The Washington times., 1922-08-14
RAIL WA[KOUT
IS BLAMED ON
.PENNSYL|NES

Success in Violating u.S.Labor
Board Decisions Responsible,
Says Former Member.
BY HENRY T. HUNT,
Former Vice Chairman United States
Railway Labor Board.
Copyright. ls2., by Cosmopolitan News
service.)
NEW YORK. Aug. 1.-THE sue
cess Of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company in evading the Railroad
Boards ruling. finding the company
guilty of violating it's decision. Is one
of the chief causes Of the railroad
strike.
One of the conditions necessary TO
settlement of the strike, in my opin.
ion, must be the dismissal by the
railroad Of It's appeal TO the Supreme
Court of the United States from the
decision of the circuit court of ap-
peals.
: Settlement Possible.
II the railroad executives and the
heads Of the labor unions really
seek a settlement. It can be brought
about.
There is q group Of railroad ex-
ecutives who believe Il necessary
for railroad efficiency to eliminate
the shopcraft unions. As I see II,
the successful pressure Of this
group on the Administration and on
the labor board has done much to
cause this strike.
The principle to be firmly
grasped and applied to the solution
of all railroad problems. including
the present strike. is that the pub
lie interest IL paramount oyer all
others. Railroad property ID prop
erty devoted to a public use. and
railroad executives who manage II
are under q duty TO the public to
supply safe, prompt, cheap and ade-
quate transportation. These execu-
tives are only agents Of the public.
Insofar only as their acts are with
In the scope Of this agency. that
is, insofar as they promute the
public interest, they find their prin-
oipal. the public, 10 bound, normally
at least, to confine the promises
Of the executives when within this
agency.
To supply transportation & dis.
ciplined forge, including shop forces.
is necessary. The only possibility Of
providing such a force is TO get the
men who have been trained for years
I'm the technique for shop work back
on the job. Any other course will. at
the best, long delay the safe,
adequate and economical transpor-
tation, and may even stop transpor-
tation altogether.
Promises Unwarranted.
1t appears that new employees have
been engaged and that promises Of
permanent employment have been
made to them by the executives.
These promises went beyond an the
scope of the powers intrusted to
these executives by the public, aud
the public interest should not be sac
rificed because Of them.
Some executives made them delib-
erately to break down bridges for q
retreat. They seized vaguely upon
what seemed an opportunity to break
the shopcraft unions. IL the direc-
tors of thees companies feel that the
promises of these executives must
be made good they should supply
work for these new men in places
separate from the regular shops, and
as extra men only. To have them
work In contact with the regular EN-.
ployes would invite conflict.
In other words, the strikers
should be taken back with senior
ity unimpaired. This is the only
way to satisfy the public needs.
and urgent to safe and economical
transportation.
II these strikers were wrong in
leaving their work. they have been
suffientiy punished by the loss Of
six weeks pay. A number of rail-
roads, including the Pennsylvania
and Erie, have flagrantly violated
decisions Of the Labor Board and
have gotten away with Il. The
public and the board were indif.
ferent.
The board has also been guilty
Of delays in handing down deci.
sions. There comes a time when
patience is no longer a virtue,
when action is necessary to Jolt
the public with notice of the sins
of their agents. This has now
been accomplished.
II railroads and employees have
been brought into a mod to obey
the boards decisions, and the pub
lie has been made to understand
that many railroads have violated
them, and to induce no more vio-
lations by either party, the strike
is worth it's cost. Possibly the
Labor Board has learned not to try
to fix wages so as to help the
railroads earn 6 per cent ON their
valuation. Labor Board members
should stick to the law which de-
clares that the wages they fix