The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-07-24

"oSAAlSIOuS u. VI ACCAVAIy
being shown by railroad workers in
closing up their organized ranks Ia
symptomatic of the approaching cri-
sis in the transportation world. The
private railroad corporations are
bankrupt. That is no longer a secret
at Washington. To pull them out of
the bog means either that they must
be subsidized out Of the public treas.
ury, or that the employees and travel
ing public must be fearfully exploited
during the next generation.
The railroad workers are deter
mined to resist exploitation. They
will not tolerate a reduction in wages
at least while the cost of living re-
mains at it's present inflated level
and there is no reasonable prospect
that the price of necessities will come
down soon. There is the deepest sig
n%iflcance in the coming amalgamation
Of the brotherhoods with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor. All intelli-
gent lei and women among the work.
ers a see the storm coming and are
AAonAAA6 ACoOy ~ 1lCOJ IL. A COA60IV "
alive United States senator, whose
name has long been associated with
railroad legislation, sums up the out.
look when he declares, in private con
versation:
1.-THE railroads are overloaded with
water and waste. They must raise
their traffic rates with ever-increasing
frequency In order to pay their honest
bills and their dishonest dividends.
And when they increase their rates
they boost the cost Of living on the
hand and diminish their volume
of trade on the other. Within a few
months their finances are just where
they we're before, while the public has
been driven farther along the road of
discomfort by the increased cost of
living. am Respondent about the
outlook; and ever If we manage to
save the railroads, all the other basic
industries r. almost as bad of. The
coming year may find America in the
same economic and industrial plight
that already prevails in Europe" -.
Perhaps this senator is unduly pes.
simistic; but it is hard. to think 50
here in Washington, where the pri-
vate conversation Of men is so differ,
ent from the general air Of public
confidence in our postwar condition
and outlook. ., ~.
Workers Have Plan.
The railroad brotherhoods are not
among the pessimists. They are too
busy to be gloomy. They have a gen.
timely constructive plan for solving
the transportation problem-the only
constructive plan that has appeared.
It need not be described again at
length. The idea is that the govern
ment shall first squeeze the water out
Of railroad valuation, purchase the
lines by a bond issue, and then enter
into contract with the organized
workers to operate the roads. Glenn
e. Plumb has worked out the legal
details Of the scheme and is busy
pushing it from his headquarters in
Washington. e.
Members Of congress who are still
too timid to commit themselves on the
question confess that the Plumb plan
is the sanest that has been present
ed. 1t represents an effort by the
workers to apply common sense to q
situation which has been character.
lied for half.a century by public neg
lect and private cupidity. It aims
- ~oI1 - h,,vJ~~ @ff tho rnnp1oSo ho0x
and establish the railroads perma.
nently on a basis of service. Every
alternative plan entails either a direct
Increase in the cost of lfving-whtch
the organized workers declare they
will not tolerate-or q direct cut in
wages which they will resent even
quicker. It is typical Of the so-called
public" that it remains inert and
voiceless even now when a crisis is
upon the country.
This week witnessed a conference
in Washington of the spokesman of
some Is smaller organizations Of rail
road workers, whose ambitious aim is
to effect an amalgamation Of all rail-
road employees within a single organ.
ization. This phase Of the effort orig.
mated in May when the Order of Rail-
way Station Agents met here and au.
thorized their president, Earl H. Nor
ton, to confer with the other bodies.
The present meeting at the Continen-
tai hotel was meant to be entirely pri-
vate, and Mr.. Morton expressed to
your correspondent his regret that
publicity had been given to the move.
ment before any definite progress
could be reported. President Morton
is one of those who see that the whole
railroad issue will either be adjusted
along the lines indicated by organized
labor or permitted to drift into q fatal
muddle.
Packers. Bill Up.
Senator Kenyon and Represents.
tive Anderson have introduced twin
measures for the control OF the pack
Ing industry for which support II 20
licited from workers in that industry
particularly, and from the CONSUMING
public generally. The bills began by
requiring every dealer IN livestock
and butchered meats, and every