New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-04-14

' Il u ~ Il > ID n I "A + Il L.
President Wilson and request Inn to ad-
wise you of the approximate date on
which the Labor Board will be ready to
function.
"'This is in order that they may pass
on the propositions involving the rates
of pay and conditions of employment
of the railroad employees, in order to
dispose of the serious situation that
confronts us at the present time"
Following the conference, Mr. Shea
was asked about the rumors that the
brotherhoods were secretly backing the
strike.
"That is distinctly and cmphatically
a lie" he said. :" know it is being said
and that it is Influencing the strikers,
but there is absolutely TO truth in it.
We realize the strikers, have real
grievances, but they have taken the
wrong way to get them redressed. They
have broken their contracts, and the
brotherhoods will none of them coun-
tenance any such movement in any
way. We are doing all we can to get
the men back to their places and we
will dol all that can be done"
When asked to what extent the I.
W. w. propaganda had figured in the
strike movement here he hesitatcd for
moment.
"There was undoubtedly a strong I.
W. W. influence in the origin of the
strike in Chicago" he replied "The
speeches there and the methods of
work all show the |. W. w. hand. or
course the strike here is an outgrowth
of that. And wherever you find the
attempt to organize a single union in
place Of the crafts unions you can be
sure that there are l. w. WIS behind.
"But want to say this for the men
Of them fine, outstanding Americans
They have been misled, but there is
not a shadow of doubt Of their
loyalty. They proved that through the
war. There is very little of the foreign
element which is usually found in
radical movements. And I believe that
now that they are getting the facts of
the situation they will go back TO work
promptly.
"These men have real grievance
They arc not getting a living wage.
Their wages have not risen as fast as
the cost of living. And there has been
delay after delay in getting hearing
on their demands. This situation
really dates from last summer. when
the sixteen railroad unions formulated
demands and the President promised
that If the cost of living was not re-
duced he would see that that cost was
made the basis for a new wage SCALE
Since then there have been the
delays over the passage of the trans
portation act and the failures of un-
official boards to agree. 1t is only to-
day that the Labor Board which is to
pass on this matter, has been appointed.
That means that there has been nearly
three-quarters of year delay in get
ting justice for them. They have been
rendering loyal services all the while.
in spite Of that"
Mr.. Dodge, of the trainmen, also de-
clared the majority of the strikers
though admitting the suspicion that
|. w. w. influence is being felt
r. Department of Justice agents have
been unable to discover any low. w.
workers behind the strike. though they
have found some radicals involved in
it. according to Alfred Franck, in
charge of the investigation, in place
of Frank Stone, who is ill.
I'VE find no proof of I. w. Wism
in the strike" he said. "Of course
there are few radicals, as you would
expect in any strike, but so far we
have found nothing to show that there
was. concerted action in calling the
strike"
Railroad officials, however, declare
that their information points strongly
to the presence of ]. w. W. workers.
The strikers in their meetings are
acting very much more excitedly and
wildly than they ever do in the
brotherhood meetings" said one such
official. Their leaders are the same
kind of men as Haywood and Foster
and they. are making the same kind
of speeches. You know what has hap
pened TO- their strikes. They were all
This is very much the same kind Of
thing that Debs tried and failed at in
1924" said another railway official
1.-The attempt to organize single union
to take the place of the brotherho ods
is the trademark of all these semi
revolutionary strikes. Debs succeeded
In tying uD Chicago far more seriously
than these men have tied up New York,
and before it was over the state
militia fell down on the job President
Cleveland sent Federal troops to see
that mails were not stopped. That
strike failed completely and Debs' 5
union vanished forever"
Mayor Griffin of Hoboken addresse q
meeting of strikers at the City Hall
Armory there, declaring that he had
: been unable to find out the reason for
the strike and that the public was
: equally mystifed.
with every Legitimate aspiration of
the men | am in hearty sympathy" he
: declared. "But I would like to have
you remember that if this situation be-
] comes serious it will be the workers
2 and the workers families who suffer
I and not the men who sit in swive
chairs.
3 81 would be glad to do anything te