New-York tribune., 1920-09-14
Rail w orkers
Cheer. Harding
AT Front Porch
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tSeatinaoo Tvm page oae)
marching railroad workers. Some of
these read: "Let Harding pilot the
Train Of State; Harding never sleeps
at the switch; "He is a good neighbor,
SO he will be a good President;
Safety always with Harding at the
throttle"
Senator Harding's Speech
Senator Harding in part said:
when the World War came on we
had not only the largest railway de-
velopment in the world, but we Tad the
most effective service at the lowest
known rate of service. We had come
to understand the necessity Of govern
ment restraint on the financing of rail-
roads. We had learned the extreme
necessity of putting an end TO favor
ing rates and conspiracy with big bust
ness. We had found, in short, the 7eed
of the government stepping in and ap-
plying a regulating hand 20 very
necessary public service.
I'VE had made great progress in this
direction, much of it justified and most
of 1t helpful, but we ha0 gone so far in
restriction and regulation that ,i1e gov
ernment's response to much 1f the
railway batting made it difficult for the
railway management to keep pace with
the expanding requirements CT the
country. We were facing just such a
condition when we found ourselves in
volved in the World War.
1.-THE railroads were taken over for
q n ,,ft orl,y
command of government agents.
Undoubtedly there was back Of the
movement the insistert forces in our
country who believe in government
ownership of railways. W.: seemed to
offer the opportunity for the applica-
tion of their theories of governme ent,
and J. sometimes suspect the taking
over of the railways was more sup
ported by the thought of modifying
OF: government policy than the de-
veloping of a better service for the
conduct of the war
This suggestion was later on con-
frmed by the insistence of the Admin
istration that i be given authority to
take over the telephone and telegraph
lines. When Congress voted a grant
of authority to take over the telephone
and telegraph lines it was expressly
stipulated that no such seizure would
be made unless the exigencies of war
urgently required it.
After the authority was given, with
out new exigency having arisen and
without single new condition of peril,
the telephone and telegraph lines were
seized because an Administration was
in power which was disposed to take
advantage of the anxieties of people,
while involved in war, to completely
revolutionize our government policy in
dealing with these public utilities.
Limit Put On Dividends
"If the experiment with the rail-
roads and these communication lines
had been successful, it reasonably may
be assumed that the policy would have
been made permanent, such was the
undoubted intent of the present Ad-
ministration.
The experiment, however. did not
have tie effect OF committing the coun-
try to fhe policy of government owner
ship. We were already enormously in
debt, and the purchase of the railroads
and communication lines involved so
stupendous sum that no sane govern
ment would contemplate the purchase
and financially disastrous government
operation.
"The Administration found itself
without policy. There was very deep
concern everywhere as to whether the
railway lines would be handed back
to their owners in a condition of chaos,
or whether Congress could work out a
plan to return them and perform the
governments proper part in aiding to
restore them to efficient service and
that necessary solvency to continue
their development and effective opera
tion. Congress found itself confronted
with this very serious problem, which
involved the effectiveness Of that
transportation on which all the coun-
try relies and Congress gave very
earnest and solemn thought to the
solution Of the problem. No one can
dispute there was considerable haste,
in view of the extreme Importance of
the task, but legislation had to be
speeded to avoid national disaster.
Cummins- Esch Law Results
"The outcome was the enactment of
what is known as the Cummins- Esch
law. The law is not precisely the