The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1914-08-12
(From the Railway Gazette.)

WHICH lho Ohiteu oldteS mas just mao
from strike of all the engineers and
firemen on the 80 railways west OF
Lake Michigan and the Illinois Central
railroad. That strike was averted
is not in any part due to the engineers
and firemen, or to the board of media.
ton and Cancellation. 1t is due to the
intervention of President Wilson and
to the public-spirited and patriotic &C.
ton of the railway managers. The
true issue involved was clouded during
the last few days of the negotiations
because of a step taken by the media
ton board which was grossly unfair,
and which resulted in placing the rail-
ways in wholly false position.
The main developments in the con.
troversy were as follows: On Octo.
Der 10, 1913, the engineers and firemen
made demands which, If granted,
would have increased their wages ap.
proximately $4,000. 900, or 40 per cent.
The railway managers long had been
aware that some such demands were
to be presented. They were as dissat
isfied with the existing schedules as
were the employees. Controversies.
negotiations and struggles over a long
period Of years have caused rules and
principles to be incorporated in the
schedules which the railway managers
regard as unfair and uneconomic
Therefore, when the employees pre-
sented their proposals the railway
gave notice of cancellation of the exist
ing schedules and made counter pro-
posals. The purpose of these counter
proposals was to correct the anon
alous, unfair and wasteful rules and
principles referred to. 1t was claimed
by the employees that the railways
plan would result in a reduction of
their wages The Conference Com
mittee of Managers replied that, if the
employees committee would join it in
a revision Of the parts of the SEIZED.
ules to which the railways objected,
it would join with the employees COM
mittee in a revision of the wage seized.
ules which would secure to the EN-.
ployees at least as large compeRsa.
ton as they already were receiving.
The employees rejected this proposal
and made new and additional de-
mands, the granting of which, togeth-
er with their original demands, would
have increased their wages by $780,
100000, or so per cent
No agreement being reached, the
employees took strike vote The
Conference Committee of Managers
then proposed arbitration of all of the
demands of both the employees and
the railways. When the employees
rejected this the managers suggested
that the two parties join in asking the
Board of Mediation and Cancellation
ployees rejecting this suggestion, the
managers alone asked for mediation.
In the course of the mediation the
board made various proposals to each
side with the object of securing a basis
of agreement or arbitration. Finally,
it made this proposal: The schedules
in effect prior to October 10, 1918, to
be withdrawn; the demands made by
the employees in May, which were adj
ditional to their original demands, and
were made merely in a spirit of bluff
and bravado, to be withdrawn: the
original demands of the employees
presented in october, 1913, and they
only, to be arbitrated. The very thing
which the managers were fighting for
was recognition of the principle that
demands made by the railways on
their employees as well as demands
made by the employees on the rail-
ways should be submitted to arbitra.
ton, and the very thing the mediation
board asked the railways to accept as
a basis for arbitration was the princi.
pie that the demands of the employees
should be arbitrated and that the de-
mands of the railways should not be
arbitrated.
or course, the employees immediate
ly accepted this plan. They had every
thing to gaia and nothing to lose by
It, And CT course Tie managers re.
joctod 1t. They hal yerything to lose
ami nothing 10 gain by it. Thus, al
though the railroads were the first to
propose arbitration, and insisted upon
arbitration, and we're at all times
willing to arbitrate all the points in
issue, the mediation board and the
employees deftly put them in the posi-.
tion of refusing to arbitrate.
This was the situation when Presi-
dent Wilson invited the representa-.