The San Francisco call., 1907-02-24
GRIP OF UNITED ROADS
ON SUPERVISORS MAY
Be PUT TO THE TEST
Carmen to Ask for Eight
Hour Day Provision
in Franchises
AWARD IS AWAITED
Union Has Card in Sleeve
for Use if Decision
Is Unfavorable

At tomorrow's meeting OF the arbi-
( tration board IN which the contendina
interests OF the United Railroads and
its union employees placed their differ
ences for adjudication, 1t is certain thai
a majority and a minority decision VIII
. be rendered Father Yorke. the car
mems member OF the board, viii be the
one TO take exceptions 10 the findings
/ OF Major Mclaughlin. representing the
street railroad company. and Chief JUS
tice Beatty. the third member of the
; board.
From published reports the carmen
( understand that the arbitrstors have
( declined to grant their demand for an
eight-hour day. In anticipation of such
a decision the pending eight-hour law
was submitted 10 the Legislature and,
while ii may be passed, there is a pros
; pect that the corporate interests will
question its constitutionality.
But the carmen have another card up
: their sleeve They are discussing.
among themselves. the propriety of
tplaying IL at this stage of the game
and II may or may not become an i'm
mediate action before the union.
} Legal advice has pointed the way for
the carmen to consider English legis-
lstion. wherein there is a provision that
publicly operated tramways must
MAY TEST SUPERVISORS
The question, locally applied, gives
the carmen fine and dandy opportun-
fly TO place the honorable Board of Su-
pervisors in "a hole" As union the
carmen may ask the Supervisors to
make, as e condition precedent to the
enjoyment Of franchise privileges, an
agreement upon the part of the favored
corporation that it shall establish an
eight-hour schedule of labor.
The Board OF Supervisors, as at pres
ent constituted. owes its official exist
ence 20 the votes OF the labor party.
There are suspicious that the gratitude
OF the labor votes has been forgotten in
consideration of the size OF the fee that
the United Railroads pays to its legal
and legislative servants.
II the eight-hour clause were to be
included in the supervisorial draft of
franchises, IL would have an immediate
and irrevocable effect upon the labor
situation. II W 'uld also have a ten
dency TO provide new corpses for the
political graveyard. Applications for
certain street railway franchises are
now pending before the Supervisors.
The Kansss-street franchise has al
ready been awarded to the United Rail-
roads, but has not been finally granted.
GETS WHAT 1T WANTS
In many quarters the franchise is
considered to be an outrageou meas
! ure. chiefly because II gives the grantee
three privileges In one-the right to
build q surface road. an overhead route
or a tunnel along the Sixteenth-street
, crossing OF the Southern Pacific
freight yard tracks, and that same
crossing is the only outlet from the
) Mission TO the bay. The projected line
taps the new wholesale district, SO IL
IS absolutely necessary to the United
Railroads. It affords an excellent
chance for the carmen to discover
whether the Supervisors are union men
or agents Of the United Railroads.
II the eight-hour clause were to be
Included in the franchise the street car
monopoly would be placed in a way Of
giving the eight-hour schedule to all of
its carmen. All of the franchises now
pending and TO be applied for must
necessarily connect with lines operating
under existing franchises, and an eight
hour rule on connecting lines would
make so much trouble with the labor
on the old franchises that the one re-
suit would be inevitable-an eight
hour schedule all around.