Sioux County pioneer., 1922-08-24

been rejected by the union, and only
accepted by the railway executives
with reservations, President Harding
lost nearly all the wonderful patience
with which he has been dealing with
that problem.
On Friday the President laid the
whole 6Hlttcr before congress. After
declaring the right of employer and
auiplOyee alike to conduct their busi-
ness must be recognized, lie said he
was 'resolved to use all the power Of
the government TO maintain transpOr.
tatiOn and sustain the right of men to
work." He said the Escll-Cumnlins act
was Inadequate and recommended &C
tiol1 to make the railway labor boards
decisions enforceable and effective
against carriers and employees alike"
He scored severely the strikers for
their acts OF brutality and their con.
tempt for law, and announced his in
tention 10 invoke laws, civil and Grim.
inal forbidd:ng conspiracies hindering
Interstate commerce and requiring
safety III railway service.
The President, asserted a national in
vestigation Of the coal industry WAS
necessary and recommended a federal
commission to advise as to fair wages
and conditions.
In discussing coal the President re.
ferred to what he termed the "shock-
ing crime at Herrin, Ill.,, which so re-
Gently shamed and Mortified the coun.
try" and added the incident was
"butchery of human beings outright in
Madness"
WARNINGS Of brotherhood Off
w cials that alleged faulty equip
ment and the employment. Of armed
guards would result in many sporadic
strikes of members OF their unions
were fully justified. Engineers, fire.
men and trainmen in numerous in
stances abandoned their trains and
service, especially in the Far West,
was badly crippled. Passengers were
marOoned for days in small towns in
the desert regions and women, children
and invalids suffered greatly from
heat and lack of milk and ice. In
some cases the sending Of relief trains
was prevented or delayed by the
strikers. The government, the railway
heads and the entire American public
were thoroughly exasperated by these
methods, and the brotherhood chiefs,
realizing the great mistake their men
were making, ordered them back to
work. The heads of the ''big four"
still insist that equipment is so de-
generated that the lives of the train
men are endangered, and they were
pleased to read that President Hard
ing had written to Chairman McChord
of the interstate commerce commits
sion insisting that the federal laws
relating to inspection Of rolling stock
and safety appliances must be strictly
enforced, regardless Of the public in
convenience which might ensue.
As for the employment Of armed
guards, the striking shopmen and their
sympathizers haye by their actions de-
stroyed completely the argument Of
the unions. They have mobbed, killed
and MANNED many nonunion shop
workers in most cowardly fashion;
they have set fire to shops; they have.
torn up tracks, they have bombed
trains, and they. have blown up at
least one railway bridge. Wherever
railway property and workers are not
well protected by armed guards or
state troops, acts of violence are per-
petrated. Over and over again, in
scores Of places, the striking shopmen
are proving themselves to be brutes
and towards. Their only excuse if It
bean excuse-lies In the statement Of
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