The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1921-01-08
LOOT IN CONTRACTS. .

f..- AS~~% IN sOVGNsA xsSAO4 o.. s.e.s--1.
In the records Of the Interstate Com.
merce Commission is proof that the
railroads pay from 40 to 100 per cent
more for supplies obtained FROM inside
contractors than they cost in open bid.
ding. ~ { *%5@5 - -
Locomotive and car concerns are
closely interlocked with the railroads,
and they are favored in contract
awards to an extent that would shock
popular consciousness were the facts
widely known. :,
An official of the Pennsylvania ad-
mits that his company pays to the
Baldwins for locomotive $4,000
more than the same engine can be con.
structed for in it's own shops That
$4,000 must be added to freight and
passenger charges. In the aggregate
these excess payments mount, up into
the tens Of millions Of dollars. And
congress, without roll call, DEGREES
that the people must pay, through the
nose, if necessary. E.,...
Today large railroad interests are
said to be completing plans for turn
ing ovex valuable plants constructed
at an enormous cost from railroad rev.
enues to private concerns that are DOM
mated by railway managers. and stock
holders. When this is done repair work
will be diverted to them at enormous
profits. Locomotive and car contracts
will also be, turned over to private
contractors at exorbitant figures. The
transportation law does not make any
provision for the scrutiny or regula-
ton Of these contracts, but the Clayton
act does, and that is why congress was
requested to suspend it, which congress
was ready and willing to do.
The anti-strike bill and the graft
promotion measure are directly in con-
:fict with the public interest. They
add to the burdens of the people. They
are not justified in good laws or sound
morals. They represent the inordinate
and unwarrantable exactions Of priv
LEGGED group that seeks extension of it's
opportunities for exploitation.
And yet congress is so little inter-
ested in them that it yawns when they
are being read and lacks the inclina-
ton to obstruct their passage.
Of course, the anti-strike bill is not
yet law, and the chances are that it
never will be. It is expected that the
house will defeat it if it comes to
vote there, which is unlikely. And the
President can and may veto the graft
bag resolution. He has been urged to
do so.
But the vetoing of these measures
will not eliminate peril that faces
the nation. There may some time be
a President who will be as little inter-
ested in the people as congress, who
will be diligently following his own
inclinations when the national interest
is being invaded. How easy it then
will be for those who know what they
want to- get what they are seekings
When two fundamental propositions can
get by without stirring the least ripple
Of interest in the halls Of congress,
what may not be attempted, what may:
not be accomplished
There is disquieting> significance in
these recent legislative: forays that
should hold and challenge the attention
Of the American people. If they, too,
tolerate law-making by passive resig-
nation or sharp practice, we may con-
clude that the nation is sleeping and
that it makes little difference to any
body what happens.