The Washington times., 1923-05-12
CHURCHES OPEN
RAILROAD
PROBE
. C. c. Invaded by Protestant
and Catholic Groups in
Search of Facts. 4
By WILLIAM HARD.

Catholic Welfare Council-both bent
on inquiring into the condition of
locomotives.
Just what the connection might be
between Christianity and locomotives
was for some time a mystery to In
terstate Commerce Commission Off
Gals. They at first regarded simply
with resignation this new investiga-
ton as being merely an effort to
make the habit of inqulring into the
Interstate Commerce Commission
unanimous.
Beseiged On All Sides.
The commission has just received
a stern and stringent complaint from
the public utility commissioners of
Idaho, protesting against the com.
missions methods of arriving at the
valuation of the railroads.
1t has just been compiling answers
to questions addressed to it by Sen
ator La Toilette as chairman of the
Progressive group" in Congress,
asking it among other things)
whether it is living UP to the pro-
visions of the valuation law or not.
, 1t has been receiving remon-
strances from railroad companies
saying that the valuation" which
it has calculated for them is actual
ly and indefensibly lower than
their investment as shown by their
books.
1t has been getting demands
from the National Association of
Owners of Railroad Securities, ask.
ing it to tell the railroad managers
to treat the railroad owners better
and to adopt alleged improvements
in the handling of freight cars
and terminals.
1t has been beseiged by the rail-
road shopcraft unions, imploring
it to get busy and see how ineffi-
cient the railroads are which have
not come to terms with these
unions-inefficient that is, accord
ing to these unions.
1t is attacked by owners, man
ayers, employees, shippers, State rail-
road authorities, the Progressive
group" and the farm bloc" and
it thought at first that it saw only
the final and complete spread of a
national custom when the Christian
church walked in on it and asked
to have a look at it's records.
Little by little, however, degree
Of light was shed on this new form
of church work: and the fact was
revealed that the Federal Council
OF Churches of Christ in America
(which is a Protestant official body
and the National Catholic Welfare
Council (which is a Roman Catholic
official body are once more taking
a hand in a great controversy be-
tween labor and capital.
These bodies have observed, that
the strike by the railroad shopcraft
unions is still in existence on many
railroads. They have heard th.tt
on some railroads the condition of
locomotives is dangerous to en-
ployes and to the public. They
have sent their representatives into
the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion offices to CLEAN information
from the Commissions bureaus on
locomotive inspection and on gen.
eral railroad safety.
Work in Harmony.
1t is noted that these representa-
tives arrived not as rivals but IS
colleagues and that as usual the
Federal Council of Church of Christ
in America and the National Cath
Ollie Welfare Council seem TO be in
harmony on the subject of action
regarding labor problems.
Questions addressed today by this
writer to the National Catholic
Welfare Council at its Headquarters
in Washington and to the Federal
Council of Churches in America at
it's headquarters in New York
ELECTED the following explanations:
These bodies have long taken an
active interest in social disturbances
and dangers said to be caused by
unsolved conflicts between labor
and capital.
The condition of the equipment
of American railroads is said" to be
affected by such a conflict at this
time.
The two councils are interested
simply in arriving at the facts of
the situation.
Meanwhile, from other sources,
this writer learns that it is indeed
true that some railroads, for some
reason, are having a quite bad time
with their equipment.
Claim Situation Improving.
It is also learned however, that
if the railroads are considered as a
whole, the equipment conditions
have shown improvement and have
recently produced some spectacular
feats of railroad operation.
DIR. ]. II. Parmelee, director of
the Bureau of Railway Economics,
which is a railway organization, to.
day by special request furnished
the following summarized view of
the situation:
In four weeks of April of this wear
the railroads loaded 80 per cent mare
freight cars than in the four CORE.
spending weeks of any previous wear
in American railroad history.
The gap between the number Of
cars demanded by shippers and the
number of cars furnished bv the
railroads-or, in other words. the
car shortage down. never.
theless, during April from 5S,237 in
the first week to 35.2S2 in the last
week.
The percentage of locomotives
out Of order. which stood at 224
when the shipment strike hogan
on July ] of last year, and which
rose to 31.4 in September IF last
year, had subsidized to $50 on Anvil
Is of this year.
Taking all these facts from, nil
sources and putting them together
the question is:
Why do some railroads Individual.
ly fail to show the equipment in.
provement which is shown hv the
railroads generally?