Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-07
No Government Control

Investment in publicity utility en-
terprises is not and cannot be controlled
by government Those who possess saw
ings which are capital are free agents
as to the disposition of these savings
and they will invest them only in those
enterprises where a fair return is in
prospect and where the safety of in
vestment is assured.
'It is, therefore, not possible to alb
sorb the immense increases in the cost
of operation by reducing the share that
capital receives from the earnings of
the enterprises and, in consequence,
these increased costs must be borne
either by the users of the service through
an increase of fares, by a reduction in
the cost Of operation, or by the tax
payers, through subsidies, or by all
three. AS practical matter, how
ever, under present government super
vision, it is the public that pays, either
through increased fares or decreased
service, 80 that the question of wages
Is n matter between the wage Garner
and the car rider. 4
Excessive wages are tax upon the
fares, inefficient labor is similarly a
tax, and the adjustment of wages is a
matter which vitally concerns those who
use street railway service.
'"rhe war has ended and the ac-
tivities of the war labor board have
ceased, bat the methods of fixing wages
through arbitration and by the awards
of some tribunal has been so firmly
planted that, unless conditions vastly
change, it is this method that will be
pursued for a number of years to come.
As practical men, we must accept, for
the time being at least, the system which
has thus come into being, and our eff
forts should be directed toward per-
fecting this machinery so that substan-
.tial justice may follow, not only for the
wage worker but for the public, which
pays the wages and the representatives
of which we are.
Labor Must BE Responsible
Collective bargaining is the basis Of
the method of wage adjustment under
which we are now working, and collec
tive bargaining argues monopoly. The
law of supply and demand is abrogated
and the law of competition as u regu-
lator of prices is set aside. Regulated
monopolies are in many instances de-
sirable. The business of local trans
portation, for instance, should, in the
interest of the entire people, be regu-
lated monopoly, but an unregulated
monopoly is abhorent alike to economic
Jaw and to the system of government
under which we in the United States
are living. Arbitration between one
responsible party and one irresponsible
party has never and can never be pro =
ductive of permanent good or for long
serve to settle disputed questions.
If labor is to enter into On agree =
ment as to its wages, then labor must
assume responsibility for the carrying
out of the agreements. If labor is to
be allowed the privileges of collective
bargaining for its services, then the
agencies through which this collective
bargaining is done must be endowed
with some corporate personability which
can be held to account for the main
.tenance of its agreements and the carry.
Ing out of the wards made by the tri-
bunals to which it submits its claims
for adjudication. If the privilege of
collective bargaining be granted to labor
by the public, steps must be taken to
prevent that privilege from being con
verted into bludgeon with which to
coerce the public into compliance with
extortionate demands. Strikes upon
regulated public utilities are not di-
rected against capital to secure fair
share Of the profits of the industry
they are, in fact, directed against the
public. They are, when proper means
Of arbitration are provided, a crime
against the public and should be SO