Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-03-19
Brotherhood Men Win Sec
ond Victory Within
Ten Hours.
COURT DIVIDES IN
5 TO 4 DECISION
Pitnsy, vanDevanter and Day Dis.
agree With Majority Of court-Jus-.
tiee White Writes Majority Decision
Admits Law is Wage Fixing
Agreement in Addition to Eight.
Hour Clause.

Washington. March 1s.-The Adam.
eight railroad law was held con-
| stitutional and valid in all respects to-
day by the supreme court The de-
cision makes eight hours the standard
Of work and legalizes the wage In
creases which went into tentative ef-
feet on its passage.
The Immediate temporary wasc..in = :
creases won by the wage employees af-
feet 100000 trainmen as Of Jan. ], and
are estimated to total between $4,000
900 and s50000.000.
| Federal Judge Hooks ruling in the
Missouri. Oklahoma G. Gulf railroad
case enjoining enforcement OF the act
and holding it Unconstitutional null
and void" was reversed.
Court Not Agreed. y
| Justice McKenna-- concurred in the
majority opinion, on slightly different
grounds. Justice Day read his own
dissenting opinion and Justice Pitney
delivered the other dissenting opinion, !
in which Justice vanDevanter Joined.
The decision was to 4. Justices !,
Day, Pitney and Van Devanter an
nounced their dissent from the bench.
and later Justice McRsynolds am
nounced his. s,s
The chief Justice cited the "hours Of
service act as an instance of hours
tof labor" legislation by congress and
said transportation was Of both private
and public interest,"
"The dividing line is 80 marked that
government will not destroy the pri-
vate right" said the chief justice. 1.-THE
power to regulate rests on both the
public and private rights involved"
Views Of Dissenters.
| Justices Pitney and VanDevanter
! held that the law should be held un-
constitutional and void because con
gress altho not in possession OF In
formation necessary for Intelligent
treatment Of the controversy. arbi
| trarily imposed on the railroads the
| entire and enormous cost of an ex-
perimental increase in wages
Justice Day IN his dissenting opin-
! ion said the legislation amounted to
! deprivation OF the railroad property
without due process of law"
| In concurring in the majority opin-
ion. Justice McKenna differed in that
I he believed the law an hours of
service" statute and only secondari1y
a wage fixing law, and thus within the
power of congress
Justice Whites Opinion.
i In announcing the opinion, the chief
j Justice reviewed the negotiations lead
ing to the enactment of the law. He
did not read from prepared opinion.
\ giving it apparently from memory
The president proposed arbitration.
/ The employers accepted and the en-
pIoyeS refused" said the chief Justice
He then suggested a basic eight-hou,
| standard. The employers accepted and
the employees rejected that. Congress
passed the law that is before us and
the carriers refuse to recognize it."
He said the agreement to expedite
the case was very laudable'
+ In the early course Of the opinion the
! chief Justice said that the law was
both an eighthou day act and also
wage fixing statute. He said that 1t
strips the parties Of power contract
as to wages. He said the eight hour
;, provision was the paramount feature,
The question OF fixing hours Of labor
he said. was out of the case as unques-
toned.
What Brotherhoods Gain.
A decision upholdinE as constitution
al all features of the Adamson act en-
tailed
Permanent establishment of q work
day of eight hours as n measure or
i standard OF calculating wages and
service Of train operation.
Temporary but immediate increase
of about % per cent in wages, during
not less than seven nor more than
eleven months beginning Jan. 1 last. OF
about 100000 trainmen. mostly Of the
Big Four" brotherhoods Of engineers,
tiremen. conductors and hrakemen and
those principally in freight service,
Comparatively few passenger trainmen
were given immediate benefit by the
law.
Cost to the railroads of such tempor-.
ary increase of from $+0,0o0.00 to $50
600. 900, as estimated by the railroads.
or about soo00o,o0 as estimated by
the brotherhoods. Future additional
cost of a permanent eight hour day
scale was estimated by the railroads at
sic, ,000,0o0 annually, with prospective
additional wage demands from 1.S0o.-
I6o0 other employees not benefited by the
Adamson law.
Vast extension Of congressional au.
thority in federal regulation of COM
mon carriers. with power to authorize
wage fixing by the Interstate commerce
lcommission.
z =