Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1920-01-03

troll OF the railroads and to ultimate
ly purchase them from their present
, owners.
! Tho general opinion seemed to
have been that private individuals
were making independent fortunes
out OF these railroads at the expense
q: nc public and of the people en-
ploycd to operate them. The expert
encc Of the Government during these
i"w years Of government operation
however did not justify this conclus.
sion. The railroad men succeeded In
! having the Covcrnn' Il. increase wig.
cs beyond the point where the Gov
, eli nment could operate the railroads
at profit even with the increase in
freight and passenger rates at the
expense of the public.
Tho evident purpose was to SO en-
cumbcr the railroads with expense
that tho private owners would not
wish for their return under existing
conditions and. would be willing for
fair compensation to relinguish
their ownership Of this proper ty. 1t
was definitely aScertained that the
railroads were costing the United
States Government one million dol
lars per day more than the railroads
were earning and then in the face
of this condition, the shopmen were
clamoring for more money.
From where could this money come
except out Of the taxation of the PEG
pie or from an additional increase in
railroad rates. which were already
too high, based upon past allowances
to the railroads under private owner
ship? Then came the an;i--strike pro
vision inserted in the Cummins Rail
read Bill as passed by the United
States Senate. 1t was well-known
fact that under the present railroad
rates, private owners could not main
tain the high rate of wages establish
e. by the Government, together with
the eight hour system forced upon
these same railroad corporations. The
result would necessarily be strike,
unparalleled in the history Of this
country, should the railroad manag-
crs proceed to adjust wages accord
ing to the income of the railroads.
The railroad organizations PREFER
ed to have tie roads owned and cper
ated by the Government that could
stand the loss. They have demanded
and are still demanding that the
Government retain possession Of
these railroads. They went so far as
to declare that the Government had
not had fair trial and they are now
insisting upon two years more of
operation at the hands OF an operator
who has already about bankrupted
the railroads. IF the Government Is
losing or has been losing one mil
lion dollars per day, what will be the
ultimate loss upon the same basis for
two years Or seven hundred and thir
ty one days?
The loss would I've seven hundred
and thirty-one million dollars more or
less and who will pay the bill? Ger
tainly not the railroad employees or
the labour unions. But this is the
hey-day of the demagogue and the
"flannel-mouthf orator, who will
shut their eyes to facts and care less
for the ultimate condition of the coun
try. The anti-strikc clause is drastic
and it is probable that it is unconsti-
tutional hut constitutional questions
are held in allegiance these days and
constitutional provisions are nullifi-
cd.
The outlook is gloomy, but there
| is satisfaction in knowing that right
principles will ultimately come up
pcrmost after wrong theories have had
their innings.