The Connecticut labor press., 1920-08-14
PEOPLE MUST PAY
 $l,5O0,OOO,OOO
 MORE EACH YEAR
That's How the Cummins- -Esch Bill Increases Costs Through
 Transportation.
MAY MULTIPLY BY EIGHT
This Would Mean an Increased Burden of $500 a Year to
 Each Family.
By CHARLES M. KELLEY.

l By CHARLES M. KELLEY
 When the Cummins-Esch bill was be
 ing considered by Congress, Robert w l IWoolley, member of the Interstate l Commerce Commission, warned the
 nation that/if it were enacted 1t would | result in an increase of freight charges
 of 25 per cent. MT. Woolley was con- l servative. The increase granted by the commission of winch he is a member is 40 per cent The people are called upon to pay to the railroads directly approxi-
 mate1y $1 ,5OO0OO0OO per year in ad- ditional transportation charges.
 In the opinion of competent econom- | ists, tsih increase, heavy as 1t is, should | not, under decent distrbutive condi- l tions, constitute an insupportable bur den upon the consumers of this coun- 1 try. But, if past practices are con- | tinued, 1t will mean a tax of nearly l $7,000000,000 which must be carried by everything that is used by the average citizen. The former director of rail roads, Walter D. Hines, estimates that freight rates multiply eight times before they are finally paid by the consumer. That they are eventually paid by the public no sensible person will attempt to deny.
 If merely the increased rate is added to the public, it will mean that each average family must be prepared to take up new yearly burden of approxi- mately $60. If the ratio suggested by MT. Hines is maintained, it. means that each American family must provide at least $500 with which to pay the heavy charges that the railroads have de- manded and will receive because Con- gress ignored fundamental public in terest.
 The Interstate Commerce Commits sion is not censurab1e for awarding an increase, but 1t Is open to criticism for making 1t so high that 1t Is certain to prove heavy load for the people. Its mandate was to provide rates that would yield an average return of not less than 512 per cent. on the estimated value of railroad properties. This value was placed by the rail executives at $206OO, O,000,000. The commission sub tracted nearly two billions from this estimate, but 1t Is widely held that the sum agreed upon as a fair value is greatly in excess of the real Value of the properties. The consuming public Is compelled to pay interest charges on fictitious capitalization, which now be- comes a constant drain upon the re- sources of the nation.
 Iniquity of Legislation.
 All these matters Mere pointed out to the public when the transportation bill was under discussion. MT. Woolley, Mir. Hines, and other pub1ic-spirited citizens declared that it was a grievouS and perhaps irremediable mistake to turn the roads back to private owner ship when this course implied unneces- sary exploitation of the people: MT. Hines gave 1t as his opinion that very modest increase of revenue would be required to maintain the railroads un- der continued federal operation, and he was sustained by many authorities who had no axes to grind and were solicitous only that the public interest should be served and safeguarded. Unfortunately, however, Wall street bankers had strangle-ho1d on Con- gress, and the transportation bill, with its multiplied iniquities and extortions, was thrust upon the statute books. Now the people are paying the penalty i'll demora1ized transportation service, temptuous indifference of railway ex-
  cive to the peace, prosperity and we'll being of the nation, nor pleasing to its citizenship.
 The rates, high as they are, will serve as test of the boasted efficiency and initiative of private management. Having received even more than they requested, the private managers will now. be compelled to make good, and no excuses will henceforth be accepted for failure to meet the public need. There cannot be cheap transportation but the public will expect and has right to demand that it be adequate.
 There is little likelihood that its ex- pectations will be realized. The rail roads, backed by a safe and sure gov ernment guarantee, with large grants of public funds, with complaisant regu- lation and almost sycophantic obedience from government officials, have para lyzed the country's trade and commerce in the four months of private control. Coincidentally with the increased rates with equal justification declare how much the first group shall do? And if the different bodies of citizens are to dictate a fair days work in this fash ion, is 1t not possible that that small which nae Htries to dictate to the masses, be dfetated to in its turn, with embarrassing results?
 That's the drift of Morrison's argu- ment. Of course the Chamber of Com fierce of the United States, high and 1 mighty in it's pride, would laugh at the suggestion that organized labor may sometime regulate the golhng hours and the vacation period of Messrs. Roster, DeBerard, Pierson and their friends Yet the logic of their open shop policy is to bring final struggle for supremacy, in which the majority stands to win over the organized minority.