Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-04

create an agency to determine wages
as well as rates.
All Interests Demand 1t
Men will not strike" said the
! Ala bama senator, against the just
decisions of the government. After
fair determination of the contro-
versy by an impartial tribunal, pub
, lie sentiment will force the contend
ing parties to accept the verdict rem
dered as final. 1t must be done In
the interest of the men involved,
the industry of the people and the
peace of the nation"
The tribunal he proposed Senator
Underwood continued, must have
authority and power to protect the
rights of the whole people against
the recurrence of strikes and lock-
outs" Disturbance of transporta-
tion, he said. affects the whole pub
lie and therefore railroad employees
owe obligations in their action dif-
ferent from those in private indus
try.
Urges Tribunal
There is but one way out, in my
Judgment he continued. "and that
is to appoint a tribunal with the
power to adjust these matters, which
has the time to consider and the op-
portunity to know the facts. Such
a tribunal must not only have tho
power and be prepared to do what
is right and just, by the labor om-
ployed on the railroads. but must
have authority and power to see that
property is not confscated by it3
decisions. For. should you confls-
cate the property of the transportG-
tion companies you would break
down the channels of trnnsporta-
tion as effectively as you would
break them down in strike, with
the resultant injury to the people.
A tribunal of this kind must also
have the authority and opportunity
to consider the rights OF shippers
and travellers who in tho last ana
lysis will bear any increased burden
that falls on the carriage of prop
crty or persons over the transpor-
tation lines.
IF you want Il final and just
solution of such Il controversy, you
are practically driven to leaving the
decision to a governmental commits
sion that has full and ample oppor-
tunity to investigate the rates of
wage, the earning power of the
transportation companies, the cost
of living, the burden that rests on
the shipping public and to deter
mine: First. what is n fair, Just
and living wage for the men: second,
how far this charge can be placed
on the capital of the corporation
without breaking it down, destroy
ing the value of its securities, bank
rupting its property and taking
away from the investing public a
fair return for capital invested;
third. how far an increased charge
for labor, interest or supplies, can
be handed down to the public with
out doing injustice to the shipper
and traveller and without becoming
a menace to the development of
industry.
Contests Must Cease
1T is essential that the board or
commission that is given the power
to adjust the wage scale of the men
must also have the power to reflect
its findings in the rates charged for
the transportation of persons and
property over the railroads."
Senator Underwood SAID the time
has come when contests of brute
force between capital and labor
must cease and that the rights of
labor should be recognized and pro-
tected by law as are those of prop
erty. These conditions he said, are
prlmitiVc,' and collective bargain
ing. he asserted. cannot be pursued
against general public interest. Use
of force in diminishing or increas-
ing wages must end. he declared.
adding. however, that he did not
favor laws requiring labor by COM
pulSion