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Cuening public Me&get
PUBLIC LEDGER COMPANY
. CYnua II. K. CUnTIS.PnrmnpST
..rinrly) II. I.udlnnton, Vle PrnHih-nti J-hn P.
Martin, Brmtnty nivl Tremnirrri Philip fl e'nlllnK.
John IJ Wllilamtf, John J, tipurrcon, l)lrector.
"""" ' uditohiaij iiOAin
Cuevs II. Iv (.'tuns, rimirman
DAVID B. flMIUrV KJIIor
.JOKN C. MARTIN. . ..Ocncral llutlnow tnnmi f
Publlnhrd ilnlly nt Pernio t.tmar.R llulMlntr,
Atuntkj CiTr,,
inupjwnurnt'o square. I'nunneipnia,
. ... i'lem-inin miuuinK
. .. ''Ill M-lrrnnl.tnn Tnlvpr
iNJCTT IOI1K,,
AiminiT. ... .... .01 Fori! nullum
NT. Lous.. .. . .10"S liill-rton liullrtlng
Cmicjwo. 1E02 Tribune liulldlng
NEWS DUnCAVS:
.. N. K. Cor. lYnnijhnnln. Avo. nnd I llli St.
Nbw Yonic nimuv T.i Sun liuiMln,?
Lo.ndon Bcniuv I-ondon Times
sunscniPTioN thums
The rjins'isa l'rnuii LrmiEiv lq -rvpd to s-ul-crtbers
in rhllftit"lphla nwl rurroundlng towns
at the rate c twelve tl2) rtnta fr week, rayablo
to the carrier.
I3y malt to point" oisl o' PMlndi'lphla. In
the united tnte. Canada, or t'nlted BtatpM po"
msalons, postago fn.e. I'tty I"1! rentn ppt month
Six ($01 dollars pp" enr, paviblo In ndvanrfl.
To all forelffn countrlcd una (51) dollar per
month.
Nourr SuWrllicrs wlhlnK prtdrru cnjiuroii
znuat sle old ni well as new a 'dreaj.
DMA, 3000 WU,MIT KC STONE. MNS39n
Cy Address all communications to Vvcmng P Via
Lcdocr, Indcnrndrncr Syjarr, IN.I "dc t rt.
Member of the Associated Trcsg
run Asson.n:n pkvss is -
llvclv rntlt'.ct, to the vse for rcpvVtatlon
of all nctri ditpa'ehes crcd led to it or vet
othcnrlsc credited In tlili paper, and also
the local nrr jmllinl'cd therein,
111 rlnht ct republication t'f xvrtlal tlh
patches herein ate also restrved.
riiiUdrlpliia, dtunlat, o(enibrr It. 1919
WAR
A FEW middle wi stern towns have bo
gun to feel the first pinch of the coal
strike. Their lights nvc jning out.
Their industries .arc stoppinc;. Hemes
and institutions are without heat.
Hunger follows after idleness Dis
ease and death aie certain at this time
of the yeai wheiever there is n lack of
waimth. Here, in communities that w'll
have to bo cared for by others if their
people are not to suffer as the French
suffered, is the first illustration of the
sort of punishment that unbalanced lab.or
leaders devised for the whole country.
And yet there are some people who
btill feel that the govt"iiment is without
a right to prevent this sort of thins or
to insist that it is nossible to settle
human differences lationally and without
destruction and agony.
STUDENTS AND POLICE .
T3E0PLE usually sympathize with
Penn's undergraduates on the days of
their jubilat'on. That is partly because
everybody likes divcision, and the stu
dents seldom fail to put up a good show
wvien they M-nture downtown tor a
racket. For once, however, gcne'al sym
pathy, while exculpating thr hovs of any
mean or malicious intention, will be with
"thj.. police, who 'had to handle the foot
ball rooters roughly yesterday at Nine
teenth and Market streets and later at
City Hall before th'y were able to exer
cise their right to preserve order in pub
lic places. And sympathy will remain
with the police until the students can
prove that it isn't nossible to have a good
time without pulling do'-n tiolley nole.s,
delibrratelv and unnecessarily stopping
traffic, rushing trallic men. and defying
the laws made for public safety.
