Evening star., 1936-03-10
PRESIDENT GIVES
RAIL LABOR CUE
-
Letter on Cooperation in
Settling Disputes Has
Political Value.
RY DAVID LAWRENCE.


the development of the New Deal-a
milestone that shows, in this instance
at least, an attitude with which con-
servatives and liberals alike can hard
ly quarrel.
It may be said that Mr.. Roosevelt
has stated with splendid precision the
limits of the Federal function, and
whether anything comes of his pro-
poSal or not, one cannot but feel that
nobody has better stated the case for
cooperation between capital and la
bor without the intervention of politi-
cal law-making bodies.
Naturally in a campaign year every
document issued or utterance dellv-
cred may be scanned for its political
significance. The Presidents letter is
significant because he may be realiz-
ing that the voters of America are
much more interested In constructive
solutions that lead to stability than
they are in the continuation Of the
war of class invectives.
The Literary Digest vote showed
that for one reason or another Mr..
Roosevelt had lost many votes, but it
did not show that those votes would
remain alienated if the President be-
tween now and November gave con-
vincing evidence of determination
to help recovery by eliminating the
many sources of friction between Gov
ernment and business.
Tax Proposal Eyeopener.
The reaction, for instance, which
attended the proposal Of heavy tax
on undivided corporate surpluses was
an eyeopener here. The amendments
will be numerous and when the safe
guards are finally supplied, the pro-
posal will be far different from that
which greeted the public a week ago.
Awareness of the conservative atti-
tude of millions Of voters toward
Government intervention by the leg
islative process is undoubtedly increas-
ing here.
The Presidents letter on the rail-
road problem deserves to be read by
every employer and every labor leader
In America. 1t is neither a sop to
the conservatives nor to the radicals,
but a straightforward statement OF
some truths on labor policy which,
while Mr.. Roosevelt doesn't say so,
applies as much to the Wagner labor
act as it does to the transportation
industry.
Sc, In the case of the railroads every
thing that the Wagner law has sought
to introduce for businesses engaged in
Io| oIN Iry -
included in the transportation law
- previously put on the statute books
but nevertheless the President makes
d. the following observation:
What disturbs me is the apparent
inability of the managements and the
men to cooperate in working out
such common problems. Issues which
ought to be settled by friendly nego-
tiations are being fought out in the
backgrounds of Congress and the
courts.
Legislation has its place. Often it
has been necessary for the welfare Of
both capital and labor or both, but
1t is a remedy to be taken with great
caution or it may prove worse than
the disease"
Reasoning Needed Earlier.
Had something of the same line Of
reasoning been expressed when the
Wagner law and the Guffey act were
being forced on the country, there
would today be no litigation in the
courts and less uncertainty about cur
rent business problems For the two
acts aforementioned added materially
to the uncertainty which has envel
oped the making of plans and COM
mitments by industry. If the Govern
ment was going to seek to do by legis-
1ation that which ought to be ad-
justed by conference between capital
and labor, then the extent of Gov
ernment Intervention became in itself
q factor of much conjecture.
Mr.. Roosevelt, in his letter to the
railroad men, was tackling an old
problem-what to do about forcing
employees out of work when consolida-
tions were being compelled. He rec
ognizes the importance of efficiency,
but he says Sudden steps in this di-
rection may cause temporary hard
ships" and that "the employees are
fairly entitled to protection against
such hardships."
Perhaps the most important state
ment in Mr. Roosevelt's communica-
ton was this comment:
THE arrangements ought to bear
in mind that the principle of en-
ploye protection is steadily finding
acceptance among responsible en-
ployers. It has been applied on the
British railways and utilities. 1t has
been voluntarily applied by certain
large industries in this country, in
cluding several railroad companies.
1t IS sound and right, and leading
railroad executives have so stated"
Promotions and Transfers.
What the President undoubtedly
hasin mind is the plan whereby when
vacancies occur in certain jobs that
areito be eliminated no substitutes are
promoted to those jobs or transfers
made to fill them. It is a scientific
effort to keep even superfluous num-
ber..of men employed for give periods
with the expectation that retirement
willseliminate workers in the natural
course and thus gradually enable the
railroads to adjust themselves to the
labor problem arising out of consoli-
dationS.
Railroad labor has powerful hold
on Congress. The railroad executives
would go to the courts if forced by
legislation to do things that may be
called extremes. Mr.. Roosevelt FORE
seesthe difficulty and asks that con-
solidation be worked out by voluntary
agreement. 1t is task Of overwhelm-
ing proportions, but fortunately both
the railroads and labor groups are
we'll organized and hence capable of
sitting around table and making a
practical plan.
The labor difficulty has rightly held
up consolidation plans and the Ma
ton has not had the benefit of i'm
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