Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-05-15
RAIL CRISIS NEAR,
|. Mr.. SHEA ASSERTS
Says Workers, Promised Re.
lief, Believe They Have
Been Fooled Again.

| A crisis in the transportation in
dustry is at hand. according to limo
thy Shea. assistant president of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
who yesterday submitted his final ar
gument before the Railway Labor
Board. He added warning that
railway men are Concluding that they
have been fooled again"
Let no man be blind to the fact
that a crisis In the transportation in
dustry is at hand" declared Mr.. Shea
six weeks ago we achieved the al
most impossible feat of persuading
men to return or to continue at work
without securing for them any i'm
mediate relief and with nothing but
promises as to the future. and now
we have every evidence that these
| men are concluding that they have
been fooled again."
| He declared that zone great tfou-
BILE with the American people Is that
they never believe that anything dis
agreeable is going to happen until 1t
has actually happened"
get into the world war until we were
in 1t up to our ears" he said. land
more recently they refused to believe
that there would be steel strike or
| a coal strike until those industrial
disasters were upon US.
Calls Situation Critical.
Now apparently they refuse to be-
(lieve that the railroad situation is
absolutely critical.
1.-THE steel strike cost the country
half a billion dollars at a conserva-
tive estimate. and the coal strike half
as much more. Both could have been
averted. The lesson in the present
situation is obvious.
There Is not even an implied threat
a simple statement OF fact. The rail-
in calling attention to another I'M
lpending industrial catastrophe. 1t is
road workers must have relief, anc
they must be given relief at once.
| Pronteers Are Scored.
There is another phase of the sit
uation to which attention should be
called. Notice has already been
served on the public that whatever
railroad rate increase may be neces-
STATED by increases in wages to rail-
road workers. that increase will be
multiplied four or five times by the
iintolerable burden of the cost Of liv
ing. The public is told that 1t IL help
less to prevent this. If that is true,
it is a sad commentary on our po-
litical Institutions. for 1t means that
| "In this connection. the public
should understand that il it were not
| for the profiteers railroad workers
| could be given q square deal and a
| living wage without any increase in
| railroad rates. Next to wage-earners
and salaried people, the railroads are
| the greatest victims of the profiteers
Railway equipment corporations. the
steel trust. the coal barons and the
| petroleum pirates have grown fat on
| the excessive and unjustifiable profits
they have exacted from the railroads,
| and unless some means is found to
| curb their greed they will gobble up
| the greater part Of the billions which
the railroads must spend for new
| equipment, betterments and materials
Of all kinds during the next few years
"The railroad labor board may not
have the authority to deal with this
phase of the railroad problem. but
I there must be some governmental
| agency that has the necessary power
| and the courage to exercise it"
| Firemen Put in 18th Rank.
In closing the case for his own
Organization Mr.. Shea called the
boards attention to the fact that in
a comparison Of earnings for eight
hours of labor locomotive nremen
rank seventy-seventh In the list OF
the various occupations and INDUS
| tries for which authoritative data
| are available.