The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-08-16
By DAVID LAWRENCE
Especial Despatch TO The Reformer.)
ConEright 1922

=
| Especial Despatch to The Reformer.l
Copyright 1922
WASHINGTON, Aug. l6-The So
| called acceptance by the railroad ex-
/ ecutives of President Harding's pro-
| posal that strikers be reinstated while
seniority disputes are left to the United
States railroad labor board, has been
discovered to be no substantial accept
ance after all.
Although the White House was under
| the impression at first that the making
of a majority and minority report by
| the rail executives was of no particular
Importance on the theory that the ac-
tion of the majority bound the minority,
the opposite is true. President Harding
has been informed that the minority
| among the railway executives, which
includes such big systems as the Penn
sylvania, will not be bound by the ac-
ton of the other roads and will 90 their
own way.
This encouragement has cast a dam
per on what might otherwise have pro-
duced an unqualified measure of sup
port Tor the rail executives. The reply
of the majority made favorable Inn
pressIon on Mr.. Harding who thought
the proposal fair and equitable. Now
lie has learned that the large number OF
strikers who work for the minority of
the roads would not be reinstated. This
Is the stumbling block of the present
situation and the main reason for the
fiat refusal given by the strikers to the
Presidents proposal.
In other words the strikers waited to
see whether the rail executives would
agree to take back those who had gone
out on strike and when ii became APP
parent that no general agreement was
possible they placed before Mr.. Hard
ing their rejection of his plan. Signifi-
cantly enough this communication has
not vet been made public which indi-
Gates that if the rail executives are per
suaded to modify their position or
rather to include all the roads in their
proposal, the labor leaders will be in
clined to change their attitude as well.
BrOtlIerIloOds Alarmed.
The intervention by the brotherhood
chiefs has brought the situation TO a
climax Most everybody in Washing
ton is fearful of a general tieup of
transportation if the labor men are
goaded too far. just as the seniority IS
sues arose after the strike had begun on
quite another basis. namely. refusal
to accept q wage decision, so Is the sen
iority problem developing some aca-
demic arguments which are making the
their own rights.
Indeed. while the trainmen. engineers
and conductors are not directly involved
| in the controversy. their spokesman
| have discovered that a fundamental is
sue has arisen and will be settled i'm
the shopmen's strike which will affect
| labor on the nations transportation sys-
| tens for some time to come. The ques-
tion of whether a man who quits his
| Job leaves the EMPLOY of the railroad
| in a legal sense or whether he Is still
| in the roads employ but merely in the
| same status as a suspended empioye
| would be if the road took the initiative
| hos become the cruX of the dispute The
| labor leaders insist that the striker il
still in the roads employ, first. because
| he has not been dismissed and second
| has not given notice of his intention
permanently to remain out of the roads
! nn01ov
Would BE Effective as Law.
If it should be decided-and the
| United States labor boards decisions
| have complicated the matter-that a
| striker is no longer the employee of a
| railroad when he goes out on a strike
| then the brotherhood chiefs claim that
| the railroad labor board has in effect
/ put into operation an anti-strike proyi-
| sion as powerful as if congress had
| enacted one The truth is congress
| did have such a provision under consid-
| Grafton and the senate passed it but it
was eliminated in conference President
| Harding has told the labor leaders that
he favors such a provision now just as
| he did when he was a member of the
senate
| The bEothprhoods are working tooth
| and nail to prevent the establishment of
any precedent which will affect them
| in case they have grievances in the flu
| ture and wish to strike as means of
protest. Similarly the rail executives