The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-21
lESCH-CUMMINS
LAW MAY HAVE
TEETH PUT IN
Such Step Is Iueuita-
bic If Rail Strike
Is Called.
BIZ DAVID LAWRENCE.
Copyright, 1921.
Especial to The Argus

I
| labor faces decisions far more i'm
portant to its welfare than cuts in
wages if a strike should be called
in defiance of the edict of the United
States railread labor board
| Having in mind all eventualities,
/ the administration is canvaSsing the
alternatives in the event that a
strike should be persisted in after
! the railway labor board has done all
! that it can to adjust the contro-
yersy For the fact is the Esch-
Cummi1s law which created the la
I Dor board did not provide penalties
| for violations of it's decisions: Pres
! ident Harding hopes that public
opinion will provide the penalty
that recourse to the courts will be
unnecessary. Needless to say, that
would be a solution more in har-
mony with the wishes of the presi-
dent than any other. That's why
! he dismissed is premature all pro-
! poSals which take into considera-
/ tion a possible violation by the
unions of the mandate of the rail-
way board
Would Punish Beth.
7 lACISSS LACI - d NcIl-uC-
! fined feeling in administration quar-
| ters which recognizes that some
| kind of policy must be pursued if,
| indeed, public opinion does not COM
/ pei respect for the decisions of the
/ railway labor board That policy
unquestionably will be an amend
ment to the Esch-Cummins law i'm
! posing fines and Imprisonment on
all persons convicted of melting
| strikes or lockouts in defiance of
| the decisions of the United States
railway labor board.
Such a drastic step is inevitable
if strike should be called When
congress had under consideration
an anti-strike clause last year as a
part of the Esch-C -Cummins bill, the
senate voted in favor of it. The in
f1uence of organized labor defeated
/ the clause when the bill was in con-
ference between the two houses and
ii was omitted from the law. There
was at that time no psychological
compulsion urging congress to act.
If, it is reasoned. the senate did
actually adopt such a provision
when no strike was imminent and
the matters discussed were purely
hypothetical, what would be the at
jtude of congress as whole when
the nations food supply and trans
portation of commodities were seri-
ously held up by countrywide
strike on the railroads?
Congress is Ready.
The impression prevails that if
President Harding asked that teeth
ho in, inc I-,x
! that the decisions of the railroad
labor board would be respected,
there would be no difficulty in rush
ing such a measure through con-
gress. The big question is wheth-
er the railroad labor unions will
force the administration to such an
extreme.
It's coming, if there is railroad
strike. The fight will be transfer
red to the halls of congress where
already there is enough sentiment
against a railroad tie-up at this
| time to insure passage OF any meas
ure deemed necessary by the ad-
ministration.
Incidentally, the original anti
strike clause imposed heavy penal
ties on carriers and their executives
for entering into combinations be-
tween themselves to produce lock-
outs or strikes. Probably this time
an amendment would be drafted
which would simply make it unlaw-
full for carriers or employees to enter
into any combinations between
themselves to violate the decisions
of the railroad labor board. There
would be no reference presumably
to strikes or lockouts.
Would Affect all Labor.
The passage of such law affects
organized labor as a whole. If
the experiment succeeded in hand
ling public utilities there might be
in the future an effort to make it
cover other commodities like coal
mining. When the original anti
strike clause was passed by the
senate, it was provided that moth
ing in the act should be construed
as preventing any individual from
quitting his job. What was aimed
at was combinations of two or more
persons who persuaded individuals
to quit their jobs. Similarly there
are combinations of individuals in
management who use coercive
measures to compel men in associ-
>ated lines of business to pursue
courses of action which provoke
strikes.
The administration is concerned
for the moment only with the rail-
way situation. 1t is trying through
the labor board to establish peace
between the railway executives and
their men. Failing in that, a law
with severe penalties against those
who would interrupt railway trans
portation is bound to be proposed.