Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-11-09
LABOR AND CAPITAL
PROBLEMS OCCUPY
PEOPLES THOUGHTS
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
Leased Wire Service to The Journal.)
- 1

(Leased Wire Service to The Journal.)
Copyright, 1927
WASHINGTON, Nov. S.-Supersed-
ing politics, the manifold problems
of labor and capital constitute today
tho cAntral theme of the nations
thoughts.
Economic upheavals, past and
present, the ups and downs or Nv
ing costs, and all the related ques'
tons derived therefrom, come much
nearer being the national concern
than the outcome of any elections
Now that the congressional cam
paign is a thing of the past, 1t is
inevitable that the currents OF
thought which have run from coast
to coast shall converge. Whatever
else congress may have on it's mind
this winter, it will feel the pressure
of the whole country that the rail-
road and coal problems be tackled in
earnest. Looking ahead to 1924 1t
would not be surprising if major
political issues were developed by
that time out of the railroad and
coal and rail controversies.
Much as the leaders of trade
unionism in America may dislike to
read unpleasant news, they can not
afford to ignore the fact that IN
many parts of the United States
unionism has become intensely un,
popular. Hitherto the dislike OF
trade unionism has been confined to
interested quarters-namely bust
ness and professional men whose ev'
eryday work brought them in con
tact, if not in conflict with unions
Today those hostile to unions-or
a more accurate term would be ma
tional domination by unions-has
risen out of the mass Of people who
have been injured by the recent con
troversies over transportation and
fuel.
Impotence Noted
Tracing. the lines of public
thought, one finds a certain impa-
thence that controversies Of d major
character can not be settled, with
out resort to force. There is little
disposition to argue the merits Of
any controversy. Few persons out
side of labor's ranks whom the
writer encountered were ready to
say "the shopmen were right-we
must suffer for their cause" The
public isn't in the habit of inviting
injury to itself-it resents Interior
ence with normal occupations and
mostly it resents being deprived of
necessities of life.
If the leaders Of trade unionism
could have realized in advance the
psychological effect which the rail
and coal strikes would. have on the
cause of unionism as a whole they
might have hesitated to permit
either of the big strikes to go as
far as they did. Dozens Of disinter-
ested men who tried to weigh i'm
partially the merits of both strikes
told the writer they believed the
leaders of the strikes overplayed
their hands-carried their fight to
the extremes.
And if labor was the victim of
bungling leadership, the same might
be said of the other side. Any one
who travels from one end of the
country to the other on a Swing
around the circle" must journey on
dozens of different railroads and can
not help observing the condition of
the roads, the morale Of the work.
ers and the general feeling of the
public about train service. The sit
uation today resembles closely the
condition just after the war ended.
Trains are late, schedules are cur
tailed, mails are necessarily delayed,
freight is badly congested in GER
tain regions where perishable goods
must be moved and the transporta'
ton middle is so big that the won
der Of it all is how the public bears
the strain.
Symptoms of Revolt
For one thing the people are cal
loused-they had their experiences
with wartime railroading and gave
vent to their feelings in the 1918
election. Today they realize thai
the strikes of last summer have left
deep wounds in the railroad systems
of the country. But thew will not
stand it Neutrality-suspicious. are
symptoms of revolt. Here and there
people are beginning to say perhaps
government control would be better
after all. The farmers are by nc
means appeased on the subject OF
freight rates. Labor is sullen. The
sentiment for government contro
could easily be reused in many parts
of this country and made an issue ir
the next election. 1t all depends or
what the railroads can do toward
giving efficient service in the mex
eighteen months.
Ii IND VldCal impressions cOun
for anything, the morale Of the rail
road Workers-trainmen, conductors
engineers and firemen-never WIS a
lower ebb. The workers are ,bittel
against their employers. They give
the appearance, at any rate, of no
caring when they bring trains int
terminals. Again and again on my
| journey, engines were not ready a
the start of trains. Cars were con
| stantly being put on trains which
should never have been carried
One night in the west a detective ca
was attached to a fast train. I
caused delay of four hours. In
| quiry developed the fact that tn
same car was carried on anothe
train the previous night and SHOULD
have been put in the shops, but
| was not.
Many Won't Return
| Many of the striking shopmel
have found jobs in other industries
Labor is scarce in the automobile
industry and in the mechanical
trades. Many shopmen who know
how to repair engines will never b