The New York herald., 1921-04-16
Returning to American Ways.

i AN@A.A 4AAAkt5 - AAAAASA A~SAAA vsSyo os
BY the order of the United States
Railroad Labor Board abrogatlng, as
Of July next, the national agreements
as to working conditions an ultimate
victory is scored for the public.
We say the victory will be for the
public rather than the carriers, be-
cause sooner or later the hundreds of
millions OF dollars paid out as wages
that are not earned and charged TO
labor that is not performed must
come out of the pocket Of the public,
which foots all the bills.
And we say it will be an ultimate
victory because, although this misuse
Of the public's good money is now ac-
lSnowledged to be scandalous, dam
gerous, criminal wrong, 1t will, under
the order of the Labor Board, go on
until many millions more have been
thrown away.
| In the meantime, while the roads
ought to be getting their expenditures
so well in hand that prohibitiye traffic
rates might come down, the freight
charges must stand. While freight
shipments ought to be stimulated, they
must continue to be discouraged and
suppressed. While production ought
TO be freed of the brakes that have
been clapped on it, 1t must stay dead
locked.
Not SO much for the American rail-
way system, except as an instrument
tality of national economic relief, but
for general industry, business and en-
lpoyment the United States Railroad
Labor Board should have abrogated
Immediately the war administration
agreements when the matter first
came up. 1t should have restored the
arrangements existing before the ca
lamity experiment OF Government
ownership. This would have enabled
the roads to get back on rational
operating basis long ago. 1t would
have enabled them to cut their ex-
penses and pave the way for traffic
rate readjustments before the traffic
itself wns slaughtered.
Then, having properly restored the
roads to position where ii would be
possible for them to economize and
relieve the public Of some of its over
powering freight bill burden, the Ia
Dor Board could have provided for
new working agreements to be reached
by each road and it's organization, as
now decreed subject TO review by
the board within given time.
Under a prompt, businesslike, ef-
fective course like that to meet
national emergency the United States
Railroad Labor Board, instead OF
standing on It's dignity while 1t stood
the country on Its head. might with
one stroke have put it up to the roads
to get action.
But while numbering stage coach
methods were followed I'm n situation
which demanded airplane speed at
least. the United States Railway Labor
Board has arrived, late as it Is, with
it's decision TO serve the country at
future date, late as IL also is.
The cost Of the previous delay has
been colossal. The cost OF the delay
still to be endured Will be distress
ing. But because there will be an
end to it, because the roads now know
exactly when they can begin to dig
their way out, not only the carriers
but industry and business take on
new face at once. And because the
nation can reasonably assume that
when the Government decides that
railway men must give a good return
for the pay they get, public interest
Is going to require thnt other men
must give a good return for the pay
they ret-because, In short, we are
getting back to the American prlnci.
/ pies OF common honesty and a fair
deal and to the American ways OF
squire work, this belated stand Of the
United States Railroad Labor Board
is very important milestone In
postwar American history.