The New York herald., 1921-10-20
THURSDAY. OCTOBER 20. nsL
Good Sense From the Farmers.

Good Sense From the Farmers.
what the American Farm Bureau
Federation urges In the way OF
freight reductions covering agricai
turaI products and other necesssries
OF life naturally is not disiniereatea.
Nevertheless. Il is a sound proposi-
tion for the whole country that
trafic charges should be reduced on
basic commodities which both ara
the backbone OF industry and busi-
ness and figure most prominently in
general living costs.
A per cent. reduction on all
fieights might give only n very
slight impetus to the general move
ment OF freight and bring negligible
relief to the public. But this same s
per cent. on the total. II concentrated
on certain traffic clsssifcations like
food. coal and ores. might foot up
20 per cent. reduction for those ar
ticles and be powerful force in driv-
ing such industries to higher speed.
This would help all along the line.
The unscientific horizontal rate In
creases which were made on every
thing when some shipments couli
not stand the charges they already
were carrying and when others
could have stood much more than
they got were the worst thing that
ever happened to the railroads. ex-
cept the unscientific, crude and stu
pid Adamson act, together with the
later unscientific ans unjust wage
increases
The railroads themselves, since
they were returned to their owners.
have been correcting. when and as
they were able, the unsound rate In
creases, getting them reduced where
they were killing business. But IL
the railroads have found no difficulty
In gaining permission from the In
terstate Commerce Commission to
put down freight tariffs on fruits and
vegetables, for example. they have
been helpless to obtain higher rates
ON other commodities that could Just
as we'll pay them as not. This JUS
tifies the contention Of the farmers
as to rate reductions.
Again, there is force in the argu-
ment Of the American Farm Bureau
Federation that instead of broad
side at railroad payrolls there should
be a scientific revision of wages in
accordance with the dissimilar cli-
matte and economic conditions. and
the different costs of living in the
various and varied parts of the coun-
try.
The Adamson act was economic
lunacy in giving one man heavy over
time for doing no work at all during
ten hours while another man who
worked himself TO q standstill for
eight hours got less than the other.
The standardizing Of given jobs any
where and everywhere was infinitely
worse, even crimirai against the
wage earners themselves. The wage
Garner on a given job IN New York
cannot get along with the pay or
working conditions OF the wage
Garner on the same job in Florida,
Oklahoma or Iowa, where rents are
go much lower, food so much cheaper
and all living on 80 different basis.
For the sake Of the railroad wage
earners who must work hard where
railroad traffic Is dense and swift as
against those who scarcely have to
work a. all because, with little traffic
IN the community there is little work
for them to do, the Adamson act
ought 10 be amended into rational
and Just form, and probably there
never will be a better time thon
right now to do this.
For the sake OF the railroad work
ers who must pay high rent bills.
food bills, heating bills and cloth
ing bills in one part of the country
. az against the worker in another
part Of the country whose costs are
only half as much on some of those
items and nothing at all for heat.
railroad pay should be readjusted all
over the country on the basis Of
what IL will do for man in the Sec
tion where he gets 1t and spends It.
The railroad traffic charges and the
railroad payrolls can never be made
satisfactory to the roads, the work
ers and the public until there Is q
clearing away OF the frightf1l mess
made Of both wage scales and freight
rates by the Adamson act, the Gov
ernment railroad management dur
ing the war and the Interstate Com.
merce Commission since the war.