There are a million ways to be funny
and a million ways to be glad without
trespassing too far on other people's
rights. The police didn't interfere with
the snake-dance arranged as a faiewell
to the departing football team until the
undergraduates abandoned all of them
and tried another method.
THREE DAYS MORE
rpHREE days more must tell the stoiy
of whether Philadelphia l.-, to preserve
or repudiate its great orchestra. On
Monday thp campaign ends and S100 000
must still be raised. No sum can ade
quately maintain tbis woni'e'-ful organi
zation except the full million, for it mutt
be remembered that the piincipal is not
spent, but onlv the interest, and that
means only $45 000 to !-o0,000 Na year.
Hence the sum asked is not large.
It is not within reason to be'ieve that
Philadelphia will allow this campaign to
fail when it is so near the g"ul. Hut tuv
vious campaigns have so failed, This
would, by no means, be the first.
But there need be no slip if the public
will do its part, small and large. So let
the contributions come in to the orches
tra campaign managers between now and
Monday. Let us give the orchestra a
Sunday thought and a Monday contribu
tion. If the "drive" succeeds, let us be a nart
of it; let us feel that we did our shrro
to save the orchestra to the city.
For save it we should.
And save it we must!
Now, all together at the close, each
according to his or hf- mnnii!
MR. VARE ON REFORMERS
QENATOR VARE'S address at the din-
ner tendered Mayor-elect Moore in
Washington was a polit'Val document of
considerable interest. If hud, to beein
with, the dramatic color of a vaWctory
delivered at a time of surrender anil
defeat. The senator talked with a frank
ness altogether admirable, and out of
long and hard experience he was ablo to
utter truths usually avoided at dinners
Jbeqause they are unpleasant and, there
jre, bad for the digestion.
s ' It was when ho began to arraign re
brmers that Mr. Vare went astray.
AVhat is a -reformer? Is he a man who
jrnerely changes his front without chang
jHng his oninions, his purposes or his
Hi J jnethods for tho sake of making issues
Kv and winning elections? . That anneurs to
mve been the definition formulated in
Senator Vare's mind when he turned a
'hard eve unon Mr. Coles and expressed a
frank dislike forrtho aims and theories
that Mr. Coles is supposed to represnt.
Hero certainly the judgment of the sena
lor was at fault.
The men who Haunt the badge and in
signia of reform and blow the loud trum
jjcIb of righteousness aro very few.
Thev do not ever hope to win elections
unaided They aro notNictual'y tho re
formers. And it is tme that tev often
plav th" political gnme according to a
(?ru'p wh'ch thev nr'nfpos to detest and
'i ht. thev often 'nek th Snartin virtues
v;t the older-fashioned politician who
:nkes in secret of intrigue, calls a spado
wj((MJIJljWftlS W"WJl
' a gpado and takes punishment or graft
I with tho enme equanimity.
Tho piofessional reformers are minor
incidents in any election. The real re
former is tho indepondc nt voter who gets
no notoriety and blows no bugles, and
simply mnkes up his mind that tho time
has come for u new deal; Ho has long
patience, yet ho never failR to demnnd a
reckoning when the time for a leckoning
so'ems to bo a.t hand. Ho is even more
admin-hie than any of the political
figu os favored or disliked by Mr. Vnre.
Ho turns elections and noes about his
business. He is without selfish interests.
He, too, might have said, as the sena
tor did: "We ask and desire nothing but
! a clean adniinistiutionl"
The impoitant thing is that he said
this and felt it long before Mr. Vnre or
his friends thought of making such a
declaration!
SANITY IN LABOR'S RANKS
MUST PURGE RADICALISM
All Attempts to Put Over Injustice by
Maso Action Are Doomed
, to Failure
TF ANY fact has been lifted into view in
the past five years so that it stands
above tho rest, like the Wash'ngton
Moiu-ni'-nt on tho shores of the Potomac,
it is that injustice- cannot be put oer by
mass action anywhere.
Ge- many trod it with the united Ger
lranic nations behind her. But tho rest
of tho civi'ized world rose in protest, and
th'oiigVi b'ood and b'ttcr travail of soul
it fought the spirit of evil until it was
subdued.
The Germans planned lo exploit the
world for their own profit. They had
been concentrating their energies for
years on one selfish pm pose. Not con
tent with noimul and peaceful expansion,
they proposed to seze bv force what they
wanted. And when the appointed day
came they found a pietoxt and acted.
