Manchester Democrat., 1920-09-29

action of the National Farm Burea,
Federation which still maintains tha
inaccuracies occur. The burden of this
railroad increase which represents 8
| total of fifty per cent since the First
OF January 1918 is borne in the Middle
West.
It is the intention of the bill at the
end Of two years that the railroads
will be equipped to handle the traffic
and that the two billion dollars which
have been loaned to them will be re-
turned with interest and furthermore
that a satisfactory railroad service
will have been developed which is 50
vital to the welfare of our nation.
Considering the Plumb bill in a brief
way, the provisions Of this bill were
prepared by Glenn Plumb the chief
lawyer for the Labor Unions in the
United States. Under this the govern
men would purchase the railroads
after which they would be operated
jointly by commissions, representa-
tives Of the government, the railroad
employees, railroad managers and the
public and in case any railroad fails
to pay returns which will insure their
upkeep and the wages OF employees the
deficiencies incurred will be paid. out
Of the United States Treasury. Fur
thermore there Is no reference made
to arbitration or the consideration Of
difficulties of labor.
We have called attention to the es-
sentlals Of the bills, referring to the
essential points in the management
and control and operation Of railroads
under the two plans. In view Of the
fact that these two plans are now to
be considered again at this coming
session OF Congress we wish to bring
out some points of comparison which
will affect the farmers interests to a
marked degree.
During the last two years Of govern
ment operation In 1913 there was q
deficit Of over one billion dollars or
approximately one million dollars a
day and it is conceded that the rail-
roads Of this country did larger
business than for 9 good many years
past. Furthermore that the service be-
came SO unsatisfactory that during
the year 1919 1t was practically i'm
possible to maintain traffic with any
degree Of certainty. The indolency OF
both railroads and employees cost the
farmers millions Of dollars in not only
loss Of production but loss Of timely
markets.
That the Cummins bill is probably
the best piece of legislation that could
be offered at the present time is
safe conclusion when we remember
that Senator Cumminss has probably
given more thoughtful study to the
railroad question than any other man
in the United States. With the many
issues which were necessarily inyoly-
ed in the railroad legislation following
the close Of the World War 1t was not
likely that some unsatisfactory feat
ures are to be encountered, however
time and experiance will indicate these
deficiencies and they may be righted
to the satisfaction of everyone. II we
are to have services in this country
and employees who are willing to
work we must have both assurances
that capital invested in such enter
prises will give legitimate returns and
that the laborer is worthy Of his hire.
The farmer is willing to grant an in
crease providing however, the services
which is so vital to the country and
his interests is satisfactorily rendered.
It is often experienced that delay of
q few hours may mean the loss OF
several hundred dollars to livestock
shipment and a small increase IN
freight rates is more than offset by
the item Of service. The return OF the
railroads to private ownership ended
the possibility of meddlesome officers
which interfered with the movement OF
crops and products from the farms as
farmers will recall the hardships
which were incurred on Iowa farmers