El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-08-11

CONGRESS and the American people hcve been confronted
y with demand by the railroad brotherhooas mat tg
private owners Of the railroads be retired from control
and that that control lodged IN rparite ASSOCIATION
II railway employees operating officials and the punhe
The demand has TO be considered seriously and win
Thought TO determining whether private government u
trpare ownership is best The subject of trparite con-
troll is open for discussion. At first glance the following
ideas suggest themselves:
Control and operatiou Of the railroads by operating
officials employees and the public would amount to con-
troll and operation Of the railroads by officials and en-
poyes The public that is 70 say the government would
figure only nomnaly, in all probability, until It came
time to pay operating deficits
This system Of operation would tend to lower efficiency
to the vanishing point
would Be stimulated by the desire to give good service IN
order that greater volume Of freight and passenger
traffic might be secured each road for ITSELF and larger
dividends might be possible. They may say this would
encourage competition between roads fol- careful handling
prompt loading and speedy shipments
But II IS probably true that such invigoratng ambl-
ton would exist relatively few lines 1t IS probable
that dividends could be paid than 25 percent OF
the railroads even If all the water" boiled ont OF
the stock and If the roads were most carefully and
iuteIigently administered The remaining majority OF
lines would slump There would be tendency to routine
tendency struggle for dividends which, under the
most hopeful conditions could only be secured by the most
intelligent planning and the most assduous work.
tendency in short, to let things crock along and the
public make W the deficit.
thus competition would vanish the last incentive
TO good service likewise would disappear Inparte con
trol would be worse than government control IN tnat
Glen Pluhb author Of the new plan, declared before
the house interstate committee Friday that
o-qsnizsd labor Is not willing have the government
speate the railroads because does not believe so great
an industry be conducted By any political autocracy
If we leave operation in the hands Of political appontees
we would place the railway systems ultimately IN the
hands Of politicians and that submit cannot be done
safely"
ton there would be central responsibility Inc
political party in control Of the government would feel
itself responsible for the failure Of railroad ao
uisration during their tenure Under of1iiaeploye-
houn TO point and say: "You to bame? Response
hiy would passed from to another with resulting
n an organization of this kind the public would suffer
not only poorer service than is received now but at
bigher cost Let It be supposed that railroad there
were two directors representing the officials, two repre-
suug the employees and two representing the govern
reut Opportunity would be presented, on prosperous
roads Of forming voting combinations OF the first two
groups Of directors vote salaries and high enough
to absorb any surplus earned by the road and
he directors representing the government could not pre-
gent II because they would be outvoed- On roads not
prosperous in the dividend class the same camhlua-
tou could be worked to boost salaries and wages az ire
expense Of the government
Be sure that It would be the expense Of the govern
eut meaning the American people, because It IS certain
hat neither officials employees would bind themselves
TO snare profits
When Edward Hurley assumed the craftsmanship OF the
emergency fleet corporation the government shpbuding
uoern in the early days Of the war he did it. as be said
lfterwa-d with considerable optimism because he oeeveo
he absence Of competition the ability to buy at VIII and
he spur Of patriotism on the who working foI
The government in building ships at critical period would
make for success But he became dsusioned in time as
ne saw first IN one shpyard and then IN another steady
ackeung Of effort continual decline IN volume and
need OF output that could be sscbsbe only to govern
snt control and the absence Of authority and oompeu-
ion # such conditions existed at time when patriotism