Today Germany is a pXtriah among na
tions. It will take her more than a gen
eratien to lecover what she lost in
twenty-four hours.
The'r are a few men in the Am-M-iean
labor organizations todav and, thank
heaven, they ?-c few who are trying to
organize to do what Germany attempted.
Those men ire not seeking justice. They
aie fomenting tho sririt of discontent in
the hop? that the,y can bring'' about a
revolution which will turn all industrial
plants over In the worl-ers and destroy
what thev call the capita''st class. Con
fiscation is too mild a word to describe
what they have in mind. Progressive
burglary' is a hotter loim. And they pro;
pose to accomplish their ends, not by the
orderly processes provided by law, but by
the wt apon of the strike. Industrial war
for an end as evil as that wh'ch Germany
soi'trht is what they are plotting.
They cannot succeed, for, as already
i-aid, injustice cannot bo put over by
mass action. No mass is big enough to
do it, and in every mass, in Ameiica nt
any rate, there is the leaven of right
eousness which will work against th"
geim of evil and ultimately destroy it.
When Attorney General Palmer di
gressed from dispiis'nir the b'th cost of
living at the Har-i-bunr eonf"renco in
order to denounce Thi Maurers and the
Fosters of the labor move ment and to eill
upon labor to repudiate such leaders, be
was expressing what is in the minds of
tens of thousands of sound American
workinu-men.
Thev know that their cause is hu't
every t'me oith"' Muurev or Foster talks
in public. Thv know tWit those men do
not' trulv represent tem. Thev ask
nothing that is not just. They are willing
to give a fair dav's work for a fair dav's
pay. And thev do not call for a division
among them of the nro"uty of the em
ployers, because they know that if the
business of dividing is to be ongaged in
those who have less than they will de
mand that they share their savings with
tho indolent and the shiftless.
When thnv are told that the rich are
grow'ng richer and tho uonr are growing
poorer they know that there is a free
opportunitv here for every man to be
come as rich as his abilities make possi
ble, and that in the long run tho only
test bv wh'ch a man is measured is that
of h's individual powers.
They have seen tho boy in the factory
riso to its ownership.
Thev have seen the owners of factories
go into bankruptcy because they could
not maiiage their business.
Thev have seen the continual proces
sion of men from the employed to the
employing group.
And they desire that all roads shall be
kept open and free for the unimpeded
march of that procession through the
future years.
This is what industrial domoc-icy
means, and it is the legitimate child of
political democracy.
So the use of the strike as a political
weapon is abhorrent to thorn. But they
i have been easily tolerant of the radical
leaders who are using them to put over
un-American theories and to propagateJ
the radicalism born and bred in an at
mosphere which Americans do not
hi eathe.
These lenders must be repudiat"d if or
ganized labor is to escape the retribution
which is sure to be visited upon every
nation and every group which seeks to es
tablish injustice and class favoritism and
attempts to make reprisals upon other
groups of the population.
We do not mean to be understood as
implying that perfect social justice pre
vails now, for it does not nnd it never
will. But such injustice us does exist is
not the result of deliberate planning. It
is an incident in the development of so
ciety. It is the remnant of old evils sur
viving from an earlier day and'from ear
lier practices.
The arrogance of employers is inde
fensible. The greed of the profiteer who
grinds the face of the poor is univer
sally condemned. No organized move
ment to establish it by force and to de
prive the poor of their right to protest
can "succeed, because the people will not
permit it.
The clai-h of interests, however, hard
ens the 1'nes on both sides .and leads to
misunderstandings. Strikes result Bnd
lockouts follow, nnd tho public at large
y
EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER-
suffers. This Is not because a majority
wants to establish injustice, nor is it the
result of a desire to put righteousness
out of tho running. It is an incident in
that social progress which has its roots
in the golden rule.
The only way out is to establish the
machinery for the orderly and peaceable
adjustment of disputes, an adjustment
which nil parties save the revolutionary
radicals among tb ' '-or leaders desire.
We have a civi' ..or adjusting com
mercial disagi cements and we have a
criminal code under which transgressions
against life and property are punished.
