New-York tribune., 1920-03-08

been due In great measure TO skillful
radical propaganda and "borinr.D Tn
radical leaders when they abandoned
their plans for immediate REVOLUTION
last year and turned to the scheme 81
direct action through organized 10.
Dor, paid particular attention to the
railroad unions. These, II they could
% conquered. would form the most ef.
fective force possibfe for tying up The
country in . general revoiutionsrs
strike.
The radical method has been to send
"borers". into the unions, seeking I'd
undermine tho leaders and cain ror.
troll. Since the" e""horer- must be- ahls
to work at the trade Of the union he
joins, the Big brotherhoods Of hiehly
skilled trainmen have peen practically
immune TO these tactics. An aritsto,
may be able to get along a. . machin.
ist or carpenter or trackman, but he
cannot become an engineer in shori
order.
The radicals have had their birpes,
success In the shop unions; It IL, there
that nine-tenths Of the unauthorized
strikes. which are the aurface
symptoms Of radical boring, have taken
place: These unions, too. are closely
associated with one Of the most radical
labor bodies inside the American Fed
Grafton. Of Labor, the Metal Trades
Council, which represents thirty diff
ferent unions. Tho men in railway
employ are not under control Of tho
council. but in their local lodges they
are members Of the same body 90 are
their fellow craftsmen under tho coun-
cils orders. and the contagion has
spread easily and alarmingly. The
Metal Trades Council was deeply in
volved in the Seattle, Winnipeg and
other semi-revolutionary strikes last
year. Stacking and other signs Of
radical agitation have been marked
among Its members, and much Of this
has been caught BY the railway shop
men.
stop" Order Misconstrued
One result has been the calling Of
scores Of shop strikes on the fiimsiest
pretexts. The story 10 told Of ono
such strike. Shorty after the govern
ment took control Mr.. McAdoo. in the
interest Of accuracy, instructed all
telegraphers to send the word stop"
whenever there was . period in the
communication. The labor leader in
one on Of the big terminal shops in .
Western city one day received a mes
things, but through 1t all was the
word STOP" repeated again and again,
in fashion he had never seen before.
After some cogitation he decided that
the general officer wanted work stopped.
but was unwilling openly to break faith
with the government. So strike was
called forthwith and lasted till a man
from Washington could get out and
explain.
Another source Of trouble has been
the new organization of maintenance
Of way men. These adherents are q
mixed lot, and the task of holding
them into an organization Of any kind
is almost impossible Of accomplish
ment. The leaders have apparently de-
cided that this can best be done by
preaching radicalism.
One result of all this-the boring
and the seepage Of radical ieas into
the unions-has been a constant driv-
ing Of the leaders, which often drives
them beyond their own wish and judg-
ment. The four brotherhoods are ex-
cepted. But in other unions, if the
leader wants to hold his place, he often
is forced to do something spectacular
If he fails to act real radical will
get his place, 30 most Of the leaders in
this position have done what seemed
necessary. This has been one Of the
reasons for the series Of bluffs which
have been made recently.