The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1916-12-08
Friday. December Sth, 1915
LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK OUT

recent dispute between the rail-
road trainmen and their employ
es. One of his recommendations
in that connection, that involving
Congressional approval of rate
increases. by the Interstate Com
merce Commission to compensate
railroads for losses caused by the
adoption of the eight-hour day,
he now withdraws. There in no
doubt of the Commission's power
to do this, he says, and he fears
that action by Congress might
seem to draw in question the
scope of the Commissions au-
thority of its inclination to do
justice. His other recommen-
dations he earnestly reneWs.
Chief of these, of course, is
the Presidents request for an
act modelled upon the Canadian
plan making a strike or lockout
illegal pending full public inves-
tigation of the merits of the par
ticular dispute involved. Organ
lied labor is against such law.
The brotherhoods have announ-
ced that they will fight it. They
will doubtless bring all possible
pressure to bear upon Congress
in order to defeat it. Yet the
simple, big, supreme fact re-
mains it was brought home to
the people with compelling force
recently when a general strike of
the railroad trainmen was threat
ened-that without some such
law the people of the country at
any moment are likely to be
thrust into an intolerable posi-
ton.
A general strike in these days
means something entirely diff
erent from the strike of a few
years ago. With the latter the
chief parties involved were the
employees and the employers.
The public was affected but in
cidentally and to limited extent
With a general strike, however,
the public is the chief sufferer
Such a strike as that threatened
a few months ago, if it had come
to pass, would have meant suffer-
ing and loss incalcuable to hum
dreds of thousands of residents
in our large cities. 1t would al
most certainly have meant riot
ing and starvation, bloodshed
and death. Should the people Of
democracy or their represent
atives fail to act in the face of a
situation like this, it would
amount to a virtual confession
of their incapacity to govern.
For them or their representatives
to be intimidated by organized
labor or any class or organization
would be a confession of despi-
cable coWardice.
Compulsory nvestigation is
not an invention of Mr.. Wilson's.
It is not an untried scheme. 1t
represents the best thought of
economists generally as to the
next forward step, in the hand
ling of labor disputes. 1t is. far
less drastic, far more likely to
work satisfactorily, than COM
pulsory arbitration, which is
about the only alternative that
has been proposed. 1t is, indeed,
a significant thing that organ
lied labor, which, has declared
against the compulsory investi-
cation idea, has itself offered no
alternative proposal. 1t realizes,
as everyone else, that absolutely
defenseless position of the public
under present conditions. 1t
knows how impossible that posi-
ton is. Yet it suggests no
remedy.
Had the strike really taken
place last summer, had the
people really felt the pinch of
hunger and famine, had the
great cities of the country seen
their milk supply exhausted in a
day, their perishable food pro-
ducts gone in three or four days,
their supplies of all sorts dwind-
ling, prices going up, labor riots
and food riots occurring, thous-
ands facing restitution in the
midst of plenty, Congress would
have hurried to pass any meas
ure that seemed to promise re-
lief, no matter how revolution
airy. Public sentiment would
have made itself felt very GER
tainly and quickly. If the
people are wise, they will ex-
press their opinion no less en-
phatically now. They will let
their representatives at Wash
ington know that something
must be done to prevent re-