Evening star., 1921-10-20
SEVERE PENALTIES
SEEN FOR STRIKERS
Esch-Cummins Law May Be
Amended to Impose Fines
and Imprisonment.
ny DAVID LAWRENCE.

Railroad labor faces decisions far
more important to its welfare 'hai'
cuts in wages il a strike shou'o oe
,.aIIad in defiance of the edict OF 'ile
United States Railroad Labor boara'
Having in mind all eventualities the
administration is canNasStns III.
rernatiyes il the event that 81.
should be persisted in after the ran!
road Labor Board has done an thaI l..
can to adjust the controversy. roi
the fact is the E3Sch h-CummlnS iaw,
which created the labor ooatu, ~
not provide penalties Tor Vi1ia.ions
of it's decisions. President tiuine
hopes that public opinion VIII provtaue
the psnalty-that recourse 10 tne
courts will be necessary. Neeu-
less to say that would be solutiois
more in harmony with the WisrSa -
The President than any other. lnat
Yhv he dismisses as premature all
PROPOSALS which take into cohsluera
ZION n possihle violation by the unions
of the mandate of the railway poaro'
Law May He Amended.
Nevertheless. there is we'll de-
fined feeling in administration quar-
ters which recognizes that some KIM
snf n policy must he pursued II. lnecd,
nublic opinion does not compel re
snect for the decisions of the Roalroao
Labor Board. That policy unqueStion-
ably will be an amendment TO the
Esch- -Cumn1ins law imposing nhes
and imprisonment on all persons con-
yjcted of inciting strikes or lockouts
in defiance of the decisions OF the
United States Railroad Labor boa,u.
Such a drastic step Is inevitable IL Il
strike should be- called. men Wv an
cress had under consideration an
:,nti-strike clause last year as part
of the E,sch- -CumminS bill the Senate
voted in favor of it. The influence OF
organized labor defeated the clause
when the bill was in conference be-
tween the two houses and 1t was
omitted from the law There was at
that time no psychological compul-
sion urging Congress TO ae.. a;a
If. it is reasoned, the senate ulu
actually adopt such provision When
no strike was imminent ana the MAJ
ters discussed were purely hypotheu.
cal what would be the attitude OF
Congress as whole when the ma
1ion of commodities were seriously
, held up by a country-wide strike on
ali the railroads?
Fight Would BE in Congress.
The impression prevails that II
President Harding asked that teeth
be put. in the Eseh- -CummlnS . ais9 law so
Labor Board would be respected,
there would be no difficulty in rush
ing such a measure through Congress.
The big question Is WuelHei thS ioi,
road labor unions will force the ad-
ministration to such an extreme.
It's coming if there is a railroad
strike The fight will be transferred
TO the halls of Congress. where al
ready there is enough sentiment
against a railroad tie-up at this time
10 insure passage of any measure
deemed necessary by the admlnlstra-
lion.
incidentally. the original anti-strike
clause imposed heavy penalties on car
rierS and their executives for enter
ing into combinations between them
selves to produce lochoutS or strikes
Probably this time an amendment
would be drafted which would simply
make it unlawful for carriers or en-
ployes to enter into any combinations
betwee themselves to violate the de-
,isions of the Railroad Labor Board.
There would be no reference presum-
ably to strikes or lockouts.
scope Might Be widened.
The passage of such law affects
organized labor as a whole; II the
experiment succeeded in handling
public utilities there might be in the
future an effort to make it cover
iother commodities like coal mining.
When the original anti-strike clause
was passed by the Senate it was pro-
vidcd that nothing in the act should
he construed as preventing any lnoi-
vidual from quitting his job.
What was aimed at was combina-
tions of two or more persons who per-
suaded individuals to quit their Jobs.
Similarly, there are combinations OF IN
dividuals in management who use coer-
Give measures to compel men in asso-
ciated lines of business to pursue courses
of action. which provoke strikes.
The administration is concerned for
the moment only with the railway sit
uation 1t is trying. through the La
hor Board. to establish peace between
The railway executives and their men
railing in that, law with severe PEN
alties against those who would inter-
Tupt railway transportation is bound to
I,e proposed. Will railroad labor ac-
cept the lesser disadvantage-or run
ihe risk OF being prevented altogether
from using the strike weapon? Off
cial Washington has confidence that
the mediation of the Railway Labor
Board will be fair and even-handed.
md that when its proposals of a settle
ment are made this week they will be
accepted.
Copyright, 1921