We need an industrial cod" which formu
late rules for the Hettleiu' nt of disputes
between employer and employed, and we
need courts to apply it to specific cafres.
The civil and the criminal codes are
framed primarily for the protection of
society as a whole.
The man who violates a contract Is
punished in order that faith between man
nnd man may be kept so that business
may go on.
The murderer is brought to justice, not
to give revenge to the friends of the vic
tim, but that the safety of the ltfeof
the rest of us may be assuied.
The industrial code would be useful in
pi eventing the intemiption of production
nnd transportation and would incident
ally benefit those engaged in U aspor
tation and production, but it would be
of immeasurably gieater benefit to the
mass of the community dependent on the
produceis and the tiansporters for what
they cat and for what they wear and for
light nnd heat and the other conveniences
and necessities of life.
While we aie waiting for the formula
tion of tho industrial code, which must
come from the wells of common sense in
the public mind, it is important that labor
should purge itself of its unrepresent
ative and un-Ameiican leadership, so far
as that exists, and that the reactioitaiy
eonseivatives among the employers
should be forcibly reminded that they aie
feeding the fires of radicalism and red
ruin. And all obstacles in the way of the
establishment of justice should be re
moved. Injustice may apparently tii
umph, but its doom is aa certain as was
th" defeat of Germany when she chal
lenged the conscience olk the world. And
approximate justice will ultimately be
set up. for, as Bryant finely said, "The
eternal years of God an hers."
AFTERMATH IN JERSEY
"TjEMOCRATS in New .lersey and that
-' considerable clement on the Republi
can side which passionately acclaims
itself "wet" can do better than lead the
people of the stale to believe that all the
days of trouble passed with the election
to the governorship of a man opposed to
prohibition.
The dream will pass. Prohibition,
after all, involves questions and issues
that cannot be settled by any one man.
"Diy" laws will take their ultimate form
throughout the country bv the cumula
tive ell'rct of public opinion. The scope
and even the actual meaning of the pro
hibition amendment will be defined ac
cording to the collective will of the peo
ple everywhere after patient experience.
Meanwhile, occasional evasions of the
"dry" principle will not compensate Now
Jersey for the distress and perplexities
that .must continue in all parts of the
state until the growing friction between
the public on the one hand and the Utili
ties Commission and tho Public Service
Corporation on the other is abated.
The Utilities Commission, which by the
zone-fare decision showed itsolf to bu out
of ha'-mony with lational thought and
feeing in New Jersey, remains. Its mis
takes have not yet been adjusted. It is
being questioned not only in relation to
stieet-car faics, but about gas and elec
tric power rates recently authorized.
Confusion in the public set vice and the
manifest impatience of the public with
the abuses of monopolistic contiol pro
vide problems for the governor-elect that
overshadow the liquor question alto
gether. And Mr. Edwards docs not claim
to have a solution.
It was noticeable that Mr. Bugbee, his
opponent, was equally uncertain. Pro
gressive Republicans who fought Bugbee
and Edwards w'th equal enorgv wished
to rip out the Utilities Commission and
to appoint or even elect a new one. They
had the courage to perceive that the
dominant issue in the stale is not prohi
bition, but the i elation that appears to
exist between the Public Service Corpora
tion and the state's Utilities Commission.
Mr. Edwards will not be able to evade
that issue. It will rise to haunt and
trouble him after all the hopes and
promises of the "wets" and "drys" are
alike forgotten.
T h o conclusion is
Vli Public fori cil on outsiders
.Sentiment (Jacs wlm wt- studied the
situation that the
radical miners' lenders are forcing the
strike neither for more .iioney nnr better
untieing conditions, but fur the oycrtlirow of
the whole Hstem governing the relations be
tween capital nnd labor. Such a Huiugo
could (anil should, if deniable) be brought
nboiit by the ballot. To attempt to bring
It about in any other way i to nttnel:, by
indirection, our democratic system of gov
ernment. It becomes un-Ainetieau,
V i v e Pennsylvania
counties have voted in
Spin Along or favor of bond issites
Hump Along for good roads. That
menus that fite coun
ties apiireeiiite the fact that good roads are
a necessity if the Chariot of Progress is to bo
hitched to a motortruck instead it au ojc.
