The New York herald., 1922-09-05
G0MPERS ASSAILS
HARDING'S STAND
Continued from First Page.

would not now bend the knee ITO any
industrial autocracy." The drive for
the open shop he said. was on He
rehearsed the history of the strikes
following post war wage reductions and
lauded the striking railroad shopmen,
saying:
Had they accepted the reductions
they would have had to accept still
others, but thank God for the American
spirit. The tide has turned and reduc
tion of wages has stopped and the road
leads to a better day"
Free men may stop work for any
reason or for no reason" he said with
studied deliberation. and followed 1t
with, Whence comes an injunction II a
Government is for the people? Attor-
ney-General Daugherty a few months
ago advocated compulsory labor laws;
the President of the United States as
member of the Senate in supporting
the transportation act voted for COM
pulsory labor. In his special message
on August IS he advocated compulsory
labor. The party of Lincoln is trying
TO enforce compulsory labor on whites
and blacks.
THE President in his special mes
sage asked Congress to put teeth in the
transportation act. He wanted to make
the decisions of the railroad labor
board enforceable. BY what means?
| BY fines or Imprisonment, or both The
| charge was TO be- They won't 80 to
work
Congress had refused to pass COM
pulsory labor legislation. Up to the
present it refuses TO pass such legsla-
ton. Now, because of that failure. the
Attorney General, by direction of the
President applies for an injunction moro
far reaching than any legislation Con-
gress was asked TO pass
Dcnounces Burns.
II wonder who, under this injunction,
is TO do the frightening, w. J. Burns?
That same Burns who was Investigated
by a Republican Attorney General. Mr.
Wickersham, who reported that Burns
had fabricated the recor1 and had en-
gagged in jury fixing to secure the con-
viction Of an innocent man. This Is
historic fact"
Mr. Gompers told about having visited
1 Attorney General Dougherty and called
his attention to the Burns record and
proceeded to delounce tn, detective as
2 man hunter" t
"ft is a splentlid combination he ex-
/ claimed. but il doesn't represent the
American spirit. The injunction Is
wrongful in principal and in fact.
"lt is a confession that the railway
shopmen have nearly won their fight. IL
ii was lost or about ID be lost ] doubt
IL the Administration would have got
the injunction to frighten the lives out
OF men. They deny US the right to meet
together to speak to each other. or tele-
phone TO each other. They overlooked
the possibility of your broadcasting on
your radio sets 10 each other. hut the
injunction is there. | ~dont think the
shopmen on strike want to interfere with
the railroads. but they will maintain
their right not to work under conditions
contrary to their best interests"
Renews Attack on Harding.
Returning to his attack on the Presi-
detn. he said when the official reps
l resentatives OF the shop men called
I upon the President recently he had a
plan all prepared to submit TO them.
lie submitted IL. and the representatives
OF the strikers accepted IT, lie then
told the committee that II the carriers
did not accept II he would use the big
stick on them. He submitted his plan.
which had been accepted for the strikers.
TO the carriers and they rejected u.
Then the President used the big stick
on the shop men. who had accepted his
! plan
Then the speaker recalled his own
sentence TO jail IN the Buck Stove and
! Range case. and provoked laughter when
he said he did not go to jail He re-
called that the man who sentenced NM
with John Mitchell. Frank Morrison and
others. was no longer Judge, and then
caused the reading OF Sections and ~
! OF The Clayton act. prohibiting inJunc-
/ tions Ia disputes between employers ana
4 psh
jury to property rights
THAT is the law passed by Congress
bearing on injunctions and II forbids
the issuance Of an Injunction in such
case as this. Yet they issue an IN
junction." he said