The Washington times., 1922-08-07

VsA<A<sHUs hhhASsS' Ing u q II ! n "
about what 10 happening at the
White House, the inquirer turns to
what 10 being thought and done eise.
where. On that general point the
following general statement may be
made:
The impression Is rapidly gaining
ground that both the coal strike and
the railroad strike are now hanging
onto their lives by an extremely slen.
der thread, and that publicly or
privately the President will soon take
a hack at each Of those threads and
bring both strikes down dead.
In the case OF the railroad strike,
there Is great evaporation in official
quarters against both sides for guar.
reIing now over what Is regarded as
a point Of empty honor. 1t is claim
ed that the railroad managers know
perfectly we'll that most OF their new
employees are not worth keeping. 1t
is claimed that they also know per.
fectly well that therefore In time
they will have to run their shops
with a force Of men consisting prin.
cipally of the present strikers. 1t is
claimed that finally they are per.
fectly well aware that when the pres.
ent strikers go back to work they
will drive the "scabs" out OF the
shops by means which no power on
earth can prevent.
1t is therefore claimed by the best
Informed and most Immediately in.
terested officials In Washington that
all this effort on the part OF the
railroad managers to get seniority
rights" for the men who stayed at
work and for the men who have
acted as strike-breakers is a chase
OF a bubble. II Is claimed that the
union leaders are equally to blame
because they ought to be willing to
let the railroad managers have the
bubble X II amuses them.
A similar evaporation is felt now
against both sides in the coal strike.
The issue raised in the coal strike
between competitive field negotin
tions" and negotiations by districts"
Is regarded here as totally hollow.
The miners insist on competitive
field negotiations''-cov four
districts in one meeting-but II Is
pointed out here that there Is moth.
Ing to prevent them from going into
four meetings and from then refus.
ing to sign an agreement i'm any one
Of those meetings till a satisfactory
settlement was reached in all four
Of them.
The operators insist on "negotia.
tions by districts" but II is pointed
out here that there is nothing to
prevent them from going into n
meeting OF four districts together
and Of then refusing to sign any
agreement regarding all four until
the agreement was satisfactory to
each one Of the four.
Officials here insist that the min.
ers and the operators are quarreling
over point of form. They say ths
II the miners insist on putting four
districts into one room, the opera tors
could still sit in four corners II they
wanted to. They say that IL the
operators insist on four rooms, the
miners could still make use OF doors
between the rooms II they wanted to.
They say that the whole fight is
either a foolishness or else a fake.
1t is believed that the feelings cf
these officials are shared by the
President, and that publicly or pri.
vately the President will soon ex.
press these feelings with emphasis
and with results: It is believed that
neither the railroad strike nor the
coal strike will be athe to survive an
exposure by him of what Is coming
to be regarded as their complete in.