Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-10-29
NO STRIKE.

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amended to read that the relief will be almost uni
~Iversal, for there are persons who will not share
that feeling. There are those whose natural tendenG
cies cause them to prefer controversy and conflict
to the orderly methods of peace, and there are 9TH
crs to whom disturbance means personal profit. To
these the cancellation of the strike order will be
unwelcome.
But to the great mass of the people of the coun-
try the news will bring the greatest satisfaction.
There has been a latent feeling that in spite of votes
and resolutions, there would be no strike, for it has
been felt that at the final moment no body of men
holding positions Of leadership, and therefore of
great prominence, would be willing to assume re-
sponsibility for such a disaster ~ . general rail
strike at this time would mean.
Notwithstanding this very strong impression,
the strike had been called, and as the time left be-
fore the date fixed for it narrowed down to days
and hours without composition of the differences,
whatever, on which the strike order was based.
there was warrant for continued and increasing
anxiety, and people began to wonder If, after all.
the imaginings of a nightmare were to be realized
in fact.
The strike order has been withdrawn and the
catastrophe which was imminent has been averted,
at least for the time being.
While the immediate danger has passed, there
is food for thought that twice within a period of a
little over five years this Damoclean sword has been
brought: into plain sight oyer the heads of the Amer
lean people, with the frail thread by which it was
suspended apparently just about to break. In order
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country, through its highest legislative body and its
chief executive, surrendered Internationally. yield
ing to a threat without any pretense OF reaching a
decision on the merits Of the issues involved. That
action was excused, though not justified, on the
ground that because of the demands on transporta-
ton at that particular time for the handling of the
crop, because>o the Importance of continuing with
out interruption the movement of fuel in anticipa-
ton of winter, and because Of the unmistakable evil
dence that we were fast approaching a state of war,
The railroads Yn1iSt he kent IN NDeYafiOf1 REGARDLESS
of terms.
1t is as important now as it was then that trans
%portation shall go on without interruption. But we
have passed a period when it was necessary to do
things regardless of cost. In the rehabilitation of
Our industries cost is Of the highest importance.
The cost of carrying the farmers products to mar
ket; the cost of supplying the whole people with
commodities of all kinds the labor cast of operat-
ing the railroads, and the cost Of living to the indi-
vidual are inseparable parts of one great problem,
and in the solution Of that problem the wishes and
demands of no single group of our population can
be considered apart from the necessities Of the gen
eral public. For this reason the prospect of a rail
strike was regarded at this time, not only with
alarm, but with impatence and anger.
The strike order has been cancelled and it is
not likely to be renewed, at least for some time. In
the meantime the country must address itself seri-
ously to the problem OF determining Just what its
powers of self-preservatiou are. In the discussion
of the past few days it has been said that the feder-
al government was prepared, as a last resort, to put
forth it's full powers to maintain open and in opera
ton the avenues of transportation. But there has
been a lack of general understanding as to just what
those powers are, and a great deal of the discussion
has been predicated on the view that the power of
the American people to protect themselves from
death through the paralysis of their railroads was
confined to the right to exhort, and bargain and
compromise. If that is true, it is within the power
of any body of men fairly numerous and strategic
ally situated, whether as employers of labor, as
members of the employed force, or in whatever Cd
pacity, to extort from the public whatever terms
their fancy may dictate.
If that is the situation, it ought to be thorough
ly understood, because if that situation exists it is
intolerable, and ought instantly to be amended. The
right of the nation to defend itself at all costs
against armed aggression from without has always
been conceded Sixty years ago it was insisted by
many that the nation could not protect itself against
disintegration due to the working of forces within
itself. That doctrine was repudiated once and for
all. But we still lack a clear definition of the right
OF the nation to maintain its existence as against eff
forts to throttle any of its essential industries. We
need such a definition, and we need it low And we
need to have written in characters incapable of mis-
Interpretation the doctrine that in this country there
is one supreme power, and just one-the American
people; and that the authority of the people, through,
meet any emergency in which the public interest is
threatened; and that that power will be exercised
when occasion requires, and exercised in whatever
manner may be most effective.
CUNNING AND UNscRUPULoUs.
The cunning and unscrupulous nature of the
campaign in defense of the state officials subjected
to recall was shown, ~strikingly in the last hours Of
the campaign in the circulation Of two falsehoods.
One of these was the statement that 50 many
frauds had been discovered in connection with the
recall petitions that the whole demand for the recall
was vitiated, and even if the Independents carried
the election there would be no change of adminis.
%tration, the call for the election being illegal.
The other was the statement that it was the
intention Of the independents, in case Of their sue
cess at the polls, to repeal the labor Legislation en-
acted at a recent session Of the legislature, and now
Lin force. This legislation includes the eight-hour