The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-08-02
R. R. REFUSAL
 IS TAKEN UP
 BY PRESIDENT
(Continued from Page onc)

(COnt1nueU from Page Onc)
 manded by the more militant element them have a showdown test as to their ability to fulfill the transportation needs of the country without the aid of 300,000 of their old skilled work CTS.
 8. It can refuse to accept as final the cold turndown given peace pro- posals to date, and continue its efforts to arrive at a peaceab1e, mutually satisfactory program of settlement.
 In the absence rooay of any well defined movement by the White House the opinion prevailed among admin lstration officials that the later course would be followed. Administration officials were quick to point out to- day that while the railway heads were unanimous rejection of the seniority program, they nevertheless signihed their acceptance of the other pro posals 1t contained, and left the door to peace ajar if not. wide open.
 fire.
 Labor Board Decisions.
 President Harding's closest advis- CTS considered most important today that portion of the railroads reply which pledged them to respeect all future decisions of the railway labor
 board. It is through this qoophole that some administration spokesmen profess to see today the light Of peaceful settlement. It was explain ed this way.
 Under existing conditions the rail-
 way labor board is powerless to take any action whatsoever with regard to the troublesome issue of seniority for those men who struck, because 1t arose since the walkour.
 Once these men returned to work. however, it was pointed out, they could petition the roads for return or aany action whatsoever with regard %l, h. peal to the railway board and the dispute would become a "current dis pute'' between the roads and the
 workers and as such it could legally be considered by the board. If the board decided they were en- titled to seniority rights, the railroads | would be put in an awkward position | inasmuch as they have already pledg- | ed themselves to respect such future | decisions as the board shall hand
 down.
 | With the collapse-temporarily al | 1east-of peace efforts all along the industrial battle front, in coal and rail strikes. the opinion was generally
 among officials today that the em- 1 ployers are out to "get'' the unIons | if possible in both industries. l Labor Leaders, Say. Labor Leaders in Washington as | sert that the employers attitude-the | coal operators refusing to deal witt
  | and the railroads refusing to estab l fish peace on terms of compromts' | decreed by the White House to b' | fair to all concerned-constitut 2
 direct challenge to the solidarity O. | labor which cannot long be ignored. | In three great 'tkey'' industries
 strikes are now on. with no immedi | ate peace in sight. These are railroads | mines and tetiles. involving hundredi | of thousands of workers.
 | In this connection Samuel Gompers | president of the American Federation of Labor. exhibited today a sheaf O. | resolutions passed by labor or unior | locals in various trades and in vari | ous parts of the country calling for { general strike on the part of all labol | Gompers made them public "withou | comment as indicating the temper O l labor generally in this period of in | dustrtal turmoil.
 | The President. it was said. regarded | the railroad situation as the key tt the whole tangled. chaotic industria | situation and he was supremely conf | dent that his peace program woult
 end the transportation strike.