Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1920-04-16
Why the Hesitation?

The nations railroads were re-
turned to their owners March 1,
much against the desires of the en-
ployes who preferred working for the
! government. Scarcely a month later
certain. employees inaugurated a
strike which has become so wide
spread and so serious as to threaten
great cities with starvation.
= The strike has been shrouded in
mystery. the strikers being unwilling
or unable to state exactly. what they
are striking for. The fact that the
strike is not being conducted by the
railroad brotherhoods has stamped
il as an outlaw" and Immediately
suspicion centered on the radicals
and borers from within. whose aim
is averred to be to destroy the unions
themselves.
Now along. comes Attorney Cen
~.rral Palmer with reports from his
agents with which he will prove that
he knew of the plan in advance, and
not only that, but that he knows of
other plans for other strikes to be
rallied later. To quote from a Wash
ington despatch:
He will be able to show that,
through the agency of the I. w. W.,
relationship has been established be-
tween the strikers newly formed
organization and the One Big
Union" as the Canadian. organiza-
lion including /. w. w. membership
is known. He also will be able to
disclose through official reports that
John Grunau, head of the Chicago
Yardmen's Association, the mem
hers of which were the first in the
country TO aVit their post has been
supplanted by ar. active member of
the |. w. w.
Mr.. Palmer has evidence of plans
made by William u. Foster of steel
strike i'll fame, to disrupt the four
great brotherhoods and to organize
all the rail workers into one big
union. Seized documents in posses
sion of the department of justice also
reveal a similar course to be fol-
lowed in other American industries.
I'VE have positive proof of the
plans for this expansion" Mr.. Pal
mer said. II know the dates fixed
for nation wide strikes in other in
dustries and our investigators have
discovered that the fermentation of
these outbursts has gone on exact
~ as in the railroad strike"
Propaganda of l. w. w. origin,
calling upon all railroad workers to
join in asserting their power and
tempting them with the statement
that 1.-The golden opportunity for
which you have been looking has ar
rived" has been found by Federal
agents, and reports tell Of inroads
into the ranks of shopmen in many
centers and of unrest in all.
Now if the attorney general has
known of this impending strike and
has had this information in his
hands it is only natural to wonder
why he didn't present it to the Pres
deRt and Congress to warn them of
the danger and give them time to
make plans for thwarting it or at
least for dealing with it when it
came. Instead Of. that. the govern
ment at Washington presents the
lame and sorry. spectacle Of tardily
getting around to appointing the
railway labor board which was pro-
vided for a month ago. The emer-
gency situation may cause the Sen
ate to jam through confirmation Of
the appointments, which are mostly
of men little known in the nation
and it may result in further delay
caused by Senate debate on the fit
ness of the men to serve.
Leaving aside the reasonable ques-
ton of whether the labor board can
deal effectively with. the situation.
have not the people right to know
why plans were not made and exc
cuted to prevent the tie-up Of trans
portation which this week has wit
messed? -
70 nd fho