The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-03-17
A CONFERENCE TO-DAY.
NEW AND IMPORTANT PHASE IN
RAILROAD SITUATION.

Letter from President Hall Announcing
appointment of Committee to Meet
tho Employee Joint COmmittse--An
AmieabIe Settlement Now Not Inn
probable.
A very important change in the stu
alton regarding the Consolidated rail-
road and it's employees developed yes
terday noon when letter was received
by the committee Of representatives of
the roads employees who have present.
ed grievances asking for adjustment.
The letter was from President Hall and
sets forth that committee represent
ing the railroads board of directors had
been appointed to meet the mems joint
committee at p. m. to-day for con-
ference. This puts new aspect on the
affair and gives promise that strike
may be aVerted.
The letter together with the request
of the employees committee for con-
ference was as follows:
The employees of the New York, New
Haven and Hartford railroad, believing
that everything possible should be done
to bring about satisfactory adjust
ment of the differences between them
and the company, on last Friday re-
quested President Hall to place the
matter before the board of directors,
which was to hold meeting in New
York city the next day, Saturday,
March IA, and to use his personal inf1u-
ence with the board to have the board
change the policy of the company so as
to meet the wishes of the employees on
Joint contract and schedule matters.
To-day the committee received COM
munication from President Hall to this
effect:
sat a meeting of the board of direc-
tors held on Saturday your communi-
cation of March 10 was read, where
upon it was voted that John M. Hall,
president; William D. Bishop, vice.
president of the board of directors;
Charles f. Choate, director, and Will
liam F. Merrill, first vice president,
be appointed committee to meet your
committee and confer with it with a
anything which may exist between the
employees and the company, and to re-
port to the board To this end 1 sug-
gest meeting at the office of President
Hall in New Haven at 2 o'clock Tues
day afternoon
The committee replied accepting the
invitation to meet President Hall as re-
quested.
esrfi iSfn tOrxY nd
as above stated the invitation to confer
was accepted.
It was expected that the result of the
poll of votes regarding whether to
strike would be announced last night
but in view of the pending conference
the announcement was deferred until
to-day.
A number of members of the board Of
directors of the New York, New Haven
and Hartford railroad, including J. P.
Morgan, were closeted with President
Hall at the Grand Central station yes
terday. President Newman of the New
York Central was also present
After a conference of nearly an hour
with President Hall, Mr.. Morgan left
the station and drove down town.
From remarks made by persons who
were conversant with the result of the
polling, the counting of which was fin
ished about 5 o'clock, it was UNDER
stood that the vote was practically
unanimously in favor of striking.
National Officers Fitzgerald of the
trainmen and C. w. Wilkins of the con-
ductors when asked last evening in
reference to the result Of the polling,
said that they did not wish to give out
the result. The reason they gave for
this was that they considered that it
would appear as discourteous to Presi-
dent Hail not to notify him first, before
giving it out for publication, and they
will very likely notify him some time
to-day.
After the hearing this. afternoon in
President Halls Office the directors
committee will report back to the en-
tire board of directors the result and
it is for them then to decide whether
to grant a hearing to the railroad mems
joint committee as to their grievances
as body or not.
Mr. Wilkins when asked last evening
as to how it looked toward satisfac-
tory settlement stated that in all
their labor troubles they always made
it point to look for an amicable set
tIement until it was shown that such a
course was clearly impossible.
The general feeling last night was
that an important step toward an annie
able settlement had been made.
At o'clock the entire railroad mems
committee of thirty eight men assem-
bled in the Insurance building and COM
menced to count the vote.
Valentine Fitzpatrick, in response to
a question, said that the votes of the
yard men were kept separate from
those of the conductors, and each were
counted by their respective representa-
tives.
ANN, DnFcnNrn ADDFEC