The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-19

that split between them and the
 five unions already authorizing a
 waik-out may avert the threatened strike.
 The union leaders called in by the labor board were W. s. Carter. presi- | dent of the Brotherhood of Locomo-
 tive Bremen and Enginemen; War;
 ren S. Stone. president of the Broth
 erhood of Locomotive Engineers; /W 1 G. Lee. president of the Brotherhood
 of Railroad Trainmen; l.. E. Shep-
 pard, president of the Order of (Rail-
 way Conductors, and T. c. C}ashen, president of the Switchmen'sJ Union of North America.
 Hooper Makes statemeynt 1 The conference was called for the avowed purpose of preYenting a | strike, according to BeH Hooper,
 former governor of Tennessee and vice chairman of the laboE board. MT. Hooper returned tonighI from Wash
 ington, where he and tRe other mem bers of the public groYp of the board
 conferred with President Harding. He Immediately called other mem
 bers of the board inxo conference. "It is the desire Of all elements of
 the board to do everything possible to prevent a strike" MT. Hooper l said after a conference with the 1 board members What the proceed. ure will be pn Thursday, I cannot say. It Is safe to assume that every possibility 55f averting a waik-out will be taken up, and it is our hope
 that the two parties can be brought
 together bn some basis looking to-
 ward settlement" Mir. Hooper refused to say whether the boS<rd regarded the conference | sumnn0ns as an investigation of a
 threjatened violation of the board s order. It was pointed out, however,
 that there would be no violation of tke boards July 1 wage reduction order until the men actually walked pout.
 By coincidence, the first hearing at which any party has been cited
 to appear because the board believed 1t has violated a decision is set for 1 the same day as the conference Thursday morning at 10 o'clock. The Pennsylvania has been ordered to ap- pear at that time because it has not held an election of shop mems repre-
 septatiyes as directed by the board Explaining further the public statement issued by the public group
 in Washington Sunday Mir. Hooper said that the board recognized that there was'"a universal demand for the reduction of freight rates" In suggesting translation of the last wage cut into reduced freight | rates and advising against further requests for wage reductions at this time, the board does not mean that l parties may not come before 1t with | disputes, Mir. Hooper said.
 The suggestion was made merely as 'modus yivendl' for solving the present transportation problem. We l reductions for the present and re- duce rates as step in the revival of industry. We believe such action would result in helping bridge the business depression of the country and lower the present cost of liv- 1 ing.
 Then. after the public had been given a breathing spell, the roads l would be at full liberty to come back to the board with further requests for wage reductions"
 Farm Bureaus Proposal The proposals of. the American known in a statement by J. R. How | ard, its president
 10 per cent reduction on basic commodities. including farm products food, fuel. building materials and pos sibiy ore. would amount to between 1 s2oo, ,000, 900 and $250,o00. 900, farm bu- reau officials estimated. A 10 per cent reduction on everything, they said. would amount to about 430.0o0, 900, approximately the amount by which wages of railroad employees were re- duced on July 1.
 Clifford Thorne, general counsel for the farm hureau federation, to- night characterized action of the railroad executives in refusing a 10 per cent reduction in freight rates as "a grave error" Practically every great industry and the railroad em-
 ployes themselves have been forced to accept cuts in prices or wages,
 he said.
 The II railroad unions which have
 not yet issued a strike call, although
 most of them have voted for walk
 out with the brotherhoods, will hold
 their proposed meetings, regardless cf the call of conference between the
 brotherhood chiefs and the labor
 board
 The first of these meetings will take place here tomorrow, when the
 executive council of the shop crafts
 made up of the t7s.0oo members of
 six of the unions will go into ses.
 sion.
 The l2 divisions of the maintenance
 os way organisations representing quarter of . million rail employees.
 also will meet tomorrow, while tho
 telegraphers meet Friday and the
 clerks Sunday. Most of the other
 unions also have scheduled meetings
 for this week. asa
 B. M. Jewell, head of the shop
 crafts and others, have stea adfastly
 opposed strike on wage cuts and
 have announced they will fight wig
 orously te prevent a walkout order
 being issued. Whether they VI" ~