Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-07-25
"THEY SHALL NOT PASS
All Railroad Workers Backing The
ShOpmen.
FIGHT MAINLY TO DESTROY UkIoNIsK
Railroad Management Allowed to Vio-
late the Law With lmpunity; sus
Workers Must Stand Sauareiy to the


Scratch.
Correspondence The Yorkv!!e En1ulrer
Columbia, July 22.--"They shall not
pass!" ~
The famous slogan OF the French
when Paris was threatened by the
Germans is not the official slogan of
the several hundred thousand railroad
men in the United States today: but it
is the implied slogan not only Of the
men who are already on strike, but the
several hundred thousand additional
railroad workers of the various unions
who make up the rank and file of the
railroad employees of the country who
are still on their jobs--the engineers,
firemen, trainmen. conductors. main
tenance of way men, etc. All of the
men who are not on strike are fully
aware of the fact that if the shop
men and their fellow craftsmen who
are on strike now, lose out in their
struggle, that their time is coming in
regular order and the results will be
the same for them and further realize
that if they do not stand by their fell
low unionists now on strike then they
can expect no support when their turn
comes. -,
No, not yet, are the various classes
of rail workers who are not on strike
giving any active support to the strik-
ers; but their moral support is with
them heart and soul and if it should
begin to appear that the present strik-
ers are likely to lose then the whole of
the railroad craftsmen will join in the
strike and make the tie-up complete.
That is the sentiment of we'll
known Southern engineer running out
of Columbia, as expressed to this cor
respondent today. 1t was said with
out brag or buster, but simply as a
matter of fact, every word of which
he believed.
Practically all of the men here in
Columbia who are employees of the
Southern, express the belief that if
the affairs of the Southern had been
left to the sense of fairness and JUS
tice of President Fairfax Harrison of
the Southern railway, there would have
been no strike on the system. But
unfortunately Mr.. Harrison and the
Southern is tied up with the bunch Of
railroad managers who are determin-
ed, as the railroad men see it, to wipe
out unionism and there was nothing
else for Mr.. Harrison to do but let
things take their course and they are
taking it.
Here in Columbia 400 men, includ
ing foremen, mechanics, boiler makers
stationary engineers and flremen, etc,
are on strike, and working in thc
Southern shops, trying to carry on, are
left only the master mechanic, general
foreman, supervisor, road master, road
foreman of engines and nine green ne
gro laborers as helpers. And just here
there is quite little story going tin"
negro helpers, TO the effect that when
the strike was inaugurated the honor
able mayor of Columbia. Mr.. Coleman,
informed the leaders of the strike that
ne was ''hands off," that the only
thing that he demanded was that there
should be no violence on the part OF
the strikers, and that he would do
nothing to in any way help the rail
roads in their difficulties. A promise
on the part of the strike leaders that
there would be no violence on their
part was given and has been rigidly
adhered to. But q few nights ago the
nine negro laborers were slipped up to
the gate and into the shop yards of the
Southern in charge of plain clothes
policemen and are being quartered in
the yards, and the railroad men are
now wanting the mayor to explain the
why of it, in the face of his voluntary
promises of hands off.
All trains are late, or mostly so. Oc-
casionally one gets away or arrives on
time, but not often. The engines are
going TO pieces just as rapidly as they
can and there is hardly locomotive
in the service that is not being run in
violation of the Federal safety laws,
and if the railroad mangements were
held to strict obedience of the Federal
railroad safety laws, not a wheel
would be turning. For instance, on
one run out of Columbia an engine has
been used regularly on 4 night run the
past week that has no pilot-a fa-
grant violation of the law. On anoth-
er run out of the city there is an en-
gine on which the hub liners are gone,
there is one injector and the law re-
uuires two, there is no air signal whis-
tie, the safety chains on the tender
are missing; but outside of these and
few other minor shortcomings that
particular engine is in good shape.
One day last week, so | am told by
a reliable engineer, there were twen-
one of the big freight engines tied ur
in the Columbia yard because of needed
repairs. and at Spencer, n. c., at the
main shops of the Southern. there
were about forty of the Big Mikes
the big freight engines used on the
Charlotte division, tied up for repairs