Connecticut western news., 1922-09-07

l ISl'L LdCc anu IuS OpSLdLIOu OI ILS
 railroad and coal properties must be
 undisturbed by either labor leader:
 or stock market operators.
 Regarding the railroad situation
 to secure a fair rate the Interstate
 Commerce Commission has been or.
 ganized, and to secure undisturbed
 transportation the Railroad Labor i Board has been created. The first
 of these-that is, the Inersate Com
 merce Commission-is functioning
 very we'll, and the struggle is now
 over the Railroad Labor Board"
 At this point MT. Babson was told
 of strong feeling on the part of
 both the railroad homogeneous and
 the employees that the Railroad
 Board was not properly made up.
 Concerning this, MT. Babson stated
 Experience has shown that boards
 consisting of three groups Gone group representing capital, one group
 representing labor, and one group
 representing the public) .. do not function we'll. The group represent
 ing capital vote in one body for the corporations; the group representing labor vote in one body for the wage workers; this leaves the decision to the three men who represent the public. The problems involved are too great to permit leaving the deci- sion to three men chosen more or less for political reasons. To have the Railroad Labor Board or any other such board properly function, five, seven or nine men should be selected who represent neither the corpora tions nor the wage workers, but who represent the nation. These men should be paid large salaries, given dignified positions, appointed either for life or for long terms, and treat ed like the Supreme Court of the United States. These. men should gradually build up code based upon their rulings, seeking the advantage of no one group, but rather the well fare of the nation as whole, which in the end would be for the best interests of both the owners and the wage workers. The decisions of this board as applying to transportation, public utilities and similar conflicts, should be absolute and final.
 Railroad owners are now willing to accept compulsory arbitration, but the labor leaders are not. Some claim the labor leaders are afraid of losing their jobs, but do not believe this to be the reason. They appear to be honest in their belief that en- forcing men to work for profit is only a form of slavery. Forcing a man to work in a steel plant which is operated for profit may be a form of slavery. If compulsory arbitration applied to all industry, we certainly would be reverting to slavery. When, however, it is applied only to trans portation, public utilities, coal min ing and one or two other industries, thus leaving the great field open, compulsory arbitration cannot be called slavery. I say this because under such conditions any man who did not wish to work for the rail roads, the public utilities or the, coal operators would be free to go into competitive industry to which com pulsory arbitration would not apply. The labor leaders state they are willing to accept compulsory arbi- tration-as best exemplifed by the Kansas Industrial Court-provided the railroads, public utilities, coal mines, etc., are operated by the Government, not for profit. They illustrate their case by stating that this is the reason they are willing to be drafted for the army, because the army is operated by the Government, and not by individuals for profits, and that this is why being drafted for the army is not a form of slav- cry.
 "This may De all right in theory" continued MT. Babson, "but the public is in no mood at present for further Government operation. The results of the war, in connection with the operation of the railroads, the building and operation of ships and the various other interests in which the Government took hand, show that under present conditions Gov ernment operation is expensive, in- efficient and unsatisfactory.
 The public believes today that better organization, better discipline and lower costs come through private operation. The public further be- lieves that private operation should | continue so long as the present en- ployees of the railroads, public utili- ties, and coal operators are not | compelled to work for the owners of | these properties but are free to | leave them and work for other peo- pie, and so long as there are plenty of other men available and willing to work on the railroads, public utiG- ties and coal mines under a system of compulsory arbitration.
 'In view of these facts, it seems to me that the public will not at present take seriously the claim of