The President's will-
(etting It (her ingness to accept mild
reservations provided
they do not nullify the leiigue-of-nutloiis
covenant is not inconsistent with his (ourse
in the pnt. Circumstances haie again and
'again forced him to compromise on details in
order to "put the big idea across. "
If, as Hethmanu-
Treaty as Hollweg suggests, tho
War Hrecder pence treaty Is a war
breeder, it must be
because it bears too lightly on tho Germans,
There is no doubt In the world that tho Huns
will break the peace if they get the chance.
The only hope is to tie their hands.
When th incoming
A Humpy, l'nmlly Mayor has n problem
to solve nnd needs a
confidant he will presumably take Council.
y"
PHILADELPHIA, SATURDAY, NOVJMBJSE
MAYOR-ELECT MOORE'S
LETTER
Philadelphia Commercial Museum Is
One of the Best-Equipped Institu
tions of Its Kind In the World.
H. C. of L. Robs City
x of Employes
I
rplli: Philadelphia Commercial Museum is
tho most fully eepilppcd institution in the
flitted States for advice nnd assistance in
the extension of foreign trade nnd prnbabl
one of the best equipped anywhere in tnc
world. It is full) known to reputable mer
chants tliuiiighniit the world as the result of
twenty .tears of continuous effort in trade
eteiision am; 1ms In its tiles the addresses
and information Inrgel) based on direct cor
respondence ycoiiieiuing probnbl) thico
qitiirteis of ii million merchants in ccr)
country in the world and including nearly
ever) (Inn that is in any position to hnndlo
trade with the fnltid Stntes. Many busi
ness linns in Philadelphia tire constantly
using the museum's acbicc and assistance to
their gieal ulvnntiige. Many more could
do so if they would. The facilities nre open
to all. Philadelphia has, if she will use it,
a better ngencv than nay other American
iity for stiengthening her position in the
lommerce of the world. Dr. William P.
Wilson is largel) lespousible for this Phila
delphia institution In the earlier dn.,s he
linil the b.tel.ing of men like Dr. William
Pepper, William I.. KIKins and Charles II.
Cininp. Then the federal Government ex
tended liiiiimi.il assistance to the under
taking, but now it thrives upon its own
earnings and suih hclfr as is accorded by
the eit) It is u bigger institution in an
iiiteiiintioiiul trade information sense than
is geuciall) known.
rTllli: eit) is losing many of its capable cm-"--
pin) os bieause with the high cost of liv
ing anil a IimmI compensation at pro-war
lutes the) inn do better at private employ
ment. The federal (!o eminent also finds
ii cannot tetain the services of certain ex
pi i inn eil woik eis for causes similar to
thov which prevail in" the municipality.
John P. Urisbiuie, who is secretary of tho
customs inspectors, piesents a rather inter
esting i oinparison which vtends to illustrate
the ilillicitltie.s under which the federal
Cmcrmiiciit labors at the present time. Tho
customs house inspectors icecic an average
wage of les than !l.."0 for an eleven-hour
ilii). The longslioiemeii and cargo handlers,
whom the inspectors oersee and who have
no responsibility lo the goernment, and who
funnel I) leeched 111111 twenty to thirty
nuts an hour, are now receiving seventy
icnts for an eight-hour day and SI. JO au
hour for all overt line work. Under these
1 iiciinistances it is fair to inquire whether it
p.i)s best to be a longshoreman or a cus
toms inspector? The longshoreman cer
tain!) has the best of it with respect to
pn) and he does not have to appear in
uniform or comply with the government red
tnpi legul.itious.
W 11,1,1AM 11. TUCKlJi:, secretary of the
Philadelphia Hoard of Trade, believes in
keeping cw'rlnstingly at it on port unl mu
nicipal questions. Mr. Tucker was once a
port warden and an intimate friend of the
lute Joel Cook. He knows every wharf and
pin- b) heart. He also digs into national
nffiiiis, keeping the board posted with 10
ganl to new legislation that may lie of nd
uintage or that 111:1) opuate lo the dis
aihuntngo of the tiade interests. recent
ropoit on municipal uffairs shows that the
Hoard of Trade is'nlso awake to our local
ueei'ssitiis. Mr. Tucker sits on the lid down
at Hie Bourse, working over his pioblems
dail), Inning frequent consultations with
William M. Coates, Philip It. (Jodie),
Samuel T. Keir ami other business men of
thill tjpe.
