Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1921-01-16
Honest Graft" Is
Fully Discussed

The Railway Age declares IN an ell
toriai In i,s current ISSUE thni the
spokenmcn 81 the labor b"othcrhoois
have made recent charges q wholesale
mismanagemcnt against the railways
Cor the purpose Of dlvcrling public NJ.
tcntion from many millions ~ dollars
II honest graft which railway cm.
ployees are getting directly from the
railway companies aud indirectly from
the public. and also 20 promote tho
Plumb plan. II says that this "hou
est graft arlscs from the fact that
thousands II employees under the ua.
tlonal agreements made with the raj
way brotherhoods hy the Riiirold "a
miniaratiOn receive pay Or work
which In no, done. or two or thr,.
az four times az much pay ~ tn
number q hours worked viii Justify
'The American public may not knoa
H." the Railway Arc says. but b, b.
deeply concerned in the hearings o.
garding national az cement, bctwcc
railways and their employees which
bcgnn before the Railroad Labor Boar
In Chicago CA January &C., These hear
ings involve many millions ~ dollar
annually that tho railways are paving
directly and the public indirectly o.
railway employees who De- not earn
u. Therefore. the public should net
fail 60 take note ~ tn difference De-
tween the ways IN which th. rrpr"
rentativcs ~ the labor unions and t.
representatives ~ The railways o.
presenting their cuscs Tho diffcrcn,
h significant
The QUESTION n national agreements
II purely a question ~ whether grca:
er efficiency In railway operation car
be obtained. as the railways contend
under agreements made between ind
vidual railways and their own cmplo,
ees. Or under national Agreements
made by the railways as "a whole wiz
the national railroad hrn,hsrhoods
What arguments have the spolscsneT
q the railways brothorhoods advance
IN favor a continuance 81 national
Agreements They have charged that
the railways are controlled by a TrOnT
q New York hanks. trust companie
eta charge ALREADY made thread
bare by frequent repetition Thee NJ
lege that the railroads have sen, y
outside companies for repair a large
number 81 their locomotives and carr
and shave paid excessive prices fni
these repairs. when every wcllin
formed person knows that the rail
roads had 20 scnd large amounts Of
their equipment to outside shops fo'
repair In order 60 gri IL In shape g.
meet the vast traffic demands - las
year. Having made these and suudr'
other chqrges. the sp0kesmsn n tn
railway brotherhoods have added tbs
they viii make no attempt a. suhstsr
tiate them az this time They were
not made % be suhstantiaicd The,
were made 20 divert attention from
the honest graft obtained by the mem
bers q the labor uniuns through IN,
national agreements. and 90 lihel pr
vate Management, Tor the purpose r
promoting the Plumb plan undr
which the members of she labor unions
would he abe 10 collect homes, graf.
from the public without limit
The spokesmen % the brotherhood
threaten that u the labor bard doe
not adop; a course satisfactory o. IN,
employees the service rendered 90 IN
public will inevitably suffer hut IN
pubic will seek In vain In their state
ment for any discussion - the prin
chile OF effect on railroad efficiency
u national agreements versus lncl'
agreements. The spokesmcn - IN
railroads proceeded NJ once. On IN
other hand. With a discussion ~ tn
question 90 national agreements an
a presentation ~ the facts and argu
ments which they believe show TINT
local agreements between indlvldu1l1
railways and their employees are pref
cradle 90 national agreements.
1T IL not an uncommon thing fot
a man who has ius, picked anoth o
mans pocket % begin crying .Stoi
thief 90 divert attention from him
self. When a man gets pay Tor dolrs
work that he doesn't do. o. gets ~
or three or four days pay for doibs
one days work. he Is simply 'grafting
upon somebody. The spokcsmen a.
the broihsrhoois knew that The rep
resentatives ~ the railways we're 20
ing 20 lay bare the facts about thcs
MATTERS and they raised the cry 'Sto1
thiefr 10 divert public attention fror
the matters actually under consldcri
ti0n BY the RailroGd Labor Board