Evening star., 1921-04-11

the Labor Boards use. and it was
necessary to use those for the pre-
cedins December. Now the cost Of
living increased considerably from
December. 1920. to June. 1920. and
| the men say that the decrease that
has occurred since June. 1920, has
brought the cost of living no lower
! than it was in December. 1919. In
December. 1919. the increase in the
cost OF living was 99.3 per cent over
1913. and in June. 1920. it was 1865
per cent over 1913.
Face to Face With Issue.
Yet the Labor Board is apparently
lace TO race with the proposition
that if wages are not cut the roads
cannot live. The men have advanced
the argument that the roads. if
properly managed. could save a bill
hon dollars a year. and save them
serves. But that proposition has not
ately.
If the Labor Board reduces wages
, and annu1s the national agreements,
: What are the railroad workers going
to do? Are they going to quit work
and tie up the roads? Let it be said
mere and now, that the great majority
| OF the workers are hoping that such
a contingency will not arise. and they
VIII not be faced with such an al
| Tentative.
If you happen to tackle a radical
among the workers, he will tell you
the men will strike and fight it out
TO the limit. The radical element is
not limited to any locality, but is
more in evidence in the west. The
more conservative men are not max
ing predictions. But Trey are apt to
say:
The best way to Judge the future
| IS py what has happened in the past"
and then to point to the recent Strike
| on the Atlantic. Birmingham and At
lantic road, where the mems wages
! We're cut by the receiver, after the
road had been declared insolvent
Ihere the mon struck and have kept
up the fight. They point also to the
outlaw strikes which occurred last
spring in many parts of the country,
when the men grew impatient be-
cause their demands for an increase
in wages were not granted.
Rules Oppose Sympathy Strikes.
The trainmen-the members of the
four brotherhoods-the men who ac-
tually operate the trains as engineers
hremen. conductors, etc, will Coop
crate as far as they can with the
shopworkers and other employees if
wages are cut TIE brotherhoods do
not countenance sympathetic" strikes
Their rules are against them. The
controversy must be between the
trainmen and the road they are ac-
tually employed by before the strike
is permitted. In this connection it
may be said that instructions have
gone out that the tranmen will CO.
operate with the other workers the
best they can where wages are cut,
but where the cuts do not apply di-
rectly to the trainmen, and that
where wages are cut all along the
line, including the trainmen, there
viii be full cooperation.
The question of wage reductions has
been taken up by the roads all over
the country with their employes-in
many cases no attempt has yet been
made to cut the wages of the train
men. In each case. the road is acting
alone, and each case will go to the
Labor Board-if no agreement can be
reached otherwise-as an individual
case. But if the board decides, in the
case of one road, that wages are to
be lowered. it may be taken as a
criterion Of what will happen on all
the roads. The piecemeal manner in
which the matter may come before
the board for decision may make it
Impossible for anything like nation
wide strike to occur. But il a strike
occurs on any of the great systems,
any great connecting link in the
transportation of the country, great
Public support Sought.
In the controversy between the
roads and the workers both are seek
ing the support of the public. If the
pubic, as general proposition, should
be against the workers. their strike
would be doomed to failure before it
ever began. On the other hand if the
public supports the workers. the rail-
roads will have a tremendous task
cl<
hundreds of millions of dollars and
put them still further in a financial
hole.
One difficulty the men face in win
ming support of the public lies in
the fact that wages in many other
pie generally are making less money
than they did a few months ago.
The farmers, particularly, have been
hard hit in the slump Of business.
Then, too, a railroad strike that
makes shortage of supplies, with
accompanying suffering and iump
in prices, would of itself be unpop-
ular.
Also there is the question of law.
The law provides for labor board
to decide these controversies be-
tween the workers and the roads. It
does not make the decisions of the
board binding, but the implication is
that, after a fair hearing, the board
will decide justly and that the force
of public opinion will back up the
board.
Agreement Relates to ShOpmen.s
The proposed elimination of the
national agreements does not affect
directly the four brotherhoods, but
relates only to the shopmen and
other employees. But the abroeation
of these agreements would lead to
a bitter struggle, just as surely as
a cut in wages. it Is said. The ma
tional agreements cover a vast num-
ber of employees who are vital to
the operation of the roads.
Should the Labor Board decide
against the roads in regard to the ma
tional agreements and the wage cuts
at this time, it may be expected that
the roads will. in the great number
of instances go into the hands of re-
ceivers. In some quarters that would
not be regarded as an unmixed evil
For instance. the failure of the road
would be regarded as a signal for
the government to step in and oper-
ate. The proponents of government
ownership of the roads could scarce
ly be expected to grieve, therefore,
if the roads were forced into a. Do
sition where the government would
have to take this step. Unless there
is some relief for the roads in. the
next few months. it may be expected