Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-08-29
Friday, August 20. 1919.
Railroads Versus People
Railroads and People?

or
Railroads and People?
The railroad administration an
nounces its determination to deal
fairly with all classes Of employees.
Which is as 1t should be. 1t is not
SO certain that fairly" will be
synonymous with satisfactorily"
from the standpoint of the employees. t
however. Judging from the ex-
periences with the demands Of rail-
road men since tLeir first successful
defiance Of the. government in 1916.
any concessions. no matter how fair
or how satisfactory. will be SO only
temporarily. They have been trying
out the government and the people
to see how Tar they could go and get
away with it. We hope they have
found out. that the stand taken by
the President. speaking for himself
and the railroad administration, will
bring them to their senses and that
Mr.. Wilson will tc able in part to
undo the untold harm inflicted on
this country by the passage Of the
vicious Adamson law in 1916. He
personally has no: 30 much at stake
now as then, on the eve Of a presi-
Dental election. and with the ex-
traordinary powers granted to the
railroad administration by Congress.
the President should be able to handle
the railroad problem this time N the
interest. Of the country.
Plans for the protection Of the
paramount interest Of the public in
uninterrupted railroad transporta-
ton have been presented to the In
terstate Commerce committee Of the
House from numerous sources. In
the main these take the form of pro-
posed legislation to make rail strikes
illegal pending the adjustment of
labor conditions. The losses and an
noyance attendant on sudden rail-
road strikes are too great q menace
to national welfare to be longer
ignored. The fatal mistake was In
allowing the railroads once to intimi-
date. President and Congress. but il
must be possible to prevent such a
thing in the future. Certainly, If the
government is powerless over a group
OF Industrial employees it has not
much reason for longer existing as a
government.
The National Association Of Manu-
facturers through its president has
presented statement Of what 1t be-
lieves should he the future of the
railroad muddle. and offers two rlans
for dealing with threats Of strikes
and consequent delays in transporta-
tion. Its railroad creed" is as fol-
lows:
1. That the railroads should be
privately owned and operated, the re-
turn to the owners to be made NO.
later than the period fixed by the
present statute, or sooner If remedial
legislation essential to their success
ful operation Is enacted.
2. That as soon as possible and
throughout the period Of government
administration, Congress should pro-
vide amply for the execution Of a
vigorous program for the ADEQUATE
npkeep and betterment of the railway
properties. both because this Is an
obligation which the Government has
assumed toward the owners and the
public and because experience DEM
onstrates that normal railway buying
exerts powerful influence upon gen.
eral business and employment.
.. That Congress should clearly
oeciare that the promotion and ex-
pansion OF transportation facilities is
an essential public policy Of the
: United States. That such policy
should embrace systematic railway
deveiopment, that of inland water
ways and hard surfaced roads. and
fhe articulation Of these forms Of es.
sential communication. The plan
ana execution Of such q policy should
be the duty OF \ highly oualffled
transportation board created for thaf
purpose. relieving the Interst. te
Commerce Commission Of the ad-
mtutstrattve duties essential to 30
great policy. and recommendinr IA
the Commission the elements Of an
adequate rate structure to sustain IL
&. That the rule Of rate making
should be clearly defined by statute.
including az elements Of an adequate
rate an amount suficient, to insure
the maintenance Of e6icient service,
make fair return upon the existing
investment and assure the obtain
ment and protection Of essential
credit.
s. That the railroads privately
owned and operated, but subject TO
Fedekal regulation and incorporation,
should ~ authorized to consulate
snd cooperate among themselves for
.hs coordination OF lines, facilities,
organisations and terminals ana the
elimiuation Of waste. to the same ex-
tent ana 81 the same manner as such
coopora4ion and consolidation has
been poF5nitted Or required during the
govsrnment operation and adminis-
traxion.
s. That the InteTstats Commerce
Commission ~ relisved o. admins
trative duties that e may more e.
ficiently dischaxge IT. tncreaaingly
tv,nov4a,,f ir,di0fnl fun0tt6na In the