The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-11-01
MARKHAM'S REMEDY
IS PRIVATE CONTROL
TANGLE is DUE TO DENYING
ROADS VOICE IN EXPENDI-
TURE, SAYS EXECUTIVE.
HUGE SUM is PAID TO LABOR
President of Illinois Central, Which
Controls Central of Georgia, Talks
Of Present Trouble. Says There Is
No Cause for 1t.

SAVANNAH, Cain the event OF
the threatened railroad strike the roads
are prepared to "do our utmost to
move necessities, utilizing to the tull-
est extent all the man-power available, "
according to Charles II. Markham,
president of the Illinois Central rail-
road and chairman of the board Of di-
rectors of the Central of Georgia,
Mr.. Markham said the present trans
portation tangle was due to the fact
that 90 public bodies have a hand in
fixing the rules, income and expenses
OF the roads and that the railroads
have no voice i'll the expenditure OF
more than 81 per cent OF their operat-
ing costs.
"The remedy" he said, rs to place
once more in the hands OF the railway
homogeneous competent and
.broadminded supervision-the control
of operating costs, i'll such way that
responsibility may properly be fixed
upon the arrangements Tor the opera
ton of their properties"
The railroads, he said, have taken
their share of losses in the present
period OF readjustment, despite the
fact that they were not permitted to
profit as other industries had during
the period of high prices.
The Way to Reduce Rates,
with a consciousness OF their obi
cation to the public service" he said,
the arrangements of the railroads OF
the country have recently announced
that they will ask the railroad labor
board for further reduction in wages,
the entire benefit of which they pro-
pose to pass along to the public in re-
duced freight rates. This puts the
situation up to the public, which eX-
ercises the balance of control on the
railroad labor board. If the public
wants reduced rates its representatives
on the labor board have the opportuni-
'ty to obtain them by granting such
wage reductions as will make reduced
rates possible.
The cuts in wages which the man
agements propose that the railroad la
Dor board shall authorize are these;
That the wages of train service en-
ployes be reduced sufficiently to re-
move the remainder of the increase
granted by the labor boards decision
OF July 20, 1920, and reduction OF the
wages of all other classes of labor to
correspond with the wages being paid
for similar work in the territories in
which the railroads operate.
Unskilled Labor Costs Roads
3OO,OOO,OOO.
Unskilled labor cost the railroads
last year more than 81, 300,000,000. 9th
er industries have been liquidating la
Dor costs, especially the wages OF un-
skilled labor 1t is utterly unfair that
the farmer, for instance, should have
to pay freight rates sufficient to make
it possible for the railroads to employ
labor at three or four times the price
which the farmer is paying Tor exactly
the same kind of labor.
1T is most important that the public
understand clearly the issue involved
in the order for a railway strike. The
thing it is proposed to strike against
is the decision OF the railroad labor
board authorizing a reduction of APP
proXimately II per cent in wages, put
into effect July /. There is at present
no possible grounds for strike.