Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-08-29
RAIL BOARD HALTS
At LIVING WAGE"
RULING FOR UNION
Adjourns Until Tomorrow After
Denying Petition Of Labor
Statistician.
ROADS MAY BAR TRACKMEN
By Assoclated T'ress to Tsvery EvenIng.

BY Associated Press 10 Every Evening.
Chicago, Aug. 2o-The Railroad
Labor Board today denied the motion
of w. Jett Lauck. labor statistician
that the board Immediately define the
principle OF "a living wage" in the
case Of the Maintenance Of Way en-
ployes who are seeking increased
minimum ratee OF pay.
At the request Of f. r. Cradle,
president of the maintenance organi-
zation the hearing then was adjourn
ed until tomorrow morning.
Mr.. Cradle announced he was tele-
graphing President Harding and SEN
ator CummIns, one OF the authors OF
the Transportation act at Washington
today. asking them 10 present % Con-
gress an amendment to the act which
would make It mandatory on the Labor
Board to "nunciate the principle Of
the living wage"
The board. in its ruling on Iauck's
request. declared & could not go be-
yond the Transportation act which
prescribed the establishment OF Just
and reasonable" wages.
Whether there Is any differentiation
between the "just and reasonable"
wage referred 20 IN the Transporta-
ton act. and living wage slogan
Of tho 100000 maintenance OF way men
whose application for fatter pay
checks Is before the United States
railroad Labor Board. is still a DOM
inant question for the board to de-
eide
| With II tho board was confronted
with the protest by several eastern
roads against admitting striking
trackrnen az parties to the wage dis
pute.
| The boards ruling as announced by
Chairman Ben W. Hooper follows:
"On the motion submitted yesterday
on behalf of the employees by Mr.
4 Lauck the board announces as fol-
lows:
1T is superhuous for the board tC
announce in advance the principle OF
theory upon which It will fix wages
in the pending dispute. It may be as
sumed by the parties in this case thai
the board will give full consideration
to every circumstance set out II
statute for its guidance, but it will
not he beyond that.
The transportation act requires the
board to establish wages that are JUS
and reasonable. 1t is within the pro
vince of the parties herein to max,
such contentious as they may respec
! lively see fit as to what will constitut,
a just and reasonable wage. II th'
wage the maintenance Of way organ
ization finds the living wage and
should be demonstrated to be a jus
and reasonable wage the board vii
adopt 1t; otherwise it would not.
The board viii neither limit nor en-
large the right of either party I,
present to the board this conception o
what constitutes a Just and reasona
BILE wage within the meaning of tn
laws"
These questions were raised wheI
the hearing began yesterday. tn
board was asked BY z. r. Cradle. pres
| ident Of the Maintenance Union, an'
W. Jett Lauck. the trackmen's sta
tistician, 10 define a living wage
It is, according to union leaders, moth
ing less than AS cents an hour, III,
minimum OF the wage scale which tn,
maintenance men have asked tn
board 10 establish.
Ten roads, whose trackmen hav
been on strike since the shopmel
threw down their tools July I, joine,
in the protest against permitting tn
strikers TO have representation IN tn,
case.