New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-26

2
tho President to reach a decision be
fore tomorrow niCht--had come 20
their conclusions and finished thelr
nroposition for submission to the Fresl-
dent ~.
UusDus Ready 20 Fight.
The four brotherhood chiefs, AUSTIN
r CarretSon. Warren ). Stone, w, ~
Lee and W ). Carter, were aroused 10
keen indignation when they read their
morning papers. They called up the
White House and asked for an inter
view II was arranged at once When
.bc four left the President an hour
and a half later, Mr.. Wilson realized
That il he did not have an answer
from the railroads by tomorrow night
fhe Brotherhood delegates woulds be
leaving town with their pie boxes
packed" and strike orders IN their
President Wilson was informed by
the union officials that their forces had
tired Of the delay; that they telt they
had waited as hong as 1t was ialr 10
tho railroads had organized nation
House with kilograms urging the rail
road side Of the controversy. IL was
an earnest meeting, so earnest that
the President kept his Cabinet waiting
for an hour while he talked with these
determined men.
Managers Make No Headway.
Meanwhile. the railroad executives
and managers had held meeting al
the New Willard and had failed TO
make progress toward etectlng re-
plv 10 the President. They had agreed
practically TO a man that they couiu
not accept the Presidents plan as II
stood. That was out of the question.
Tbo only way out of the predicament
in which they have struggled for nearly
two weeks was to present q counter
proposal. -.
For week tho roads had been wait
ING for some definite assurances from
Tho President that If they accepted MS
settlement plan providing for the
eicbt-hour basic day and pro rata over
time-other collateral matters to De
investigated by a special commission
they would get insurance against IuV,
ure trouble Of this sort and substantial
freight rate increases from the inter
state Commerce Commission TO recon-
nenSe them LOT NiH NoSN Va ~
the new schedule.
The President had promised them
that he would do all in his power, use
ali the influence Of his Office to secure
such concessions. The roads wanted
tbem 70 be put into effect Immediately
Expert legislators at the White House
and AT the capital were consulted. Inc
legislation that the roads demanded al
once was reduced to black ana whlte
ON paper and laid before the PRESIDENT
He baked at il. He sent for Chanheh
Newlands and Adamson OF the senate
and House Interstate Commerce com
mittees. They baked. All ihree
agreed that il would be Imposing 10
ct Spcb legislation through this Con-
gress.
Financial Storm Breaks.
Al this stage Of the negotiations the
railroads realized that the Presldeni
could not deliver what he promised
tbem. If they accepted his plan they
would be taking d pig IN a POKE Ap-
parently the financial hackers Oh the
roads and La Sale streets gov
busy. The storm broke at yesterday
meeting. Whatever .he word was
that reached the meeting, 1t sbfened
the railroad executives as never peIore
since they came to Washington Ihey
were cockv individuals. They saw that
tbev would have to reject the Presi-
dents plan outright TO present radical
notifications.
They were engaged on this laborious
task this afternoon when Secretary
Tumultv hurried down to the New
Willard from the White House with an
urgent message from the President. 1t
went right in to the meeting. There
was an almost immediate adjournment
The steering committee. Hale Holden,
Judge r. S. Lovett and Daniel Willard,
FASTENED 70 the White House and
listened 20 the Presidents ultimatum,
based on the word that the four
brotherhood chiefs had carried to him.
Statement Given Out.
At noon this statement was issued:
"A Joint session Of the presidents
and managers was held at IL o'clock
this morning. lasting until ! o'clock.
A recess was then taken until 3
o'clock"
The executives are understood to
be studying the form of a communi-
cation to the President.
At 7 o'clock tonight, after the three
steerers had returned and the execu-
tives and managers set to work to fin
ish their communication" the follow
ing announcement came down stairs:
"The committee of the railroad presi-
dents, consisting of Messrs. Holden,
Lovett and Willard, called at the White
House this afternoon and had an inter
view with President Wilson. Mr.. Hol-
den stated that he was not at liberty
TO make any statement concerning the
nature Of the interview with the Presi-
dent at this time
\ "The meeting Of the presidents and
managers, held at o'clock, adjourned
until 8 o'clock tonight
"The committee which is working on
communication TO be made TO the
President is continuing its discussion
of the matter preparatory to submit
ting a report to the general conference
al that time"
Railroads Counter Plan.
Meanwhile. however the roads
counter plan had been perfected. There
was another meeting tonight to com
plete whatever details were left I'M
finished. but il was as certain as any
thing can be in this controversy that
President Wilson would have the pro-
posal before him in the morning. II
Will, of course, necessitate ratification
by the unions. IL is radically differ
ent from the plan presented to both
sides eight and onC-half DAYS ago
by Mr. Wilson. The men get less
in the counter proposal than in the
original one. What the men will say
10 il remains for the next day or two
20 determine
II is practically certain that unless