New-York tribune., 1918-09-17
War Strikers Vote
To Return to Posts,
But Fight at Polls
Radicals Lose When 10y
atty Plea Is Advanced in
Reply to President
Special Dispatch TO The y,ib,,nc


BRIDGEPORT, Conn, Sept. 16.-ln
session that began with a grim, ,tolid
tensity, lapsed for awhile into a sem
blance of opera bouffe and ended upon
a high note of resolve for political re-
prisals, the striking Bridgeport ma
chlnists convened in the State Street
Casino here to-day and fulfilled all the
predictions of their schedule.
BY an overwhelming majority they
registered their decision to bow to the
Presidential mandate and return to
their places in the local munition fac
tories. Tuesday morning they will
march in body to the gates Of the
various works and resume where they
left off at noon. August 80. The night
workers. it was decided, will 60 back
Tuesday evening.
An early attempt by radical mi
norlty to stampede the assembly into a
defiance of the President was promptly
nippeG in the bud-largely through the
influence of Sam Lavit, the local bust
ness agent of the machinists. who has
been leading the strike and who at all
stages to-day held the meeting firmly
in control.
eve went out because conditions
were lntolerable" cried striker with
strong Mitteleuropa accent, leapng,
to his feet as soon as the formal read
ing of President Wilson's proclamation
had been completed. "If we 90 back to
the same conditions it shows the whole
world that we are no better than a
bunch of cowards."
Defiance Is Short-Lived
In the midst Of q roar of cheers and
applause that greeted this sentiment
from all quarters of the big. barn-likc
structure, Lavit whipped off his coat,
grabbed up the gavel and with a
mighty pounding that at length com
manded silence, proceeded to do his bit
| for democracy.
-Four hundred men from Bridgeport
who had got Jobs in New York were
fired to-day" he announced. "as re-
suit of the blacklist that has been set
up against us. This government can
do anything it wants to with us. 1t
can intern us all right here in this hall
! II 1T wants to. Just keep that in mind.
and think twice before YOU speak.
IL regret to say that to certain ex
tent during the days just passed we
have been helping the Kaiser, but that
mas Deen que TO the greed of the en-
ployers. At the same time. still firm
~ believe that the President has been
msinformed, and it's up to us TO LET
him know the facts
"The officers of our own interna-
/ tlonal organization are the men who
have betrayed US. After giving MS
every assurance of their support. thew
crawled out from under and showed the
"hole burden over on to us. And now
We've got to get out as best we can.
i know this Is bitter pill to swal-
iow-and, personally. | can't swallow
it. But before we do ANYTHING else
we've got to get this national Blacklist
off our backs. For that's what the
Presidents done-that's all he's done
he's blacklisted US
Must "Work or Fight"
"once we get out from under that we
can quit here and 90 and get iobs
wherever we please. But we must do
that first if we're goi1c to win our
tight If, as a whole. you'd rather 90
INTO the trenches. why, I'm with you.
ne president has SAID work or
fight
"All right, then, let's fight" thun-
dered score OF voices from the floor.
"All right, if you say So" countered
Lavit. but personally | believe that
we, ought to give this National War
Labor Board chance to undo the harm
it has done. ! don't believe it will ever
dare stick to its present ruling. It's
been given black eve from one end
of the country to the other And be
! lieve the course for US to follow is to
go back and make our appeal for re-
trial to it,"
That speech did the trick. Tumultu-
Gus applause evinced the responsive
ness of the chord it had struck There
after one man after another rose to
utter words of patriotic appeal. Par
tlcularly hearty was the applause ac-
corded one bespectaced striker. who
said:
l 1.-THE xeaAauestloA- Is, are Ye pack