The Washington times., 1916-08-23
prepered to teport deel.ion on an ae.

eeRsspe! plan.
Of the smaller committee. I'VE do not
desire to buck up agaisnt the Presi-
dent on this matter. We want to find
r,s %ofsn snd m1st
protect IL. For that reason we are
striving earnestly to work out a plan
that Will serve this purpose and at the
p lame tiWs meet the demands Of the
BE DECLARED positively there would DO
no conccding by Individual railroads.
wisnS s'h s .s,ct aens,b by all; .,a
Evidence Of Disagreement.
Marked evidences Of disagreement be-
gan to appear today among the sixty
railway presidents gathered here. They
have no solution for the situation Presi-
dent Wilson called them here to help
solve. They are divided among them
selves and unable to agree on q pro-
posal that might soften the effect of
the Presidents plan for averting a ma
tlonal railroad strike.
Still holding out against acceptance Of
the eight-hour day, they do not exhibit
the defiance that was notable when
scheme for settling the question.
Some even are talking among them
selves Of agreeing to the eight-hour iay
and letting the consequences take care
Let the result be on the Presidents
head" they gay. These, however. in
clude few Of the presidents Of the bigger
The latter are working as hard as they
ever worked In their lives. to- avoid
making the concession. They toiled late
into the tropical night and were at 1t
again in the hot haze Of early morning
today.
The object Of their efforts IL a tan
gible counter proposition that will en-
body something of the Presidents pur-
yet save. the situation for the railroads.
They face the fact that. failing to
find such counter proposition, they
can expect only strong insistence from
the White House that they accede fully
70 La es last nsSt H fs &S n of the
Burlington; r; 8; Lovett. Union Pacific.
AND AND d RSoe saw ws sse of M Ss or are
hour. Willard. alone Of the three. 1t
is said. has been inclined the past two
days to accept the Presidents PROPOSE
tion. He has been aligned to some ex-
eastern States. including the Southern.
In this respect.
Unless Roadway Is made today. there
are indications that some Of the rail-
roads may act independently in accept
ing or rejecting the Presidents pro-
posal. Against precipitous action OF
this nature. every effort was being
made late Yesterday and last night.
II was pointed out that such action
victory for the President. II the Balti-
more and Ohio or the Southern or both
should agree to the Presidents plan. It
would practically force other Eastern
and Southern roads. at least. to do like
Willard particularly Is said to feel that
rsther than endanger the business and
safety Of the nation; the roads should
Should agree individually to do so. II
would mean that every road In the ans
thracite fields must follow.
Opposition From West.
The great opposition to accepting the
elsht-hour day proposal comes from
the Western chiefs. They claim that
agricultural communities in their coun-
try are against the principle Of the
eiEht.hour day as applied to railroads.
that shippers won't stand for rate in
creases. and that they'll md plenty OF
public support In case they prefer
As the big chiefs struggled along to-
day belief prevailed that negotiations
wouldn't run into their ANAL stages be-
fore tomorrow night at the earliest: IN
the meantime some of the brotherhood
delegates are getting a little restless.
It's costing the brotherhoods $Sooo q
day to tarry In Washington. awaiting
the decision of the railroad executive.
At least, that's tho estimate Of the
railroad presidents. and they figure the
longer the brotherhoods stay. the cooler
the strike vote gets, and ting faster the
expenses accumulate the more disposed
the brotherhoods will be to talk tur-
key" when 1t comes to the show-down.
strike fund OF the brotherhoods, estt-
mated at approximately four millions,
10 being reduced at the rate Of 1900
a week. Should a strike occur and the
81 day benefits paid the 100000 men,
bers of the brotherhoods. two weeks
would find the brotherhood treasury
in a depleted state.
On the other hand, as a member of
the Presidents Cabinet said today. a
strike would result In a loss to the rail-
roads of millions a week. Tho loss to
shippers and manufacturers could
hardly be estimated.