Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1915-08-08

l tlouplesome days when the world war in Europe is involving half of the eafih and it's people, the public sur- lelted with war is apt to slvqe ey erythlng on the titanic struggle. | During the last few weeks of lahor unrest, when strike threatened to tie up all the vast munition plants at Bridgeport, Conn.,, when three mon were shot down and many others in- Jured in Gil strike riots at Bayonne. \. J., and when longshoremen's strike threatened to tie up all the | shipping of Nsw York, the question naturally arose all over the United States: Art he labor troubles a result of the war?
 As soon as the first munitions workers walked out of the arms and munitions plants a, Bridgeport, it was asserted that the strikers were lnstigated by agents of the German government. But the ease and rap1- dity with which the trouble was set tied in New England made this very doubtful.
 The same was said in regard to the oil strike at Bayonne, but again the difficulty was speedily adjusted, which made it doubtful that the men were actuated by any other motive than that which usually is behind Ia Dor strike
 When the New York longshoremen threatened to order general walk out, the hue went up immediately that they were in the pay of Germany, but
 
 more than a small fraction of the freight handlers had quit their jobs and they all went back to work.
 In the Bridgeport trouble. there was some ground for suspecting that the men were acting on the suggest ion of agents of Germany. That strike, which, if it had got into full sway would have tied up the Reming- ton and other large arms plants of New England would have seriously crippled the munitions industry of the United States. It is we'll known that these plants furnish arms and ammunition to the Allies in the Euro pean war:
 Two Strikes.
 They manufacture shrapnel shells, empty and loaded; rifles, pistols, am munition for them and many other kinds of munitions of war. Since the beginning of the great conflict the Germans have complained bitter ly that this; country was violating neutrality by selling arms and ann munitions to the Allies. The reply has been that this country is selling it's products, arms and ammunitions as we'll as clothing and food to the open markets of the. world and that Germany is just as welcome to buy munitions here as are England, France and Russia. However, the Germans have been unable to buy, because tN cir merchant marine has been entirely destroyed, interned or bottled up and they are, unable to transport munitions or anything else across the Atlantic.
 Those who believed that Germany was back of the Bridgeport strlke backed un their argument by pointing ont that if Germany could tie uD the arms works of the United States. she would go long way toward hamper ing her enemies by cutting off thelr munitions supplies. It was rumoreo at the beginning of the bridgeport dissatisfaction. that the strike would become general and spread to all the arms factories in the United states. This view of the matter was bolster cd up. accidentally no doubt, by the fact that some of the strike leaders were German- Americans. J. J. Kep- pler. of the Machinists' union was ono of the foremost leaders involved in the Bridgeport affair
 Three Strikes.
 Afew alarmists in this country pro- fessed to believe that Germany was attempting to cripple of the Amer1- can arms. plants in anticipation Of a war with this country over Germanv's submarine policy and the destruction of the Lusiania but the rapid set t,ement of the trouble failed to s"h- stantiate this view. The arms work ers in New England were given a' shorter work-day without decrease m nav and they went back to work m Ices than one week. The men in some If tho hig plants refused to walk out at all. 4 1or,o
 'Tle OH WOIkGlo SIAANO "" was a more serious matter. Those who were determined to connect the strike with the. war. said the Ger mans were behind the movement be- cause much crude oil was being ex- ported to the Allies. and also huge quantities of gasoline for the pronn'- sion of the thousands of automobiles and auto-trucks used in the field. TOT the transportation of ammuhltaon, food supplies and the wounded: rms however, was "a rather far-fetcned view of the matter.
 The .Bayonne strike lasted more than a week. and it was desper. ate affair Frequent clashes took nYaco between the Slav strikers anu .he guards patrolling of the standard loil plants and in one pitched .battie two strikers were shot down and nine or ten wounded. In another oattle one man was killed. and others in1ur, ed ed -Tho strikers set fire to several large o:r tanks, and the flames anu dense columns of black smoke led