The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-04-08
BY A

Especial Despatch to The RefOrmer.)
Copyright 1921.
WASHINGTON, April S.-President
Harding has begun to use the influence of
the executive to bring about, if possible, a
reduction on freight rates at the same time
as wages are cut on the railroad systems
of the country. Mr.. Harding is not off
cially" interfering or forcing his advice,
influence or suggestions on either the rail
roads or their employees, but, nevertheless,
he is mediating in a dispute on whose set
Element perhaps depends more the revival
of business in America than any other
single factor. Mr.. Harding refers to his
efforts mOdestly as merely seeking infor-
nation. He is comforting daily with the
labor leaders. Next week he talkS with
the railroad executives. The viewpoint of
the shippers of agricultural products has
been ably presented in cabinet meetings by
Secretary of Agriculture Wallace.
As a consequence, Mr.. Harding believes
a reduction of freight rates is absolutely
essential, but the interstate commerce
commission, whose expert Judgment in
railroad matters is not questioned, insists
that it would be dangerous to reduce
: freight rates unless the railroads can cut
their operating expenses" which means.
of course, wages, because labor is the larg-
est item in railroad operation today.
Wage Problems Ticklish.
To reduce wages would be a relatively
simple task if there We're not interviewer
in the question something else much more
vital to both the railroad executives and
their men than the revision of the wage
scale of this month or this year. 1t is the
ticklish problem of railroad standards and
methods of adjusting future wage scales
President Harding has himself recog-
nized the d~elicacy of the problem by his
method of handling the labor leaders. The
railroads, for instance, insist that. now
that the war is over, each railroad sys.
TEN should deal with its own man. while
the railroad brotherhoOdS wish to nave al
matters of wages adjusted by Il natiOna
board representing the workers on all syS
TENS of the country. The sO-called ma
tiOnai agreement, which covered thi,
method of negotiating on disputed ques
tons, was put into effect by Walker Hine.
in his last days as director general of rail
roads at a time when it was simpler fOl
the federal government To handle all wag,
questions uniformly with the heads of TIN,
brotherhOOdS. Naturally, labor is NOR
powerful if it deals for the men as /;
whole and with the railroad systems as
unit. Conversely, the brOtherhOOdS cannO
exert such q powerful influence over thei
men if the same classes of labor are differ
emily paid in various regions of the coun
try. Their solidarity is affected. Their
Is division in the ranks of labor as vel
as in the ranks of the railroad executives
Labor Leaders Differ.
Some labor leaders. notably those VIII,
are eager to have the American federation
Of labor play its part in handling r~ailroa,
labor policies, insist upon having TIN
national agreement, which was made b.
Mr.. Hines, maintained 50 that everythin;
can be dealt with on a national basis
Other labor leaders are adopting wha.
seems to the railroad executives a muci
more reasonable attitude. namely, the iii
vision of the country into regions. so tina.
regional boards may be appointed as be
tween railroads and workers in every sec
ton. Inside the railroad executive
groups are those who think that is a fai
compromise. Other executives of a NOR,
aggressive type, such as General After
bury of the Pennsylvania railroad. insis
that the issue is clean cut-either tn
Pennsylvania railroad deals with its owl
employees through their spokesman, or i
IS being deprived of inalienable rights. l
bears some relationship, indeed. to tia
open and closed shop controversy. whicl
has been troubling employers other thar
railroad executives. Whether to deal witt
a walking delegate of a union or a SpokeS
man of n shop committee of ones owl
employees is a moot question, which the i'm
duStrial world has not yet succeeded il
solving to the universal satisfaction O
either employers OF employees. That
Why Mr.. Harding's efforts as a mediate
on this very phase of the railroad contro
versy are being watched with tens