The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-10-24

board and lodging it takes very near
ly one-half of their earnings for
themselves alone and the family has
to get along on what is left besides
there are thousands that are trying TO
own their homes and with having to
pay taxes and insurance and once
year regardless of the expenses
Uncle Sam has to have his little divvy
in income taxes from the gross earn
ings.
Can you name a railroad man that
is not a good law abiding citizen?
Can you name one that is not a help
DC the community in which he lives?
Can you name one that is a radical
and q Bolshevist? Right down in your
heart do you mean it when you say:
Let it Gomez Wouldn't you rather
try to he p avoid nationwide
ca amity? Won You admit that the
ajority .Cf the press Of the country
are not on the public side, but are
The paid tools OF the prof.eer CAPT
alist Not preaching and publishing
what they honestly think and believe,
but what they are paid tor? We rail-
road men are law-abiding and | viii
prove ii. Have we broken or dis
Jbeyed any law when we use the only
weaIGn that we have-the strike?
Who first violated and deiied the
United States Labor Board? Was il
he wage earners? Emphatically no.
You oaly have to go back few
mohths to see where the A. b. & "A
and the NJ. & y. A. delied and SCI
aside the boards ruling. Did the
press censure these roads for then
,iolations: They d not With few
except rs they were praised for thc!.
Gn.air aC' ions. The press likes e
harp on the wartime wage Along
this line | wish to say, there is n0
wartime wage in effect. The EN-
p Dyes were given IA slight increase
al wages in 1917, the first they had
received since 1913, then very near
TWO years after the end OF, the war
they were given an increase by
the Labor Board This was in
I July, 1920, retroactive to May l, 1920.
and amounted TO an average of $1.0L
per day.
In 1917 w. G. McAdoo appealed to
the patriotism of the railroad worker,
to lay aside their differences and
grievances and put forth every effort
man. We did this while all other
classes of labor were given increases.
We were not slackers When the
unions were called on for ten locomo-
i've engineers to man tanks, saying
,hey wanted men that were ready to
a most commit suicide instead of ten
asked for, there was response of over
four hundred experienced locomotive
engineers. When the conductors were
asked to furnish men experienced in
yard. and road service FIR immediate
duty in France, ten men we've asked
for and hundreds responded and I
was one among many. We have men
right here, engineers, conductors and
trainmen who served on the front
lines in France.
The men as whole do not want a
strike, but realize that we have a
fight on hand now that means life or
death, freedom or slavery for us and
our wives, children and homes. There
are less than one per cent of the rail-
road workers prepared to exist be
yCnd few days without their daily
wage, but We will make a fight for
what the Labor Board based their
awards on in the 1920 increase-wage
% provide a decent living and an OPP
tunity for educating our children. If
we had the funds to outline our posi-
ton to the public and have them I'M
derstand the situation as it is, we feel
that sentiment for our cause would
Immediately crystalize. The unem-
ployment conference called by Presi-
dent Harding in Washington a few
Il 81. rIYl.
proposed to relieve the situation BY
penalizing the ones that had work.
cutting down their hours of employ
nent reducing their wages and caus-
ing more distress, and not asking
anything of the employers. If this
had come from the old German
regime we could be reconciled to it,
but coming from what is supposed to
be the best brains Of the country, it
seems inconceivable.
The Association of Railroad Exc
Cutives have spent millions of dollars
advertising in farm papers the last
year and you cannot reconcile all of
this money spent to the desire of edu-
eating the farmers, but only to at
tempt to create sentiment favorable
10 the railroad executives. They GER
lainly do not credit the public with
any great amount of intelligence Any
high school child could see through
their scheme.
Now Mr.. Editor of the Tribune. it
is reasonable to suppose that you are
fair minded and have the public in
terest and welfare at heart, instead
OF knocking and advocating a calam-
ity to the whole American people,
why not lie fair to both sides and try
10 offer solution that will save lives
and property and give the workers
chance for decent living and an op-
portunity to educate their children
and bring them up to be good citizens
such as every American deserves. II
want to refer you to an editorial in
the Lakeland Evening Telegram of
October 18th, the only real sensible
one | have seen in any of the papers.
4 This is the only reasonable solution
| have seen offered, the suggestion to
put real business men in charge of
the rqilrOahc Tbio eor,o