Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-10-01

QuctOr. MI PaSchal nlmSelf d0IlltS Jndl
his train was run, and that he knew be-
forehand that il would be run, contrary
to law a law that was enacted by our
National Congress and designed for his
safety, for the safety OF his fellow en-
ployees and those tthe public who travel
upon our trains
II 1t would not be compatible with my
sense OF right, and l would be recreant
in my duty to our employees, to the pub
| lie and TO the property | represent to re-
store such man TO our ranks without
| any reason whatever-in brief, to restore
him simply because you request it.
Yours truly,
! CSigned) w. S. BRAND,
superintendent.
THE ALBION.
Augusta, Ca, Sept II, 1912.
Mr.. W. S BRAND, Supt.
! Georgia Railroad Company,
Augusta, Ga
Dear Sir:
! Your two communications written yes
terday and one today referring to the rein
statement of Conductor j. T. PaschaI, and
which was the subject matter of our con-
! ference held in your office on Saturday
afternoon, 14th inst, have been received
and carefully considered. Your first and
second letters did not set out clearly what
your decision was, but we understand
! from your communicate ton of today that
our request is denied.
| We can not accept your decision as final
and as the matter has been placed in Your
hands by the General Manager to adjust.
we understand that we have the COM
pany's final reply. Therefore there seems
! only one course left open for US, which
| is TO submit the case TO the membership
Tor them TO decide our future course
However, inasmuch as the Conductors and
Tranmen are federated on this system. we
have decided, first to convene the federated
committee and lay our case before that
committee, As soon as an officer of that
organization and committee has convened
we will ask you for further conference to
advise YOU of the decision reached by
the Federated Board
In our first communication to YOU YES
terday ADVISED you that as soon as we
received your final answer in writing, Civ
ing your decision in the case al issue. we
would answer your communication and
advise you whether or not we would ac-
cept your decision.
IN your communication yesterday, | no.
tee several places where l am quoted in
correctly, and l wish to call your atten
ton TO these statements and will correct
| them.
said that no official could succeed
without the cooperation and supnort of
those under him-that unless the men had
confidence in their superors and felt and
knew that favoritism and discrimina ton
was not practiced, that it had been con-
ceded by almost all fair-minded officials
that his success was hopeless And | did
not believe you would claim that YOU
were an exception. Your answer to this
statement was-That You are right. and
! II felt that / did not have the supnort
| OF my Conductors, | would resign as SUI
| perintendent." But l did not say. that
the Conductors would withhold their sup
port and cooperation from you.
| told you, however, that If we failed 10
reach satisfactory settlement won hay-
ing failed to convince us that there was
no merit in Mr.. Paschals case) there
was only one course left for us to pursue
and that was to let the men whom we
represent decide for us what action we
should take. l presume this is what you
refer TO as threats"
We agree just as heartily as you dc
that the Conductors employed on the
Georgia Railroad are for Law and Order
and cheerfully submit to authority at all
times. We believe that Mr. Paschal has
been and is today a firm believer in thes
same principles, and furthermore we are
FIRMLY Of the belief that he carried out
the instructions contained in your bulle-
TIN dated November "a. 1911 to the letter
Mr.. Scott General Manager wrote to
Mr. A. L. Chandler. Vice Chairman OF
the Conductors Committee, under date OF
July 19, 1912, as follows
Your letter Of July IS has reached me
here.
Il have carefully considered the case OF
CONDUCTOR Paschal held responsible for
violation Of Superintendent Brands Bull
hours of Service Law and the National
Law itself. Therefore, | am not inclined
to consider an appeal for his reinstate-
ment"
Therefore, on July 49, as a matter OF
record, Mr.. Paschsl was charged by his
General Manager with violating your Bull
tional Law, AND NOTHING MORE
However, he is now charged by you with
also violating Rule 1872
We claim that the Bulletin issued Nov
14th, 1911, superSedeS and amends Rule
l32, lnasmuch s il is addressed to En-
gineers. Firemen, Conductors and Train
men, and 1t confers no power on the Con-
ductor or any other individual therein, tc
arbitrarily decide the question. 1t is ad-
dressed to the members individually, and
specifically and places the responsibility
on men individually If it were addressed
to the Conductor alone, or If it were ad-
dressed to all four classes and then Speci-
fed that the Conductor would be held re
sponsble for seeing that il was carried
out, it would be entirely different. There
is not a line in it that recognizes the Con-
ductors authority to arbitrarily decide
when that time has been reached, and
consequently il seems TO US that holding
him responsible for violation on the part
OF others Is far-fetched and unfair
We were told by you in conference that
he was not charged with violating the
law himself, therefore II is not fair t
now charge him with doing so. We un-
derstand he was on the siding with the
switches closed seven minutes before the
sixteen hours was up.
We note what you say relative to the
Georgia r. r. equipping it's line with tel
ephone system-"Thus the Bulletin in.
structions to report to dispa tcher coult
have been easily carried out and his fail.
ure to do SO is without excuse or reason
Under date of F"by. 18th, 1912 the In.
terstate Commerce Commission made
ruling on the Hours of Service Law,
which reads in part as follows
| Neither under the act nor under thu