The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-09-07
STRIKE SETTLEMENT BRINGS
RELIEF.

The Occur d'Alenes drew grea
sight of relief on Monday morning
when 1t was officially shown that Thu
threatened strike on the railroads hat
been averted. The situation appeared
serious for several days and consider
able alarm was expressed. A tieup o.
traffic meant the loss of millions o.
dollars to the Occur d'Alenes. i
meant loss of time by nearly 5000 min.
ers and would have entailed heavy
loss to mining operators aside from
the eurtailment of ore shipments. The
mines must be kept free from water
repair work would have to be contin.
ued and thousands of dollars spent In
strike would have meant for the dis
trict Is hard to conjecture. 1t spell
ed calamity and disaster and 1t was
little wonder that the worried look left
the face of the operator, miner and
business man on Monday morning.
The bill that stopped the strike pro
videsYthat after January /, 1917, eight
hours shall be regarded as a basis OF
reckoning for days pay of men en-
gagged In the operation of railroad
trains in interstate commerce Tex
cepting roads less than 100 miles long
and electric lines); that they shall re-
eeive pro-rata pay for work in excess
or eight hours, and that their rate of
compensation shall not be changed
pending an investigation for six to
nine months of the effect of the eight
hour day upon the railroads by COM
mission to be appointed by the presi-
dent
Now that the present trouble has
been averted, calm judgment is an
alyzing the situation and careful
thinkers are looking into the future as
to the results of the precedent here
established by the democratic admin
istration. Not so much as to the
measures obtained, for men In every
sphere are recognizing the justice of
an eight-hour day and happy the day
when such rule obtains without the
use of force or strike, but as to the
manner in which the concessions were
secured Have the unions conceded
away sacred rights in this instance
that viii work for their disadvantage
In the future? That is the question
agltating the minds of some of the
best brains in the organization.
In this respect Senator William e.
Borah, than whom the laboring man
has no greater friend nor stauncher
supporter looks with askance on the
procedure and he gives his reasons in
these words in an address on the sub
1ect ON the floor of the senate:
IF congress will now pass a reso-
luton declaring that we favor pro-
ceeding at this session until COM
prehensive settlement of this railroad |
controversy is reached, the threatened
strike will be as dead Monday morning
rs 1t will be II the pending objection
ipie OIL is passed..
The Idaho senator added that he
doubted If the price about to be paid
could cure the patient" He had his
'wn views, he said, of the ability of
he four brotherhood chiefs to call off
he strike, but he was certain the
treat body of tralnmen never would
AIRY the strike order out II they were
ssured the president and congress I
'ere seriously investigating with q
lew to legislation. k
viii you tell me-" he continued. ID
that the men who hold the respect of S
heir neighbors, who each day are en-
rusted with property worth millions G
nd with the lives of their fellows. II
'ould not have accepted the word of Il
ne executive and congress that they p
ere entering into an investigation of n
lis subject and attempting to solve p
he problem and that those men would s,
ot have postponed this calamity? No Il
'verer indictment could be drawn II
sainst their character and intelli- pi
.nce. lcr
If congress can not proceed to con- OF
der this deliberately and with all the OF
cts at hand, then congress has &C
ached the greatest crisis of its whole M
story. If we are met with the de- to
and that we can not postpone action In
yond Saturday night then indeed w
spirit of the fathers has fled and pa
halo that has lowered over this of
dy for years win soon be dissolved. fe
Il warn union labor that the amend ne
ent to give the interstate commerce sa
authority to fix wages is
inevitable logic OF the position we
u occupy when we pass this bill. an