Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-07-13
HARDINC'S STRIKE METHODS

MK. HARDING has preserved through all
~ the succeeding crises of his term in the
W mite liouse faith in the simple dcccncy
.. people ana trust in the better side Of
thelr collective character and their good in.
tentions that is at once steadfast and some.
now wistful. He has been frank TO say that
ne mas no intimate knowledge of the COM
Phrntcd factors involved in the two big
strikes now carried at last TO his doors.
nc prefers to believe. if we may judge by
MS methods. that an intutivc sense of the
approaches to the national conscience and TO
inc collective minds of excited groups can
be at least as valuable Mt n time like this
ana as useful to the pcacemakcr as all the
technical knowledge at the disposal of en-
gineers.
So' In the presence Of economic disturb
"h'cS mat become uglicr almost every day,
the president continues in the attitude of a
patient conciliator. Mr.. Roosevelt would in
all probability have had the army in prepa-
ration before now to protect important
trains and to insure n continuing produce
tlon OF coal. Mr.. Wilson would have been
10 the Capitol weeks ago with message of
challenge to Congress. the people and the
unions. Mr.. Harding still addresses him
self to tho parties in the railway and coal
strikes and TO the general public as IL he
had no doubt about their common dcsirc to
do right and to settle their difficulties
quickly. and without permitting matters to
get worse than they are. We may find in
the end that the Presidents instinct has led
him in the right way.
The proclamation issued from the White
House as call for peace on the railroads
may be preliminary to Stcrncr measures and
less restrained announccmcnt of the Gov
ernment's purposes. But it IS. ns 1t stands.
an appeal over the heads of organizations
and executives. corporations and clQups. to
the good sense and the instinct of dccency
that is supposed to be somewhere in every
average man. Mail trains and trains en-
gagged in intorstat" commerce must not be
interfcrcd with. Men have right to work
as well as n right to strike And the Gov
ernmcnt. speaking through the President,
asks merely that these simple rules be gen.
orally observed and respected
Meanwhile 1t is significant that the COR
porations and the strikers are alike indicted
by inference for their refusal to nbidc by
the decisions Of the Railroad Labor BOARD
the roads by farming OUT shop work. with
an apparent intention to weaken the unions.
and the men by refusing to accent n wage
cut ordered by the board. What Mr.. Hard
ing is trying to do is to fix in the minds of
all people--thosc involved in the strike and
those who feel its effects only indirectly
that the Railroad Labor Board must be ac-
cnped as the final authority in this dispute:
that the strikers and the cOrporstions must
go back to it that aS the agency of govern
ment designed to keep economic peace and
relieve the Government Of the diStaSteful
duty of applying military force in the eco
nOmiC field its prestige and authority must
be sustained now and for all time. II this
Is not done we shall slide back in day to
C0nfuSions of twenty years ago.
The President is wise in his conviction
that there can be at present no tolcrabn
substitute for an agency like the Railroad
or further governmental adventures in eco
nomic control on the other would promise
little permanent good. If in this crisis Of
the boards experience its prestige Is main
tairXd the country will hav" something to
be thankful for. The need for some such
agency l. imperative.
What happens when the boards facilities
ere dispensed with Is clear now in all the
news from the railroads. 1t was said in
these columns when the strike was called
that the effects of the shopmcn's wNlkout
would not be felt for week or ten days.
Now trains are being withdrawn. The
Governor Of New Jersey is about to invost-
gate charges that incompetent car inspectors
are TO blame for n recent rail wreck. And
the truinmrn's brOthorhoods are holding s"-
crct meetings and objeCting StrenuOusly 10
work in go operation with mitiamon and
organizations of special guards formed to
fight the striking union.