Denver labor bulletin., 1918-11-23
BOARD CREATED TO PRE-
VENT STRIKES, LOCK
OUTS MAY CEASE.
Many of the Boards Rulings Are
Going to Be Written Into Law
Of the Land: Senate Endeav-
oring to Twist Proposed
New Child Labor Bill.
ny LAURENCE TODD.
Especial Representative The Denver Labor
Bulletln.l

WASHINGTON. Nov. 16.-False
reports have been going out from
Washington to the effect that the joint
chairmen Of the national war labor
board. Messrs. Frank p. Walsh and
William Howard Taft, have called upon
President Wilson 10 abolish the board,
thereby stopping its work as SUI
prcme court Of labor disputes in the
United States.
The fact Is that Walsh and Taft
have sent letter TO the President, re-
minding him that the board was origi-
nally created in order to prevent
strikes and lockouts which would him
der the production of war materials.
and asking when he proposes to ter
inmate its work, in case he does not
propose to continue the work of peace
full settlement of labor disputes.
This letter is simply ''feeler." II
the labor movement of this country
wants the Walsh-Taft board TO re-
main, and will Immediately and en-
phatically Indicate that desire to the
members Of Congress and to the sec
rotary Of labor and to the President.
by resolutions forwarded by wire or
mail. the President will see to il that
Congress provides for the continuance
of the board. II organized labor is
not interested in the board, and does
not find real economy in the methods
of economic struggle which the board
has introduced, then probably the
board will be allowed to die. Detroit
and Seattle, Denver and Duluth. Gin
cinnati and Tolcdo-all Of the central
labor bodies in the East and West
and North and South can get an at
tcntive hearing. in the next few weeks,
for their resolutions on the national
war labor board.
Work Of the War Board.
Sixty-two awards have been handed
down. thus far, by this tribunal. More
than three hundred industrial disputes
have been investigated and are in pro-
cess Of action by the board. More
than eight hundred complaints have
been filed with it for investigation and
hearing.
II is probable that awards will be
made within n week in the Denver
Tramway case. in the dispute over
jurisdiction in the Minneapolis Steel
and Machinery case. and many others
that have hung fire for n long time.
The one big failure of the war Ia
Dor board plan, as drawn originally.
was the attempted establishment Of
subordinate boards in the chief indus
trial cities. One such local board was
organized in st. Louis. II failed to
satisfy anybody. The board finally
came to the conclusion that the only
way in which it could prevent strikes
was directly and in person-never thru
subordinate bodies.
Write Principles Into Law.
Under the recently revised proceed
ure Of the board, case can be hand
led, from inquiry to final award, in
fourteen days. Some of the board
members believe that it will finally
catch up with its accumulated work
Others are not so sure.
In the meantime, the principles upon
which the boards awards are based
have been established in American in
dutsry as the fundamental demands of
the wage workers, which are necessary
to safeguard organization and to ere
ate industrial democracy. These prin-
ciplcs have been drafted into n bill,
which one of the small labor group in
Congress is to introduce in the House,
in the hope of fixing the principles in
the federal statutes.
That some agitation and show of in
dustrial strength will be necessary to
put such a measure thru the new Con-
gress may be guessed from the fact
that even so mild measure as the
anti-child labor amendment to the
pending revenue bill has been twisted
out of shape by its introducer, Sena-
tor Pomerene of Ohio, after the Pres
ident had approved the draft Of the
amendment submitted to him by the
labor lobby and the department Of la
Dor. Yet this present Congress is
much nearer to sympathy with organ
lied labor, apparently, than the next
Congress will be. There is only one
chance that the next Congress is to
be liberal: 1t may be frightened by
the wave Of social revolution in Eu-