Evening star., 1920-01-11

And then upon Thursday. came the deluge
1t took the form of the simultaneous announce
ment OF three propositions for industrial reform.
Came Glenn Plumb. he of the so-called Plumb
railroad plan. It will be recalled that. at the
time when his schemes for railroad reorganiza-
tion were more than a dead letter in the mind
of the general public. it averred that the
logical sequence to the adoption Of his pro-
posal would be the placing Of all industry un-
der public ownership. Now Plumb himself
takes that short step-in theory-and urges
just that thing on the basis that the present
Industrial system is crashing about our ears"
His plan would give the public, labor and CAPT.
tai joint equal control Of all industry, dividing
all profits and savings" giving capital just
enough to insure the sale of securities repre-
senting capital investment at par. Judging
from the reception accorded his earlier and
limited proposal, 1t would certainly seem that
Glenn might have appreciated the more or less
obvious fact that Jim and Jane aren't very
strong for industrial puddings in which the
lad in overaIls alone may enjoy the role of
Jack Horner.
And then came Walker D. Hines, director
general of railroads. declaring that, unless the
roads merged by compulsion into a few
great corporations managed jointly by the pub
lie. capital and labor, before they are turned
loose by the government, they will soon be
forced back under government control. Even
Hines must have made obvious to Jim and Jane
the basic difference in this scheme and that of
Mr.. Plumb. It lies in the fact that. while joint
management is advocated, Mr.. Hines does not
contemplate drastic alteration in the ownsxship
Of the roads. His proposal is. on the other
hand; purposed to protect the owners Of con-
stitutionally acquired property, to benefit the
general public and to insure labor voice in
the councils which decide its economic value in
the equation.
Finally came the announcement that the
railway brotherhoods and shopcrafts have de-
termined to try to solve for themselves the
knotty problem Of the high price Of necessaries
through plan for cooperative buying. pro-
duction and distribution" Apparently the plan
outlined is one Of the offspring of the farmer
labor conference in Chicago in November Un-
til further details available 1t is difficult to
pass well balanced judgment upon the probable
success Of the scheme. But there is one un-
deniable cause for qualification in the idea
And that lies in the assurance, not only implied
but directly stated by prominent official of
the railroad employees that those for whom he
speaks are awake to the economic truism that
the difficulty Of making both ends meet in the
matter Of living today cannot be solved Iby
merely Increasing the wages Of labor. with
that truism accepted by one Of the most power
full OF the organised groups Of employees,
whether the wisest steps toward the desired
end lead through cooperative buying and dis
tribution. or Through that larger co-operation
which would Tssplt IN eansrsl iuaustsial sx-
pansion and prospsstty. bspome merely I matter
Of th6ughtful and dsiiherats putatioa.
Y *ss.. q = s;esstE's $500. 4
The steel strike. called on September, %.
which at Its inception involved So, eco men,
was ofhcially called of on Tfursday night
William 2. Foster. Secretary tre1surer Of the
union. and alleged to be 4 dangerously radical
influence therein, has resigned. Jim and Jane
will be interested to. note that 1t was this man
who has been denounced as the vehicle through
which the reds. .boring from Within" were
aiming to wrest contIol from the conservative
A climax in the Department of Justices
vigorous campaign against the reds came just
at the close of last week when. in nation
wide raid upon members Of the communist
party and communist labor party, two soviet
and revolutionary organisations with q member
ship scattered across the country, approximately
$500 arrests were made. Following the major
stroke, the raiding continued on a smaller
scale during the week just ended. No definite
figures are available as to the total success to
date Of Mr.. Palpner's midwinter housecleaning Z
but it is estimated that 5000 aliens, against
whom deportation proceedings will be promptly
instituted were taken and that somewhere in
the neighborhood Of 1000 American citizens are
involved In this shameful connection it may
here be pointed out that drastic sedftion BILL
which was introduced in the House by Repre-
sentative George S. Graham Of Pennsylvania
during the week. and which House leaders are
preparing to bring up for prompt consideration,
provides a death penalty for treason and Inn
prisonment for twenty years for certain types