Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-07-01
LABOR BOARD HEAD
WRITES TO JEWELL
Outlining the Boards Position
in Present Railroad Con-
troversy.


-
Chicago, III. July ben w
Hooper, chairman Of the United
States Labor Board. has written the
following letter 10 r. NJ. Jewell. presi-
dent of the American Federation Of
Labor, explaining the boards action
in the matter of railroads and their
employees:
Dear Sir:
Your communication ~ tho nth
inst, in which the presidents OF tho
eleven (1l) organizations composing
your department also Joined. has benn
duly received and most carefully con-
sidered.
Your letter Is 10 the effect that GER
tain decisions Of tho Railroad Labor
Board have been submitted to a strike
vote Of the members Of your several
organizations and that. in the event
the vote Is affirmative, the strike will
be sanctioned by o and your ASSOC
ciate officials.
II might seem that q "a communion
ton calls for no official response. Per-
sonally. however, ] have always felt
n Willingness to go beyond tho strict
limits of my official authority In the
interest Of railway peace. when this
could be done without the sacrifice
Of any principle or the commission Of
any official improprioty.
Inasmuch as n vote Of a strike by
the men is not TO be n mere formality.
hut Is 70 be followed by a strike order
from the Organization heads, I deem
1t a duty TO make reply TO your letter.
It IS TO be presumed that you do
not desire that the members OF your
organization shall vote for A propo-
sition that contains such possibilities
Of loss nc determent 10 themselves,
upon a misunderstanding OF the action
and attitude OF this board. II ia a
fact. however. that your letter does
manifest a strikingly distorted con-
ception OF what the board has done
and why It did II.
In the most concise mapner possible
and without the repetition Of much
detail. let me call attention to a few
statements in your letter.
l. Your statement that the boards
last decision states openly that pres.
sure OF circumstances was such thai
the board was unable to determine
Just and reasonable wages is not cor.
rect. The decision contains no suct
statement aud none that can be fairly
SO construed.
The decision recites at length til,
abnormal economic and industrial con
ditions OF the postwar period, ant
then says:
Surrounded by such abnormal con
ditions. the Labor Board has no beer
permitted to deal with the question
of what constitutes just and reason
able wages INC working conditions il
the same undisturbed and uncompli
Gated as would have been pos
sible in normal times"
This simple recognition of Difficult
ties experienced by the whole worl
should not be twisted into an inter
probation designed to mislead the me
whose interests are mostly directly in
volved.
?. Your statement hat this boar
says that the establishment of jus
wages for railway workers mus
await the complete satisfaction {
ownership in the matter Of rehabilita
ton and profits" is an inexcusabl
perversion of both the language an
meaning of what the Board in fac
said. A strike of railway employee.
involving their wages, their employ
ment and their welfare, based upo
such misleading statements of tn.
boards sentiments and declaration
, would be unjust to the men and 10 III
public.
, 3. The statement in the boards d.
cision that labor can not be con
. pletely freed from the economic law
which likewise affect the earnings
capital" is so obviously sound thai
Y will not be questioned anywhere III
side of the kingdom Of the Bolshevik
And yet. you mention this as an O,
. cas!on OF offense.
S Your construction of this as NEAR
= ing the treatment of labor as a cor
5 modify" is strained. especially so.
o view of the fact that the board,
t the same paragraph. said:
at should be said that the Lab,
: Board has never adopted the theoi
that human labor is a commodity
= be bought and sold upon the marke
and, consequently, TO be reduced
starvation wages during periods
d depression and unemployment"
e A., Your statement hat the boa
failed to take into consideration Il
principle that ever the lowest pa
railway employees. such as sectiC
men and laborers, should receive
y least a living wage" is utterly has
- less.
q Your continual isolation ana acce,
tuation OF the fact that a minimu
rate of % cents an hour, $1.S4 a da
W. established for section men
? entirely misleading because il owe
locks or suppresses so many connect
fact, among which are the followin
% The rate for section men rang
& from 20 TO IS cents per hour.
d (2l a comparatively small numb
of them receive 80 cents per hour.
, lYast majority ct them receive I