New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-18

pointed out 20 him that II would DC
practically the only way LETT TO avold
the calamity. g..
President Wilson has decided not to
confer with the managers committee
again until after he has met the ran
road executives higher up in the com
naries' affairs. His proposition, as out
lived in Tho Tribune this morning, pro-
viding for an eight-hOur day to the men
AZ pro rata overtime, all collateral
issues 10 be determined by a commls-
sion authorized by Congress, was SUP
pit+ed finally TO the managers last
night By Judge William L. Chambers,
one Of the Federal mediators. lhelr
note 10 the President evadlng an an
sver. hut insisting on arbitration, fol~
Tle Presidents telegram to sixteen
of the railroad executives was sent OUT
carly this morning. Il read:
"Discussion Of the matters involved
in the threatened railroad strike has
reached a point which makes II highly
desirable that I should personally con-
fer with YOU at the earliest posslole
moment. and with the presidents OF any
other railways affected who may De I'M
mediatelv accessible Hope you can
make IL convenient 10 come 10 WASH
inGton al once. ,>~,,,,, cON-n
The meeting with the railroad heads
has been arranged for IL o'clock to-
morrow morning. The managers
committee has been in close tele--
pbonic communication with many OF
the presidents since the negotiations
started. and soon after word was
flashed from the White House that
the President had gone over the man
arers' heads individual presidents
began telephoning their representa-
tives at the New Willard to tell them
they we're on their way. 1t was evl-
dent to the most casual observer that
the managers did not relish the Pres-
ident's move. but most of them doubt
ed that it would change the situation
Managers Have the Power.
The managers committee has the
power to act without question, grant
ed by every road that is party 10
the demands of the 100000 railway
employees. Their authority has been
vested in them in writing, and their
decision was intended to be hnal.
What could the presidents do? Ihey
would. of course, meet the President
and then, perhaps, argue with the
managers, but it was pointed out that
such course would be quite lncon-
sistent.
The Presidents telegram was ad-
dressed to the following railway
heads:
Daniel Willard, Baltimore e. Ohio;
Samuel Rea, Pennsylvania; Fairfax
Harrison. Southern Railway; Samuel
NJ. FELTON,, Chicago Great Western;
George W. Stevens, Chesapeake d
Ohio: William Sproule, Southern Pa
cifc; Z. Il. Calvin, Union Pacific; l..
f. Loree. Delaware & Hudson; w. j.
Harahan. Seaboard Air Line; Howard
Elliott. New Haven; b. f. Bush, Mis-
souri, Pacific; A. II. Smith, New York
Central: f. d. Underwood. Erie; Will
lam II. Truesdale, Lackawanna; +. ?.
Ripley, Santa Fe; r. II. Ashton, Chi
cage & Northwestern; A. J. Earling,
Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul.
There was some talk in Washington
to-day that the President might go
beyond the railroad presidents in his
effort to reach the real power behind
the roads. One suggestion was that
he might summon to the White House
some of the leading bankers of the
country. such as j. z. Morgan, and
other Wall Street leaders, but the
railroad men here ridieuled that idea
IT might have gone years ago, they
said. but not in 1916.
The most picturesque incident of the
whole controversy thus far was the
procession Of the six hundred and forty
delegates TO the White House this
afternoon. These delegates, young
men Of few years railroading, gray
haired veterans Of many long runs,
marched four abreast up Pennsylvania
Avenue from the Old National Hotel
II was an impressive parade and Wash
ington recognized it. The line turned
IN around the fountain at the eastern
gate and all were seated in the big
White House room at 3 o'clock.
President Wilson had his proposal
before him in typewriter form. He
greeted the delegation formally and
announced that he had prepared his
plan on the basis Of his investigation
of the last four days. 1t might just
as well have been a college room filled
with students listening to their pro-
lessor. There were no dramatics about
the meeting, unless il was the thing
itself a President Of the United States
appealing TO great body Of labor
leaders.
Plea of the President.
And it was an appeal. When the
President had read to them his pro-
posal and recommended that they &C
cept il, he delivered a speech in which
he pleaded for consideration of the
plan as a President appealing to citi-
zens. He pictured TO them in cold ar
gument the effect of preciptate action
upon the whole country. lie made no
mention of mail trains or milk trains
or the troops on the border He asked
them to agree to the plan simply be-
cause it was fair compromise and
would save the nation from the greatest
transportation hardship in history.
That was not all, however. When he
had finished he told them frankly, in a
tone that rang with determination, that
either side TO the controversy which
threw down the settlement would have
to answer to 1OO.0O0.00O people. whose
welfare was intimately bound up with
the countrys railroads. The threat did
not lose any of its force because some
of the delegates did not keep their faces
straight. The fact that some of them
laughed gave the President to under.
stand. though, that they probably would
not be the ones to face the country's
censure.
Union Men Pleased.
The six hundred were satisfied lot
when they filed cut through the East
Wing of the White House
Gentlemen" said one Of the familiar
leaders as he hurried by 70 get a seat
at the Bijou Theatre, where the six
hundred men met, 81 am like clam
and the rest are clans, too"
"Are you going TO vote for a Demo
cratic PRESIDENT" one of the reporters
asked.