Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-07-25
RAIL BOARD MAY
MOVE ITS OFFICES
To WASHINGTON
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
Heased Wire Service to The Journal.)
(Conyrirht 1927

WASHINGTON, July 22.-Presi-
dent Harding's decision to send for
Chairman Ben w. Hooper, Of the
United States railway labor board,
may be the forerunner of change
/ in location in the headquarters OF
the hoard itself, which hitherto has
been fixed at Chicago by law.
So close is the relationship be-
tween many activities of the federal
government in the national capital
and the work of the labor board that
entirely apart from the numerous
problems which have arisen to com
plicate the railroad strike situation
the president is convinced that the
interests of everybody would he bet
ter served if the board moved to
Washington. Mr.. Harding is con-
sidering a request that congress
amend the transportation act to
permit the change.
For many weeks Mr.. Harding has
been trying to keep in touch with
the rail situation either by letter or
long distance telephone. But he
lacks information as to intimate
phases of the negotiations between
rail executives and labor leaders
which cannot be gotten except by
personal contact. The atmosphere.
so to speak, is missing-it is hard
TO follow the delicate processes of
industrial negotiations from thou
sand-mile distance. r/
The labor board has made some
inistakes-probably it's members
would be first to admit it. There
are those in the government. who
claim that these mistakes would not
have happened if the board had been
located in Washington and had the
benefit of the counsel and facts
which various departments Of the
government could give.
Seniority Question
In the question of seniority rights.
which arose after the rail strike was
called, the labor board, in the opin-
ion of critics, put itself on record too
rapidly and made it difficult for the
railroads to recede on this point. 1t
is asserted that the railroads have
in the past used the threat of for
fixture OF seniority rights only in an
extreme emergency and have con-
stantly postponed putting It into eff,
feet to give time for a reconciliation.
Mr.. Harding and Mr.. Hooper find
themselves compelled now to ar
range some way out of the present
difficulty on seniority rights. They
might have accomplished this many
days ago if they could have sat down
face to face and talked it out. The
president feels that the labor board
ought to be in closer contact with
the interstat commerce commits
sion. The board, which has been
sitting in Chicago, fixes wages of the
railway employes-the largest item
of expenditure which the railroads
have. The I. G.. G. fixes the income
of the roads. The one bears a close
dent is insisting that the two boards
ought to sit down together occasion
ally and compare notes. Figures
and statistics, it has been said, can
! be made to prove anything. Rail
executives sometimes have one set
OF figures as to cost of operation
and the I. c. G. has another. This
was forcibly illustrated in the big
decision of the I. c. G. on rate reduc.
tons effective July i. The I. G. G.
practically denied the correctness OF
many figures furnished by the road
arrangements.
| Similarly with reSnect to- costs OF