Evening star., 1921-10-26
LEETELLS BOARD
WHY HE OPPOSED
RAIL STRIKE VOTE
Continued from First Page.)

he did not understand that any ship
pers had been summoned.
We'll, we're here" Mr.. Glenn an
swered
We're glad to see YOU" the chair
man said. land hope you'll enjoy the
proceedings"
The union men were given choice of
seats at the hearing, which was held
in the Coliseum. scene of many ma
tional political conventions. with the
$50 railroad executives seated In the
rear. Numbers of women were scat
tered through the hall.
Roll Call Ordered.
Chairman Barton first ordered roll
call of the union presidents. the presi-
dents OF the 165 railroads and also
the union general chairmen on each
road.
Warren S. Stone. president Of the
engineers, protested that the board
had called the general chairmen or
147 short lines who were not parties
to the disp1te.
Judge Barton explained no one not
affected by the July l wage cut order
need attend.
f! The roll call came to a halt when
Stone objected to the activities of
several photographers. Chairman
Barton explained he had no control
over the movie men.
| We'll, if you have no control over
them, l can put one Of my strong
arm squads in here and clear them
out in two minutes Stone retorted.
The roll call of executives of the
five unioas and the railroads occupied
| thirty minutes.
Lee Oners List.
w. G. Lee, president of the Brother
hood of Railroad Trainmen, to save
time offered to file list Of his chair
men who were present. The chair
| directed that the list be filed. l.. E.
! Sheppard. head of the Order Of Rail-
way Conductors, and Warren 9. Stone,
, for the engineers. w. S. Carter, pres
! ident of the Brotherhood of Locomo-
tive Firemen and Enginemen. and +.
; c. Cashen head OF the Switchmen's 8
| Union of North America, offered to
| file the names Of their executive com.
mittees. which, all announced. had
| the power to act. They said that
comparatively few of their general
chairmen were present, since they
! held no power.
Reserve Right Of Proxy.
| The five union presidents declared
| they reserved the right to represent
tfeir general chairman. inasmuch as
several railroad presidents had an
not rule on the point and a roll call
! of the general chairmen of the en-
gineerS started. AS road after road
was called there was no answer.
When more than half OF the list
had been called and only two men
had answered. Chairman Barton halt
ed the secretary and asked any en-
gineer's chairmen present to stand
and give their names. The members
| of the executive committee were the
only ones to respond.
When the roll call was completed
| late in the morning Chairman Barton
proceeded TO read his statement ex-
planning the purpose of the hearing.
Board Turns to Roads.
The Labor Board yesterday turned
to the railroads in its attempt to
avert the rail strike scheduled for
| October 80, suggesting that the roads
temporarily postpone seeking further
wage reductions. because the board s
docket was SO crowded a wage de-
cision could not be rendered before
July, 1922. The carriers, however, In
! "powerless to take any other posi-
ton" than their present one.
| In formal statement the board in
| formed the carriers that it would not
| consider any petitions for wage cuts
until the questions Of rules and
|
! were fully settled. The board then
| unofficially let the carriers know, it
was learned, that since a ruling on
wages could not be handed down be-
fore July, 1922. 1t would like the
roads formally to announce postpone
! ment Of their plans to seek further
| pay cuts, taking the attitude that
such an announcement might avert a
walkout.
| Carriers Stand Pat.
| The committee of the Association of
Railway Executives. which conferred
with the board, announced. however,
| that the carriers would stand pat OF
their plans to seek new pay cuts or
the ground that wages must be re-
duced before freight rates could be
lowered, and that since the strike wal
called technically in protest of wage
cuts already authorized by the boarc
there was no necessity for the roaas
to take other than an inactive part II
the strike controversy between tne
board and the unions.
In its communication to the roadi
the board declared that IL both side'
would consider the delay necessar!
before wages again could be reduced
they would realize that there wa'
no cause for immediate strife be
tween them over this point.
The unions, not taking into con
sideration this delay. were crossing
bridges before coming to them wheI
they called strike, the board
; statement said.
Urged Quick Decisisn.
It pointed out that the carriers hat
repeatedly urged a quick decision ol
the rules and working condition
questions now before the board, ant
that it had determined several week
ago to settle this matter before TAX
i, inp nm ANYTHING else,
OF the 1000 cases submitted II
. the board during its eighteen months
. existence, 1900 still are unsettled. tn
statement said, adding that prope
cooperation between the unions AM
the roads would have prevented man.
of them coming to the board.