The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1919-01-16
RAILROAD PLAN
FOR FIYE-YEAR CONTROL

@AANff
j Director General McAd0o's urging an
extension of five years Of govern
Ement operation of the railroads is the
evidence it yields of confused coun-
sells and of uncertainty on the part
of The administration On December
the president went before Congress-
!, and spoke on the question of "the
policy to be adopted toward the rail-
roads" He said u have no conf
dent judgment of my own. / do not
See how any thouohtful man can
have" He added that it was a prob
lem to be carefully looked into, and
he hoped that Congress would have
a complete and impartial study
instituted at once and prosecuted as
/ rapidly as possible" That was on De-
cember 1 But on December II Mr.
, McAdoo issued far-reac'ing and
full-bodied plan, and winds up with
/ the cool statement: "The president
has given me permission to say that
J this conclusion aceords with his own
view of the matter" Mr.. Wilson'S
conversion from open doubt to entire
certainty must have been rapid TO
adapt the old couplet, betwixt the
White House and the ship he mercy
! sought and mercy found.
AS Mr.. McAdo0 ceased being di-
rector general on the first of January,
it might have been thought that he
would leave recommendation OF gen
eral policy to his successor. But let
that pass. There is a pressing emer-
Igency, according to Mr. McAdoo, re
curing Congress to act. 1t is GER
| tainly kind of emergency Ieason-
ing which he offers. He starts Oft
by assuming that Congress, in les
than three months remaining of it's
session, viii find it impossible to
settle the rail question permanent
Il ly Therefore, it must do a hurried
piece of patchwork This does not
necessarily follow The new Congress
might be called In extra session Ia
! do the job deliberately and thorough
, ly But Mr.. MeAdoo, with his confi-
dent "either-or" logic declares that
only three courses are open: i1l to
let things alone for 4 couple Of years;
(2) to turn back the railroads ut oaca;
E(3) to extend government control for
five years. But II does nos need
President Wilson's thoughtful man
to see that these alternatives do not
by any means exhaust the possibil-
tiles The present system Of govern
ment control, which Mr.. MeAdoo
admits IS not working well, may be
improved Plans may be made to
! return the roads To private ownership
under modified legislation. The Ne
Adoo five-year period is purely arhi-
|. trary; it might be made three years
f or six, or ten, so tar as the force Of
his reasoning goes. He presents very
much the appearance Of man who
VI had made up his mind that certain
thing ought to be done, and tnen cast
! about for an argument to Justify it
This is commonly called begging tht
question.
The more Mr. McAdoo's picsenta.
!, ton of his case is examined the more
i perplexing and inconclusiye il ap.
pears. He describes the existing leg.
islation as inadequate 1t admits Of
unhappy conflicts between federal anc
j state authorities. Moreover, the
fund-the so-called revolving fund
provided by Congress is not larg
enough. There should be minol
j amendments to the law and more
i money voted. But to do this Con.
gress will find it impossible" in its
crowed short session, Mr.. McAdoc
, states, and then calmly suggests that
it do the vastly easier thing of agree.
ing offhand to five-year federal con
trol and appropriating $4,000, 100000
i This jump from premises to conclu-
sions is tremendous.
II 1t is equally hard to understand Mr.
4 IIMcAdoo, and just as difficult to fol-
4 low him, when he passes to the sub
ject of the psychology Of railway
/. employees One aspect of their state
of mind, under government operation
he does not mention, though thou
sands of shippers and other railway
patrons have remarked it. We mean
their general letting-down of business
morale, their indifference, their mat
tention to duty. 1t is, in a word
the blight" of government control
of which Mr.. Hughes has been speak
ing. The director general does not
appear to have observed this, but he
comes out strong in the restlessness
anu ItldAlifE ulSCipltHe VI Tie iHSH
employed on the railroads, owing Mr.
McAdoo alleges, to their uncertainty
how long government operations viii
continue, and what their future status
may be. If this is true, and the rail
way men have been neolecting their
work in order to organize debating
societies, an order from the director
general would seem to be called for
But Mr. McAdoo's proposed remery
is quite other. Assure the employees
of five years more under the govern
. ment and they win instantly stop
I talking about wages and hours and
9 privileges and prospects. Anyhod
4 except a retiring dneetor-gcneral-
e who will believe this will believe any
! Thing And as for Mr. McAdoo's
d grave assertion that the course rec
4 commended by him would take the
railroads tout of politics, It is hard
to imagine a nlsn which would keep
r them longer and deeper in politics
& Many of the considerations adj
vanced By Mr. MeAdoo are Of un