gress to provide for turning the roads back to their.
owners. During the war service had been generally
unsatisfactory so far as private shippers were con-
cerned. They had understood that their interests
were being subordinated to the larger interests of
the Government. As soon as the armistice was
signed, the shippers began to insist upon more satis-
factory service and became more outspoken in their
complaints. The railroads themselves, the investors
in railway securities, and the general public joined
in the demand that the roads be turned back to
their owners. Only labor favored the retention of
control by the Government. Labor organizations
fostered the Plumb plan which would have given
them much more to say with regard to the railroads
than they could hope to have after the roads were
returned to their owners. The Plumb plan, however,
failed to get any substantial support in Congress.
From every quarter there came vigorous protest
against government ownership, against any possibil-
ity of government ownership, or of any type of
management which might resemble or tend toward
government ownership or permanent government
operation. The sentiment against government
ownership was so strong that the chairman of the
House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Com-
merce said when he opened the extensive hearings
conducted by the House that: "In view of
the widespread sentiment throughout the country
against government ownership, I do not think much

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