RAIL SITUATION GLOOMY

"There is no hope for the railroads at the present time," declared Mr. Glenn Plumb, when interviewed by a CRIMSON reporter recently. Mr. Plumb is well known as an expert on railroad and industrial problems, particularly with regard to the relations between capital and labor.

"The practice of borrowing on uncertain future earnings," he went on, "combined with the financial strain of the Great War, has driven the railroads into bankruptcy". Mr. Plumb then demonstrated that the railroads are a mirror of the condition of industry in general at the present time.

"I am extremely pessimistic about the situation. The railroads do not dare to increase their rates, and would not if they could, because increased rates really mean not more profit, but less profit. The discord between capital and labor is another reason for the failure of the railroads. Capital wants more security for its money, and a higher rate of interest. Labor wants more pay for less effort. Until these two extremes are reconciled, industry will continue in its present state. Of course, I believe that conditions will return to normal eventually, but that day is very far off, unless both capital and labor agree to make important concessions."

Mr. Plumb went on to discuss a plan for the reorganization of industry, on the lines of profit-sharing, and equal control by capital and labor. "Remember that the railroads are only a part of a great industrial system. What must be reformed in the railroads must also be reformed in the rest of our industry. The whole system needs drastic reorganization, politically, socially, and economically."