Evening star., 1922-07-13
RAIL STRIKE END
IS BELIEVED NEAR
Optimism RuIes-Truce at
Least Expected Before
Saturday.
~ DAVID LAWRENCE.


An unswervtns optimism that tho
railroad strike will be settled or at
least truce arranged before the end
OF the week seems to peryade the
executive branch Of the government.
while Congress. with a meager at
tendance. reveals little concern one
way or the other.
President Harding is not directly a
party to the many negotiations which
are going on informally among rail-
read men, but he is kept constantly
informed. While there is a differ
ence Of opinion among labor leaders
as to the wisdom OF that part of the
Presidents proclamation which en-.
deavors % give the United States
Railroad Labor Board the prestige and
authority OF law by referring to. IL as
the agency OF the government" there
Is no dispute as to the power of the
chief executive to use the Army II
necessary to prevent interruption 10
interstate commerce. whether the
mails or private property Of any Kind
are carried.
Boards Position Strengthened.
The position Of the Railroad Labor
Board has. on the other hand. been
immeasurabiy strengthened by the
statement of the railroad executive
to the effect that they cannot enter
into any negotiations with their men.
but that the decision of the Railroad
Labor Board IL final. This is an in
teresting and hopeful development as
viewed here, for II means long step
toward industrial peace. Heretofore
the labor leaders have felt justified
in ignoring the decisions of the Labor
Board by the strike method. chiefly
because OF q conviction that the rail-
roads themselves were not obeyink
the decisions OF the board.
Some lapses on both sides are ad-
mftted. but the open recognition by
the railroad executives Of the fnality
Of the United States Labor Boards
decisions 10 regarded here as an i'm
portant precedent. which will MAKE
1t difhcult for the railroads later on
to defy the board on matters which
appear to favor the employees.
Oae Liae Of Attack.
From the very beginning the Pres
dent has kept to one line Of attack.
namely, the maintenance Of the La Dor
Board. as the all powerful agency OF
government above which there was
no appeal. Congress throughout all
its debates did not intend that any
obedience of a decision of the Rail
road Labor Board. and purposely
omitted the matter of penalties. be
lfevtng that public opinion would
compel obedience. Mr.. Harding is
relying. Of course. on public opinion.
that he has stated enormously the
true power Of the Labor Board. when
he attempts in his proclamation to
give to the Labor Boards decisions
the weight of law, and when he gives
the impression that in striking
' tnot nf ha Th
men are In effect striking against
! the United States government. The
truth q nowhere in the transporta-
| ston act does the Labor Board have
powers Of compulsory arbitration:
The government. however. has full
! accept the decisions of the board. To
this extent any interference with in
terstate commerce can be prevented
and leaders and wcrkmen jailed IL they
conformity with the Labor Boards
awards.
Untenable Doctrine.
The President could have stressed
this phase Of law-breaking even more
than he did and kept within the
meaning Of the federal statutes. but
labor leaders. among them Samuel
0ompefs. Insist that Mr.. Hardings
! proclamation contains an untenable
! that IL the railroad strike is settled
; directly or indirectly without serious
/ challenge to the authority of the
! Labor Board, an important advance
| will have been made and the princi
! pies expressed by the present chief
! executive will grow in weight later
on. Once the railroad employees de-
eide to accept the decisions OF the
\ United states Labor Board as final
| they will In turn compel the railroads
| to do likewise or forfeit the supper [
I OF public opinion. which makes itself
| felt more readily with the railroad
executives because Of the influence
OF the government upon the thou
! sands Of people and varied interests
| whose collective power affects rail-
road management
The way out for the raiiron1 en-
pioyss is to accept the decision of
the Labor Board with a request for
| reconsideration. This may O ray
not be granted by the board. If u
10 granted II would not commit the
board to modification, but would af-
ford the labor leaders an opportunity
to resume negotiations and end the
strike without seeming 10 have won
or lost