The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-01-26

| Sary. ,
This arrangement would not only secure
better efficiency for the handling of in /
| dustrial matters, as well as public utility
industrial court and the public utilities
commission of confusing presence OF two
| relationship. 1t would give them organ
| ization sufficient to meet what is bound
| to be a growing demand upon each class
Of regulation.
| The Industrial problems will grow more
| acute as .he present period of deflation
and unrest increases. Only this week an
! industrial case OF a type which VIII pc
| come familiar to us all within the next rev
| months, was filed by 800 employees of n
! local packing company, alleging that I'M
! fair reductions had been attempted by the
| employers; that working conditions had
not been changed that guarantees OF m IN
contract in May, 1920, were not being car
ried out. !
1 am citing this case merely to point out
| that in the period of reimbursement wage
| disputes that-1nay interfere with the con-
tinuous operation of essential Industries
are very likely to occur.
Recently shop men, employed in one of
| the RAILROAD companies, have written
duplicate letters to me and to the court
being made in that industry and not te
! the best interest of the railroad or the
| These cases are typical of a new demand
! that will be made upon the time OF the
Industrial court as the present period OF
IdefIation and unrest goes on. There VIII
Scome a time, doubtless; when there VIII be
l a surplus of labor and it Will be necessary
/ for a just and Impartial attention to pro-
| tect many people from ruthless disregard
| of their rights. The challenge to the court
| of industrial relations in the trying period
| that is coming demands that it have the
! time and the organization to devote Itself
| whole -heartedly to the original purposes
/ of an industrial court. in order that It's
meritorious objects may be better under
stood and intelligently appreciated.
This court is in the experimental state of
| its existence. 1t both needs and deserves
the confidence of the people 1t is per-
fectly obvious that this confidence must
be based upon an unprecedented view of
the Industrial work the court has done in
an honest and painstaking effort to solve
the. growing industrial problems 1t is
of the public utilities work will increase
| rather than decrease. There should be.
following the decline in the cost of the
operation of public utilities, correspond
| ing decrease in the rates which have been
raised to meet the high Ievel of operating
costs. obviously, it will take even more
time for those who administer the public
utilities law to go down hill than it took
them to go up. Many rates have been In
utilities commission should soon be
gagged in studying the possibility of de-
creases.
1t has been-argued that the same board
which settles the question of wages should
also pass upon the subject of rates in pub
it is only necessary to Ioint out the fact
that for thirty years the public utilities.
commission has been functionng in Kan
upon it by the new industrial court law.
Furthermore, the utilities law is in opera
ton in practically all .ae states and in
none of them does the element of wage
making enter.
The industrial court law confers upon
, the industrial court wide range of powers
and duties. 1t is not wage-fiXing body.
The fixing of minimum wages is only one
of the incidental powers conferred upon
| 1t when 1t is acting IN public emergency.
| Its great powers relate to the function it
has OF protecting the, public against the
: outs fnfthe industries of food fuel, cloth
. ing and transportation The public is
not in danger from any shutdown or LOCK-
out in the institutions known as public
! utilities and under the control of the pub
lie utilities law. The Jurisdiction of the
industrial court is so much broader than
J that covered by the public utilities regu-
latory act that it should not be hampered
| and its purpose deleted by confirming its
efforts almost altogether to the study OF
} the demands of utilities for more earnings.
> Out of $50 public utility causes that
{ have come before the industrial court In
the last year, only three of them have
related directly to the subject, both OF
rates and wages. 1t is urged that there
, might be. some causes now and then in
| which the question of rates and wages
| would be SO intermin gled as to make it
/ difficult to determine whether case were
! gency ever arises, the law could provide
f that in such instances the court of indus
mission might sit together in the tfetermir-
> alton of this case where the causes are in
, | termlngled
Nothing which Kansas has done has
marked constructive advance as the
court of industrial relations law. 1t is
being watched with the keenest interest,
not only at home, but in other states. 1t
: would be a disaster to a great cause if
! this law were allowed to drift into disusc
) because its administration could not be
: properly carried on by Il court overbnr-
dened with other matters. 1t is my belief
that two more years of the administration
t of the industrial court under the present
! conditions will focus public attention On
its administration of public utilities that
> its functions as court of Industrial JUS
tice will be placed wholly in the back
ground and it will lack the confidence of
t the people whose faith it needs. 1t will
+ also be obliged to continue the neglect
either OF its industrial work or its public
utility work.
l 1t seems to me that the plan which is
g hereby proposed meets the objection which
might be urged as to the cost of a sep
t arate body, since it will be possible to give
an itemized statement to the wavs and
| means committee showing the absolute cur
"A failing of the administrative cost which
= Will be saved in the proposed consolida-
5 trial court.
: The suggestion that both bodies may sit
: together in considering any case which
: might involve wages and rates fully meets
: the objection raised by the public utilities
that the same court should hear both wage
1 increases and rate increases. The objection
: is further met by the fact that the inter-
d state commerce commission is not a wage
e fixing body; neither does it enter the field
: to adjudieate labor disputes. The federal
r wage board is not rate making body. 1t
J, has to do with wages and working condi-
n tons, only. The existence of these two
: tribunals attests the practicability of sep
arating wdge-fixfng and rate-making.
: The sentiment of the people. made evil
t, dent in the recently bitterly fought cam
v paign, is emphatically in favor of the prin-
n ciple of the Industrial court, and / believe
d it is the duty of this legislature to place
: behind that principle the best possible
It working conditions, SO that it may meet
Y suffer the misrepresentation and the con-
r fusion growing out of activities with which
: it has natural connection.
e Respectfully submitted.
r HENRY J. ALLEN, Governor.