The sun., 1919-09-18

forward to except the recording Of the
general strike vote by the Central
Labor Union on Sunday, when every
local union affiliated with the American
Federation OF Labor will have taken
referendum vote, upon the question Of q
general strike. It is impossible to pre-
dict the result. , .
Can Delay General Strike.
Mr.. Gompers Is not willing that any
thing radical be done here or elsewhere
until after the labor conference In
Washington next month. This may lead
to a difficult situation for the Boston
Central Labor Union n majority Of the
local unions want to strike. There are
of course, ways of delaying action. The
Central Labor Union can set date for
the general strike. 1t may set II for
some day late In October, which win
give the city something TO think about
IN the meantime.
THE SUN was informed to-day by one
Of the most influential and conservative
labor leaders now in Boston that there
will be a general strike here unless some
wholly unforeseen thing occurs to pre-
vent II
There is talk to the effect that the
Central Labor Union, II empowered by
the votes Of the. local unions, may set
a date for the general strike within a
week after the vote is tabulated, ana
that the strike may take effect before
the capital and labor conference IN
Washington, so that the conferees may
have some object lesson to tSure on
something to steer by. 81.
Guy Oysters statement gave no nint
OF such a course. II clearly defined the
American Federation of Labors attitude
upon the situation here, and great sig
niflcance IL seen In the fact tnat MT.
oyster, not an officer Of the federation
but Mr.. Gomperss personal representa-
tive. should have thus broken his silence.
Statement Outlines situation.
His statement reads:
whatever else has resulted from this
unfortunate situation in Boston, a condi-
ton with reference to the treatment OF
the Boston police force has been DIS
closed Of which few citizens were aware
and Of which the officials In charge might
we'll have been ashamed. The prompt
ness with which the Governor has un-
dertaken to see that at least some OF
these conditions might be corrected 10
confession that n state Of things existed
before the police took action that Jusu-
fed the policemen In their enort 10 I'M
prove them.
Their grievances were many and al
most intolerable, long hours, ten ana a
half to seventeen hours per day: wages
| insufficient to maintain o decent stand
ard Of life. insanitary station houses,
unsatisfactory working conditions and
the denial of rights enjoyed by practi-
cally every other police force These
facts are acknowledged even by the Po-
| ice Commissioner. These conditions
were not bettsred by tho thirteen years
effort Of the Police Social Club
when the present Police Commits
sioner came into office one Of his nrst
acts was to ignore the social club alto
gether, and in It's place he inaugurated
system Of his own for presenting griev.
ances which proved unsatisfactory and
no real benefit
| Puts Blame on Commissioned. =
1.-THE men organised and applied for
a charter from the A r. Of l. In order
to make their voice heard, and 1t wat
heard all over the country, where the UNI
| happy lot of the policemen Is now recefv-
Ing the thoughtful consideration which
they never could have obtained except
as a result OF the stand taken by the RED
blooded Americans of the Boston police
force.
IT am assured that not one Of the mer
had the faintest idea that the regrettablt
conditions caused by the Commission
er's negligence could occur. The mer
were aware that a large number of 20
licemen would remain on duty and thess
men, am told. were sufficient to hav,
controlled the situation II properly utii
ICED. Moreover. nineteen of the men die
not strike, but were kicked out and arr
now looking to the American Federation
OF Labor for financial assistance.
The policemen were forced. to or
ganixe In utilization with the Ameri
can Federation Of Labor to be heard