The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1917-05-12
SHORT SKET CHES Of HEADS Of
BIC RAILROAD BROTHERHOODs

Public Opinion, a New York maga-
zlne' contains a very interesting art
!cle IN the May issue. regarding the
neaos of the four big railroad broth
ernoods, Messrs. Garretson, Lee,
stone and Carter.
Appreciatin: that readers Of The
Labor World will be interested in the
article. we print it in full herewith:
ferhaps the most dramatic scene
enacted in Washington in recent
years was the final session between
the railroad hrothcrhoods and the
senate committee on Interstate com.
merce. 1t subjected to an acid bath
and developed four negatives, by a
sort Of darkroom legerdemain, into
four very decided positives in the
, shape Of the brotherhood chiefs,
, Austin r. Garretson, w. G. Lee, War
rem S. Stone and W. S. Carter. TAX
Ing them in the order named, a
writer in The Nations Business,
James B. Morrow, sizes up Carretson,
the siN-foot-two president Of the Or
der Of Railway Conductors, as the
"tallest of the quartet both physically
and intellectually" and as the man
who "dominated that industrially his
torlc hearing 1t was his stirring
plea in behalf of the Adamson law,
more than any other voice of persua-
sion, we read, that brought about the
conversion of congress to the eight
hour gospel of labor. In view Of his
Quaker parents and their early hope
that he would espouse the ministry,
1t is with some surprise that we read:
For three weeks this tall, rangy,
rather stoop-shouldered Iowan, who
talks in Biblical figures and mytho-
logical analogies, came as near to
being the absolute dictator Of the
country as any man may aspire to be.
President Wilson would not admit as
much, but congress did Congress
follo-'ed the will Of this man almost
IN fear and trembling. The four
brotherhoods Of railway trainmen
owe their victory largely to him
alone.
Garrctson Very Versatile.
!, The comrades of Garretson say
'nat ne IS an accurate thinker, a
oA'l'eo ANARCHIST, student Of history
ana economies. materialist and a
sent. aentallst. He calls fact and
poetry into his writings and adj
dresses. and, though not church
mem Der he reads the Bible at his
nome, in his office. during waiting
moments. and often on his travels.
1hat great Book, he says, covers
Tue whole range of human experi-
ences and is the best Of all guides for
warriors. orators. managers and din
lomatlsis. regardless of circumstances
or Centuries
The conductors themselves. think.
Ing men and debating men, as they
SO up and down and back and forth
across the continent on slow freights
last freights, passenger trains and
specials. made no mistake in their
valuation of Garretson. They jumped
MIN over the heads of other officers
IN their brotherhood and elected him
1lrst vlce-president. that he might
the sooner become chief of their
order"
1t is interesting to note that the adj
1ustment of the recent difficulty came
Just ten years and a day after Gar
fetson became president Of the Order
or Railway Conductors at a salary Of
$1,000 year. making him the high
est paid labor leader in the world. In
1911 the union raised it to $500,
and for the next two years voted him
vacation Of three months each, with
*l,oO0 to spend on it. Recently the
union tried to vote him a fixed SAL
AIRY of $4,000. but the Grand Chief
Conductor,' who hates that title,
baked.
W. G.. Icc
1t Garretson was the mouthpiece
and evangelist of the four brother
moods in their great contest with the
railroads. w. G. Lee head of the
brotherhood of Railway Trainmen
tbrakemcn). was their Ethan Allen,
we read. whose demand that the
British surrender Gin the name of the
great Jehovah and of the Continental
congress" would not have been in
congruously voiced by Lee himself.
incidentally. it is the pledge of these
Tour labor leaders that. In time of
war. the railway opera tives of Amer
lea will be with and behind the gov