The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-07-04
GOMPERSATTACKS OUTLAW RULING OF
 RAIL LABOR BOARD
Declares Action of Tribunal Is Similar to That Taken by So-
 viet Russia
By Associntei Press

fA'"NFNa'"tNea
 Washington, July 3.-The ruling of the United States labor board "out- lawing" the railroad unions now on strike was denounced by Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, in statement issued tonight, as utterly bolshe- yik in character" and an attempt by the board "to disband unions at will"
 The ruling, Mir Gompers added, was "too ridiculous to be accepted as permanent American government policy"
 "The action of the board" MT. Gompers' statement continued, lis ex- actly a replica of the action of the cumminists in turning the unions in- to government controlled agencies for the carrying out of the orders of the state. Freedom of expression vanishes under the order of the board.
 But say now that the workers Of America, either on the railroads or elsewhere, do not intend to sacrifice freedom of expression and of action. The board undertakes to say that rnions which differ with the board must cease to exist. they are out lawed.' Whether this Is for the mo- ment an assumption of part of the board is immaterial. It is logical outcome of the very establishment Of such boards. 1t is an inevitable con- sequence of an action that was wrong in princicple and that has proven impossible in action.
 Right to Decline
 "The railroad labor board. as an in- stitution functionins Tn the twentieth century Is second in incongruity only to the so-called open shop move ment.
 "The law gives the workers or railroads. the right to decline to ac- cept the boards ruling. The workers. of necessity declined and by vote. of the membership withdrew their ser- vices. They declined to work for the terms ordered by the board. The board now declares them 'outlawed.' This is autocracy with a vengeance. It seeks to put the whole force Of government back of the movement to kill the spirit and the fact of coi- lective bargaining of joint negotia- tions and agreement by the voluntary coming together of workers and em- ployers, It Is the outgrowth of a mistaken idea.
 Cannot Be Unmade
 Unions cannot be unmade and re- made at government dictation. This is neither the Russia of the black autocrat nor of the read autocrat. This is America. where the people Of voluntary action of conscience ant agreement. of freedom of expression and of lawful action is rooted in our soil and grown into our institutions. The unions exist for humanity, for the workers and they cannot and will not be destroyed at the whim or fancy of band of dictators.
 T ask whether the board ordered the directorate of the Pennsylvania dissolved and new an damenable board created when that railroad re- fused to obey the orders of the board. Of course it did not nor will 1t in any such ease. The railroad labor board is seeking to perpetuate which it be- Ilieyes to be the existing dominant economic condition. But the boai d is mistaken in its analysis or modern trends and fundamentals. It would have been equally as fitting. and equally as ridiculous for the board to order the dissolution of railroad direetorates when directorates refuse to obey the orders of tbe board
 Determined ro Win
 fIf anything could have been cal- culated to Inspire the workers with determination to win a victory for democratic methods and for justice lin their employment, this action of the board will have that result, un- necessary though 1t may be"