The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-06-02
PoINDExTER,s Bull.

Hearings are in progress before the
senate Committee on interstate com
merce on the Poindexter anti-strike
bill, the purpose OF which sis to pro-
tect the public from hardship and
suffering by maintaining the Transport
tation system" Senator Poindexter,
author OF the bill. declares that
where disputes between the railroads
and their workers threaten any sys-
tenn, law and not force should rule"
Large organizations OF capital are
an evolution of our industrial system,
as also are organizations of labor.
Both are helpful and proper in their
respective spheres. But one result of
combinations OF capital on one hand
and of labor on the other has been the
calling of strikes as a means of fore
ing concessions which could not be
otherwise obtained. In the settlement
of disputes in this manner, the rights
and welfare of the great masses of
the people of the country have been
entirely ignored. In fact, the suffer
ing which strike brings upon the
general public is one of the factors
which makes the strike effective.
Anti-strike laws are not an attack
upon either organized capital or or
ganized labor-they are a defense of
the American people against the at
tacks of a few who cannot agree to
settle their differences peaceably.
There was a time in the History of
the human race when practically all
ct TAfr Il aIe
were settled by resort to force. In
those days might made right. But the
time came when men realized that
might did not make right, and, more
over, that frequently the resort to
force brought loss and suffering to
innocent persons. Adjudication by
duly authorized tribunals gradually
Ting disputes concerning relative
rights of individuals.
There was a time in American his
tory when a controversy between a
railroad company and shippers con-
corning the reasonableness of freight
rate could not be settled by adjudica-
ton. In the evolution of our trans
portation system there came a time
when the protection of the public re-
quired the creation of an interstate
commerce commission for the special
purpose of protecting the public from
extortionate rates. Likewise the time
has come in the evolution of our in
dustrial system when that same pub
lie must be protected from both the
railroad companies and the railroad
employees when controversies threaten
to result in the discontinuance of vi
tally impc rtant railroad transporta-
ton. The railroad operators must not
be permitted to stop operation of
trains by discharging all their en-
ployes, nor must the employees be per-
mitted to interrupt the service by quit
ting. Nevertheless, justice requires
that neither the employer nor the en-
ploye must be required to continue
service without adequate >compensa-
ton.
There must be an evolution of law as
we'll as an evolution of industry. The
public must insist upon the practical
enforcement of the old maxim that
the law will not suffer a wrong with
out a remedy. A railroad strike in the
twentieth century is a wrong upon the
public. The remedy must be provided
"a remedy that will protect the rights
of employees at the same time that it
requires OF them fulfillment of their
obligations to the public.