The Washington times., 1917-03-06

rates paid on either the German or French
dltionai advantage Of much lower wages.
eazes,- aRa other operating coscs. - >
The number. Of passengers Increased IL per
senEera per car IA per cent. while passenger
train mileage increased only per sent.
THE EIGHT HorR Law. -.
The employees In the train service on most
Of The railroads IN the United States sub
mitted demaytds through their labor, organi-
eaais ior Tatss sh Of fS say % sSa ms % and
payments for al .oyertine I'm frstght and
yard service. Although many Of the men In
ses nan sfvirs EsucSon cS noI in sss te coss
tuting = basic work day nreant In effect an
uRjustinables increase of .paJ for most oe
these sSgloyss Conts5epess sSennE an rs4s SSss
sentatives Of the railroads and the train
men with tia, hope that oy
arbitration, In yhieh. the public Eonio naSs
could be reached, for the raiEcMds feh that,
as conpared with othsf- employment In and
out of thu railEoaa- seFtcs, tnese msn ss,ss ssre
PAID The .trainmen would not consent 20
arbitration, or other investigatfon, aHd orders
for a strike were given IN case Ins tiffcrSs AZ
transportation, seFytoss Of the County was
Threatened with stoppage At pas when M
dastrtss IN general had rssened snen y. sTSa. a,ta
necsssaries Of NE. especially, IN the hrger
cities, were absolutely dependent on the con-
;usd operation q sSs 'tsS@ ss,ssl many
the men, especially those in@your seryice-
who have faithfully serysd the Cempeny. for
many year would anamy ,s,d nsys ,eS aeseT.eS anS
disruption of business that would hAve re-
suited from the execution Of this threat
made by the trainmen through tnsif Lead Lead
law was enacted By Congress In The hrtef
period OF few days, The threatened strike
was averted, but In the haSS pToceedings
leading to Its -enactment.. the principle of
arbitration, as the paramount and equitable
msthod of settling labor disputes, was ssacrtS
need not IN The public intsrest nor SIoS.s iSE ,ns
but fer group Of men constituting only
= small percentage Of the total number. and
no action was taken by Congress to pre-
This law provides that beginning January
l., I917, eight hourA shall iu- contract2< for
ana the measure or stanfiard Oh a days york.
for the purpose of reckoning cofnpensation
for, employees engaged in the opsration Of
Of three to observe the effects Of the law for
q period OF from ak TO nine months. and
report Its findings to the President and Cone
Ersss but Y also rsaqlEes sh.s, * pe1ainS shs
thereafter. the existing standard days
wage shah be paid for an eight hour day,
saafos o,sstims @ ,S ,ihe Snes9sss 70 sS 2ate
standard eight hour day. WhilA, wages. are
Increased BY It's provisions, there Is appar-
on ,sss = hsm irh ha day.
Your Aanagsmspt being unable 10, satisfactor-
ny interpret the proyisions OF the law. and
ansg ~ n,,itu,eS s to test M
validity in the Federal Courts. go 90.
TIE EsdsTshsna fssts, !s!. lsxs I'VE and M the public
der A. eons,nuoIs ana aaeoGste trsnsSoTta5 s% rt
tion service. and Il should be- equally. obligR-.
tory that no disruptien Of that serSiee@ from
strikes or lockouts should Re prevented until
ths-sdtnereHeess between ths' sraiiyoads and
their employes ara. sdrst suhmitted 70 indei
pendent and impartial review and arbitration.
FEDERAL rR6NsPoRrATIoNS INQUIRY.
AIs.Rt conErsssIppsl Ganani,tss has been
Preslasnt, to investigate .the efficiency, OF
the existing system Of public regulation In
protecting the rrishis. of satppets and .cars
rtsrs. and In promotipg the pubic interest.
The Railroads Will assist th4 tnyestigation.
and have. already submttted- evidence that
the prssent systsnf of Federal and State
regulation is inconsistent. qonfuaiRg and
wasteful. They have, therefore. requested
eonsideration Of a program, which, in sub
/ FEDERAL supsrvision of the issue of rail-
road securities:. .----.. - -.
= FEDERAL Incorporation Of interstate rail-
!, exclusive Federal regulation OF rates:
4 A regional and functional division OF the
work Of the Interstate Commerce Cnmmis-
sion: ..--a..
S. Restricting rate suspensions ny the Com
mission to not more than sixty. days:
Q, Giving the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion the powersto prescribe minimum as
we'll. as maximum rates
The aim OF constructive LEGISLATION should
be to allow the railroads to conduct the trans
portation service under such conditions AS
will preserve their credit 50 that they can
at all times efficiently and economically
carry the commerce Of the Country. and be
its most availahle and effective Instruments
for National defense-- Under the existing
conflicting systems OF public regulation by
the Federal and State Governments. the
railroads have not been allowed to earn suf-
ficient profits to place them. IN that position.
and therefore there has been serious
decline In constructing new mileage. new
equipment and sufficient facilities to accom-
modate the shippers and the public, With
the increased traffic IN the past eighteen
months this condition was somewhat i'm
proved, but the needs OF the situation have
not yet been satisfactorily met. The CON-
mon carriers as a whole for many years have
had to depend for new capital on tne IN