The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-05-27

timent has ben aroused all questions
as to the merit or justice of the stand
takenb Y the miners or their employers
will have been lost sight of. The pub
lie will not care which side is right
on the numerous issues in dispute. All
it will be interested in will be in get
ting normal supply Of coal under ap-
proximately normal conditions and
prices The inevitable result of this,
according to economists and industrial
experts will be settlement that is in
the main compromise that will be ac-
ceptable to neither side, and that will
leave the real problem of the coal in
dustry as far as ever from solution.
Railroad Case Handled Differently
When a great railroad strike was
! threatened last fall, and actually call
ed for October 31st, it was not neces-
| sary to dilly-dally along until the
calamity had actually occurred, or I'M
til somebody was hurt. Thanks to the
labor provisions of the Transportation
| Act it was possible to handle that
case differently The Railroad Labor
Board, through Ben W. Cooper, then
vice-chairman and now chairman Of
! that body, took hold of that situation
and succeeded in bringing about the
recall of the strike order. There was
no interruption of traffic on the rail-
| roads of the country, and at no time
was it suggested that the public should
sit back and watch railway employees
and railway management fight a few
rounds.
AS matter of fact the strike could
not have been prevented if the workers
! had been determined to go through
with it, for the law does not forbid
strikes and there is no known way of
forcing men to stay on the job when
they are dead set on leaving it. How
ever, the law does provide machinery
for the adjustment of disputes between
the railroads and their employees, and
it also establishes certain bases upon
which those adjustments are to be
made. This is a guarantee to both
sides of a square deal in so far as a
tribunal such as the Railroad Labor
Board can mete out justice without
fear or favor, and in those circum
stances there could be little justifica,
ton for strike.
OF course the coal strike has not
progressed almost two months without
the miners being stalked by the spec
ire of want and hunger. Due to part
i time employment they were in dire
straits in some districts before they
ceased work entirely. As long ago as
January, Governor Davis of Ohio is
sued proclamation calling attention
to this phase of the coal problem in
his state and urging that something be
done to assist the miners who wanted
not charity, but work The union is
not paying strike benefits and to out
siders it is something of mystery
how the strikers and their wives anC
children manage to live.
Last week a church organization
that has interested itself in relic
work took group of children of Yves
/ Virginia miners to New York City Il
be exhibited as human documents evi
r dencing the urgent need of doin!
: something at once if they and thei
7 parents are to be saved from starva
' ton. The pitiful appeal made by tn,
t mere appearance Of these youngsters
: emaciated as they were and with bi
t eyes eloquent of suffering, was sue
r that funds\ we're Immediately provide
: for a trainload of provisions to b