The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-02-07
SATURDAY. sEEnnuAnr T. 1920.
rAE Anti STRIKE all.

THE ANTI STRIKE BILL
1t is probably best to'take the anti
strike provision out Of The Cummins
bill for the reason that labor in this
country is not yet educated to- the
point where it can understand that
the elimination CT strikes would help
them more than anybody else.
1t is nonsense to assume that it is
good bushes for labor and capital to
spend billions of dollars in strikes and
in fighting strikes without even try
ing the method of cnfc rcing an adj
justment without great economic loss.
Progress is being made and the day is
not far distant when cases of dis
agreement. over wages and working
conditions will so to an industrial
tribunal for settlement instead CT be.
ling fought out by strike that is al
| most as extravagant as war
& Charles A. PROXY of Vermont form
err chairman of the interstate COM
merco commission, speaking OF the
threat of strike OF railroad workers
In case tho antistrike provision We're
retained, says In an interview a Bos-
ton:
II the passage CT the Cummins rail-
road bill means arailrcad strike, with
or without sympathetic strikes, let 1t
come. If society cannot survive that
contest 1t is not worth preserving"
"You will perfectly understand that
the private property which is invest
ed in our railroads is not con rolled
by its owners but by the govern
ment. The government determines,
or may determine. how q railroad
should be constructed and equipped.
upon what schedule its trains shall
be operated, and above all he
amount which It may charge for its
service All this is for the reason
that the railroad is performing a
service of immediate importance to
! the entire community tina. the pub
Tic must in this manner protecs IL
SET.
what is true of the money invest
ed in these railroads is true Of the
labor which operates them. The gov
eminent cannot say to dollar Of
private capital, you shall invest in q
railroad, nor can; It say to ar@individ
ual. you shall work for a railroad,
but 1t can say and should say both
the man and TO the dollar that when
once embarked in railroad service /
shall so conduct itself as not to in
flict injury upon the public which it
serves. ~
Consider for. a moment what this
situation Is. The railroad of this
country Is so organized that i can at
any given moment step operation by
rail in any section OF this land, or
throughout the country rs whole.
And what does strike of that char
ac.er mean? What would II mean to
you here IN Boston Ii would mean
death from cold and starvation. 1t
would mean riot and bloodshed and
whatever else goes with the letting
loose Of famished humanity
80 long as that is possible. and
so long as the government has no
power to protect Itself against the
possibi ity, there is no government
| If one class in this community can
say to every other class. pay us so
much for our services or you shall
starve, there is no longer democra-
tic form of government.
And such a possibility is no mere
fancy. Within GO days responsible
labor, leaders have declared that a
genera strike should come unless
their demands were complied with.
The President said the coal strike
was unthinkable, but 1t came.
THE Cummins bill deals with this
situation by prohibiting strikes upon
the part of the men and lockouts up
on the part Ct the employee. A tri-
bunal Is provided to which the claims
of both parties may be presented and
he decision of that tribunal is final
The right of the individual to quit.
work is not interfered with but the
conspiracy to quit by concerted ac-
ticn is made unlawful and prohibited.
1T has been said thai railroad Ia
Dor would not permit the passage of
such leg Station that il won prevent
it by general strike. The provision
lis right. That or its equivalent mus
be enacted If we are to live under "a
government of law and not of force.
Fer my own part do not believe that
the railroad labor OF this county
would decline to obey such an &C. al
though it would earnestly oppose it's
passage cannot believe that the
abroad employees of my own lite
state, Vermont probably the best
paid and mos intelligent of any
class of labor in that state, would
willingly defy statute of the United
States even though called upon % do
go by radical labor. But ii am
wrong, II the enactment Of this legis
lation means railroad strike with
or without sympathetic strikes, @
it come. We can meet 1t now better
than we can later on If society can
not survive that con est It is not
worth preserving"
It is estimated that insesta,,cost the
United States each year aesssto a bill
Hon dollars. That reprodusag damage
to all sorts of crops, assMSll as the
trouble and expense incutSed to keep