Evening star., 1919-11-30

OW to write into the perma-
- nent laws of the land safe
guards that will assure the
people uninterrupted supplies
Of all essentials-food. clothing. fuel.
transportation, etc.-which have re-
peatedly been menaced recently by or
ganized capital or organized labor. is
one of the intricate problems on which
the best minds in Congress are being
concentrated
The third party at interest in all
clashes between capital and labor
the consumer - has been threatened
with a gigantic railroad strike. been
bullied by food profiteers. been held
up by sugar and coffee manipulation.
been forced to fight under wartime
legislation against stoppage of coal
supplies. The public is getting down.
| right sick and tired of having some
organized and intrenched fraction of
the citizenship come along every Once
| in while and say-pay us a lot more
| money or go cold or hungry or DO
without some other essential thing.
Congress intends to do something
q, about it.
Need of Permanent Law.
The Lever food control act was in
voked to take care of the Immediately
| pressing emergency, but something
permanent must take its place, con-
gresSional leaders are agreed The
! judiciary committee, the committee on
| interstate and foreign commerce and
the agricultural committee are among
| those that will give earnest attention
to this problem with the reconvening
| or Congress tomorrow.
We must amend the commerce act
so that essential provisions of the
Lever food control act will stand up
as permanent safeguards" Chairman
Volstead of the House judiciary com
| mlttee says. 1t seems pretty gener-
| ally agreed that the protection to the
public must be given through broad
enlng or the commerce act
There must be a government agency
TO represent the public's interest to
say when the rights of a corporation
or labor organization cease because
they infringe on the welfare of the
| community.
There is a disposition in Congress-
10 pass law which will say to all
business and industry, There can be
no strike which will menace the well
rare OF the people until the matters
in controversy have been investigated
and reported upon by a government
agency.
Cummfns Plan Not Dead.
Senator Cummins of Iowa has re.
Gently predicted such wide-sweeping
legislation. Just before the adjourn
ment of Congress he arose to per-
sonal privilege in reply to a state
ment in a financial paper to the eff
feet that his railroad bill was pigeon
holed and would never be resurrect-
ed. He said that the "no-strike" pro-
vision in his bill would be urged, and
then he declared that before long
similar provision would be written to
affect all lines of industry which
might take a strangle hold on the
people.
Congress held that the railroads in
handling transportation were inter-
state agencies. and therefore could
come under the jurisdiction of the
federal government, and for a quarter
of a century we have had the Inter-
state Commerce Commission
The President, in his message on
! the Adamson bill and again in his
| message of December 1, 1915, rec
| commended that in interstate COM
merce there should be machinery for
arbitration and that no strike or
| lockout would be legal until after the
facts had been established by inves-
tigation. 1t would be a new thing
| in jurisprudence, he pointed out, to
say that men cannot quit their jobs,
but when an organized group at
tempts to do it to intimidate the peo-
pie. so that they will feel forced to
take sides in an industrial contro-
versy, it is an entirely different prop
osition. So it is well established that
this can be done with the railroads.
Subject to Federal Control.
When any other great industry be-