Evening star., 1921-10-28
BIG RAIL ISSUES
UNSETTLED END
Of STRIKE CRISIS
But President Has Accorded
Powerful Status to U. S.
Railroad Labor Board.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

The railroad strike may have been
averted, but the issues which caused il
to be threatened, have by no means been
settled. Most everybody in the govern
ment realizes that truce. has been
made and nothing more. Further wage
cuts are up in the air, SO are further
freight reductions. The status quo will
De maintained for at least nine months
more.
Meanwhile. certain points have been
cleared up IN the present controversy
which will have the effect in the future
of diminishing the area of dispute.
President Ha riding has. so to speak, put
the United States Railroad Labor Board
Oh the map. Its authority was chal-
i"nged. its powers as a mediat'ng body
We're questioned. But. with the fun
support Of The chief executive. ne
United States Railroad Board ag-
proaches its pending cases. knowing
Low that ~ is responsible morally TO
the President for a thorough cNamina-
ton of all the issues and for u just
verdict.
BOard Now Has Real Power.
Both the railroads and the labor
unions now see the United States
Railroad Board as a tribunal with real
power. In an emergency the Presi-
dent showed that he was ready 10
back up the board in its decisions. 1t
was. moreover. to be used as an i'm
portant lever in swinging public opin-
| ion. The labor leaders themselves
now have admitted that with public
! opinion against them they could not
hope TO win the strike. They con-
fessed the value Of public opinion
This is a source of much gratitica ton
here. for it means the missing teeth
, in the transportation act have been
found.
The way the United States Railroad
Board. assisted by President Harding
functioned in the present crisis con-
| vinceS officials that if in all labor
disputes an effort were made to 60
! at once TO the root of the trouble
without trying to settle ina aginary is
i sues that merely irritate and get no.
| where more progress would be made
CuriouSly enough the manner in
which the railroad strike has been
settled is exactly TIL. formula that
President Harding would like to sec
applied in preventing war. He be-
lieves that if public opinion can be
marshaled against an offending ma
ton the people of the offending coun-
try will cause their government IL
recede from an aggressive stand
Woodrow Wilson believed the league
of nations would always furnish such
an intermediary. Mr.. Harding thinks
the group known as the supreme
council can do the same thing.
Strike Case Put on Merits.
The theory back in Mr.. I3ardins's
mind in the railroad controversy was
one of thorough and complete invcs-
| tigation of the merits of the dispute
| by the properly constituted agency
| So long as the railroad brotherhood
| insisted upon striking simply because
of request of the railroad executives
| for a second wage cut Mr.. Harding was
ready to use the full power of the
! government to explain to the Ameri.
| can people the error of such an at
i titude.
f! The Railroad Labor Board did in ef-
| feet guarantee the unions that no
! second wage cut would be considered
/ before next July by announcing that
the docket of cases was too crowded
to take up the wage case. The rail
roads may or may not have had some
| assurance that their revenues would
not in the meantime be diminished
through reductions in freight rates.
| That's something which only the
Interstate Commerce Commission car
answer. but the prevailing view here
| is that the commission and the United
| States Railroad Board now are work
! ing together and that drop in in
| come will not he forced withou,
some understanding about diminished
costs. though. to be sure, the Stats
| ticians may find in the next few
months railroad earnings increased
through a general business revival.
downright 1921