The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-02
HARDING'S PLAN FOR STRIKE PEACE
 FLATLY REFUSED
Rail Executives Give Lengthy Reply, Stating That to Pre- serve Morale of Roads
 Plan Must Be Rejected
By Associated Press

New York, August Is---Rasfway
 executives today firmly but eourt-
 eousiy rejected the program ad-
 vanced by the Harding sdminis-
 trntion for settlement of the rail
 strike.
 Willing to accept conditionaliy two suggestions put forward by the White House--that both sides abide by decisions of the railroad labor board and that law suits sprInginR out of the strike be withdrawn-the heads of 14s roads declared emphat- leally that it was impossible to re- lnstate strikers with unimpaired seniority rights, the third provision in the Presidents plan.
 After being told by Robert q. Lovett, of the Union Pacific thar there was no moral or practical reason TOT pudging from their position, the l executives disbanded, indicating that they were going ahead and would i operate their roads with the forces tney had assembled since the shop men walked out July l.
 New York, August 1.-Th- nnnninous refusnI of the Ameri- can Association of Railway Ex- scutses to accept Prenfdenx
 harding's plan for settlement of the rail shopcran strike. was consnined in the following mes- sase' autographed to the White House tonsGhti
 Resolved CD, That we accent fh. flrst recommendatio tons of the prse. iuent, reading IS follows:
 F1rst, railway managers and Norkmen are to agree to recognize the validity of all decisions of the railroad labor board and fafthfa,Itv carry out such decisions as con tempiated by the law with the un- oerstandns that this Is not intended to preclude any part to a contro- Nersy rom proceeding by legal ao- tlon to question the validity of Any order Of the board on the gronna tnat Jurisdiction and authority .o make the order was not conferred bv the statutes creating the board and defining it's authority.
 Accept Second Clause
 ta) That we accept the secord proposal of the President. reading as
 second, the carriers will wl.b- arhw all inNH1 ts growing out of tr . strike aud salrcad labor board d.- els9oas Na'eh nave been involved in the ssft gity be taken In the ex erelsF 'f r9 s1izod rights by either 1 paFSy iu tae @ilroad labor board i Tor reheaulaf with the tindcrstani- Ing that the strike is first called off, and the representatives, of ina strikers pledge themselves and :he strikers against violence in any form agninft tbe men now at work and the property of the carriers. since, otherwise. 1t would be imnos- sible to consider the dismissal of in1unctions and other legal measures necessary to protect such persan. and property from the violence and intimidation of the character ro- sorted to in many localities since ff,a strike was called.
 tS) That 1t Is impossible to agree to tho first sentence Of tho third proposal of the President. tho whole of which reads as follows: Third All employees on atrike to be returned to work and to their former positions with seniority and i other rights unimpaired The repre- sentatives of the carriers and the representatives of the Organizations. especially that there will be no discrimination by either party against the employees who did or did not strike
 The railroad executives and or- ganization agree entirely with tho President in the statement in his letter, that is wholly unthinkable
 tContinued on Page Two)