Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-10-26
PROCEEDINGS OF
r. R. CONFERENCE
HELD IN CHICAGO

Chicago, Oct. 26.-fhy the Asso-
ctated Press)--The United states .rail-
road labor board today initiated q
official governmental INQUIRY into,
tho national rail crisis, to ~forrnaalyf
determine whether the threatened
walk out Of some 400 900 train service
men, scheduled to begin Sunday morn
ing, constitutes a violation Of board
decisions or OF the terms Of. the,trane-
portation act. -.
!. Rail labor chiefs Of the conductors.
engineers, tratnmen switctmen and
firemen. tosethet with the five gems
eral chairmen Of the labor organixa-
lions on. each railroad appeared to an
swer q summons under two sections
Of the transportation act.S. Railroad
executives from all Of the, principal
roads were also presC mt. dis the result,
Of a request by the board.
Hooper In Charge.
Vice Chairman Ben w. Hooper, Is
head OF the boards judiciary COM
mittee, was placed in, charge OF the
inquiry on behalf Of tho board. The.
chair announced, however, that inde-
pendent cross-examinatiqn might be
made by any individual member Of
the boar or any representative Of
either the employees Of the railroads
directly involved IN the proceedings.
In citing the. labor groups TO ap-
pear, Chairman r. NJ. Barton said
in his opening statement that the
board was principally moved BY a
threatened Interruption to commerce.,
Chairman Barton made 1t plain
that the inquiry was being conducted
entirely on the initiative OF the board,
neither the railroads nor the en-
ployes about to strike being concerned
in bringing the case before the fed
eral railroad tribunal.
Based on Two Provisions.
'.The inquiry" the chairman's state
ment said, lis based on W. provisions
of the transportation act =
one, section 313 Of the act, which
provides when the board has reason
to believe that any decision by the
rier Or employee or subordinate Off
cial or organization thereof, it may
on it's WI motion. after due notice
and hearing to all persons, directly
interested in such violation, determine
whether in its opinion such violation
has occurred and make. public its
decision in such ann as It may de-
termine.
1.-The other is the provision of Sec
tion SV', .AAo eIatISeHCy proVSion
which authorizes the board to &C,
when a dispute is likely to substan-
TALLY interrupt commerce. a
The merits of the wage reduction
decision in opposition to which the
employees are threatening to strike OF
any other decision Of the board are
not at this time in question and nc
decision in regard thereto will be in
order . The question is simply has
there been a violation and Is one
threatened?
|. The hearing was slow in getting
under way. The union men were CIV.
en- the choice seats, with the $50 rail.
road presidents seated at the rear.
It was one OF the strangest gather
ings eve assembled at a labor con.
ference in. Chicago. Numbers Of WON
en- were scattered through. the hall
Fifty college girls were early arrivals
Ordered Roll Gall.
Chairman Barton ordered q roll
call of the union presidents, the pres
idents of the les railroads and alst
the unions general chairmen on eacf
road.
Warren S. Stone, president Of tn,
engineers, protested the board hat
called the general chairrnen of IA
short lines who are not parties tt
SAAS SPu<S < "' ~ -Ht..
Judge. Barton explained no n no
affected by the July 1 wage cut orde'
need attend. d
John M. Glenn, secretary of the II
iinois Manufacturers association
arose to inquire If the chair desire,
the anne of shippers represented
Chairman Barton replied that he di,
not understand that any shippers ha,
been summoned.
They Are These.
We'll, we're here" Mr.. Glenn an
swered.
We're glad to see you" the chair
mar said, and hope you'll enjoy tn
The calling of the roll then bega:
at 1914 a. m.
The roll call came to a halt whe,
Stone objected to tho activities Of sew
eral photographers. Chairman BartoI
explained he had NJ control over tn
movie men.
We'll, if you have no control owe
them. I can put one OF my strong arr
squads IN here and clear them out j
two m%tnutes.' Stone retorted.
The roll call of executives OF tn
five unions and the railroads occu
pied so minutes.
Offers to File List.
w. 9. Lee. president OF the Broth
erhood of Railroad Trainmen. to saw
time offered to file a list Of his ger
.eral chairmen who were present. IN
chair directed that the list be file,
l.. E. Sheppard. head Of the Order {
Railway Conductors, and Warren
Stone, for the engineers, w. s.. Carte
president Of the Brotherhood OF TX
connective Firemen and Engineme,
and T.. c. Cashen, head OF the Switch
mems Union OF North America, Offer
ed to file the names Of their exec,
tive committees, which, all al
nounced. had power TO act. They sal
that comparatively few OF their ger
eral chairmen were present. since the
held no power.
The five union presidents declare
they reserved the right to repreael
their general chairmen inasmuch
several railroad presidents had Al
swered for absentees. The chair il