New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-12
Railroad Mediators Have
Until 10 A. M. to Induce
Lines to Yield.
ARBITRATION REQUEST
SURE TO BE REFUSED
Men Demand Concessions =
Leaders Scoff at Idea OF
Federal Pressure.

The Federal mediators who are try
INC 70 prevent nationwide s'r'Ne
- 100000 employees on 225 railroads
-. until 10 o'clock this morning to
asor, 70 the four great railway
t-o.berboods an acceptable proposal
s-or, ,he railroad managers. The medi-
,,ors intend to ask the men to consent
- arbitration. The men undoubtedly
will refuse.
/, would not surprise any one who is
familiar with the situation II the
Motherhood chiefs Immediately exer-
c;sed their power to call the threatened
walkout.
The heads Of the unions made no Sc
,re. Yesterday Of their impatience at
,be present delay. G. ". ". Hanger,
ono Of the mediation board, asked the
motherhood presidents and the 500 ad-
iustment chairmen, representing the
eonloves. 10 wait until 10 o'clock this
morning for another meeting with the
hoard and the request was granted re-
luctantly.
Since the mediation conferences be-
gan the union delegates heve received
many kilograms from all parts of the
country criticising them for permitting
the delay.
ave do not intend to wait very long
on the mediators." said Warren S.
Stone. grand chief Of the Brotherhood
Of Locomotive Engineers. even before
the mediators asked for the twenty
four-hour wait. The temperament Of
the men is such that they would not
have waited a minute if we had not
persuaded them to give the medlators
a chance. Personally, / do not care to
carry the strike vote around in my
pocket for any extended period. 1t is
like a stick Of dynamite"
Mediators in Conference.
With this attitude plain, Judge Mar
tin A. Knapp, Judge William l.. Cham
bers and Mr.. Hanger spent all after
noon in their rooms in the Manhattan
Hotel trying TO get a proposal other
than an insistence upon arbitration
from the railroad managers. 1t was
apparent after their one meeting with
the men and two meetings with the
managers that mediation could sue
coed only through concessions from the
railroads
Furthermore, il seemed last night
that whatever hope the mediators had
Of efecting an agreement had van
ished and that they were thrown upon
their last resource-an effort TO get
the employees to consent to arbitration.
That is believed to be the proposal
that will be submitted to the brother
hood chiefs will take il was evident
from the following interview with
Austin b. Garretson, president of the
Brotherhood of Railway Conductors:
"The men think they got the worst
Of the arbitration of the engineers
dispute with the Western roads in
1914" said Mr.. Garretson. Therefore
they are opposed to it in the present
instance They got their fingers burnt
once. and now they are afraid of the
FIRE"
Garretson SCOTS at Force.
Suppose" it was suggested, "that
the President should try TO force arbi-
trauOn by threatening legislation Ihdt
would compel arbitration of railroad
wage disputes"
THAT old chestnut" replied Mr.. Gar
retson, "has had its whiskers trimmed
for the last twenty years. Any legis-
lator who depends upon votes for his
job is mighty careful Of what legisla-
ton he approves when it affects labor"
Mr.. Stone expressed his views on
possible Intervention by the President
in the following way:
81 don't see how President Wilson
can do more than the men who repre-
sent him. If the mediators can't do
anything. ] cannot see how the Presi-
dent can do much"
IL is clear why both sides are stand
ing pat-the railroads for arbitration.
the men for strike. The demands of
me unions for an eight-hour day and
time and half pay for overtime mean
a radical change in the operating
schedules of the railroads involved and
an additional financial outlay estimated
by the railroads at 500, 100000
Even if a compromise award should
result from arbitration. the roads
would probably apply to the Interstate
Commerce Commission for a raise in
rates. An arbitration boards award
would give the roads better argument