The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-12-22
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER %, 1920
AN OLD FABLE

It is an old, old fable, but one
which carries a moral with punch
that tells of the man who killed the
goose which laid the golden egg.
Old Man Aesop, when his lively
Imagination gave birth 10 the story
Of the misguided chap who decapi-
tated his source Of revenue in order
that he might see from whence
came the eggs Of solid bullion, evi-
denced a keen insight into human
nature and told the story of the
avaraciousness of the average man.
of the average corporation which, not
satisfied with q good and steady in
come. seeks to pursue get-rich-tactics
and wakes up in time to don mourn
ing for the dear departed goose and
the gone and lost eggs.
It was avaraciousness beyond the
sendurance limit and brought about
the buyers strike" 1t was the avar-'
aciousness Of the skilled laborer which
brought about his undoing. 1t was
the everlasting and eternal cry for
more pay and shorter hours which
led to the laying off of hundreds OF
thousands of those who were earn
ing good money, until the army OF
the unemployed has now reached dan
gerous proportions.
And, even as found in other lines
of business. we now find that the
grab-all policies of the railways OF
the United States are bringing on
shippers strike" which is neces-
stating the cutting down of payrolls
and the annulling Of trains.
Railway officials tell us that with
in the past few weeks the shipping
has fallen, not to normal proportions,
but down to a figure which may be
classed "subnormal."
But the managers of railways, the
heads of the traffic departments, the
boards of directors, the high-salaried
presidents and active vice presidents
do not tell us that the grasping
greed Of the transportation lines has
done more than its bit in bringing
about this "subnormal condition.
They do not tell us that the rail-
way companies, not satisfied with the
enormous rate advances allowed by
the interstate corporation commission,
eoncurred in by the public utilities
commissions Of many individual states,
sought to increase the already al
most prohibitive rates through seek
ing reclassifications and reschedulings
until the shipper, the goose which
has been depositing the nuggets OF
gold in the railway companies, mark
ct baskets at last died of overexer-
ton, worked to death by the greed
OF those whom he served.
Taken in both the abstract. and the
concrete, Mr. General Public is a
good fellow. He is the Mr. Jones who
pays the freight and grumbles not
as long as he has anything with
which to pay. But, when the dollars
and dimes cease TO jingle in his
left hand trousers pocket he is like
every other chap who is overloaded
he reaches the limit OF his endurance
and goes out on a strike.
The railways. through their man
ayers and operating heads may cry
all they care to about subnormal
shipping conditions. The officers OF
the companies may try to explain
this and that and the other as the
reason. but the fact remains, undis-
puted and undisputable, that. no,
satisfied with well enough. they have
loaded the shipper down beyond the
limit. and now they must carry the
reconstruction burden themselves.
Arrogant from too much pamperng
and petting by federal courts and
commissions, railway managers and
other public service corporations, have
played little beyond the limit. They
have reached the point where the
state legislatures will again be called
upon TO step in and take an active
hand In the game. They have played
fast and loose with their friend until
II has become an essential necessity
for some OF the much talked OF
"sandbagging" laws OF other days to
be reintroduced in the different state
legislatures and again become enact
ed into the statue books OF those
states.
Greed. grasplng, unreasonihg greed
brought about the buyers strike. and
greed. unyielding. INSCRIPTIONS greed
has brought about the shippers strike.
-