Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1922-04-06
THE PLUMB LINE
OF REASON.
Editorial from Chicago Ull) Jour-
nal of Commerce, April 1, 1929


nal of Commerce, April 1, 1929
Glenn E. Plumb, who styles him.
self general counsel of the Organic
ed Railway Employees of America,
made a speech in St. Louis recently.
Among other things, he charged the
railroads with being bankrupted and
in such condition of disrepair as to
be unsafe to ride upon. The rail-
roads are not bankrupted, but Mr..
Plumb is trying as hard as he can to
bring about that condition.
While Mr.. Plumb has been fertu-
nate in inducing most of the railway
employee organizations to furnish
him with financial backing with
which to wage war against the
railway companies, he has been ex-
tremely unfortunate in having the
props knocked out from under
charges which he has made against
private operation of the railroads.
He seems to have been very unlucky
in the particular railway topics which
he has selected to discuss before the
public. For example, the statement
which he made at St. Louis to the
effect that the railroads are IN such
a condition of disrepair as to be UNI
safe to ride upon is about as wide of
the mark as any statement could
be.
In another part of this issue of the
Chicago Journal of Commerce there
appears a statement by the Illinois
Central Railroad System over the
signature of President Charles H.
Markham wherein the official figures
of the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion are given. They show that
there were fewer fatalities on the
railroads in 1920 than there have
been in any year in the last twenty
two years, and that during 1920 the
railroads carried the heaviest traf-
fic in their history. 1t is explained
that the figures on the number OF
fatalities in the United States for
1921 are not yet available, but that
on the Illinois Central System in
1921 there was the smallest number
of fatalities that have occurred in
any year in twenty-four years.
"We believe the public will agree
withaus that the handling of heav-
Ter business with smaller number
of fatalities is barometer of rail-
way efficiency" declares Mr.. Mark
ham.
Mr.. Markham is right. A good
way to study the railroads is to take
one branch of the subject at time
such as the prevention of accidents
and analyze it. A good many have
been doing that and in nearly every
instance private management OF the
railways has been found to be no,
only sound but to possess such meri,
as. to deserve special commentator
The fact that there are nearly twice
as many people fatally injured each
year by ordinary falls as are fatally
injured on our railroads is remark
able. Ordinary burns kill more an
nually tain are fatally injured OF
the railroads, and even Academia
drowning is running the railroads
close second on fatalities.
In the face Of the official figures
Mr.. Plumb's charge that the rail
roads are unsafe to ride upon i
plainly too nonsensical for foolish
ness. But so long as Mr.. Plumb
can fool the leaders of organizes
labor, and they, in turn, can pull tn
wool over the eyes of the men VIII
pay dues and assessments to the OF
ganizations, Mr.. Plumb will no
worry. A subject on which no high
has been thrown, and probably non
will be thrown, is how much none
Mr.. Plumb is making out OF hi
campaign of Misrepresentation.