Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-06-26
EFFORT TOCET yARDMEN BACK
 ON J0BSFAILS
hamber Committee Makes Thorough But Unsuccess-
 full Attempt.
WILL NOT
 MEET E. R. T. BODY
As Result fl Men Remain Out On Cotton Belt While Iron Noun. tain Employees Still Are
 Unaffected.

tnaI IcctcH.
 1 After holding several meetinps veq- ! terday afternoon, and after further reconciliation last night at the Hotol 1 fines between committee from the Chamber of Commerce and one from the new yardmen's organization, no agreement was reached and the switchmen here are still on "vaca. tion.' It is estimated that A yardmen are out who were employed by the Cotton Belt, with none of the Mis- souri Pacific yardmen yet out.
 Members of the yardmens commit- tee meeting with the committee ap- pointed by the trustees of the Cham Der of Commerce, for the purpose of trying to effect harmony, last night refused to meet with the committee appointed by the Brotherhood of Rail- way Trainmen. The three commit tees were scheduled to meet together at the Hotel Pines for the purpose of deciding on some move toward better ] ing the working conditions and sala- ries of the yardmen. But on account of the fact that the yardmen say that the E. of k. T. are unfair toward them the yardmen refused to open negotia- tions if the B. of k. T. committee par ticipated in the deliberations. The consultation last night, therefore, was held between the Chamber of Com- merce committee and the committee appointed by the yardmen.
 The Chamber committee was com- posed of H. c. Fox, E. M. Schober, J. E. Smulian, Henry Marx, Garland Brewster, J. F. Mcintyre and Mayor M. c. Hollis. In addition, President T. J. Collier and Manager E B. Bloom were present.
 The yardmen committe was coinpos- ed of c. H. Young, John Durham, T. C.. Brumley, V. A. Howell, c. V. Mur- phy, R. G. Mitchell, Joe Reynolds and 0. r. Ferguson.
 1 The B. of R. T. committee appointed yesterday afternoon at meeting of the E. of k. T. in the K. of F. hall. which committee the yardmen re- fused to meet, was composed of tho following men: w. D. Jackson, J. T. Barker, w. F.. Burges, G. M. Seawell and H. L. Mcdonald. The latter three men are Pine Bluff men, Burgess . brakeman, Seawell and Mcdonald, yardmen. Barker is from Texarkana and is general chairman of the Cotton Belt line. Jackson is from Little Rock and is general legislative chairman for the B. of R. T. in Arkansas and head of the organization in the state.
 Proposals Fail.
 Jackson returned to Little Rock last night and Barker remained.
 The meetings yesterday resulted from practically every Cotton Belt switchman taking vacation" yester- day morhing at 10:15 o'clock. Those who quit work are members of the new organization known as the St. Louis Yardmen's association, recently formed here by R. J. Balsbaughs who is said to be still. in Pine Bluff. I The committee from the Chamber of Commerce, representing about 1000 Pine Bluff business men, assured the yardmen that it was in thorough sym- pathy with them and that it thought they ought to receive raise beyond the average pay of $5 a day now re- ceived. The committee stated, how ever, that it thought the yardmen ought to try to retain the sentiment of the public on their side by going back to work and by waiting for the wage scale board to make a satisfac- tory report. It was the opinion of the committee that the yardmen would lose in the long run if they persisted lin the contemplated vacation" with resultant tie-up of traffic.
 Spokesmen for the yardmen, chief of which was T. c. Brumley, presi- dent of the new Yardmen organiza- tion and recently discharged by the Cotton Belt, retaliated by stating that \ the railroads were underhanded in their treatment of switchmen and that switchmen have endured for many years, and that "now we must bring the pressure that vii keep us from . starving and will enable our families to wear decent clothes.
 ! It was proposed to have the cham Der of commerce committee wire the I Wage Board and Cotton Belt officials [ asking increases for the yardmen. It was also proposed to have members selected both from the chamber com-s mittee, the Yardmen committee and the B. of R. T. committee, and let these representatives get together and draft the proper messages. But the yardmen refused to go into the move with the B. of R. T. men participate ing, and the meeting wound up with . nothing done.
 I After the session had adjourned the chamber representatives made the fol- ! lowing statement: "We put in prac- tically the whole day in efforts to render service toward settlement and the yardmen refused to treat with the B. of R. T. We feel that it will bes an injustice to take either side Fl | (Continued on Pare 0)