Evening star., 1960-09-08
Rail Strike


The robber barons Of the
Middle Ages always placed
themselves astride the high
ways and levied tribute as
they wished on those that
travelled the highway. Having
commerce by the throat, they
fixed the transportation rates,
confiscatory If they wished.
transportation and COM
munication are as vital to the
survival Of civilization as are
air and water to the life of
the people, yet control Of
these vital necessities has
been given, by "the law Of the
land" to labor union barons
who have nothing invested,
nothing to lose.
While the vicious nature of
the original Wagner Act has
been somewhat alleviated by
amendment. the fundamental
evil therein still exists. The
control of the National econ
omy still remains in a super
government headed by labor
union bosses who must keep
the pot Of discomfort boiling
in order to hold their jobs
or so they think.
And now, with the Nation
helpless in the grip Of a great
railroad strike, with thou
sands Of people thrown out of
work, we have the degrading
spectacle Of governors of SOW
ereign States. and mayors of
our great cities, coming as
suppliants on bended knee to
the throne of Baron Mike,
again in the words of an old
comic opera, Kind old Plas-
modius, we crave a boon of
thee"
This Nation has courts for
the adjudication Of all differ
ences between citizens, except
differences between employer
and employe; differences
which are frequently Of great
importance to the National
economy. That fertile field
has been given to the labor
union bosses to operate. with
fat salaries for the operators.
For example, the salary of
James r. Hoffa is $50,000 per
annum from the Transfers
Union, plus $4,000 from the
Detroit local of the Teamsters.
The rights of employer and
employe should be stated in
the law, administered by the
court, and the question of
wages should be decided by
the court, taking into consid-
Grafton the ability of the en-
ployer to pay.
With enemies abroad and
barons Of special privilege at
home, we seem to be rapidly
approaching a condition sim
liar to the last days of the
Roman Empire, when Cicero
declaimed in the Roman
Senate: 20 Del Immortales,
quo in terra sulnus."
Howard B. Smith
y \ %.N
dig in, Mr.. Quill advises
the railroad workers on
strike. OF course. that would
be easy If all the workers
had a pay check and bank
account the same as he.
A group who dug in for
nearly a third Of a year were
the steel workers. I have read
editorials telling how much
money the government lost
in taxes as a result of the
steel strike; how much the
steel industry lost and how
much other businesses lost.
and how much the steel
workers as a group lost. I
have read nothing telling
how much the individual
worker was out.
If the individual steel
worker works steadily from
the time the strike ended till
the contract runs out he will
have about eight or nine
hundred dollars less that If
he had not gone on strike.
Just think what a steel
workers wife could have
bought with that much
money: a color television set,
or made a down payment on
a car. Many will have six
teen weeks additional inte-
rest to pay on things that
they were buying on the in-
stallment plan.
The longer the rail strikers
hold out, the more people
will become accustomed to
riding buses and planes and
to use their own cars to
travel and will continue to
do so after the strike is
settled So by digging In
many are going to dig their
own graves as far as their
jobs are concerned.
Take a look at the coal
miners. Years ago, factories,
laundries, apartment houses
and private homes used coal.