The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1917-03-22
REJECT PRO.
posAL OF ROADS THAT CON-
rRovERSY BE SUBMITTED
TO COMMISSION.
Will SON MAY APPEAL
TO PATRIOTISM OF THE MEN
President Is Expected to Urge Brothen
hoods Not to Tie Up Transporter
ton Facilities Now with the
Country Facing Great In
ternational Crisis.

New York, March 16.-A "progres'
sive" of the 100000 members OF the
four great railroad brotherhoods, to
begin at 6 O'Clock p. m. Central tlme)
Saturday on eastern roads, has Deen
ordered.
The walkout will extend to all the
railroads of the country within nve
DAYS. The railroads of the North
west go out Sunday.
Chiefs of the workmen's organlza'
tons set the strike machinery IN mo-
tion within few minutes after an
| ultimatum delivered to the confer
ence committee of railroad managers
had been rejected.
A compromise proposal offered by
the managers was declined without
debate.
President May Appeal.
ONLY successful intervention by
President Wilson, it appears, can
avert a strike. The brotherhood lead
ers gave no indication that even an
appeal from the nations chief exec
utive can change their purpose to OBJ
tain basic eight-hour day and pro
rata time for overtime through the
use of the protective feature OF
their organizations.
They refused fatty to submit their
case to the eight-hour commission
headed by Major General George w.
Goethals or to await the decision OF
the Supreme court on the constitu'
tionality of the Adamson law.
Freight employees, yardmen and en-
CINE hostlers on the New York Cen
trail lines east and west, the Nickel
Plate and Baltimore & Ohio railroads:
and in the great yards in Chicago
and St. Louis, will be the first to
leave their posts.
They will be followed by the same
classes of workmen on Northwestern
roads, the Southern Railway, the Nor.
folk & Western, the Virginian and
the Chesapeake &, Ohio.
Freight Traffic Involved First.
No formal outline of the brother
hoods program was made either to
the managers or to the public. 1t
was said, however, that the freight
employees on the other roads would be
called out in groups at IL or 24-hour
intervals. If the paralysis Of freight
traffic thus caused does not result in
surrender by the railroads employees
on all passenger trains will be order
ed out.
The railroad managers said they
expected enough of their men would
remain loyal to enable them to main
tain skeleton service on most roads.
The managers some time ago caused
a census of employees to be taken to
determine how many would refuse to
60 on strike. This resulted, it was
said, in varying percentages, ranging
from a very few on some roads to-
from so to 60 per cent on others.
The managers estimated that be-
tween 10000 and 100000 men are en-
ployed on the roads on which the
strike Is to begin. If the men ask
another conference it will be grant
ed. They said they would make every
effort to operate their roads in spite
of the strike Preference will be CIV
en- to the movements of trains car
rying food and fuel.
When the managers, in their coun
ter proposition at the final momen-
tous conference offered to abide by
any decree of the Goethals commits
sion if the Adamson act were declared
unconstitutional, w. G. Lee, president
of the Brotherhood Of Railway Train
men, spokesman for the employees, de-
clared:
THAT would be only another form
of arbitration, and our men are sick
and tired of arhitrati0nn