Elbert County tribune and Elbert County banner., 1921-09-02
THE UNFAIR COMPETITION.

else on railroad matter than the
brotherhoods' side of the case. 1t
came to be the general belief IN
many quarters that the men in
transportation were receiving out
rageous treatment 49,
The country is now coming to see
what has been done to the transpor-
tation lines by the agitation OF the
past, and in this Mr.. Kruttschmitt
OF the Southern Pacific has been
largely instrumental in pointing
out.
The government has adopted two
methods of limiting railroad rates;
one, that or requiring that rates be
approved by the Interstate Com
merce Commission, and the other
that of providing cheap transporta-
tion competition on publicly i'm
proved and maintained waterways
and highways. Hedged around py
all these handicaps and limitations
and also required to pay wages fixed
by government board, the rail-
roads believe themselves to be,igu-
ratively speaking, between the devil
and the deep blue sea. a
The people will not ask that the
railroads be subjected to limitations
or regulations that they would deem
unfair If imposed upon themselves
or their business. In practically
every city. for example, municipal
ordinances require that a street
| peddler pay a license in order to
make up for the fact that the trans
acts his business on the public
streets maintained at public expense
whereas the merchant must pay rent
and taxes. The government bears
the expense of improving rivers and
harbors. II bore the expense Of
building the Panama canal Now
it is proposed that the railroads
which must pay interest and divid-
ends on the capital they have enves4
ted.shall be resuired to compete with
none of the cost of improving the
rivers and harbors- The public
pays the expense of improving the
highways and keeping them in pass
able condition, and. as a result,
commercial automobile trucks are
now handling large amount of
short-haul traffic at prices which the
railroads cannot meet.
1t is quite likely that the merch-
ant who believes the peddler should
be required to pay a license for the
privilege of selling his goods on the
public thoroughfares. will see some
reason for the argument that co,uo
mercial trucks and steamships should
pay some special toll for the use af
publically maintained highways and
waterways. 80 t.. -
To say that the railroads :stould
be able to meet tha competition, lis
not an answer Undoubtedly thee
could meet it, II left to their own
resources in the fixing of rates ana
the payment of wages. This they
are not permitted to do. The Inter
state Commerce Commission detef-
mines how much they may charge
for either local or a transcontff-
entail haul. The railroad labS,
board determines how much they
shall pay to their employees, who
take the greater part of railroad m.
come. IS
Still another illustration on tf7e
point. If a portion of the land of
a community were owned by the
government, the fences maintained
the bitches kept cleared, the bufrd-
ings kept in repair and the taxes
paid by the government. and these
lands let out rent-free to a number
of agriculturists. the rest of the far
mers of that community would in
sist that this was unfair compeai
zion. If they were subjected 10
such competition they would I'M
doubtedly be inclined to the view
that the untaxed water and high
way competition of the railroads rs
unfair to them. Casper. Wyoming
Tribune. HE EK
i