-lOXCUKSSMAN llf'J'LHK, u. ciicster-
Delaware rcpicsentutho, who used to be
rcgaiilcd as a Quaker, coming fiom an
agricultural section, is now nhouT as much
invohed in big industrial and cumiueieinl
problems as an) other man in Congress,
The river fioul in Delaware count) has
brought its big industrial and protective
qui'stions to the notiie of the West Chester
member, but that is not all. Over in
Chester count) they aie mining for giaphite
and operators like T I). Just, (,f Ipiers, arc
contending that miles, thej have a diltj, it
will be difficult to proieed with this busi
viess, which really originated in the vicinity
of Chester Spiings. It is said by the
American producers that a great deal of
Hritisli money is iuu'sted in the ciucible in
dustry In this country and that, therefore,
efforts to obtain production here bine been
discouraged.
E-.I. STACKPOI.n, president of the'
llitrrishnrir Telr-LTimli ninlin.i i.
Philadelphia election with a gient deal of
interest. Mr. Staelqiole was formerly
postmaster of Ilarrisburg and is one of the
best political observers of 'the state. He
loves Ilarrisburg, the seat of the govern
ment, and believes that the co-operation, of
municipalities on lines occasionally refcired
to in the Philadelphia campaign would not
only help Philadelphia, but other cities of
the state. lie thinks Philadelphia has
suffered very largely fiom foolish criticism
within and that the time has come for a
general campaign of boosting The city on
the Susquehanna is looking forward to a
111010 -exalted position than it now occupies,
nnd Hi other Stuckpole i, taking 11 hand in
the advance mou'iuent.
rplIKOUUUD H. PAUIBIt, of the Phila
X delpliia Ship Repair Co., H OI10 ot th(J,
best toastmasters tints far developed among
the shipping iuteicsts. Dining the daytime
Mr. Palmer may be fouml talking shins uml
dry-docks with Ccorge 1'. Sproule, of the
commissioners of navigation, and Assistant
Director Hasskurl, of the Department of
Wharves, Docks mid Ponies, jllt wja,n j,,,11
puts on evening elothes and tains up at the
fune'tlous of tho festive Vessel Uiwiers and
Captains' Association, Captain Al Urown
William J. Jternuid and the other orators
are obliged to look to then stumps.
X?00ST1Nf Philadelphia" is becoming
a popular slogan. We have commer
cial bodies, rotary clubs and dining clubs
galoie, but the end is not jet. noSter clubs
are fading into Hue with publicity commit
tees, entertainment committees, big brother
committees and all that. Ccorgr (J Mcndc N
It. A. V. furrun,. Jr.. nnd Aitlmr Kauf' '
man are pushing along one of these new
organisations. And Itrother Charles II.
(irakelow, ot the boosters' committee of the
I'hiladeiphia flks, is with thein.
OUR medical frnternitj is held in high es
teem abroad. Philadelphia doctors and
dentists are so well known nnd HIgcU as to
bo in ilemnnd in other states and some of
them across the water. Dr. ,T. Thompson
Sehell has Jst returned from tt hurried call
to'1-ondou. Putting ull this together with
the se'cctiou of Philadelphia physicians for
consultation 'nt the White House, wu have
reason to be pleased with our Philadelphia
medical Institutions.
J. IUMIT0JJ MOOUK '
r.'
"TVr!v
"m
'S BEEN
1 Jill that-opn:doo-r." ' y& 'll srr"
Jigm- Police of ham pv'5 at rti
Kicxwbgrw ';j!' !(y
- - Hope
Danger Signals Face Railroads
Transportation Systems. Whan Operating Under Hybrid Manage
ment, )'ill Have Many Critics, Especially Advocates of
Plumb Nationalization Plan
. Hy CLINTON V. (JILBKKT
St.id t'orrpsiiiiiiilrnl of l:rtiliic I'ulillc I.nlBer
Cupuriult, Ml', hu i'n&lli Ledocr Co.
Washington, Nov. S.
npHK count !) is going to taste soon the
sweets of privately operated railroads.
