Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1922-03-22
- x = = I X *
!: THE RAILROADS and
THEIR EMPLOYEES
Published by request Of
B. fl. F. g E. No. %
THE FIXING OF WAGES
BY THE GOVERNMENT

and defining the duties of the United
States Railroad Labor Board, and in
order that the position Of many rail
road employees may be made known,
I will say that there was at the time
the Transportation Act of 1920 became
effective great opposition to any such
plan. This opposition was based lar
gely on what appeared to be dis
guised effort to bring about compuls-
Dry arbitration, and to that extent sub
ordinate the liberties Of railroad en-
p!oyes to the fixing of their wages and
working conditions by governmental
order.
1t viii! not be necessary for me here
to refer to the experience of labor in
other countries and in past ages,
whereby judicial processes or a SOW
ereign's mandate the labor Of human
beings has been controlled and ex-
plotted. L can say, however, that it
was with fear that any semblance of
compulsory arbitration would result
in denying to employees of the rail-
roads the liberties evidently guaran-
| teed by amendments to the Constitu-
ton of the United States, that railroad
employees opposed the enactment of
the transportation law.
If the public" is to be considered
in determining all equitable rate Of
wages for railroad employees, why
should not the public be considered in
!
determining an equitable rate of wa
| ges for employees in all industries? 1t
may be said in reply that the railroads
are public utility while the cloth
ing and shoe manufacturing and the
farms are not public utilities" but
to me this appears to be bat an aca-
demic reply, because the public has
I just as much interest in the cost of
the product Of the factories and the
farms as it has in the cost of the pro-
ducts Of the railroads. ...~-.
It appears to me that there is just
as good reason for the manufacturer
Of shoes to consult the wearers of
Shoes as to what wages he shall pay,
and for the farmers to consult the
consumers of farm products as to
what farmers shall charge for those
! products. as for those in charge of
the railroads to consult the public, as
to what they shall pay as wages to
i their employees.
Whenever it is accepted as an &C.
Cnomic law, that the wages of en-
i plOyes in any or all industries are sub
ordinate to the wishes of the public,
then we will have socialism, pure and
simple. 1t is the theory OF socialism
that the public should control all in
dustry, should dictate it's methods and
processes and Gin the interests OF the
public all profits should be elimin-
ated. I am not convinced that social
ism is the proper economic theory up
on which the government should be
the wishes of the public should con
troll, either in the railroad industry or
any other industry, then the only log
ical conclusion is, that the time has
come for socialistic control Of all in
dustry.
i
control of industry largely because
have recognized that the public" OF
the whole people, are hard task-mas
ters. This has been made evident in
the treatment of all public servants.
This is not an original thought with
me. Members of Congress have ex
i pressed similar thought: To. quote
" from a distinguished member of the
House OF Representatives, find the
following comment upon the labor
clause in the present Transportation
Act: ~.-g
"* am opposed to any Law
| that purDorts to fix the wages CT an!
class of employees in any industry. l
is unwisa and un-American and il
, another long step in the direction o
socialism. ''-(Mr Denison
J. p. 1855, Congressional Record, Febru
/. ary 81, 1920 --'- 49, ri. r..
5 So long as we can maintain the SC
| called American policy of individual
81 ism, then each employe has at leas
j chance of serving a kind master
}, and either through this kind dispos
! ton, or through the power of organ
S ization, the employe is able in man
E instances to advance his interest:
Z Once we abandon this theory of iii
z dividualism" and assume that in fl
e ing the wages and working cond
: lions Of employees ins.the railroad il
a dustry, or any other industry, that tn
i public should be consulted, the inevi
l. able consequence will be that the pul
e lie should take charge of the industr
i through a socia!istic form of manag'
; ment.
;, / must confess that if the public
It to dictate the comp ensation and col
Il ditions of employ ment of working Pc
pie. it would be far more adyantag