The Connecticut labor news., 1921-01-28
ANOTHER RAID ON PUBLIC FUNDS BY
 RAILROAD CLIQUE
Rolled by Presidents Veto of Anti Trust Healer, Plan to
 Amend Act.
By CHARLES M. KELLEY

By CHARLES M. KELLEY
 Smoke-screened behind the seeming
 activity of Congress in the considera-
 tion of insincere legislation that the
 public IS led to believe Is intended to
 correct some of the evils of economic
 maladj justment is being waged strug-
 gle between the representatives of
 crooked railroad managers and a small
 but valiant minority that is loyalty de-
 lending the public interest The stake
 ot th1s contest IS several hundred mil
 lion dollars annually of the peoples
 money
 1t IS, perhaps, conservative to say that
 the great mass of the American people
 have not the slightest knowledge of
 what IS transpiring, and that those who
 are convinced that something unusual is
 afoot have not adequate appreciation of
 the ramlhcations or the object of the
 conspiracy. Reporters for the press
 have not grasped the true significance
 of the struggle or they are carefully conceallng the facts from the public
 In either event, 1t is high time that the true story Is told, that suitable action may be taken in defense of the public | interest and Ill support of congressman | and senators who are standing on guard 1 against this new raid of railroad free 1 bOOterS.
 It was predicted that when the tran 1 spOrtat1on act was approved the Fai1- 1 roads would not be content with it's numerous provisions. It was regarded | in well-informed circles as but the first of many demands for legislative permis- sion to prey and immunity from pun ishment for acts that committed by or dinary, citizens would subject them to indictment and severe penalties. The Cunmins-Esch bill makes ample pro- vision for the rewarding of railroad shareholders, but 1t does not in specific terms bestow upon railroad officials large opportunities for personal agran- d1zement. This omission Is now to be corrected, if the plans of the railroad lobby and its servitors in Congress do not miscarry.
 The opening gun of the campaign was fired when there was slipped through Congress, without discussion or protest a resolution suspending Section 10 o1 the Clayton antitrust act This section makes 1t unlawful for railroads to favor supply concerns in which officials have personal interest. It was enacted with the object of breaking up crooked practices that had made moderately paid railroad officials millionaires i'll a. few years. For six years this provision has been held i'll abeyance, and the rail road managers were persuaded that the present Congress- more obliging and complaisant than any of its predeces- sors, would not project any obstacles i'll the we1l-grooved channels of graft And in this assumption they were en- tlrely correct.
 PRESIDENT BLOCKS DEAL.
 But the deal struck snag when the suspend1ng resolution was laid before President Wilson. He promptly vetoed 1t as contrary to public interest, declar- ing that the railroads have had ample time to adjust, their affairs to the pro- visions of the antitrust act and were unreasonable in demanding further ex- tension of immunity from its operations.
 The railroad group in and out of Congress has not recovered from this staggering blow. The veto message was laid on the Senate table, and, at this writing, has not been disturbed. Those 1 who would, if they could, pass the l resolution over the veto dare not bring 1t up for consideration, fearing the ad- verse effect of discussion that must en- sue. For then will be disclosed the practices that have made private rail- l road management discredited and repre- | hensible, with a very strong possibility | of forcing public investigation that | will shake the railroad management to its rotten foundation.
 Hoping to avert these unpleasant l eventualities, the railroad lobby has i taken new tact It induced Senator | Frelinghuysen to introduce bill l amending the Clayton act, hoping that l 1t would get by with the same easy facil- l ity that the vetoed resolution had nego- 1 tiated the legislative channels. Again 1 Il, 1J. 4I, were prepared to discuss the veto are | a1os ready to discuss the latest railroad l bill, and discussion Is just what the rail | road crowd does not want.
 The Freylinghuysen bill IS denounced l by Messrs. Clark and Meyers, of the | Interstate Commerce Commission, as lacking adequate safeguards for the pro- lection of the public. They say that jokers written into 1t by clever railroad l attorneys will, if enacted, defeat the purpose of the anti-truts section. In l other words, under the guise of pro- 1 tecting the public the railroad group Is ] actually bestowing upon the railroads | a legal right to loot and graft. A more l ed i'll Congress. That it Is even being i considered is proof positive of the low | state of 1awmaking morals.
 It IS not surprising that the sponsors l of this masure desire nothing quite | as much as secrecy. If the public could | but appreciate what is contemplated it | is inconceivab1e that Congress would l dare go through with its program. For there can be but one opinion among l honest men as to the desirability of l relieving railroad officials from tempta- l tion Official records reek with reel | tals of dishonesty and mismanagement, 1 costing the people hundreds of millions of dollars There are t11a1lu nenn1e who