The Washington times., 1922-08-18

OsnST poIyJ oho uoshf Witueoo
explained, "they just goes to
Baltimore and gets married to
somebody they can get along
with.
"When they comes back to
Washington, they have married
again and the other party has
NO claim on them"
J This is the quickest and
cheapest method vet suggested
for severing the marital knot.
brought TO my attention, could
| the strikers, though they had q
remedy without seeking to paralyse
Interstate commerce.
Law Is Inadequate.
The law creating the Railroad
Labor Board is inadequate. Con-
trary to popular impression, II has
little or no power to enforce it's
decisions. 1t can impose no penal
, ties on either party disregarding
it's decisions. II can not halt Q
strike. and manifestly Congress de.
liberately omitted the enactment of
compulsory arbitration. The de-
cisions of the board must be made
enforceable and effective against
carriers and employees alike. But
the law is new, and no perfection
Of II by Congress at this moment
could be helpful In the present
threatened paralysis of transporta-
ton.
Happily It Is always lawful and
Qfttimes possible to settle disputes
outside Of court, 20, In a desire to
serve public welfare, I ventured upon
an attempt at mediation. Those who
had preceded me in attempted set
Elements had made some progress. l
submitted to the officials Of the strtk.
ing employees and the chairman cf
the Association of Railway Execu.
tives, In writing, on the same day.
a tentative proposal for settlement.
Knowing that some Of the carriers
had offended by ignoring the decis'
ions Of the board and the -amployes
had struck when they bad a remedy
without the strike. felt II was best
| to start all over again, resume work.
all to agree to abide faithfully by the
boards decisions. make II q real trib.
unal of peace in transportation, and
everybody serve the public. The
barrier to be surmounted was the
question Of seniority. By the work
men these rights are held to be
sacred, and unsurrendered by q
strike. BY the carriers the preser.
vation OF seniority is the weapon OF
discipline on the one hand and the
reward Of faithful employees on the
other. 1t has been an almost in
variable rule that when strikes have
been lost seniority and Its advantages
have been surrenderedf when strikes
have been settled seniority has been
restored.
In the tentative proposal which
sponsored II was provided that
everybody should 90 TO work. 9th
seniority rights unimpaired. that
there should be no discrimination
by either workmen or carriers
against workmen who did or did
not strike. realized that the pro.
posal must carry a Disappointment
TO employees who had inherited pro
motion by staying Loyalty on the
Job, and to such new men as had
sought jobs looking to permanent
employment, but I wanted the fresh
start and maintained transportation
service. and appraised the dis
appointment Of the few to be lest
important TAN the impending mis-
fortune to the nation. II was not
what I would ask ordinarily to b
considered or conceded. but at that
moment Of deep anxiety, with tht
coal shortage gravely menacing.
was thinking Of the pressing de
mands Of the welfare of the whole
people. believed the sacrifice
brought to the men involved could
be amply compensated for by the
carriers in practical ways. be
lieved that the matter Of trans
cendent Importance was the &C
ceptance Of the proposal to respect
the labor boards decisions on the
questions which formed the issue
at the time Of the strike. Tht
public compensation would be com
plete In guarding by law agains'
recurrence.
i, Proposal Was Rejected.
The proposal was rejected by the
carriers. Though the rejection die
not end all negotiation. 1t left tine
Government only one course-tt
call the striking workmen to return
to work, to call the carriers to as
sign them to work, and leave ths
dispute about seniority to the labor
board for decision. When negotia
ton or mediation fails. this Is the
course contemplated by the law and
the Government can have no chart
for it's course except the law.
To this call a majority OF the car
riers responded favorably. proposing
to reemploy all strikers except those
guilty Of violence against workmen
or property, to restore the striking
workmen to their old positions where
vacant. or to like positions where
vacancies are filled; questions OF
seniority which cannot be settled be.
tween the employer and employees to
60 to the labor board for decision
The minority Of the carriers pro
posed to assign Jobs to workmen on
strike only where the positions were
vacant. Neither proposal has been
accepted.
Thus the narrative brings US to
the present moment, but Il has not