Great Falls tribune., 1921-07-26

to the audience what he said were tn
actions of the board since its appoint
| ment.
''In the first place" stated Mr.
| kirschwing, Il might state that Mr.
Van de Putte was selected for tn,
fifth member of the board of arbitra
ton on 'fluke.' The matter of thu
fifth man for the board was cut ant
dried before it happened and when b,
a process Of elimination only the names
of Mr.. Van de Putte and Scott Leavit,
remained, it was q foregone conclus.
ion that Mr.. Van de Putte would BIZ
the fifth man and that is just wha,
the other members of the board want
ed. We presented several names
names of men not affiliated with la
Dor. but they were rejected by the
other members Of the board. Amone
the names mentioned by us for this
place were: George Stanton, George
Judson, DR.. L. L. Maryland and Others,
but they were turned down by the city
representatives. But, why? They
did not want a square deal. They want
ed to have their own way and they
got It when they managed to secure
Mr.. Van de Putte for the fifth man on
the board. We conceded, trusting that
things would take turn for labor.
but all in vain. Our concessions made
them ask for more and all there was
left for Mr.. Sherwood and myself to
say when any matter was brought up
for consideration was Me too We
were in the minority.
History of Strike Is Told.
But in the process of selection /
must also point out the fact that the
names of women were mentioned for
fifth place on the board. But they
scoffed at us. We explained to them
that woman could better tell what it
cost for a working man to live for a
day. She has time to think of the
cost Of living, but they failed to see it
in our light and again we made a con-
cession.
"Six weeks ago the council met and
decided to cut the scale of wages for
laboring men to $3.50 a day and the
result was that the laboring men
went on strike. We pointed out to
them that it was necessary for both
parties to concede and offered to com
promise at a cut of so cents per day
but they stood pat for the council
cut. If any of the friends of the
three men who failed to show at this
meeting tonight are present I hope
they will convey our words to them and
tell them for us that they wanted
anything but square deal
Finally things shaped themselves
until the storming OF the city Jail,
July Is. The situation at that time
was more serious than the average
person considered and only the meeting
of the arbiters on that occasion saved
the city from a riot. But the stain
of rotten egg fighting" will remain
with the city for some time. and for
that criticise Mayor Armour. Not
even the mayor considered the gravity
of affairs and stated that the occasion
reminded him of Fourth Of july
celebration For that statement 7
criticise the mayor. With the city in
the grip of a near riot he made light
Of the matter But one thing I do
not want to do is to criticise the ar
tion Of the police department With
one or two exceptions its members
were above reproach.
''Were Figureheads," Is Said.
'1The meeting Of Thursday will best
Illustrate to you the attitude of the
,ther members Of the board We met
Ind were in session all day. In the
evening, with no solution reached. the |
majority members voted for adjourn
nent. We told them that Is per cent
II the citizens were waiting for 4 de-
.ision but they made q plea Of simpor-
ant business, They wanted short va