The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-12-07
RAILROAD MEN TAUGHT
WILL RECEIVE JUSTICE
That, According to w. S. Carter, Direc-
tor of the Division of Labor of the
Railroad Administration, Is
One Result of Govern
ment Control.

New York, Dec. Establishment Of
permanent wage rates for the 100000
railway workers of the United States, to
continue after the cost Of living has de-
creased is the aim of the United States
railroad administration, according to w.
is. Carter, director of the division Of la
Dor, who spoke here to-day on "The Eff
feet Of Federal Control on Railway La
bor," before the Academy Of Political
Science.
Mr. Carter, in his address, in which he
outlined what Director General McAdoo
had accomplished for railway workers
during the past II months of federal con
troll, and in making note of the fact that
under the existing congressional act the
lines win pass back to private control
ON or before q months after the declara-
tion Of peace, expressed the hope that
the rights and aspirations of labor in the
operation of the railroads will receive
due consideration if Congress decides TO
enact additional legislation affecting
them"
The government, said Mr.. Carter, took
over the railroads with majority Of
employees mentally depressed and edu-
Gated by experience to believe in the
theory Of the strike and ii has taken
time and patience to convince them that
under federal control justice will pre-
vail, without strike or threats of strike.
This change of attitude on the part Of
the workers, the speaker said, was due
in no small measure to the organization
by Mr.. McAdoo of railway boards of adj
justment composed of an equal represen-
tstion selected by the labor unions and
the regional directors of the United
States railroad administration.
ut was with the belief" declared Mr..
Carter, that deadlocks were inevitable
that some railroad men of long expe-
rience, both officials and employees, doubt
ed the praeticability Of the plan but ex-
perience has not produced single fail
IRE of these boards of adjustment TO
reach decisions acceptable to both sides.
The determination of the members Of
these boards to be fair has made dead
locks avaidable.
Back Of that, the chief executives Of
the employees organizations are deserving
Of much of the credit for success, for
they have said, in effect, TO their respec-
tive representatives whom they have Sc
lected for these adjustment boards: You
are no longer an advocate. You are now
"a judge.
Standardization of wages and working
conditions of railway employees, Mr.. Car.
ter believed, would prove to be the most
pronounced effect of federal control. BY
it the old system Of district wage
movements whereby workers in the
west, for instance, obtained better terms
than those in the east, would be done
away with and the desire Of many EN-
ployes that all workers should be paid
the same wages for the same work prob
ably would come into vogue. Notwith.
standing the advance in the cost of liv-
ing, the speaker stated, certain classes of
railroad men have remained true to their
hope of wage Standardization
While the complete harmonization of
labor has not yet been achieved by the
United States railroad administration,
Mr. Carter said, "the director general
has ordered the board of railroad wages
and working conditions to make further
Investigations so that all may know they
will have a square deal
In conclusion, the speaker referred to
the recognition of the eight-hour day by
Mr. McAdoo and said it had marked a
great advance in multiplying discomfort
and unrest. Anarchy is the natural
child of tyranny" he said, although, tbs
true, that no tyrant eonfesses his par.
entage Happily no railroad employe
had yet become a bolshevik but the leav-
en- was there, unwittingly implanted by
those whose selfish interests had blinded
them to the destructive agency of th1ir
own CREATION