Norwich bulletin., 1920-05-07
FRANCE IS TO HASTEN THE
 REORGANIZATION OF RAILROADS

Paris. May 6-The strike of railway men. which has now etended to the miners and lockers and to the metal workers in the Paris district with the threat of possible general strike. has caused the government to hasten it's promised plan of reorganization of the
 railroads as forecast in the chamber of deputies on Feb. 24 last. It is considered
 that this plan, giving control of the transportation systems to a committee
 representing all interests will furnish the probable basis for settlement of the strike, which is a continuation of the May day demonstration, with nationaliza- tion of the railroads as it's chief object. Unofficial details of the governments project show that it provides for a con- l trolling council composed of delegates representing the technical and adminis- ] trative personnel of the railroads, the
 worlmen. chambers of commerce, parlia- ment and the government Under the
 plan this council would have authority to
 order improvements, and, if necessary. have the work done at the expense of the companies The councils control
 would cover operation of the railroads
 and unification of operating methods, such as timetables and standardization l of rolling stock and signals, and in gen.
 eral its authority would be absolute.
 Theoretically, the companies would re- tain and operate their properties, but | they would merely be managers One of the most striking ideas is that of com 1 pensation, which under the scheme would be based upon the mileage of cars and tons moved by the roads so thattheir in. terests would be markedly in the direc- I tion of fuli efficiency of equipment and l rapid movement of freight.
 Money for financing Improvements is i expected to be found through the gov iernment's guarantee of railway bonds al
 though whether the money should b,
 raised by each company separately or b,
 joint action through the controlling coun cil is said to be not yet determined Thi proposed law is before the companies ant
 it is expected they will have their com ments or answers ready soon.
 Premier Millerand, when the railroad : men announced standardization of tn , roads as their strike program. declares
 that the reorganization measure would b presented to the chamber of deputie when it reconvened on May IT.
 Yves Le Trocquer. minister of publi works, when asked today concerning tn proposed reorganization bill serving as base of compromise with the General Fed eration of Labor, said he had requeste the leaders of the federation of confe | with him previous to presentation of tn " bill in the chamber. The leaders had nc 1 responded, he declared, and he would nc consult them again. ''The federation wi $ have to defend it's ideas through it's Ter t resentatives in narliament which is tn E sole judge or the question" he added II There is a possibility that the measur
 will prove unacceptable to the Geners l. l Federation of Labor, which is directin q the strike of the railway men, miners an
 lockers. After the first heat of labor q standardization demand had passed, tf It General Federation issued a statement Il which, instead of insisting upon immed e ate control of transportation by eitht d the public or working personnel, as son n of the newspapers construed the labC u program, it was said by the federation Tt is not a question of obtaining autt l. matic and spontaneous transformation > the complicated workings of the tran Is portation and mining systems. We wis l. however that formal guarantees be give
 for a compleet transformation of an ec Il homie system that cannot but aggrava
 the existing social unrest"
 As a matter of fact, the railway mt already participated to limited degr $ in controlling operation of the systen
 through having three representatives O i'd of twelve on the operating and technic lg committees appointed last October e, Minister Le Trocquer to supervise priori le orders for the devastated regions.