New-York tribune., 1922-07-31
Shoprne1l " ait
For Executives
To Act To-day
Declare Strike Will End in
Week If Group Headed
by Atferbury Is Beaten
ON the Issue of Seniority
Officials to Hear Cuyler
Session to Clear Way for
Decisive Meeting of l48
Rail Managers Tomorrow

meeting OF railroad executives this
afternoon at the Metropolitan Club is
expected to 60 far toward determining
whether there is to be peace or con-
tinued war between the railroads and
will begin at 1:15 o'clock. L. F. Loree,
chairman Of the Eastern Presidents
Conference. will preside. 1t will hear
the report Of T. De Witt Cuyler, who
took part in the conferences with Pres
ident Harding and will canvass the
situation thoroughly In preparation for
the teeond days conference on Tues
day.
N the opinion of the shop crafts,
tl ere is only small minority of the
soeai o. ,4S railway executives joining
tue Conferences standing between their
demands for reinstatement of seniority
ratings and d consequent return to
worA General w. w. Atterbury, OF the
Penn sylvania system, is the pivot man
OF this group, they declared. II he
will yield in his demand that the shop
mechanics who went on strike resume
employment on the same basis as any
new help that may be taken on the
other details of returning to work
Put Decision Up to Atterbury
If General Atterbury will not yield
os the seniority question then the
strike will continue for another month
al least, said the strike committee.
T..is situation the railroads cannot
safely endure, they declared, and is
sued car tally complied by the Labor
bureau, Ire, and issued in the name of
JOAN j. Dowd, to prove the point.
''lf the Atterbury clique of railroad
executives, backed by the Wall Street
Steel Trust interests, continue to block
strike settlement we can force
comprom ise on them in an open tight
with n FIVE weeks" said the statement.
1--WE have asked the Labor Bureau, Inc,
70 make q survey of the operating sta
tstics Of the railroads since the strike
beaan. The report shows that in three
weeks the present small surplus of
freight cars will be turned into a
shortage of $4,000 and the inadequate
supply of serviceable locomotives Will
be cut in half
Such road as the Pennsylvania
would when the shortage became acute,
be compelled to assist smaller lines
with loans OF cars until the loss OF
efficiency became general. the state
ment added. The statistics given ale
as follows:
"At the beginning of the strike
there were 10000 locomotives in the
country. "a per cent of which already
were in bad order. That left b4 900
fit for service. There are fifty Federal
locomotive inspectors in the country,
and they have been ordering locomo-
tives cut of service on an average OF
five a day each since the beginning Of
the strike. That makes 250 Gay, or
SoA , xraoL offictol1v dpciarpA nm Fl q
fer service.
Overhauied Every Fourteen Months
Besides. these locomotives are those
which break down on the line and
those which in the usual course Of
events have to pass through the shops
All the 10000 normally pass through
the shops for reconditioning every
fourteen months. This would add an
other 1900 a week being taken ont of
sctive service, Thus, entirely aside
from small repairs in the roundhouse,
5000 lccomo otives week are, at a
very conservative estimate, being laid
up. At this rate half the serviceable
locomotives in the country would be
out Of business after nine weeks of
strike.
THE car situation is almost as seri
Gus. Among the recommendations Of
the Congressional Joint Commission of
Agricultural Inquiry, recently pub
lished, may be found the following:
THAT the supply of box cars, coal cars,
stock cars and refrigerator cars is
inadequate to meet the demand during
normal periods of activity and should
be rapidly augmented. That the num-
Der of cars in bad order exceeds ell
previous records, and unless bad order
cars are promptly repaired. the supply
of serviceable cars will be materially
impaired
hciency. Not much effect could be ex-
pected during its first week, but rec
ords of the American Railway Asso-
citation covering the week ending July
Is reveal the effect of the strike.
These official figures report car
surpuses wherever idle cars are avail
able for service, and shortages wher-
ever cars are wanted but cannot be
obtained.
"In order to get at the situation with
respect to ordinary freight and food
shipments, ignoring the coal crisis en-
tirely. we have taken off merely the
figures on box cars, stock cars and re-
fTigerator cars.
Car Surplus Disappearing
"The figures show that whereas III
the week ended July there were sur
plus cars of these kinds totaling al 049
and shortages totalng S24 in the week
ended July is, there were surpluses to-
taling only 1866 and shortages total
ing $500. At this rate the surplus will
be entirely wiped out within the next
three weeks and a net shortage of
nearly $4,000 will take its place
"The economic break down of Russia
was signalized and largely brought
about by the breakdown of the rail
ways. Before the revolution Russia
had $4,000 serviceable locomotives, and
at the worst she still had 5000. When
the servieeable locomotives had been
cut In half the full force of the eco-
nomic breakdown was felt. This is
merely an example of the seriousness
of the impending motive power short
age.
There ere not 100000, or even 10o,-
600, skilled mechanics in the country
fitted to take the places of the striking
shopmen."
Regarding coal movements, railroad
officials said that they could provide
facilities themselves equal to any that
could be extemporized by the Presi-
Dent They made this statement in
connection with the assertion that
they could achieve operation upon a
400 per cent basis" without compro-
Ynisin~ with the union Thnv had bt1iit