How soon :iobod) knows, for it is tjplcal of
the incompetence with which this situation is
being approached that the President is
threatening to return the roads to their
owners and former operutois at the cud of
the j ear, though there shall be no suitable
legislation providing for their return.
Their return under such ciicumstnnces
will work grae hardships and at the same
time, though it is i )ear since the signing
of the armistice, Congress1 has no plans for
the ro-esliiblishment of iiriwite operation.
That it will enact anything before the end
f the jear no one believes. ,
Hack to Old System
AVliat Congress, in its wisdom, is likelyto
provide is u return to government regulation
of railroads by the Interstate Commerce
Commission, a sjstem which brought the
railroads to the verge of bankruptcy, which
stopped rallioad development, which re
sulted in a grave transportation crisis at the
outbreak of the war and forced the govern
ment operation of the roads. In place of
regulation by one commission, tne ejummms
bill, which in one form or another is likely
to pass, provides for regulation by two com
missions. The only step forward is the
declaration that it is the policy of the
United States that the railroads could be
consolidated in not less than twenty and not
more than thlrty-hve great systems, uut tais
prospective consolidation is hedged ibout
with the statement that competition shall
lie preserved whenever practicable, and
with the provision that it shall take place
only with the approvul of the regulative,
bodies.
Change Comes at Critical Time
The railroads will go back to private
operation at a grave moment. Tho best In
formed persons look for a coal shortage this
winter, if the weather is normally cold and
traffic is normally interfered with by snow
storms. To that prospect of a coal short
uge is added the complication of the coal
strike. Even though the strike is short, tho
loss in production will be felt by industry,
for the fuel problem is a hand-to-.mouth
problem. The balance is dtlleato and nny
disturbance upsets it.
In addition, the process of returning the
roads to private ownership will cause con
fusion. Senator Cummins declared iu the
Senate the other day that the employes of tho
railroads were already demoralized by a
proSpect of a change of operators. That de
moralization will go ou until the oU op-
,ru nre onco more established in their
olil places, and confusion will come in all
probability at a momeuu wncn, unics.
I. ii .i.a ....l uliArluffn will lin 1. rill
nil
signs fall, tho coal shortage will be critical.
There is another difficulty. Extravagant
expectations have been raised in the public
mind by the propngnudn the railway owners
have conducted against railroad operation
by the government. This propaganda had
for its object ,to convinco the public that
government operation was a failure, and to
insure tho prompt return of the railroads by
the government to the old operators. Tint
the critics of government operation hnve
overdone It. They hnve created the im
pression that all that is tho matter with the
railrouds, nil the faults of service since the
war, arc due to the inefficiency of government
AHot.1. tlmf Mih s rates, less frennenf
trains, delays in shlnments, poor meals In
the dining ears, crowelod cars, enn nil bo
cured by a return to U10 blessings 01 private
8, 1019
A GREAT WEEK, EH,
operation, ltut all the faults that nre to be
found' in the operation of tho railroads to
day are to be found equally iu every service,
in hotels and restaurants, telegraph and
telephone companies, iu stores, in the home
itself. They arc the consequence of the war,
the result of a shortage of labor and of in
creased costs ever) w here.
Hut by inference the railroad propaganda
lias raised the hope that one-c the roads are
again under private ownership everything the
public has cause to e'oniplain of now will
Instantly nnd 11s if by magic disappear. The
rallronds will at onco resume their old high
efficiency. For a costly n'nd restricted nnd
uncertain service will be substituted a cheap,
abuiidunt and regular service.
The railroads, under private ownership,
will bo under the common burden of costly
and inadequate labor. Where the nation has
gone on growing they have been unable to
explain. Yearly they have become under
government regulation less qunlified to per
form their tasle. It is not inconceivable for
a time at least after their return to private
operation the will do worse than they aro
doing now under government direction. This
is at least as likely as that any marked im
provement will promptly appear.
Hybrid Management Next
This is not snid in any prejudice against
L private operation, but the thing which will
come will not be full private operation, but
that hybrid thing that has worked badly
for several years, that mixture of private
operation and government interference
which will be emphasised by the tendencies
of the Cummins bill.
It is neither one thing noi the other, nor
has: it the virtues of either one, and it will
start to function at a trying time when
efficient privately run businesses free from
government regulation are having difficulty
in approaching their old standards.
