Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1918-04-26
A Dream Comes True.

Rip! Crash! Bang! The lid is off.
Figuratively if not literally speaking,
the lid has been torn off the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad system. The shackles
so long worn by the shopmen en-
ployed by. this tyrannical railroad
have been loosed. At last they are
free men, and tasting the joy of free
dom, they are determined never again
to return to bondage. To insure
against this they are joining forces
with the great American labor move
ment-the real emacnipator of hun
dreds of thousands Of wage slaves
while their former masters stand by
gnashing their teeth and foaming at
the mouth with rage, so to speak,
HELPLESS to stem the tide tide Of or
ganiZation.
In past years many unsuccessful
attempts were made to organize the
shopmen employed by the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, the company frustrat-
ing every plan devised to accomplish
this result. Time and again organ
izers who endeavored to preach the
gospel of trade unionism to men en-
ployed in the shops Of the company
have been slugged and beaten by the
Pennsylvania "bulls." Employees who
dared to join a labor organization
were discharged and blacklisted.
Freedom, so far as the employees of
this company were concerned, was a
mockery. Their freedom was of
brand prescribed by the company.
Their every act was regulated by this
octopus, whose tentacles extended
into the home, the school, the church,
the legislature, the courts; yes, into
the very halls Of congress itself.
The word of the Pennsylvania Rail
road, so far as it's shop employees were
concerned, was law. To violate it's
law brought punishment swift and
sure. The company made no bones of
its opposition to organized labor. It's
representatives brazenly testified be-
fore the United States Commission on
Industrial Relations that it's employees
were not permitted to become men,
bers Of labor organizations connected
with the American Federation of La
Dor, and acknowledged the company
was prepared at all times to combat
by armed forces, if necessary, any at
tempt to organize its employees. No
good purpose would be served by re-
lating the brutal methods employed
by this company in dealing with those
who had the temerity to organize the
shopmen, as their attitude toward or
ganized labor is a matter of COM
mon knowelge.
However, almost in the twinkling
of an eye this condition was changed.
With Uncle Same in control-Which
means the people-the barriers are
broken down, the oppressor is van
quished. The naughty men who held
CHG u0SIlIy VI LIOu0dHCS VI IOllSIS III
the hollows of their hands have been
shorn of their power. A new force is
at work, not for private but for pub
lie interest. This force is represented
in the person of Director General of
Railroads w. G. McAdoo, who, when
he speaks, does so with authority.
Of the several orders he has issued
regarding the management of the
railroads, none are as far-reaching or
more important than order No. 8,
'To correct wrong impressions that
may exist regarding the employment
and conditions of labor in railway
service" Clause of this order reads
as follows:
"No discrimination will be made in
the employment, retention or condi-
tions of employment of employees be-