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Show RAILROADS AGAIN III HANDSJF01ERS PRESIDENT SIGNS MEASURE ON EVE OF RETURN OF ROADS TO PRIVATE CONTROL. Brotherhoods are Advised That Way is Now Open for Immediate Action on Wage Matter in Accordance Accord-ance With Terms of Bill. Washington. President Wilson signed the railroad bill Saturday night, February 2S, on the eve of the return of the roads to their owners and to private control. In a proclamation, issued at the time the bill was signed, Mr. Wilson vested in Walker D. llines, director general of railroads, virtually all powers pow-ers conferred upon the executive by the bill. Mr. Ilines will also continue to exercise the duties of director general gen-eral which continue beyond the return of the roads to private control at midnight mid-night last Sunday. The White House also made, public the text of the president's reply to a recent request of representatives of the railroad brotherhoods that he appoint a commission composed equally of employees' em-ployees' and employers' delegates to consider wage demands made by the brotherhoods. It deals wholly with the wage demand settlement proposals, and does not refer directly to the memorial memor-ial later presented by the brotherhood heads asking that lie veto the railroad bill. In his letter Mr. Wilson said the passage of the railroad bill "made it evident that I could not act on your suggestion until it should have been determined whether the bill would become be-come a law or not." "It was manifest," the letter continued, con-tinued, "that if the bill should become a law the negotiations and consideration considera-tion of the wage matter ought to proceed pro-ceed in harmony therewith. "The bill having now become a law, the way is open for immediate action on the wage matter In accordance with the terms of the bill. Section 301 of the bill evidently contemplates that the carriers and employees should, as suggested by yo'u, select a bipartisan board for the purpose of atttempting by conference to agree upon a solution of this wage problem. "In accordance with the assurance I gave last August and repeated in substance in my letter of the 13th instant, in-stant, I shall at once request the carriers car-riers and the employees to join in this action. I believe such a step will go far toward clarifying and maturing the subject for final disposition. In fact, the sort of board thus contemplated by section 301 appears to be an appropriate appropri-ate substitute for the committee of experts, ex-perts, which I have heretofore suggested, sug-gested, and, indeed, such a board will be authorized to go further than such a committee could have gone. Monday morning, March 1, the government gov-ernment handed over to their owners 240,000 miles of main line railroad and terminals and equipment valued at approximately $20,000,000,000, over which its direct authority has been extended ex-tended since December 28, 1917. The properties will go back, leaving the government with a deficit of $175,-000,000 $175,-000,000 for its twenty-six months of operation. op-eration. But while the deficit appears large, "federal operation has cost the public considerably less under the conditions, con-ditions, through rates and taxes, than would have been the case under private pri-vate control," Director General Ilines declared in a statement of government management. |