Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-09-20
regulator Of commerce, authorizes i
conduct a business operation save

to conduct a business operation ave
under the pressure Of the national
exigency which brought government
railroad control into being.
We submit, moreover, that he good
faith of the United States il pledged,
under the circumstances in which
government control was assumed to
return the private property thus taken
to its owners An accident may justi-
ify the Communicating of an auto
mobile by a public oficer to remove
an injured person to a hospital, but it
would. arous justifiable resentment If
the return of the motor to its owner
The burden of proving he superior
value Of public ownership has 80 far
been me- only by gratuitous assertions
of it's superior efficiency, which are
more than refuted by the excessive
costs, the failing service and the de-
moralized morale OF the operating
force consequent upon a little more
than a year Of government operation
and CONTROL. la5 sz
Every argument that Is or can be
made ma q erI IN, principle RI for o sSyernment men.
thinly disguised control of the organ
lied employees Is equally applicable
and will be made to- like government
ownership and operation Of the tele-
phone, the. telegraph and the mer-
lchant marine. IT proposes, Z, speeulA-
tive experiment At colossalssetpens In
an hour when the nation staggers un-
No plan could be devised that. would
more certainly demoralize the busi-
ness structure OF the nation. jeopardize
the savings of the frugal. and the in
I ~dustrious,' Or more certainly increase
the cost of sustaining the life of
every human being within the nation.
It is the first step through the gate
way>of state socialism TO the operation.
of transportation and industry under
p soviet control
We venture, in conclusion, especial
ly to assert the necessity Of relieving
national communication Of the fear Of
deliberate interruption. Communica-
ton is. almost civilization. The inter
dependence created amongst indi-
viduals- and communities makes the
uninterrupted movement Of transpor-
%tation in every form essential to the,
maintenance of social life. The right OF
employer or employee. Of organized
capital or organized labor, to combine
to act in concert. is subordinate in
every form Of association to the para
mount interest OF the public in the un-
interrupted service of the essential
facilities of communication. These
forms Of service are as necessary to
modern life as the circulation of blood
to the human body. Social self-de-
tense justitfes the exercise of every
power OF government essential TO re-
move any economic or physical OBJ
lstruction from the pathway Of COM
nferce, be 1t a mob, q monopoly or a
sandbank. No sovereign state. how.
strong the belief Of its people in an
act OF their legislature can interpose,
It's VIII, or its law. or, It's structures,
TO interrupt or obstruct oil prevent the
free flow Of commerce. To assure the
freedom of trade and the trader ex-
erted~a most powerful influence upon
the transformation Of the confederat-
Ied colonies into the union Of states.
Is 1t not pertinent now to ask the
question which the Supreme Court OF
the United States asked ana answer
ed in the Debs' case, at the instance
lof Grover Cleveland:
II a state with its recognized y
powers Of sovereignty la im-
potent to obstruct interstate con1-
merce., a itsbe that any ners
viduals within the limits OF that
state has a power which the state
itself does not possess?
We submit thAt dt$stsTnot only the
right but the duty sof Congress; to
now exert Ats 4 authority to define
the limits within which business men
q workingmen, capital or labor, ems
ployer or employe, may 80 in threat
lening the transportattOnsof the nation
las a means Of compelling the accept
ance of economic demands or political
policies. Congress must either now
assure the projection. Of the para
mount interest Of the public In the
Ic0ntinued operation OF the railroads
or abdicate its regulatory authority to
selfish and irresponsible. combinations
LOT private persons.
All Of which is respectfully sub
mitted, The National Association 81
Manufacturers BY. Stephen G. Mason.
president. ~