Pocahontas star herald., 1926-05-20

\ - NhN AhA ~ ~ lAf talhf AhN AfAN
will be repealed without a doubt when
I they come before the voters et the
general election i'm October.-Siloam
/ Springs Register
! The railroads have opened offices in
| Little Rock from which they will from
now until the election carry on an in
tensive campaign to repeal the Full
Crew Law II is said that this law
costs the railroads approximately 81
100000 annually, and if they could
eliminate this extra expense they could
spend much more for needed improve
ments and extra equipment on the
roads. Mr.. Voter, sign the petition
that is being circulated over the state,
and Let the people rule."-Berryville
| Star.
1t is common TO "cuss' the railroads
and other business interests, but they
are the basis of all our prosperity and
must be treated fairly, especially in
case like this when they are willing
for the people themselves to be the
| judges at the polls. In cOndemning
freight rates we fail to consider the
| high rate of wages that railroads are
compelled to pay their help. Then il
costs worlds of money TO keep up the
road-beds, rolling stock and hundreds
! of other items of expense. Let the
people rule is our mOttO.-WaldrOn Re
porter.
The people of the counties in North
west Arkansas are we believe, in favor
of repeal of the Full Crew Law"
which forces the railroads of the state
to employ an extra brakeman, not
needed for their safety or for economy.
Petitions are TO be circulated to sub
NIT the repeal to the people We ex-
pect the people to sign the petition
readily for our understanding is that
the majority of the voters of Arkan-
sas want justice for themselves, for
the transportation companies and for
all of the people. The railroads want
the law repealed because they claim
that 1t is an extra expense and not at
all necessary. The labor unions want
the law to stand because it forces the
railroads to give employment to one
more brakeman on every train, that
disinterested persons say, is not need
ed. The voters point of view is that
this unnecessarily expense of the trans
portatiOn companies comes back upon
farmers and others who ship merchan-
disc or farm prOducts.-Arkansas Coun-
tryman (Fayetteville).
This extra crew law costs the farm
ers and other shippers in Arkansas
$1,00O,000, and no one is benefited
1t is a useless job tnd useless ex-
pense. Let's do as other states have
dOne-repeal it. 1t is to be presented
to the highest tribunal in the land
the peOple-and let the people study
and investigate the proposition and cut
out useless and extra expense.-E. n.
Plank, in Benton County Record.
Jones" pays the freight, of course,
In the matter of keeping the full crew
laws" in effect. If you add million
dollars year in taxes or cost of oper-
alton on mans business he will sim
ply add to the selling price of its
goods, and the consumer pays it at
last.-St. Paul Mountain-Air.
We find it n little hard to under
stand the attitude of the brakeman's |
organization trying to keep people from
signing petitions for submission of the |
repeal of the extra crew laws to the |
people in OctOber-WilmOt Week V.
We have noticed that ordinarily. in |
as big a territory as the state Of Ar
kansas, that whichever way the ma
jority goes on q subject. that way is
generally right, and between now and |
October, which is the date of the elec- !
tiOn, both the railroads and the broth
erhood will have ample time to state |
their case to the public, that the ques- |
tion may be threshed out in all cor
ners of the state, providing the ques-
tion is allowed to be placed on the |
list. and there doesn't seem to be any |
difficulties i'm sight along that line |
On the face Of il il seems that the |
railroads have quite good deal to
say in their favor in this particular |
issue as great many of the states of |
the union have all had the third brake |
man law at one time or another and |
nearly all of them, so we understand, |
have repealed it without suffering any |
dire consequences. To those not fam
iliar with the workings of the law, the |
state of Arkansas, at one time, passed |
a law requiring that with train of a |
certain length it would he necessary to |
have third brakeman on the train. |
Now in the particular case of the Kan
sas City Southern. When this road
enters the state of Arkansas at Noel, |
Mo. Il becomes necessary for the ex-
ira man to board the train. This man
rides the train to Watts, Okla. dis
tance of 30 miles approximate. From
Watts to north of Mena, Ark, the train
gets along with two brakemen, and
from Mena to Texarkana the third
brakeman is again on the train. From
Texarkana to Port Arthur the train
has two men. Now, as far as we are
able to see, the train gets along with
two brakemen about as well as it does
with three, having no more wrecks or
casualties to its credit.-Siloam Springs
Register.