New-York tribune., 1918-07-07
Wilson's Request for Authority to Seize Tele-
graph Lines Seen by A. F. of l.. as Executive
Pledge to Support War Board Ruling

s@A 0SAy sAAO FN~Ae~ PSA ~ hA&AA$0 Oa
a drama which was written and
rehearsed many weeks ago. It
was the test Of the unions power
to carry through their campaign.
This is not to say that labor has
taken an unfair advantage. 1t sin
cerely believes that what has come
to it is only the irreducible mini
mum Of industrial justice. 1t has
played its game strictly according
to the rules.
But the evidence indicates that
the unions saw the possibilities Of
advantage to them latent in the War
Labor Boards explicit recognition
of the unrestricted right of union
ization at time when the employ
ers were either ignorant of them or
were patriotically taking their risk
for the sake of industrial peace.
And the union leaders promptly
took the best possible course to de-
velop these possibilities into real
tiles.
Directly the War Labor Board
had become officially established
labor concentrated an attack upon
the Western Union Company, a cor
poration calculated to furnish the
best possible test case, since it was
at once a bitter enemy of unionism
and likely subject for Federal con-
troll. And labor did so in such
way as to create dispute which
would come squarely under a pro-
vision Of the War Labor Boards
programme.
Maneuvring the
Company Into a Dilemma
The leaders opened this campaign
for members, not in the way labor
union usually seeks to gain recruits
in company in which union men,
bership means instant dismissal
quietly and secretly-but with the
utmost publicity. Widely adver-
tised organization meetings were
held on the same day in many cities.
and 100000 Western Union en-
ployes were invited to attend. In
the case of one city at least-that
Of Seattle-fnancial support was
assured to employees who were dis
charged for joining the union. A
few, at least, joined.
The company was then faced with
the dilemma either Of retaining
these employees and thus abandon
ing its traditional policy (and sur
rendering to the union), or of dis
charging them and thus providing
a cause for dispute, on which the
War Labor Board was pledged in
advance to side with the men. The
union counted on the company's
taking the latter course, for Mr..
Konenkamp, its president, publicly
predicted that President Carlton, of
the company, would run true to
form"
And it counted with equal con-
tidence on the inevitable results
which have flowed from his action
and predicted them accurately
month ago at st. Paul. 1t believed
that it's victory was a mathematical
certainty, provided only it played
according to the rules. This it has
done with scrupulous care.
AS a result, president Carlton
has been outgeneraled at every
turn, and has been placed in the un-
enviable position technically, at
least) of defying the Presidents
express request and risking the in
terruption of telegraphic commu-
nication in time Of war. The rules
being observed by the union, a
bloodless victory was assured. The
threatened strike, which it knew the
President could not permit, needed
to be called only to keep the record
straight.
The crux Of the situation, then.
lay in the principles of the War
Labor Board, drawn up last March.
Much has been said concerning this
agency, but its nature and status
have been generally misunder-
stood.
The Composition
Of the Labor Board
The board was composed Of
five representatives of capital, five
of labor, and two of the general
public" one named by each of the
groups. The labor representatives
were appointed by the Federation