The Wilmington morning star., 1946-05-27
MORE ABOUT
LIPPMANN
FROM PAGE ONE

national railway labor act. Under
the letter of the law the right to
strike remains. But the spirit OF
the law is an understanding, de-
veloped in the course of a genera
ton, that to stop railroad trans
portation is an %intolerable and I'M
necessary injury to the people and
to the national interest. This I'M
der :tanding is in essence a body
of customary law which has
amended the right to strike on
railroads. When this understand
ing is violated, as it has been
now, the letter of the law has to be
amended in order to conform to
the spirit, the statutes have to be
made consistent with the custom
airy law.
If Congress revises the right to
strike, it villas regards the rail-
road;-be making the statutory
law register what the American
people, including the railroad
unions, have by long practice &C
cepted as the law which should
really govern. The right to strike
and paralyze the railroads has
been for a generation like the
former right of the House of Lords
to reject legislation passed by the
House of Commons. When the
House of Lords exercised that right
in a matter of vital importance, the
British people proceeded to amend
it.
The House of Lords lost certain
of its ancient prerogatives when 1t
presumed to exercise them. The
prerogatives could stand unlm-
paired in theory only if they were
not used when it really mattered.
So it is with the ancient and long
obsolete prerogative that men OPP
Grating the railroads may stop all
railroad traffic.
It will be said, of course, that if
Congress outlaws railroad strikes
and institutes compulsory arbltra-
ton, it will have re-established
slavery. This is a false argument.
There is not a shred of truth in
the argument that railway men
will be slaves if they must settle
their demands before duly consti-
tuted tribunals.
A slave is a person who is not
free to choose his work. Men would
continue to have entire freedom
to decide whether they would work
on the railroads and to resign their
Jobs if they wished. But if they
freely choose to work on the rail
roads, they would not have the
right to stop the railroads. For
the railroads do not belong to
them. They do not, in the last
analysis, belong to the stockhold-
ers. They belong to the nation
which has in its sovereign right
granted the franchises.
The private companies and the
private unions are entrusted with
the operation of railway transpor-
tation, it being the view of the
American people that private own
srship and operation shall be the
chosen instrument Of the public
interest. Whoever buys a railway
share or accepts a job does SO SUBJ
iect to the overriding condition
that railways are a public monop-
DIV. privately operated, in which
the public interest is paramount.
Nobody has to work on the rail-
roads and nobody has to invest in
The railroads. Whoever does work
or invest has freely accepted this
sovereign condition, and has no
grievance if the people insist on
enforcing it.
The only real question is wheth-
er at this moment, it would be
expedient for Congress to outlaw
railway strikes and institute COM
pu,sory arbitration. 1t can be
argued that to meet the issue
frontally would intensity the labor
struggle, and that in the Senate
it might provoke 4 filibuster which
would paralyze the whole govern
ment. This is a question which
must be decided by men who know
best the temper of Congress, OF