Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-29
THINKS RAILROADS
CONTROL OWN FATE
Willard, B. & O. Head, lauds
ESch.CumminS Act in Talk
on Private Ownership.

BOSTON. October % (by the Asso-
ciated Press Whether private owner
&, ship of railroads will continue to be the
economic policy of this country de
ponds very largely upon the railway
managers themselves said Daniel Will
lard. president of the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad. and chairman of the adj
visory committee of the Association of
Railway Executives, In an address at
the annual dinner of the Associated In
dustr:es of Massachusetts. last night
He characterized the Esch-Cummins
railroad act as upon the whole, one
of the most constructive pieces of legis-
latiOn that has been enacted during my
generate
After analyzinS IL, act and reciting
scIre Of the achievements of the rail-
roads during the war, Mr.. Willard con-
tinued:
1T may fairly he said that Congress.
by this act has made n preferred class
of the railway workers. because SO far
as l know this is the first time that
Congress has ever said that any par
ticular class of people should he given
just and reasonable wages and just and
reasonable working conditions.
says Congress Acted for Nation.
of course. it may be said that Con-
gress did not do this primarily in the
interest of the workers. nor would Con-
gress have been justified in doing so.
Congress acted only as il. had a right
TO act in the interests of the nation as
whole.
II firmly believe that as the law
comes to be better understood by the
railway workers Il whole they VIII
realize that they have been made a pre-
ferred class. III which even | venture
TO predict that We shall be free from
railway strikes in the future; not. how
ever. because the men have been for
hidden to strike. for there is nothing in
the law which limits the right of the
railway workers to strike if they want
to do so. but simply because the law
provides n way by which they can oh
tain without striking everything thas
they could reasonably expect to obtain
even if they did strike.
Railroad Managers Hold Key.
Whether private ownership continues
to be the economic policy of this coun
try depends very largely upon the rail-
way managers themselves. II they are
men of vision and if they realize their
responsibilities Semi-public servants,
as well as trustees of properties of great
value owned alike by large and small
investors, as / believe they do: if they
feel that the policy of private owner
ship of property, which has been the
fundamental economic policy in this
the whole the best policy and should be,
continued, and if, as good citizens. they
are willing, and not only willing but
anxious, to do all they can to make
that policy enduring, as I believe they
are, then / also believe they will sue
coed in their undertaking.
Conditions of the railways. as a
whole, have already much improved
since the termination of federal control, |
and feel confident that within the next /
six or eight months. perhaps much. SOON !
er, the carriers will be able once more |
to handle currently the business that is |
offered, and inspired by the possibili- |
Mes of increased profits-that incentive |
which is wholly lacking in any system |
of governmental control. but which is !
the inspiring motive behind all COM |
mercial and gainful effort-they will not !
only be in a position to promptly accept !
the business you offer. but once more |
they will be, seeking, by superior serv- /
ice, TO obtain your enlarged patronage" |