Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-02-19
KAHN ARGUES FOR RELEASE
 OF RAILROADS
Years Experience Has Been Sufficient Demonstration
 He Says.

titled "A Suggestion concerning To- days Railroad Problem" read tonight before the Brooklyn Chamber of Con- merce, Otto H. Kahn, said
 Tt IS one of the characteristic ouali. ties of the American people to learn quickly. One years experience has suftlced to demonstrate to the people at large that Government operation or railroads means deterioration in sefVlce, higher cost, lessened eager ness to please the shipper and study ms convenience--not to mention the menace of politics becoming a deter mlnlng factor in the fixing of wages. Tn new construction, betterments, etc Every right thinking man must wish to see railroad labor, as indeed all labor, content and liberallv com pensated. The just claims of labor are the first charge upon any industry They take precedence over the claims o fcapltal and even those of the con- sume rim general
 Should Have Hearing.
 But is is not reconcilable with the American theory of government to give to any executive department the power, without searching public nearing before at least semi-iudical body, to increase the wages of one class of labor, as was done in the case of railroad workers, by the stupendous sum of about $600,0OO00O year and to apportion it by rigid and undiscrim mating classification.
 The increase in wages actually paid in the year 1918 is officially stat ed at S5S3,000,000, but I am informed that when the increases granted are are expected to reach approximately m full effect for complete year they ! $500, 100000. The tax thus placed up on the consumers of the country, par tlcularly the shippers and farmers, is comparable to the total interest of our entire present net war debt sexcluding loans to the allies) and, capitalized at four and one-half per cent, represents principal sum of approximately $18,- 900, ,000,000A
 Wage Increase Due. An increase in wages was justly due; indeed, in many cases overdue. No doubt the Committee selected by the Director General, upon the in- vestigation and recommendation of which the action was based, did it's work ably and conscientiously. The 1 increase granted may not be more than was justly due. It's apportion- ment may have been fully justified. But, after all, it is the public which pays the bill, and the public had no opportunity to formulate views or make itself heard on the subject be- fore action was taken.
 "lt may not be inappropriate to point out in comparison to the in. crease of about $800,000,0OO granted to labor over and above it's existing compensation, that the total compen- sation which capital (including there in the brain work and enterprise which have gone into the building up of the American railroad system), receives | in the shape of rental for all of the railways of the country, is, about $9OO,- 100000 per year.. And that sum in- cludes interest on borrowed money to the extent of about $500,000,0O0 per year, leaving as compensation to the owners of the roads the sum of about $400, 100000 (apart from about $165,- 100000 income derived from miscel- laneous physical property and "non- operating lncOme.
 1 Paid Large Wages.
 "The total wages paid to railroad labor for the past year are estimated at $2,400,000, ,000.
 "Nor is the effect of the higher wages granted measured even by the huge sum of $80O,0OO,000, at least as far as unskilled labor is concerned, for it is bound to affect wages in oth- CT industries and particularly the wages which the farmer has to pay. l "I believe that decisive majority i of the farmers, the shippers and the consumers in general have made up their minds that in this country Gov ernment operation of railroads is not wanted
 The program, in support of which 1 believe public opinion is crystalliz- ing more and more is:
 1. Let the Government exercise strong and comprehensive control, but 1 fair and constructive, not punitive or strangling.
 2. Let those features of operation, which under Government management have proved advantageous and conven- tent to the public, be preserved and l CIiOoC ICdCu1S OA lCS loIACiOII anu ctu ministration, which experience, has shown to be unduly and unwisely hamperihg, be abolished.
 3. Without eliminating State com missions, let their functions be so ad. iusted as to avoid conflict with the Federal Commission in matters of rate-making and security issues.
 4. Let railroading then be thrown open to private initiative and enter prises, and competition in service; make it an attractive field for capital, and, above all, for men of ability and vision.
 Opposes Control.
 If there is one thing less desir- able than outright Government opera tion, it is Government control so min ute, hampering and all-pervasive as to be tantamount to Government operation without corresponding re- sponsibility. Most of the. plans which have been put forward Within recent weeks from individua1 uuarters wo1ld