Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-09-17
VOTE IS BEING taken
BY THE LABOR UNIONS
Managers of Roads Claim
the Service Is Becoming
More Nearly Normal Each
Day-Gompers Opposed
to General Walkout.

New York, Sept. 16.-The possibility
of a general walkout of Greater New
York's 100000 unionists to force re-
| cognition of labor's right to organize
in the United States again arose out
of the traction strike situation here to-
night.
President Samuel Gompers of the
American Federation of Labor, was be-
lieved to have flatly vetoed the general
walkout when he and the affiliated
New York unionists considered it last
week. But with strike votes taken
tonight and tomorrow on a walkout OF
unionists whose labor provides New
York's underground, overhead and
surface car lines with coal and other
operation supplies; and a general
Gotham strike in reserve IL that fails.
| it develops that the plan was not We
toed but merely changed.
| The union leaders, including Comp
ers persistently have said they want
ed to win recognition of the New York
Garments union and of the universal
principle of organization with the
least possible trouble to the public, the
employers and themselves.
| Camps are being prepared for police
| and strikebreakers on the docks where
they will eat. work and sleep.
LITTLE VIOLENCE.
| In the car strike situation generally
there was little disorder or violence. A
| few showers of sticks, stones, bricks
and in one instance few of those in
destructlble four-ply restaurant cof-
| fee cups have been reported, but no
one has been injured seriously. The
police have the situation we'll in con-
| troll.
The subway people claim they car.
ried over a half million more passen-
gers and ran more regular trains to-
day than they did year ago today
when there was no strike on. The
elevated service is somewhat below
normal and the surface lines, hardest
hit of all. are running more cars to-
ward normal every d;y, the line man
agements claim.
The proposed strik es the first of the
week-of 5000 bargemen handling the
traction lines coal supplies; 10000
longshoremen similarly engaged and
20 900 machinsts, needed for repairs
are to be independent Of each other and
not sympathetic" to the car strike.
labor leaders say. They say they will
be glad if the strikes help the car men
but that they plan to strike for rea-
sons of their own.
TO ENFORCE BOYCOTT.
The only action the central federated
unions plan is to enforce a boycott Of
the car lines by the 100000 union
laborers in New York. The leaders
plan to picket all lines, urging union
members not to ride on them. The
reply of the traction heads to this.
through Theodore P. Shonts, president
of the Interborough company, is that
plans have been made criminally or
civilly to prosecute labor men who at
tempt to interfere with loyal en-
ployes of the lines who have signed in
dividual contracts with the car line
owners but still are union men.
Counsel Quackenbush, for the car
lines. said tonight: The strikers have
a right to ask any man to quit work
but they have no right to attempt to
induce our employees to break their le-
gal and binding contracts with the
company. Neither may strike pickets
intimidate and coerce the public from
riding on our cars"
As regards the possibility of a gen.
eral strike IL the individual strikes
fail. one labor leader at the general
conference tonight predicted by Tues
day 175,000 men will be out and that
by Thursday that number will be in
creased to 100000. He includes in his
estimate $4,000 painters, 10000 car
penters, $4,000 machinists and 10000
members of the United Hebrew Trades.
Barge and dock people are preparing
tonight for their mems strike.