The Cordova daily times., 1922-01-17
By WILLIAM SPROULE President Southern Pacific Railway
 Comoanv

 Company
 SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 17.-In the railroad business 1921 is notable as the year in which the public entered with authority into the settlement of disputes in railroad service, when the management and the men were unable to reach agreement among themselves on questions of wages and working conditions likely to in terupt the commerce of the coun- try.
 In 1921 the principle prevailed that the right of men to strike for the purpose of stopping the service to the public is blow at the public itself, and the public will not allow | it's business to be stopped or thrown into confusion by quarrels among railroad men.
 So in 1921 the United States Rail- road Labor Board met a crisis in the railroad business of the country by exerting it's authority in favor of the orderly procedure the Transpor- tation act of 1920 provides for set tling such disputes, instead of disor- derly strike methods calculated to disturb the business of the people. The public decided not to take any of the bludgeon blows in fights between men and arrangements, for in a railroad strike the public can not stand out of the way, but re- ceives it's share of the blows regard less of who wins, and in the end nobody wins.
 In this decision the Transports tion act of 1920 created the Railroad Labor Board. On this board the men, the managements and the general public are equally represented. All of it's nine members are named by the President of the United States. On the question of wages the act goes even farther than this equal representation of the three interests concerned, for it gives the public the final voice in the decision by a sim pie rule This rule is that when the board decides a question of wages or working conditions at least one of the public three must join in the majority decision.
 Already the people have noticed that the Labor Board is a hard work ing and patient body. All railroad men concede that these men have to deal with hard problems. and, though thus far their decisions have not given either the men or the man. agements all they contended for. both sides already begin to see the wisdom of Congress in lifting rail- road labor disputes out of the strike zone into the zone of imperial Fed eral authority. That public opinion supports this view is already beyond debate.
 The railroads enter 1922 subject to this new jurisdiction and, with est must always prevail, are bending every effort to have their roadbeds, rolling stock and equipment in con- dition that will justify the public expectation of good service. In return the railroads ask the public to see to it that we are fairly treated; to see to it that we are not discriminated against either on the public highways. on the waterways or in taxation. We ask for square deal We know that under equal con- ditions we can serve the public well. We are sure that temporary diver sions of business and temporary in euualities and unfair taxation are l bound to be corrected, because the ] public perceives that in the long run good and reliable railroad service is a primary necessity. Perceiving this 1t will also see that the railroad ser l vice they expect and want cannot be maintained unless the money de- voted to the public in transportation gets a fair interest rate of return. Only paying business can prosper and grow. Men and women will not put their money into the railroad business unless they believe it will be allowed to earn fair return, and under the Transportation act the railroads are permitted to earn re- turn only upon the value of so much of their property as is used in the transportation business. The value