We are going then to return to the private
ownership of railroads, under a system which
has failed, in pursuance of a plan hastily
conceived, at a moment when a coal short
age threatens, when labor is scarco and When
services of all kinds are demoralized, with
roads whose development has been prevented
from keeping pace with industry,, nnd yet
with -the public expectations aroused by an
unwise propaganda. Plainly the people are
going to be disappointed. '
The theory apparently Is that it mnkes
little difference how bad that disappointment
is onco the transfer of the roads to the olil
operators is accomplished. All tin same, a
critical time is before the railroads anil the
country. Every bit of public disappointment
is going to be turned to account.
Every fault, every failure of the railroads
under private ownership is going to be
seized upon. In place of the old occasional
anti-railroad agitator, in place ot the La
Toilettes, und,the"Hoke Smiths of a decade
or so ugo, is a last country-wide organiza
tion, the most' perfect organization that ever
entered into American politics except tho
Auti-Saloon League, namely, the Plumb Plan
Lengue. This league has money. It has
members everywhere. It ha organizers in
the field ull over the country, It has ex
tremely Intelligent direction, i; there is a
oil shortage the Plumb planners vill point
out why, If freight rates go up the league,
will mnke nn argument on that. In Indus
trial centers tho lengue will heek congress
men pledged to nationalization, and may
easily send many government ownership men
to Congress. It is a critical time for the
railroads.
Ther is no nppnrent pallor about thp
I II. O. of It. because or the 'coming confer-
euce lu uurnsDuiB.
WHAT ?.
A TROPICAL PARK
THE iurk in Leon is but a gardcu
Where grass and roses grow together;
It has no ordinance, and no warden,
Except the weather. ,
The paths are made of sand so fine
That they nre always smooth and neat;
Sunlight und moonlight make them shine,
And so one's feet
Seem ever to tread on magic ground
That glistens and whispers curiously,
for sand, when you trend it, hns the sound.
Of the .sea.
Salomon, do la Selva.
The sheriff's house lias been "sold over
his head" and he hus been obliged to move.
Forced to swallow a. dose of his own medi
cine, he hns taken it like a good sport.
-When Senator Knox speaks of a blanket
reservation it is understood he means a wet
blanket. That is the only kind he has been
bundling during the pence discussion. -s
Circumstances permit a householder to
get coal without a permit, but he still needs
to have money to burn.
When the peace treaty is passed at last
despite his opposition he will doubtless be
n Lodge of Sorrow.
It is the careless driver tlfat makes the
traffic cops cross at crossings.
What Do You Knoiv?
QUIZ 1
1 . Who was the Rev. John Jasper?
2. What phrase did he coin?
H. What is the Volstead law?
i. AVhat was the nationality of Hendrik
Hudson? ,
C. AVhat unfinished novel did Thackeray
leave?
C. Over what kingdom did Kamehameha the
Great rule?
7. AVhat is the capital of Sinm?
8.- AVho wns Tacitus?
0. Of what people did he write?
10. AA'hat treaty ended the Mexican AVar?
Answers to Yesterday's Quiz
1. ThoTurks won Constantinople in 1453.
2. Albert Gallatin -vas a distinguished
American statesman and financier.
f He was one of the negotiators of the
treaty of Ghent with England in
181-1, was secretary of the treasury
from 1801 until 1814 and for several
jears represented Pennsylvania in
Congress. He ranks as one of the
greatest of American financiers. Ho
was born in Switzerland in 1701 and
died in New York in 1819.
3. Sugar and pineapples nre tho chief ex
ports of Hawaii.
4. Salisbury steak is now the prevalent
post-bellum name for Hamburg steak.
n,
The battleof Crecy was won by the
English over the French in 1340,,
Crcey is a small town in northern
France
iu tho department of the
Somnie.
C "Llndley M. Garriiion was President
AA'llson'a first secretary of war.
7, Most of the scenes in Shnkespeare'a
"Othello" are laid in tho island of
Cyprus,
8. Key AA'est is the southernmost city of
the United States.
0. Ratiocination is formal reasoning, es
pecially by means of syllogisms.
10. Mnry, Queen of Scots, was tho great
granddaughter of Henry VII. Queen
Elizabeth ws his granddaughter.
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