing
before the House Committee on Rail
roads, and at the close of the hearing,
after a four-hour session, the trainmen
had, through attorneys and members
of their organizations, presented force
fully the reason why in their opinion,
the full crew bill should not be re-
pealed. The show of strength made
was the largest seen here at hearing
in number of years.
James Scarlet and John c. Bell, as
attorneys, and William g. Lee, of
Cleveland, president of the 1nterna-
tional Association of Railroad Train
men; s. l.. Johns, a Hanover business
man, and Alexander P. Moore, pub
Usher of the Pittsburgh ''Leader," "
were the speakers.
After the hearing Henry I. Wilson,
of Jefferson county, chairman of the
Railroad Committee of the House, an
nouneed that the bill would be report
ed out of committee early next week.
About fifteen hundred railroad
trainmen were present at the hearing.
What Mr.. Scarlet and Mr.. Bell, as
counsel, failed to bring out on the sub
jeet, Mr.. Lee, representing $4,000
of the Brotherhood of Railroad Train
men, with the direct endorsement of
10000 railroad men in Pennsylvania,
hammered home forcefully.
Bell, Lee and Scarlet were roundly
applauded by the hundreds of railroad
trainmen and their cohorts who had
paraded to the Capitol headed by well
organized uniformed band of railroad
trainmen musicians of Harrisburg.
Charges Roads With Misrepresentation
Former Attorney Bell, who framed
the bill which is the law that twenty
one of the railroad companies of this
State and New Jersey desire to have
repealed in order to save what the
railroads claims amounts TO two mil
lions of dollars a year in Pennsylva-
mia, was the first to address the crowd
in the House of Representatives. Aft
er describing how the railroad COM
panies obtained their desired five per
cent. freight rate increase and other
legislation favorable to them, he then
pictured them in the attitude of stuff
fing two million of dollars in their
pockets by taking off by a repeater
the "load man of the full crew.
Mr.. Bell vehemently declared that
two-thirds of the railroad companies ,
propaganda, circulated by the news
papers and other agencies, was mis-
leading.
Mr.. Bell urged eternal watchfulness
as the price of safety and humanity,
above property rights, and pleaded
for the railroad companies to square
this latter promise.
"While we have been talking here
this afternoon twenty-five men or
women have been killed by the rail-
roads of the country said the form
er Attorney General, looking toward
the right side of the House of Repre-
sentativeS where about fifty of the
leading railroad officials and their sons
and representatives had seats.
Mr.. Scarlet, upon opening his ad-
dress, declared earnestly that the issue
of the repeal of the full crew law was
one of the most serious that the State
and country has to deal with. Mr..
Scarlet won State and national fame
as the Commonwealth 8 attorney in
the Capitol graft trials several years
ago and when he told his hearers yes
terday that he weighed the full crew
question purely from the evidence
and that he found that the reasons
for the repeal of the full crew law
amounted to nothing more than hear
say as far as the railroads presenta-
tion of the case was concerned. He
sareastieally referred to 146 resolu-
tions, $4,000 petitions and sixty ed-
torials sent to the Legislature urging
the repeal and the statute In favor of
a law putting the matter before the
Public Service Commission to deter
mine how many crew men shall 60 on
every freight and passenger train.
Scarlet Pleads Fer 'Kiddies"
"We trusted the railroad companies
before there was law on this subject
to put on the extra man and they
failed to put him there and we re 60
ing to let this law stand as it is"
Mr.. Scarlet referring TO the two
millions of dollars that the railroads
assert they would save each year by
the discharge of the full crew brake