The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-12-07

4s NSW f1aVGn, Dee.7--AbOut SV0 em- ployes of the New Haven road and the Central New England road, from the principal points along. these sys- tems met in the Grand Nopera house yesterday afternoon and evening and after deltberating for six hours, ad- vanced another stage, what is known as the joint union system. This is a proposal to bring five organizations of
 he road, namely, the Brotherhood of locomotive Engineers, the Brother E aood of Locomotive Firernen and En- ginemen, the Order of Railroad Con- luctors. the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and the Order of Railroad
 Eelegraphers under one cooperative z ,oard. The movement is one that has already taken shape on the Delaware and Hudson, the Long Island the Erie and one or two other roads. If the object is carried throagh-and from the unaninnity and enthusiasm hat are said to have marked the proceedings it probably wi1l--a joint
 committee of these five organizations will act for any of them in the case of differences with the New Haven road. or a contemplated or impending strike.
 It will require a two-third vote of each of the five organizations before the cooperative plan is adopted. While the ballots are not all in, those that have been sent in show an over wl1elming sentiment in favor of the cooperative plan. It will, in all prob ability, be put in operation before the end of the year.
 The meeting started at s;so and ended at 8:S0. It was held behind closed doors.
 Charles w. Stratton. chief of di- vision No. ". Brotherhood of Loco
 motive Engineers, took the chair and introduced A. E. Patterson, secretary of ths joint union system and also an officer of the Brotherhood of Fire men and Engineers No. 284, of New Haven Patterson read communities tions from various officers of the five organizations who were not able to be present by reason of pressing business in other parts of the country, some of them attending a. similar meeting held yesterday afternoon by the employees of the Pennsylvania, the Iehfgh Val ley, the Jersey Central, the Reading and the Erie railroads, at Scranton, Pa.
 Mr. Patterson also read te1egrams of encouragement from the grand of 7cers of five organizations expressing wishes for the success of the New Haven meeting. notably one from P: < J. Manion a former New Haven teie- grapIaer, now in San Francisco, where he holds the position of fifth vice president of the order of telegraphers- ; similar movement had started on the Pacific coast where the railroad men found it was absolutely indispensable in order to secure the rights granted by the several schedules.
 The secretary also read conamuni- cations from other organizations out side of the i've on the New Haven road represented at the meeting urg- ing the meeting to accept them in the co-operative movement at some later day. Such applications for admission were not only, received by letter but later in the afternoon the Brother hood of Railroad Signalmen of Amer lea. which comprises the maintainers and constructors of the electrical ap- paratus of the New Haven road, the Brotherhood of Railroad Clerks, with some 2,o00 members. as well as other organizations sent delegates to speak for them, indicating that all of tue railroad organizations want to come into the new movement
 Chairman Scranton introduced F. C. Terry, yice-chairrnan Of the joint union system, and chief telegrapher of the Order of Railroad Telegraph- CTS New Haven, No. z9- Mir: Terry assumed the position of chairuan and outlined the purpose of the gathering and the cooperative movem ent in general wnth it's probable benefits am rlifyinE what MT Scranton had sa1a, When he had finished the grand offl- cers of the organization. one by one, were introduced
 L. G. Grimng, of Long Island City, assistant grand chief engineer of the brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, was the first. He is here in confer enceS with the general committee or the New Haven road He spoke or the fienef1ts to be derived from organ ization rather than the old way of in f7ivfdl1al organization and bargaining in other words, working alone You want to remember this,' said MT Grifing. ..that we are not co-operaT- ing for the purpose of adjusting grey ances that have no merit, for as soon as we attempt anything of that sort 5,Ist a sure are we going to fail and inc whole movement will end In chaos, He said that in. the Bangor and AToostook strike last summer, which failed, there had been no ca- nneratiye organization, the telegraph ers conductors and trainmen practt- cal1y assisting in defeating their brother engineers and dfemen. The company not only took on men dls- charged from other railroads but men who had been expelled from the en- eineerse and dremen's organizations He empflasized thaH under 5co-opera>- +ior if was necessary for the men to have a greater era1ization of their in dividual responsibilities because, with . movement where five organizations were acting through one committed, inc responsibility was increased five fold and it was necessary for the in- diyidual member to increase his intel lieence in the same prop portion MT. (zrifhna was the officer in charge of the D. and H. strike which proved a great success after lasting only 16 hours. He referred to 1t as strike in which the men had real not fan eied. grievances and the right pre- vailed, each man feeling, no matter what was said, that he was duty he,,nd to support his committees in cooperative action
 G. K. Wark, of Manitoba, Canada, vice president of the Brotherhood of