Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-09-26
GARY DECLARES OPPOSITION 10 MEETING UNION Question Of Moral Principle Can mol Re Arbitrated, Steel
 Head Says. fSSI TES WARNING
 AGAINST R4DIGALISM We Must Re On Our Guard To Pro feet Our Property and Social
 Structures He
 States.

New York. Sept 2h.-After being shown an Associated Press dispatch quoting John Fitzpatrick, director general of the steel strike, as saving the walkout would end immediately if the United States Steel corporation would arbitrate differences, Ebert H. Gary, directing head of the cor poration, declared in q statement to- night, speaking for himself, that he believed the board of directors "can- not negotiate or confer with Alr. Fitzpatrick or his associates"
 MT. Gary was shown the dispatch while he was attending a dinner given here today by Baron kondo, president of the Japan Mail Steam ship company, and was asked to make some comment. Breaking the silence he has maintained since the beginning of the strike, MT. Gary wrote statement while seated at the table and then, calling the news papermen into the hall read 1t to them.
 His statement to the press was:
 "The board of directors of the United States corporation are the representatives of nearly 10000 stockholders, including from 60,000 to 10000 employees. We are their servants and are selected to protect their interests and also the inter- ests of all of our 250,000 employees, the majority of whom l think are not members of labor unions.
 Moreover, l believe our corpora tion is under great obligations to the general public concerning the issues involved in the pending strike. In these circumstances, l would not at present asume to answer the ques tion propounded to me.
 However, l will say for myself that questions of moral principle cannot be arbitrated nor compro- missed and, in my opinion, such ques- tions are included in the present struggle. l also think we cannot patrick and his assistants as unlon negotiate or confer with MT. FltZ- labor leaders concerning our em- ployes whom these gentlemen have volunteered to represent"
 MT. Gary, who was the principal speaker at the dinner, referred i'll his address, to the brief session he had with the newspaper men.
 My mind is somewhat perturbed by an incident which occurred dur ing the course of the dinner" he said, and after reading the state ment he had issued, continued;
 Bolshevist Danger.
 "Now you, as part of the general public, must approve or condemn what l have been called upon to say.
 l can only say that you who know the issues involved, know full well that if the strike succeeds, 1t pro bably would be the beginning of an upheavel which might bring upon all of us grave and serious conse- puences And you know that the questions involved in this strike, which is led by Foster, an acknow- ledged revolutionist, are higher than the interests of the United States Steel corporation"
 MT. Gary, who was greeted warm ly when he was introduced, received added applause when he referred to the subject of "radicalism."
 'We do not know what IS m
 front of us," he said. q am
 not an alarmist; l am an opti-
 mist. Certainly, l have the good
 sense to speak optimistically on
 pessimistic subjects. But, l
 want to say that this is very
 serious period in the worlds
 history and hope it is not cri-
 tical I hope these statements in reference to the distribution
 of propaganda dealing with the
 doctrines of anarchy and bolshe- vism have been exaggerated. But there is such propaganda
 and there are men, l am told,
 distributing literature of the l.
 w. w., receiving their pay from
 funds sent here by Russia. We
 must open our eyes to the situa-
 ton and protect our property l and social structures against | them"