The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-02-14

| IGECHct UelWeeu lIldL cUIlIIliLee anu ll6 first vice-president. At this conference the first vice-president suggested to the firemen's committee that, this matter having been discussed exhaustiyely, every possible argument having been put before the management, and the latter feeling that it was really ques- tion in which the company was not in terested, but solely a dispute between two labor organizations-both of whom seemed to have friendly feelings toward the company-the matter be left to ar bitration, on the plan of the engineers general committee of adjustment ap- pointing one arbitrator, the firemen's general committee of adjustment ap- pointing another arbitrator, these two appointing third arbitrator who would be in no way connected with the com pany, and their decision to be final, the engineers general committee of adjust ment, the firemen's general committee Iof adjustment and the companyto abide by that decision.
 l This suggestion was laid before the \ engineers general committee of adjust ment.
 T Under dates of January 13 and Jan nary 16 the firemen's general committee \ of adjustment declined to consider ar bitration.
 l Under date of January 19 the engi- l neers general committee of adjustment agreed to arbitration, and also, in writ ing, reaffirmed it's previous assurances, in the most positive manner, that it would take up the case of every en- gineer. whether or not he was mem- Der of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. s.S
 l The firemen then called in Second Vice Grand Master Shea. A conference was held by MT. Shea, MT. Kelly and the firemen's general committee of ad- 1 justment with the first vice. president &l and the general manager, at which all of the arguments previously presented 3l by the firemen's committee were gone l over by MT. Shea and the further claim \ was made that the engineers general l committee of adjustment. being com bl posed entirely of engineers who were members of the Brotherhood of Loco Il motive Engineers, could not without j violating the rules of it's union, carry j out its pledge to the company that it I would take up the case of any engineer l employed by the railroad, provided his I case was proper one and properly I presented. In reply to this the first \ vice-president stated that the rules or tI laws of the Brotherhood of Locomotive .l Engineers so far as the company was concerned, did not enter into the mat l ter; the company had in writing the ,Y,act rncitixya q cs,,ra ,,nae, frnr, fba t,Y, I gineers' general committee, backed up l by evidence that it had in the past talk en up the cases of various engineers, l regardless of whether they belonged to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- neer or not; and reaffirmed his previous iI decision.
 MT. Shea and the firemens general committee then had a conference with the president, with the same result, and l reiterated proposition that had been made toward the end of the above pro- longed negotiations, viz, that, instead of the firemen's adjustment committee handling the cases of engineers who be- longed to the Brotherhood of Locomo- ltive Bremen, a second adjustment com- mittee of engineers should be formed, such adjustment committee to be com- posed of engineers who were members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire men. This, after due consideration and l conference with the present engineers general committee of adjustment, was declined because the latter claimed that that proposition, like the first proposi- ! tion, would be unfair to them and would be violation, on the company's part, of it's agreement with all of it's engi- l. neers; and also because this would ne- cessitate three different adjustment committees of engineers-one to repre- sent the engineers employed by the road who were members of the Brotherhood I of Locomotive Engineers, a second to represent the engineers employed by the road who were members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Bremen, and third to represent the engineers employed by the road who were non- union men; and also because it would compel the company to distinguish be- tween its employees in the same class of work who belonged to different organ lzations or who belonged to none, and also because it would result in other classes of labor having several adjust ment committees, and it was, therefore, not practicable.
 MT. Shea and the ffremens general committee then took an appeal to the board of directors, who appointed a committee of five of is members to meet MT. Shea and the firemen's general committee in New York tomorrow, but it seems proper, without further delay, to advise all interested of the situation up to date.
 The positive assurances given by the engineers general committee of adjust ment that it has and will take up the case of any engineer employed by the road who desires to appeal, together with the evidence that it has done so, certainly indicates that no engineer, whether he is a member of the Brother hood of Locomotive Engineers or not. need fear to trust his interests to that committees; but if he does not care to use that committee as his advocates he has open to him another course as pro- 
 <C0nfinuad on Fifth poooN