Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-05-25

| railroad strike is therefore a strike
| to make the people pay more or grant
| easier conditions. A railroad strike
Stops industry and the food supply.
| Hence we are all afraid of it.
| One great result of government op.
| Grafton has been to make it clear to
| the public that they have not to deal
! with an ordinary conflict between cap
| ital and labor. Capital is not at pres
! ent involved or interested in the sub
| ject 1t is probable that the readjust-
ment will give capital little or no voice
| in rates or management. The ques-
| ton before the country is a larger
one viz, whether so per cent of rail
i road earnings going to labor shall be
| subject to regulation and control as is
| the remaining SO per cent, or wheth
| err IL shall be left to the laws of sup
| ply and demand and subject to the
| right to strike" The government
management has shown itself to be
! helpless in the face Of an organized
| demand by a large number of voters
| and that tendency of government. be-
| ing equally apparent both in England
| and France, may be taken to be a
| general characteristic and we must
consider any plans for the future
| management of transportation with
| that feature in mind.
| 1t is the general statement in Wash
! ington by senators and others in in
terest, that the roads may be turned
| back to private management but I'M
der far greater control than has ex-
listed heretofore. The labor question
Is an inconvenient question, certain 10
stir up trouble and arouse anger, but
| if the people are to have satisfactory
transportation conditions, they must
face the problem of the control of
railroad capital and operation. This
| is not a question for capital. As |
have pointed out, capital for railroad
enterprise has ceased to be specula-
tive and profit making and is merely
interest bearing. New capital can be
had at market rates by making 1t Sc
cure. The subject of future capital
| requirements is not germane to this
! paper.
There is a common assumption that
the roads will be turned back to pri-
vate owners without action upon the
labor problem. AS the roads are oper-
ated at a heavy loss under the exist
ing conditions that proposal would
mean placing upon private manage
| ment the burden of eXacting efficient
service from labor and reducing pay
rolls to point at least of transporta-
ton solveney. The result would be
! unco- ordinated efforts of a great
number of different railroad manag
ers, some strong, some weak, some
! Vindictiye, some easy, each consider
| ing his business as a separate prob
| lem and solving it as a special rail-
road problem without reference to the
general labor requirements and con-
| ditions of the country. Doubtless,
such a readjustment would be accom-
/ panied by costly and exasperating
strikes. The public would be in
famed against the railroad MANAGE
ment and much injustice and suffer-
ing would result to the men and to
their families, A more ideal way, and
| one more Consonant with the views
| of an idealistic administration, would
| be to require the interstate commerce
| commission to inquire into and regu-
| late the surroundings and proper
| compensation of railroad labor, both
! wages and hours, as compared with
, the general labor conditions in the
country. Upon that commission should
sit men familiar with the conditions
OF railroad labor and also men IA
miliar with the conditions of railroad
labor and also men familiar with the
| interests of the shippers using the
| railroads, such as members of cham
| hers of commerce and the agricultural
| industry of the country. If possible,
some members should be found who
| reilly represented the consuming pub
| lie upon whose broad shoulders ulti-
rately rests the burden of supporting
the transportation of the country. In
decd, the balance of power on the
| commission should rest with those
| WHO have no interest except to sec
ond the general welfare, who can car
| ~ { just proportion between the spe-
| Cal interest of the railroad employees
and the general interest of the farm
erS, the laboring classes and the SAL
aired people throughout the country
| If the Tublic desires to control its
transportation interests, and has de-
termined through the commission
what is fair return for railroad lab
or in its different classes, and has
made provision for a just revision of
the scale from time to time as may be
required by general conditions in the
couary and in the industry, the pub
lie must then face the question of how
the award of the commission shall be
enforced.
Shall railroad labor be considered
to be affected with public interest"
as is railroad capital? Shall entry
into the service be made subject to
certain fixed conditions with regard
to leaving the service, such as thirty
days notice, the refusal of re-engage-
lnenr in case service is terminated
without adequate cause? Shall COM
pulsory arbitration be adopted? Shall
it be a misdemeanor to leave the
service in a strike against an award
adopted fairly and after due consid-
Grafton? How can the railroad serv-
ice be. made attractive by way of old
age pensions, better facilities for liv-
ing. etc. ? Such are the problems
which the American people face In
settling their transportation question.
If we attempt to turn over the man
asement of the so per cent of the |
problem to private control, we must
foco difficulties of a character far
more serious since the changes !
brought about by the war than those |
which, existed previously. The owners |
them back under existing conditions !
There are many who think that the |
proposal to leave the reimbursement of !
these matters to private control would |
bring about q general bankruptcy of |
the transportation systems of the |
country. As d matter of fact, the gov |
eminent control is bankrupt today. In |
spite of the fact that it has raised rail- |
road rates a billion dollars, its man |
age.nent is a half billion dollars be- |
hind its obligations. Government OPP
Grafton will require a billion appropri- |
alton by July. About quarter of the |
war tax levy for this year besides an