Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-09-04
IA FOLLETTE'S GUNS
SPIKED BY DAVIS IN
LABOR DAY ADDRESS
BY DAVID LAWRENCE

| Especial Leased Wire to The Journal-Copy'
right 1920
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3.-Laoof
| DAVIS utterances from the three pres
idental candidates may appe2f On
the surface to lie simply plea Tor
| the labor vote, as there was olS'
| tinct friendliness to the cause o.
working men expressed in the speech
! as of President Coolidge, John w. Ia
Wis and Senator La Toilette. BUT the
| labo. leaders themselves reco8ElZ3
/ many differences in he attitudes OF
the candidates and these differences
are fundamental.
First, on the vote of the railroad
| brotf erhoods and their tens OF
| thousands of members, Senator La
Toilette and John W.. Davis went
| over completely to the viewpoint
| of railroad labor and incidentally the
| American Federation of Labor with
respect to the abolition of the United
States labor board President Cool
idge cautiously referred to. the board
as an experiment which could be
modified to the benefit Of all con
cerned."
The acid test of whether a candi
date is friendly to railroad labor is
the Howell-Barkley bill, providing
| for abolition of TIE railroad labor
| board, which was up in the last SEES
sion of congress AM was successful
Iy sidetracked by administration lead
/ ers. Mr. Davis and Mr.. La Toilette
expressed on Monday views Identical
with the purpose of the Howell
Barkley bill. The president himself
| expressed no opinion when the meas
ure was under discussion and has
not committed himself yet. Railroad
labor wants a definite pledge. 1t al
ready had Senator La Toilette and
1t already had the support of a sub
stantial number of Democrats in tks
senate and house. but it must have
been surprised to receive the sup
port of John w. Davis, who has
been characterized as a middle-of-the
road candidate on labor questions.
sometimes in the past arguing the
cause of the employer and sometimes
the employe
Davis Attitude Significant
Mr.. Davis support of the pri1-ci-
pie or the Howard Barkley bill is an
event of tremendous significance in
the campaign. for if he can indorse
that measure he may be found
fighting alongside Senator La Fol
lette on other questions vitality aft
tectlng agriculture as well as labor
Senator La Toilette, however, was
alone in his outright declaration in
favor of the repeal of the Esch-
CumEins transportation act. This
is another acid test of radicaliSm
as against conservatism. Wrapped
up in that act is the problem of
freight rates. the radicals contend
ing that since the railroads are per
mltted to earn certain per cent
or their investment. they manage to
pile up costs and operate their sys.
TENS so eXtravag antly that there is
no opportunity to obtain lower
freight rates.
Under the transportation act the
interstate commerce commission can
not reduce freight rates unless it
reduces the earning power Of the
railroads. Senator La Toilette would
repeal making sections of the
present law and perform surgical
operation on the whole railroad prob
lem. John w. Davis as yet has in
dlcated merely that he wished
freight rates reduced and he has ex-
pressed the belief that some way
could be found, but has not specifi-
cally pointed the way. Unless he is
willing to attack the TRANSPORTATION,
act and point to Il constructive
remedy, many of the radicals in the
west will not follow him. AS for
President Coolidge, he has commit
hiYlo-a1f 1Nf, 4AIS
ton of the transportation act with
respect TO the earning clauses for
railroads and has said he would ap-
point commission of inquiry to
study the problem OF freight rates.
Mr.. Coolidge made important
declaration on the general principles
affecting labor He repeated what
President Harding said about the
right of labor to collective bargain
ing, and he made his position abso-
iutely clear on compulsory arbitra-
ton which has been one of the ten
cts of manufacturing associations
and anti-labor speakers for many
years.
Mr.. Coolidge's statement that he
could not reconcile compulsory ar
bitartion with individual freedom
Will be quoted for many years to
come. No political candidate and no
president has ever come out flatly
in favor of compulsory arbitration of
labor disputes, so in d sense what
Mr. Coolidge says is merely the same
doctrine that has been held by his
predecessors, but in view of Mr.
Coolidge's position in the Boston
police strike he has from time to
time been on the defensive with re-
spect to labor. His speech on Mon
day is the cleareSt exposition he has
yet made, and in it will be found ad-
herence to number of principles
for which labor leaders have con-
stantly fought, though labors ma
tional spokesman probably will say
the president did not go far enough.
Mr.. Coolidge made it clear he
would not so over to any one class
or group. Yet that is what both la
Dor and agriculture really want. Sen
ator La Toilette has already done
so. John w. Davis is on the edge,
and nearer to the La Toilette view
point today than he was in his
speech of acceptance. Charles G.
Dawes observation that there was
no room for compromise between
radicalism and conservatism, and
that the Democratic candidate must
so with one or the other is slowly be-
ing corroborated, though the chances
are Mr. Davis in the end will never
go completely over to the La Toilette
standpoint, but will maneuver him
self closer to the Wisconsin senator
than to President Coolidge. On none
of the proposed changes in the con-
stitution will the Democratic nomi
nee follow La Toilette.
incidentally, it is significant that
Mr.. Davis has come out against a
federal department of education.
Strange as it may seem, this has
been tied up with religious cleavages
in the last few years, as the Catholic
church has been supposed in con
Gressional circles to be one OF the
leading opponents of such depart