New-York tribune., 1920-07-10
Corporations
all Anti-l Union
Fund q Myth
Morrison Charges Denied
BY Railroad Heads and
Oahcrs He Accused Of
War Against Open Shop
labor Chief Stands Firm,
ReDeats Statement Alleging
Nationwide Conspir-
acy by Big Business

=
representatives Of big employers OF
,.bor united yesterday in branding as
disc the charge of certain labor union
.neials that moneyed group here is
,.,sinx fund Of ss,ooo,ooo with which
q begin. what is to be nationwide
seht on. union labor and the closed
shop
Despite these denials, Frank Morri-
SON, secretary of the American Feder-
stion Of Labor, said last night in
washington that information upon
which the charges were based had long
heen in possession of officials at the
4. +. Of L. headquarters. He thought
/ there was no doubt of its validity.
Among those who denied Mr.. Morri-
sons charges yesterday are Presidents
4. d. Smith of the New York Central,
8. Is. Loomis of the Lehigh Valley, Will
ian G. Besler of the Central Railroad
of New Jersey, Judge Ebert H. Gary
Of the United States Steel Corporation,
4. c. Bedford, chairman of the board
Of directors ofthe Standard Oil Com
pany of New Jersey, and the Citizens
TRANSFORMATION Committee All of these
we're mentioned in Mr.. Morrison's orig
inal statement.
Samuel Rea, president of the Penn
sylvania, who was also mentioned by
Mr.. Morrison, was not in the city yes
terday, and efforts to reach him at his
once in Philadelphia were unavailing.
Smiths Denial
Mr. Smith said:
II have read with interest in one of
the morning newspapers a story from
Washington, attributing to Frank Nor
rson, Of the American Federation of
Labor, the statement that fund of
s5.000,000 has been raised by organized
business interests to combat organized
labor and spread the doctrine of the
eiuding myself, are named by Mr.. Nor
rison as having sat with the Citizens
Transportation Committee in a discus
sion Of the coming fight and with hav-
Ing underwritten the $5,000,000
IF this story is no truer in other
respects than in it's reference to me
it is entirely imaginative. I have not
underwritten any fund of $4,000, 900.
have not attended any meeting, any,
where, where such a proposal was even
discussed. l did not sit with the Citi-
zens' Transportation Committee, nor
have | heard that committee or any
one else talk about fund to fight
lahor l am kept busy helping to run
railroad.
"Such false reports. printed without
sny effort to determine the truthful.
ness by inquiry among those, men,
content at a time when the country
tffv
cooperation"
The following statement was issued
at the Office of W. G. Besler, president
of the New Jersey Central, in his alb
sence from the city:
sMr. Besler has never been connected
With any fund to fight, organized labor
that lived up to its contracts. l am
satisfied if he had seen that article in
the paper he would have been as much
amazed as we were. Our employees
have been organized for years, and Mr..
Besler has always dealt with them on
the basis of amity and cooperation"
Mr.. Loomis issued the following
signed statement:
Neither the Lehigh Valley nor l
personally have underwritten or made
any contributions to any fund to be
used in opposing labor organizations.
Aside from this, can only say that
an and always have been in favor of
an open shop. Under the closed shop
system the labor leaders alone are per-
mitted freedom of action. Men may
organize if they care to, and am not
opposed to unions which fulfill their
contracts, but l firmly believe that
every man has the right to say for
himself whether or not he will be
member of a union, and that the fact
that he is not member should be no
bar"to his right to work"
Judge Gary said:
There is no foundation for the
statement. We have made no contri-
button whatever"
Standard Oil Denial
Mr.. Bedford, for the Standard Oil
Company, said:
This company has neither directly
Tor indirectly contributed one dollar
toward any such fund and, so far from
ending any encouragement, it is not
aware Of the existence of any organi-
zatlon OF manufacturers, or others, de-
signed to combat trades unionism.
We are able to claim great meas
use Of success in cooperating with
our employees through our industrial
presentation plan, which permits of
the widest freedom on the part Of the
employees in advancing their individ-
lai and collective interests, and the
oasis of that plan is as stated at its
inauguration: No discrimination is to
De made on account of membership or
non membership in any church. So
clety, fraternity or union.'"
:. In the absence of William Fellowes
Morgan, chairman of the Citizens
transportation Committee, Walter
0ordon Merritt, counsel for the COM
mittee, said:
There is not scintilla of truth in
any OF these statements. Neither the
Standard Oil Company nor the United
states Steel Corporation has contrib
uted penny to the committees cam
pslgu Our movement is bipartisan
N its character and is being conduct
60 by committee composed both of
Mepuolieans and Democrats, and
snarges to the contrary are obviously
assigned .s, to promote political inter-
The movement is not designed to
osssroy labor unions, for the members
" the committee and the business
men OF New York believe in labor or
s1anlaatlons. They would not destroy
aoor unionism If they could. The
question of the open shop or the closed
sngp does not enter into the commit
sees calculations, for its objective, as
;'asee IN its declaration of principles,
- 70 secure impartixi and uninterrupt-
= service on the part of transporta-
~ ion facilities and to protect the pub
as y, against discrimination on the part
~ NJ: those transportation facilities
sh Jmcn refuse to haul non-union mer-
~ sahanoise or serve connecting facilities
sIsre non-union mon are employed.