The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-12
UNIONS LIKELY ID REJECT PROPOSALS,
 LEADERS INDICATE.
Conference of Chiefs Adjourns Without Adopting Reply. Many Unsafe Locomo-
 lives, Is Charged
By Associated Press

Washington, August 1l.-After several hours conference behind closed doors, chief officials of all railroad labor organizations ad- journed tonight until a. m. tomor- row, declaring themselves still un- able to answer President Harding's final settlement offer to the shopmen and still unready to make public the policy which unions not on strike in- tend to follow.
 Warren s. Stone. grand chief
 of the engineers brotherhood and
 chairman of the meeting, an-
 nounced, however. that both
 these expressions would be forth-
 coming tomorrow. Officials of
 the seven snions on strike will
 reply to the President them-
 selves, he snid, while the remain-
 dsr aafendea to toin In q decfar-
 ation of their position to tho
 public.
 Mir. Stone, in commenting on the various walkouts of trainmen now progressing, said he had reports from 50 terminals where our men are facing conditions just like those." and added that there might be walkouts' at such terminals.
 Don't Countenance Strike.
 At the White House the adminis- tration's view of these walkouts, attributed by the union leaders to the presence of armed guards, was said to be that no strike which had as a purpose the preventing of the government from authorizing agen- cies of law and order to protect life and property would have countenance or effect.
 President Harding, 1t was said, does not intend to put the govern ment into a threatening position In the industrial situation.
 Though E. M. Jewell, chairman of the group of strike leaders. as well as MT. Stone, insisted that only general discussion" had marked the union session, subordinate officials. particularly of the train service brotherhoods, were continuously In and out of the gathering. MT. Stone said he was In receipt today of re- ports frcm strike centers and that the instructions to train service men were the same--that they should not continue work where their lives are in danger.
 Violating Safety Law.
 "One half of the locomotives run ming today are doing so in violation of the safety provisions of law, any way" he declared. This shopmen's strike has not been broken any where.
 While the formal announce
 ,I.
 withheld officials of the strfk-
 ing shopmen were unvnrying in
 holding nat impression that the Presfdcnt's offer-the heart of
 which fs the prop0snl to leave
 the seniority status of returning
 strikers to the railroad labor
 board would meet rejection. The
 purpose of the gathering was
 merely to consider what the pOl-
 icy of the other unions would be.
 they SnId.
 Now that it's come down to a question of seniority retention" said Martin r. Ryan. head of the car mems brotherhood. it isn't the shop mems fight. It's the fight of every labor organization in the railroad service"
 Government Not Represented.
 The only brotherhood chief official missing today was w. G. Lee. of the trainmen. His place was taken by w. N. Doak, vice president Chairman Hooper. of the railroad la bor board did not attend the session. though 1t was understood he had con ferred with some participants be- fore hand. Other than this. the gov ernment was not represented. Pres ident Harding was closely occupied with issues relating to the industrial tContinued on Page T,vo)