Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-31

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had hcan made by the company that if
tho Public Utility Board grants an IN
crease N fare Ia q cents, tho company
Will add cents Ia TIM mems pay, making
50 for the first year, "a for tho second, 30
Tor tho third aud after that 80; also il an
increase in fare to cents (Which has not
vet been asked, however,, = permitted
by the Utility hoard, tho men would be
paid At tho following rate: az cents for tho
first ycar, 80 for tho second, 30 for the
third and 20 after that. The men are now
being paid at the rate of from II To 80
cents
Mayor Lawson asknd whether the
mon wcrr willing TO lot the men on govern
mcnt work walk, and ono replied that
thoy wnrc willing to walk
| Its up to you mon, said Committee
man Ball, in reporting to them the result
of the conference
Ten cents increase" lot Of the men
shouted.
suggestion that the mon go back
to work ut once, pending settlement Of
the difficulty, WAS rejected insisting on a
| ten-cent increase.
Mayor Lawson nskod tho men if they
all prufessed loyalty to the government
and whether they would be willing To see
| TO II that the munition workers get To
| Claymont and New Castle, also whether
they had come to work this morning with
| a previous understanding that they would
demand 40 cents. The men said they
were loyal TO the government
At III 30 O'Clock, no headway having
been made in an effort To have the men
agree To the compnny's proposition. the
mayor and Mr. Bayard returned To the
company's office, where Mr. Wilson was
notified and further effort WINS made To
reach some understanding
AT l.55 the mayor aud Mr. Bayard
returned To the clubroom, where Mr.
BayArd told the men that no decision
had been reached He said Committee
man Bell had given Mr. Wilson very
fair statement of how the men had voted
on the propositions presented tn them
Mr. Bayard said it had been announced
that the men go back to work today and
that the matter be placed IN the hands Of
committee to arbitrate. Some shouted
mo" and some yes, but the "noes''
appeared To be much in thu majority
When vote was taken on the PROPOSE
tion To aYbitrate % men voted for IT. and
two-thrds Of the whole number against.
After the vote bad been announced
while arbitration had for the time being
been rejected somebody suggested that
the whole matter be referred Ia Judge
GRAY to arbitrate, but this was not acted
upon.
The mayor appealed To the men To snow
their loyalty.
j. II Edwards, a conductor, declaring
that the men were loyal. said some Of the
men who ride on the cars and work for the
government beat the company out Of |
fares lie also said that some past adj |
ministrations had made promises 10 the |
men which had never been fulfilled Speak |
ing of the increased cost Of living. me said |
caps, which formerly cost rs cents now
coat 81 so, while uniforms have advanced |
from s. to S2S
Another conference with company /
officers followed, but it was over at 1870, |
when Committeeman Bell informed the
waiting strikers that the committee APP
pointed by the men had decided to have
the men vote by ballot Mt 80 O'Clock. on
the following proposition
10 return To work at once, the company |
agreeing to make an increase Of 6 cents
an hour, dating from May |, payable
next Tuesday, the difference between
d cents increase and the 10 cents now ask
ed for 10 be arbitrated
This ended the morning deliberations
and the men dispersed, many Of those in
leaving shouting To their fellow workers
TO vote mo.
CONSIDERED ny MANUFACTURERS.
The councillors OF the Manufacturers
Association held meeting at noon, to
consider the strike and see whether any
thing could be done to end the trouble.
When informed by MIR Wilson that the
men were going TO vote on his proposition,
no action was taken.
As the government has a right To COM
mandeer railroads and railways, and as the
Traction Co. Is serving munition and
plants, 1t Is possible, IN the
event Of failure to settle the difficulty
quickly, that the government may be
asked 10 take hand In which event 1t
would probably take over and operate
such lines as IT considered necessary for the
eMgencies of the war.
EXTRA MEN FROM snIPYARD.
The report that was current, in regard
to the extra men, was that former EN-
ployes now employed AZ the Harlan plant
of the Bethlehem Steel Shipbuliding Cor
poration, had been gwen runs ahead
of the other extra men yesterday and
had been allowed wage scale OF 80
cents an hour, as against 81 cents, allowed
the regular extra men.
They claimed that the former EN-
ployes had been placed at the head OF the
LIST OF extra men, with the result that
FIVE extra conductors had resigned
Representatives of the traction com
pany denied this statement, saying that
Elk former employees, now working ut
Harlans, had volunteered TO help the
company out yesterday, 1T being a busy
day, and that they were allowed scale
similar to the other employees and no dis
l.. L..
regular extra men.