Evening journal., 1920-10-29
Chapter Y
BY MARSHALL OLDS
CopyrIght ig2o. New York TrIbune

VI Wuih uu1 Cost TIE country lnle-
diately hundreds OF millions of dollars.
II Lhsse labor leaders could have
continued to stop this mere 2 per
cent OF our industrial production
they would have stopped Americas
lOial income. II they could actually
STOP this mere 2 per cent Of our pro-
ductlOn AOnly long enough to exhaust
our reserve supplies Of coal, every
man in the country but The farmer
would have been out OF a Job and
every city in the country would have
been depOpulated.
The railroads, though in a different
way. are every bit as vital as the coal
supply, not only to the industrial but
no the human life of the country
Actually stop railroad operation for
the few weeks necessary 10 exhaust
the limited food supply on the gro
Gers shelves and i'm The warehouses,
ana every man, woman and child in
every big city in the country would
| have to board out OF hire out on some
farmland most Of them would have
TO walk 10 get there.
But strikes that attempt to tic up
the whole coal industry or the rail-
roads are too much ike conspicu-
ously holding a dagger at the nations
| Industrial heart. They incite imme-
diate resistance by the whole coun-
try, and though the country may sur
fer severely in the struggle, as IL did
/ in the coal Strike, such a strike is
too utterly audacious really TO sue
coed.
II The coal strike may be likened
| 10 holding a dagger at the nations
Industrial heart. where the very con-
spicuousness Of the strike aroused in
stant general resistance, the outlaw
railroad strike might be likened TO the
sticking OF fine needles into one after
another Of the vital nerve centers
along the spinal column and quickly
pulling each out again so soon as the
act was discovered.
The outlaw railroad strike repre-
sents the development Of a new
ls.rategy OF strikes which. unless the
American people understand its meth
cd and its aim, may make strikes 0f
the future as much more expensive
than present Strikes have been more
costly than those Of the past.
The basis Of this strategy was IFS
inconspicuousness. 1t carefully
avoided ever at any one time calling
out any great number OF men. IL did
not wan. the public TO become
aroused as It had been in the coal
strike. 10 did everything possible
TO keep from the public any inkling
OF how vital and costly this strike
was planned to be.
Instead, it called out only small
bodies Of men at a time-somelimes
very small bodies OF men-now herr,
now there, but always exactly when
and where they could do the utmost
damage.
II some special yard at some ter
minal point was having a speciality
heavy run OF tra1io, righ. at the
height OF Il the locomotive firemen
would be called out. The engineers
and conductors and swtchmen and
brakemen would all be at their posts
/ so that only a fifth Of the men
perhaps not more than a few Dozen
would be on strike. but without the
flremen, and particularly because none
OF the other men would dare break
union rules to substitute as flremen
the trains could not be operated and
the whole yard would become hope
lessly congested.
But so soon as the particular strike
and the actual results il was having
began TO get the public's notice, ths
men would go back to work and an
other specially busy freight yard al
some distant, entirely different poin.
would be selected. Here, except
that perhaps the brakemen instead
OF the fremen would be called out
the whole program would be exactly
, repeated
D, This strategy OF strikes OF course
did not keep freight from coming
: through in large quantities. II as
not intended that 70 should. II freight
had been consp cuously held UP al
81 any one time this would have aroused
public opinion 90 the real state Of az
fairs and some definite solution mighl
q have been found.
Instead. this policy was ounninglN
calculated merely persistently, par
+ TALLY TO paralyze trafilc. For persist
b. emily. partially paralyzing traflI
D. meant persistent partial starving
5 OF industry. which is far more pun
b. ishing and costly TO industry, and s,
5 to the whole public. than any euddeI
5 stopping Of trafllc could be.
5 That this is true is conspicuousl,
evidenced by the fact that while ihl
Z produCiion Of coal was virtlal,
r slonpcd by the coal strike the pric
1 did moi 90 up more than a few dol
r lars a ION. the persistent partial star
b. walton OF the coal market over a pe
r riod OF several months sent the pTic
!, of coal that cost S3.75 ton at IN
a mine 10 S22 a ton and up in New
e England.
There are two reasons why persist
S eni. partial starvation, is most punish
( ing ana costly. One is economic an
s The other is psychological. Both IN $
$ reasons must be clearly undersioc
o before the insidious danger OF lhi
p new type Of strike strategy can b
n really appreciated.
S n Is q well-knOwn economic nrinri
d PIE That shortage invariably advance
- nriecs ont Of all nrOnortiOn n fh
t actual amount Of shortage.