Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-02-15

vi
they hav" been under irresponsible
private control"
| As 10 the railroads. Mr.. AmSter;
plan is Il simple one. He would have
| iivc Federal Corporations organiZct
hy the government. each corporal atiui
10 take over all the existing railwa!
lines in Il given territory for III,
south. one for the northwest. etc. Al
the roads III 4 given territory thus
| merged into one combination. ~
would do AMY with most OF the
present evils Of competition, dupllci
ton Of terminals special routing, etc
While the COVE rnincnt would organic
|, these systems ana they would be un
der government control, their actua
ownership would be vested. as now
in private stockholders. Stock II
each should be sold to the public ol
exchanged for present railroad hold
ings and the government should b'
the one iinanCier for al.
| Dividends in these Federal corpO.
rations, Mr.. Amster thinks. should be
fixed by law with maximum am
minimum rate. There should be nc
opportunity To gamble for high
stakes but each investment should
be made secure and some encourage.
! mcnt should be given 10 the investors
to help make the enterprise succeed
"And how about the actual dircc.
ton OF the enterprises" ! asked
That" ne said. should bc vested
in the various interests served. The
primary interest is unuuesiionably tn,
public at large. That is the reason
for railroads to serve the public. TIL,
dominant voice in the directorate
should be the public's. But the stock
holders should also bc represented
and no scheme nf public control would
be complete without giving adequate
representation To the other interest.
The other Interest,"
certainly" said Mr.. AmStcr.
Railroad labor. Under government
control it is unthinkable that In" in
tcrcsts Of labor shall bc ignored. On
the other hand. il is unthinkablc that
these millions Of workers shall have
no voice except the strike. Strikes.
in fact. must lc made impossible: but
il would amount ain oSt To slavery to
pass Il law to jhat effect and let il
20 at that. If labor is not represent
ed in the actual management Of the
property to which ii gives its life and
strength, it wouldn't be democracy AT
all.
Labor should not only be repre-
scented in the management. but pro-
vision should be made for the workers
acquiring dividend paying stock,
stock whose dividends shall he deter
mined largely by the faithfulness and
efficiency of the labor performed.
Union labor has one valid objection
to even the mos advanced profit
sharing plans today. but this ohjec-
ton would disappear in such Il Sys-
profit sharing plan may be- used to
keep individual workers from joining
the unions. and keep them from
striking AGAINST the nrofteers who are
railroad labor
doe. striking directly
against The ic Of he United
States.
Under this system there would he
noN protitccrS to arouse the envy OF
the tuilcrs. The representatives OF
the workers would sit with the other
directors, not as plcaders or as an
tagonists. but ;S equals whose inter-
ests are known to be one with the
other interests concerned. And in
stead of striking for higher wages
when Il higher income seemed nccrs-
s,ry they would be arranging doubt
less for an additional dividend in
stock stock whose actual value
would be determined 10y their own
responsibility and loyalty in future
service"
Just tell me-" Mr.. AmstCr con-
cluded, If such Il system isn't NOR"
reasonable form Of public co-opcra-
ton than, say. the Post Office is to-
day. In the Post office labor has no
voice at all. The general public is
served, after a fashion. but no great
body of the people care II hang
whether the enterprise pays or not.
At the worst. the Post Office system
is Il mess. At the best it is PrusSian-
ism. The people of America. am
sure do not want our railroads and
our essential Industries I" Il" that
way.
And that is just what the financial
pirates are depending upon. They
are trying to make us think that we
shall have to choose between the old
system and this spurious government
ownership. OF these two evils.
believe. the American people will
choose neither"