The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-26

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settlement is imperative to avoid a
very ugly situation In the Georgia Rail-
road firemen's strike for the seniority
of whites over negroes. was the opln-
ion expressed 1t tonight's conferences
looking toward settlement Of the
| strike.
| United States Commissioner OF Labor
Neill would make no statement after
| his conference with General Manager
/ Thomas X. Scott OF the railroad, and
/ Vice. President Ball Of the hremen but
from other sources II was learned that
both sides had presented arguments Of
unusual gravity.
Atlanta, Ca, May 25.-How less than
100 striking Georgia Railroad firemen
were able to stop practically all train
! service In a territory ITO niles long
| and from twenty-five to 100 miles wide,
was the knotty problem into which
United States Commissioner of Labor
Charles p. NeilI plunged Immediately
after his arrival here tonight.
| AS an emissary OF Cancellation he
| faced first the race problem, the force
| behind the strike; second, an announced
| wish of many persons in this section to
have Georgians settle this question by
| arbitration land third, the necessity Of
| moving the United States mails fmmet
| diately. Within two hours after his
arrival, Mr.. Neill was in private con-
the Georgia Railroad with no intima-
ton as to when the negotiations might
bring results
What a remarkable feat this handful
| of union hremen accomplished and
what power was behind them, became
| apparent today when a considerable
section of this State was compelled to
| fas ana NIL
and express service; and which for the
| transportation for such necessities OF
1 life as food dropped back to the meth
| DDS almost OF a former degree of civil
| ization, to wagons and even pack AMI
/ mails. The four score hremen alone
did not produce this situation. 1t was
1 the communities which the railroad
served that stopped every wheel of the
system during the past three days; not
the officials OF these communities but a
4 few men who are said to have fighting
blood In their veins. who came forward
| and announced that negro nreEaen
| should not be given seniority over
white fremen. From some hidden
source of public opinion. these men
have up to now made good this racial
uItimatum Few of these men were
| hremen, some did not even claim to be
acquainted with striking firemen and
! a dozen more are said to have come
| from counties lying some distance from
! the railroad. They accomplished the
tie-up without serious acts of violence.
with a few cases of throwing stones
| which appear to have been accepted as
| warnings of what might happen IL
| trains continued to run.
settlement by arbitration should
| not be difficuit SO far as the strikers
| demands are concerned, Vice President
Bali Of the hremen's organization said
today, because the firemen are not try
| ing to exact a hard and fast settle
ment They struck because ten white
fremen were replaced by negro fire.
men. The railroad officials declare that
| the negroes were put in these positions
as rewards for faithful service and
that they are within their legal rights
In such action. Upon this one crucial
point of controversy, there has as yet
been no sign of agreement.
The directors of the road. the GEN
eral Manager and other officials, were
In almost continual conference today
and 1t was reported that some of the
directors strongly favored Governor
Smiths proposition for each side to
select three. Georgians as arbitrators.
Mr.. Scott Would not say whether this
offer would be accepted. The directors
include men with local business inter-
ests which are liable to be affected I'M
favorably by a long tie up.
Hand cars automobiles and interur-
ban cars today made little impression
upon the 5000 pounds of delayed mails
in the Atlanta postoff1ce. Here and
there In the strike district, a rural
postmaster shouldered a sack of out
going mail and after hours of hard
work, riding and walking, managed to
reach a railroad station not affected by
the strike. Reports were current that
the Federal courts might Interfere and
place guards on trains In order to get
the mails through. No such action.
however, developed locally. The strik-
ers have announced that they are will
ing TO fire engines to carry malls, but
that such engines must carry malls on
ly and not passengers
Reports that the necessities Of life
were lacking in some communities
caused Governor Smith today to tele-
graph along the line of the Georgia
Railroad inquiring whether there was
any food shortage. No replies tndicat-
ing such a condition was received and
numerous reports stated that there was
nlenty to eat everywhere. Business
men. however. complained OF the seri-
Gus financial loss.
For the first time since the begin
ming of the strike, General Manager
Scott conferred with Governor Smith
this evening. Afterward the Governor
said:
1--WE discussed the situation fully,
and l am now very hopeful that some
steps may be taken which will bring
about a speedy settlement In the
meantime l regard 1t as of the utmost
Importance that perfect order should
prevail"
Attorney General Hart and Major Cum
ming OF counsel for the Georgia Rail-
road.
Al the conclusion of the conference
between Labor Commissioner Neill and
General Manager Scott. the former an
nouneed that there was no statement
to he made. Mr.. Neill then went into
conference with Mr., Ball. the repre-
sentative Of the firemen, and this con-
ference continued until late hour
throughout the evening. however,
the Impression gained ground that a
settlement Of the strike was near, and
n was reported that Mr.. Scott had
sought for arbitrators to represent the
road as suggested by Governor Smith.
Detective Is Arrested.
Augusta, Ca. May 25.-chief Hew-