The sun., 1916-08-19
Of arbitration was to stand or

principle Of arbitration was to stand or
fall.
Although the kxScouvcs. ct the spe.
gostjon Of the President. delayed theiv
anal answer until their visit to the
white House tomorrow II was sub
stantialiy . rejection Of his prcpoeai
and fo~reshadows. according TO all In
1ications tonight. the formal reply.
watch 10 now being drawn up.
npeShePhooAs Accept F1an.
Twenty minutes after the railway q.
oeutivss had nled out Of the Blue Room.
Whsre the conference vas held. the four
heads Of the bro~therhoods arrived at the
White House with the reply OF ths en-
pioyess accepting the Presidents pro-
poaal - . basil for settlement. This
had bssn decided upon by secret ballot
at . mestingsof the s40 brotherhood dele
gates In the morning. The vote In favor
OF acceptance was said TO be three to
60 =
The four heads Of the br~otherhoods
remained with the President, who was
on the point Of leaving for the golf
links. for some time. 1t was reported
that hs intimatsd to them that the
nscessiv might arise for. changing his
psacs proposal The employees. how.
ever. take the point OF view that the
struggle y over for them until the sx-
ecutives finally reject the terms sub
aittsd 10 them.
When they returned from the White
House the railway executives and board
~ managers went into session behind
closed doors 70 deliberate upon n
formulate their reply. This Will be pre-
ssnted tomorrow morning. according to
Arrangements. { There was every indica-
tlon tonight that the railway officials
are Weighing the problem carefully with
an eye to the gravity Of q strike. which
will AFFECT. as one Of them expressed It.
20 per cent Of the railroads Of the
country.
Reason for Reads Opposition.
Mr.. Holden also called the attention
q the President to the fact that large
outlays of money would be needed for the
changing Of terminals and division
equipment II the eight hour day wsre>to
b put mi actual practice.
The railroads. he said. had found It
1fNscult to obtain money for several
years because Of the public's reluctance
10 invest In a field whore there were so
many possibilities Of legislative disturb
anco Or wage disputes n until the past
YEAR had been forced to exist upon
lean revenues
He intimatsd that II this prosperity
were continued for another year the rail-
roads would be In better position TO take
up the question Of alterations which a
change to an eight hour day would ne
eossitate.
There was . suggestion hat the Great
Northern. the New York Central and
the Pennsylvania will TO q large extent
determine the nature Of the reply Of the
railway executives because of the extent
Of their mileage control. and a report
was current that Louis Hill Of the Great
Northern had telegraphed the executives
proposing the acceptance OF the Presi-
1ent's terms. This was declared to be
without foundation.
Tho only hope IN the situation lay In
reports that the railroad officials might
suGGsst a counter proposal. forming the
basis OF . settlement. The employees
committee OF GEO members will remain
here At h Presidents call.
me railroad officials may suggest .
counter proposal based on the acceptance
Of the eight hour day and arbitration Of
all other points. instead OF the investiga-
ton by . Federal commission proposed
under tho Presidents plan.
1t was stated positively. however. that
0s officials had reached no definite de-
easion on their future course.
Tinaneiers t. Re ssnnenea.
h case the President hnds no hope Of
settlement during his conference with
the railr id officials tomorrow he prob
ably will summon to Washington some
OF the powerful fnancisrs Of the country
serving as directors Of the railroads.
AANnintafraft Tim nHiria1a cniA f1NptRhf HI
had by no means given IN hope Of effect
Ing = settlement and vas determined
that It shall be reached II possible. be-
fore the representatives OF both sides
10 here leave Washington.
In their Informal statements the rail-
road officials insisted on arbitration on
the ground that II they gave In this
time II wou'A mean the abandonment Of
the principles Of Arbitration. and because
they feared that II they granted the eight
hour day with Its consequent added ex-
psnses without resort to arbitration II
would prejudice any appeal they might
make later to the Interstate Commerce
Commission for higher freight rates.
On the surface. the threatened strike
appeared nearer to-day thar at any time
since The negotiations at the White
House began. but Administration officials
esntinued to believe some concessions
WVUIu DC Whue anu mat cSoutuaiy tuoI
would be an agreement.
Having accepted the Presidents plan
Of settlement the committee Of employees
took no further action tonight and
awaited developments. They were ex-
pecting summons to the White House
again after the conference tomorrow.
Conference Lasts About a HouP.
The group OF railroad presidents and
ofhcials who came here In answer to an
Invitation from the President conferred
with him less than al hour.
After Mr.. Wilson had explained his
plan. Mr.. Holden. informed the President
that the officials present could speak
only for their individual roads IND that
tho conference committee Of managers
was the only body with the power Ia
accept or reject proposals.
The President explained that he had
drawn UP the plan because he thought
n fair. and because he believed q way
must be found for averting a strike. He
urged the officials to demonstrate q
spirit OF concession to assist him In
settling h controversy. Tonight the
railroad officials held another long con.
ference at their hotel.
Some of the presidents expressed the
conviction Tonight that the negotiation,
with the White House would not be con-
cluded In a few days and that zach poin,
involved would be thoroughly considered
BY the executive heads Of the roads be.
fore any deinlt position 10 taken
While the presidents have kept In touch
with the situation as II developed here
II was said tonight their attention hat
hAAn IarOolV nArfnnrU a~l sA.,. Al