The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-04-19
DEPRESSION CAUSED.
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DEPRESSION CAUSED.
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chosen vehicle for this labor drive. Lay
| offs of repair men on railroads in recent
months, he charged, were made deliber-
ately, while much of the repair work was
let to outside companies, who charged the
roads about twice what the same repairs
would have cost in their own shops. One
purpose, he said, was to get this portion
of railroad labor out of government jul
risdiction by forcing it to work for the
outside concerns. These concerns. he
sand, were largely under this same tinan-
cial control as the roads.
| The dozen New York financial institu-
tons as named were:
Mutual Life Insurance company OF
| New York.
| First National bank.
Equitable Trust company.
| j. =. Morgan and company.
| Guaranty Trust company
Equitable Life Insurance Society OF
the United States.
| American Surety company.
National Surety company.
Mechanics x Metals National bank.
National City bank
New York Trust company.
| Chase National bank.
! Mr. Lauck charged that these banks
had directors in 90, class one. railroads
that their directOrShips reached 24 coal
railroads and coal companies. and that
through nOn-banking directors, this al
legged capital combine was still further
linterlocked. In presenting the report
Mr.. Lauck gave this summary of its con
tents:
Combine Controls Nation.
The evidence shows there is a CAPT
tai combine consisting of the major
banks, the railroads and the industries
controlling basic materials and that this
combine has and exercises a power over
the economic destiny of the United
States.
1T shows that within the identical
capitalist group lies the power to adjust
OF misadjust relative prices in a manner
that will stimulate or suppress industrial
activity.
1t points out that this focal capital
iistic group has deliberately maintained
high prices of steel, coal, cement and
other basic materials and that the rail
roads, financed by the same interests
have refused TO place the orders for plant
maintenance. or even the orders neces
sary TO prevent plant and equipment de
teriOratiOu.
The exhibit shows that the greater
factors in American industry, the rail
way equipment. producers, the railway
repair works. the steel interests, the Goa
,erS-all are closely bound together by in
ter-capital relations and interlocking di
rectorates, coming to Il focus in the
House of Morgan
Position of Employees.
r-- 1.-The railway employees make no issu,
as to the prOpriety of a centralized syS
TEN of economic control. The point oil
the exhibit is its challenge of the uncOn
scionable misuse which the great com
bine has made of its power. The en-
plOyeS call attention to the national re
sponsibility which the possession of sucl
power entails and note that this repson
sibility in the case of the railway indus
try has been recognized and written int,
the federal laws of the United States. anC
the employees specifically point out tha
this responsibility is being unscrupu
lousy evaded
The railroads are pleading poverty
The banks are making unprecedented
, profits and declaring unprecedented div
idends and the same applies to steel, coal
railway equipment and similarly stu
, ated concerns. The capital combine. il
preparing TO precipitate unemployment
t adopted the policy that the railroads
should do it first Railway improve
= ment programs were deferred railwa,
maintenance was reduced below mini
| mum legal requirement.
The report brings into clear relic
lLt IdtL tldl- lnNATt IL no IOuDUdtlOn 10
: opinion, which the employers publicit!
machinery would pOpularize, that tn
= railways and the other great industrie
are the victims of some misfortune of TIN
times.
Capitals on Strike.
The industrial paralysis which ha
staggered America is capital on Strill
against society And capital. nationall,
, and internationally organized and con
centrated. takes the stand that the cap
ltaI strike shall go on until labor come
to its knees and consents to sweeping
reductions of wages, and also consent
; II surrender its right to bargain cOllec
, lively on a scale cO-extenSive with tin
, examination of the employers.
Taking up first the lay-off charges. tn
report presented by Mr.. Lauck said tina
railroad shop lay-offs, incomplete. in tn,
past nine months were more than 103,
600.
BY far the most Illuminating fact. :
said the report, in any attempt to est
mate that lies back of these railroad
lay-offS, Is the fact that practically al
of the larger systems have been con
tracing with outside concerns for repair
of hundreds of locomotives and thous
ands of freight cars which would nor
mally be repaired in their own shops anc
yards
Shocking, If True.
= Figures were presented which, Mr.
Lauck said, showed that the total excess
cost of equipment repairs made under
contract by outside concerns has beer
| sufficient to have paid all the shop EN-
ployes laid off throughout the country
for full-time work. 1t was charged that
the average price charged by the Bald
. win Locomotive works was approximate
ly four times the cost of similar WORK
done in railroad shops. This was for a
specific list of repair jobs done appar
eEtly in 1920 The report here, how.
ever, estimated that if all the locomotive
repair work in the country were done by
outside concerns the cost of the railroads
would be about doubled. 1t gave the
present national locomotive repair bill as
a little more than $500. 100000 1t
charged that many large rRuair CONFORMS