Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1935-12-19

from those who produce.
In adverting to the Townsend plan
as have done, have attempted to
!, set forth in a man
announcer ner what believe to
Problem be one of the great
est dangers of the
present day, namely, the absence of
clear thinking. In the Townsend plan,
as in many other problems that con-
front the nation at the moment, indi-
viduals seem prone to jump at conclu-
sions without Analysing what condi-
lions actually are and without consid-
ering what the ultimate effect would be.
1t seems worth while to consider an
other national problem which, though
of an economic nature and less sensa-
tional in its outward appearance, is
nevertheless very real This problem
concerns our transportation system.
Shortly after President Roosevelt
took office we were deluged with argu-
ment that amounted to propaganda IA
voring government ownership of the
railroads. There was q reaction
against this idea. The reaction was
so strong that few politicians dared
to unloose their demagogery in favor
of government ownership. Yet, it is
perfectly evident that those who favor
perpetuating private enterprise which
is always more efficient and less waste
full than any government are in dan
ger of being lulled to sleep. Crack
pots and misguided theorists in great
numbers still favor government own
ership of the railroads. They are still
working. The government ownership
problem is not dead. 1t is only con-
cealed from the eyes of most of us for
the time being.
Certain developments of the past sew
eral months confirm the statement
have just made. Taken singly, these
developments appear insignificant.
Collectively, they are very important.
have heard it charged that govern
ment ownership advocates have we'll
laid plan to wreck private ownership
in the rail industry. This charge goes
further. 1t asserts that those who seek
to destroy our profit system are pro-
ceeding, piecemeal, to load a burden
Of charges upon the railroads so that
in the end it will be physical impos-
sibility for the railroad corporations
to earn profit. Indeed, 1t is alleged
that the scheme contemplates eventual
burdening of the rail lines to the ex-
tent where they cannot make their ex-
penses.
Obviously, If that end were attained.
bankruptcy would follow. Then, there
-. would be no alterna-
means tive but legislative
Bankruptcy action placing the
railroads in govern
ment ownership. Our wartime expert
ence ought to be sufficient to demon
Strate how the costs mount when the
government operates the railroads. II
means more taxes on every one of us
who has income whether it be large or
small.
But to get back to the developments
mentioned earlier. Whether there ex-
lists an actual plan to drive the rail-
roads into bankruptcy or not, the de-
velOpments certainly are subject to
that surmise. One of the items of ex.
pense, a new burden of cost that is
proposed to be loaded on the railroads.
is the rail pension law. I have seen
some statistical calculations which
were convincing to me at least that
the charges proposed to be levied upon
the railroads by the law will not work
out in the manner their proponents
claim. The bill would assess each
rail corporation 31k per cent of it's paw.
roll and each worker would contribute
proportionate amount of his salary
toward his pension when he retires,
Like the Townsend plan, no one can
argue against the fine spirit actuatine
a move to protect the retired workers
But to go behind the figures at the
start one finds certain astonishing
facts Almost any way, almost any
method, one uses to calculate this cost.
forces the conclusion that after eight
or ten years the pension system will
have expanded to such an extent that
the railroads will be carrying an an
nual charge on their payroll Of not 81
per cent but approximately Is pei
cent. / think it goes without saving
that no industry can bear such a tax
In addition to the pension PROPOSE
ton, labor unions, aided by their cats
paws In congress have kept up steady
machine gun fire, demanding first one
thing and then another from the car
riers. For instance, one of the current
demands-and 1t Is likely to succeed
in some form-is the movement for
shorter hours for practically the en-.
tire list Of railroad employees. OF
course, the railroads cannot Justify
working their employees longer than
eight hours except in an emergency.
1t is possible that n seven-hour day
might be practiced. But even a seven.
hour day would mean that the rail.
roads must add to their operating
costs, and any item added to operating
costs reduces the chance of the cor. !
porations for an even break between