New Britain herald., 1916-08-31
HEARING UNDER /.
 WAY AT CAPITAL
(Continued From First Page).

to keep the human element in good
 condition as the wooden and iron
 property of the road. Humanity is
 just as much a part of the system as
 the engine or the lathe."
 Mr. Garretson argued that the eff | feet of an increased wage on dividends I should not be considered when 1t was obvious that employees were not be- 1 ing paid a proper wage.
 Attacking the railways plea for ar | bitration as insincere, Mr. Garretson
 insisted that it was not offered to
 men who were so poorly organized l that they could not enforce de- 1 mands.
 Danger Underlies." "I say on behalf of these railroad men," Garretson declared emphatical- 1 ly, "that there is evidence today of Q deadly danger underlying the social 1 crust and that it is liable to be 1 brought to the surface unless means are found to settle this difficulty be- 1 fore it can reach the danger stage. He declared the brotherhood could | call the strike off only by reporting that a satisfactory settlement had been reached.
 To postpone the strike after the l men had voted it, Garretson declared would mean the disintegration Of the
 brotherhood and the turning over to the mob of the trains as in 1877 and 1894
 II want to impress on the commit tee," he said, that since the begin
 ming of these negotiations no definite proposal ever has been made to us by the other side. They have said but one thing; they have offered to leave the whole matter to the interstate commerce commission"
 Garretson added that he wanted to assure senators that the brotherh ds were not opposed to arbitration. ''BcIicvc in Arbitration." we believe in the principle of ar
 bitration," he said, but not in ar bitration where we stand only to lose
 The experience of our men with ar l bitration has not made them in love with it's practical results. There have been many unfair men on our arbi- 1 tration boards Can you imagine l two men having a case passed on in | court ?" he demanded, "and then after | the litigants had left the court room l one of them arrogating to himself the right to interpret the verdict?" Under ordinary processes of our | policies" Garretson continued, I've | would be out of accord with all of l the five propositions made by the l president. But in the hope of effect 1 ing a settlement, we are willing to | waive many deep-rooted principles and we are willing to aid in passage 1 of a legislative remedy that will make 1 it possible to recall the order to l strike. The eight hour law accom- ! panied by a provision to assure the 1 ten-hours pay pending inquiry,-and
 I suggest a provision that the gov | ernment should bring suit in case a 1 road refuses to grant the pay as is | provided in the hours of service law | woudl satisfy us in this emergency"
 Don't Want Compulsory Arbitration. "As for compulsory arbitration" ,"
 said Garretson. mo influence that ever 1 can be brought to bear can induce our organization to accept it. I want to go on record here as protesting | against anything that savers of mak- | ing men stay at work during any l Investigation
 The brotherhoods, MT. Garretson
 said, would not oppose being drafted i to run CTdlnS as long as IL was only 1 for military purposes.
 Garretson declared that in accept 1 ing the presidents proposal the men | had yielded 50 per cent. of their de- l mands. MT. GOmpers, who followed 1 MT. Garretson, said that the federation
 supported the brotherhoods and pro-
 tested against compulsory arbitra- 1 tion.
 ] Gompers Heard. Mr Gompers said he believed he 1 had contributed as much as anybody
 in America to avoiding strikes.
 But, gentlemen" he said There
 are things worse than strikes. We
 have got to live when that strike is
 over and Is history, and then, l ask
 you, will we find upon the statute l books a law that says that men are
 Such a condition is into1erable.
 trust this legislation will not be en- | acted"
 Gompcrs' Solution.
 Senator Newlands asked Gompers to l give the committee the solution of | the problem
 | "On Monday" said MT. Newlands,
 "the railroads of the country will be
 tied up. I think the members of this
 committee agree with me that com
 pulsory arbitration and compulsory
 service are both impossible and inad-
 visable. The suggestion, therefore. is
 made that the government make an