Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1921-01-06
STOPPING STRIKES BY STATUTE

Todays Subject:
STOPPING STRIKES BY STATUTE
Whether the Poindexter anti-strike
bill passed the senate by accident or I'M
fair advantage, It is plainly the purpose
of the press to change the senate's ap-
parent Indifference TO a serious consid-
Grafton of the measure before it goes
any farther. Editorial opinion is divided
about evenly on the merits of the pro-
posal to prohibit strikes on railroads.
But it is conceded by both sides that il
is matter of such great Importance,
both in principle and as a precedent, that
If must not be put over" without re
gard to its significance.
Whatever the merits of the bill
whether 1T is just what the country
needs" or entirely at variance with
American ideals" the Port Huron
(Mich,l Times Herald Gnd.) feels that
the manner Of its passing. when the
senator's undoubtedly understood the i'm
portance of the measure, leads natur-
ally to TIE suspicion that there must
be something wrong with the bill-some-
thing that will not stand the acid test
of proper public hearing" This 'ac-
cidental action" does not however, end
the matter. says the Chicago Daily News
/ Ind.) The bill is enthusiastically sound
and meritorious, but
1t is hardly necessary TO say that
a bill forbidding organized strikes Oh
the part of railroad employees, and fur
Their prohibiting strikes or attempts at
instigating strikes in industries that are
indispensable to uninterrupted railroad
| operation, demands proper consideration
and discussion
H. D,,fF ,l. 7
| (Rep) bitter opponent of trade unions.
thinks the manner of passage of the bill
can be dismissed with the conclusion
that If the friends of the labor leaders
are not II their seats when a bill is
| called up for passage nobody is to blame
but themselves" particularly since this
| legislation is d public necessity"
! 1t IS said, continues the CONNER
| cial, that no power can deny men the
right to quit work. That many be ad-
mitted without in the slightest degree
affecting the right of the government 70
prevent n conspiracy on the part of any
! group of men to force their demands by
! inflicting injury upon the entire country.
I u. Ii the government can control the
stockholders of the railways it can and
must exercise a certain amount of con-
| troll over the men employed on the rail
ways, regulating wages, hours and work
! ing conditions generally
'''The country has lately learned a lot. N
the Boston Transcript tIud, Rep.l finds.
about the affect Of transportation en-
! bargoes on the price Of food, clothing
/ coal, and even house rents" and the
| Wilmington (Del.) Journal tRep.l be-
/ lieves that the poindexter bill simply
carries out the wishes of the vast ma
jority of the people arising from that
| knowledge
Objection TO such legislation, the New
| York Tribune tRep.l holds. comes only
! because so many people fail to realize
/ the relations Of the railroads to the gov
eminent has been radically changed y
/ Because of this change the system Of
normal balance between the power OF
! labor and the power of ownership which
exists in other industries has disappear
/ ed from the railroad industry"
| Granting the peculiar relation Of rail
way employees to the public, the Sioux
| City (Ial Tribune Gnd.i points out
| that provision has already been made
| ITO avoid Interruptions in operations Of
railways BY means of the labor board
created BY the Esch- Cummins law.
| Hence, unless or until this board proves
failure, there is no reason for addl-
tiona legislation applying to carriers.
The right of the public to uninterrupted
| Francisco Chronicle Ind.l holds, and
! since the property Of public service is
| dedicated upon that understanding the
| labor which operates it Ought TO be
| dedicated under the same conditions"
| That this principle of dedication, TO
public service should, however, be trans
| lated into criminal law is Objectionable,
the Chicago Journal Dem.l grants, and
proposes as q remedy that railway en-
| pIoyes put themselves under the elvil
| law by degising some plan Whlch VIII
make labor contracts enforcible by civli
suit"
/ Legislation to take from any group
| "the right to use collective action for Sc
curing an adjustment of its claims" must
| come il at oil only through sheer neces-
sity." in the opinion Of the Ithaca Journal
| News Id.). Until it has been definitely
| proved that tive cannot run railroads any
other way" than las we do the army
! efforts in that direction will be viewed
with distrust and suspicion" Almost
any activity. the Muskegon Chronicle
| Ind) suggests, lis more or less related
| to interstate, commerce. nowadays, ana
the possibilities of blanket legislation
| forbidding such interference are limit
| Less and with this as precedent, the
| Syracuse Herald (Ind.l remarks that
! Congress could now properly forbid or
| ganiZation and strikes among workers by
solicitation, conspiracy or argument
| This possibility is presented almost as
certainty by the New York Call lSoc,l
What the bill enacts is practically con-
scriptiou Of labor in transportation, the
Cali says, and IF it becomes law there
is no reason why federal power cannot be
employed for conscriptlng workers IN
other industries for the capitalist class.
It means the mailed fist in industry" As
means Of enforcing such laws the Call
makes suggestion:
Comparing the old czarist code with
| Poindexter's hill the American worker
will find IT hard to choose under which
one he would prefer to be tried. The
senator would have the striker fined
$4,000, or serve ten years in prison or
| imprisonment and deprivation of rights
and property and exile to Siberia. As the
Russian worker had neither Nights nor
property there remained eight months