Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-08-18


when strikes have been settled seniority
has been restored.
Wanted Fresh Start
"In the tentative proposal which
sponsored IL was provided that every
body should 30 to work, with seniority
rights unimpaired: that there should
besho discrimination by either workmen
or carriers against workmen who did
or did no; strike. I realized that the
proposal must carry n disappointment
to employees who had inherited promo
tion by staying Loyalty on the job, and
to such new men as had sought jobs
looking to permanent employment, but
wanted the fresh start and main .
tained transportation service, and I ap.
praised the disappointment of the few
to be less important thnn the impend-
Ing misfortune to the nation.
1T was not what would nsk orii :
narily to be considered or conceded
but at that moment Of deep anxiety
with the coal shortage grnvely menac-
ing, was thinking Of the pressing
demands of the welfare Of the whole
people. believed the sacrifice brought
to the men involved could be amply
compensated for by the carriers in prac.
teal ways.
Rejected by Carriers
II believed that the matter of tran
scendent Importance was the acceptance
of the proposal to respect the Labor
Boards decisions on the questions
which formed the Issue at the time OF
the strike. The public compensation
would be complete In guarding by law
against recurrence.
''The proposal was rejected by the
carriers. Though the rejection did not
end all negotiation. 1t left the Govern
ment only one course--to call the
striking workmen to return to work,
to call the carriers to assign them to
work and leave the dispute about sen =
iority to the Labor Board for decision.
When negotiation or mediation fails,
this is the course contemplated by the
law and the Government can have no
chart for its course except the law.
ITO this call a majority of the car
riers responded favorably, proposing to
re employ all strikers except those
guilty of violence against workmen or
property to restore the striking work
men to their old positions where vacant.
or to like positions where vacancies are
filed; questions of seniority which can :
not be settled between the employer and
employees to 60 to the Labor Board for
decision.
"The minority Of the carriers pro-
posed to assign Jobs to workmen on
strike only where positions were vacant.
Neither proposal has been accepted.
Rail Unions Criticized
THUS the narrative brings us to the
present moment, but it has not yielded
Me developments which have heightened
the Governments concern. Sympa-
thetic strikes have developed here and
there, seriously impairing interstate
commerce. Deserted transcOntinental
trains in the desert regions of the
Southwest have revealed the cruelty
md contempt for law on the part of
some railway employees who have con :
spired to paralyze transportation. and
lawlessness and violence in a hundred
places have revealed the failure of the
striking unions to hold their forces to
law observance.
"NIen who refused to strike and who
have braved insult and assault and
their lives to serve a public need have
been cruelty attacked and wounded or
killed. Men seeking work, md guards
attempting to protect lives and prop
erty, even officers Of the Federal Gov
ernment. have been assaulted. humili =
nted and hindered in their duties
Strikers have armed themselves and
gathered In mobs about railroad shops
to offer armed violence to any man
attempting 10 60 to work.
"There is a state of lawlessness op-
posed to every conception of Ameri
can law and order and violating the
cherished guarantees Of American free
dom. At no time has the Government
been unready or unwilling to give is
and restrain violence, but in no case
has State authority confessed its lia =
bility to cope with the situation and
asked for Federal assistance.
Transportation Threatened
Under these conditions of hindrance
and intimidation there has been such a
lack OF care of motive power that the
of locomotives and the
non compliance with the safety require
ments Of the law are threatening the
breakdown OF transportation. This very
serious menace is magnified by the mil :
lions of losses to fruit growers and
other producers of perishable foodstufs,
and comparable losses to farmers who
depend on transportation to market
their grains Mt harvest time. Even
worse. it is hindering the transport of
available coal when industry is on the
verge Of paralysis because of coal short
age, and life and health are menacctl
by coal famine in the great centers of
None Escape Responsibility
Surely the threatening conditions
must impress the Congress and the
country that no body of men. whether
limited in numbers and responsible for
railway management or powerful In
numbers and the necessary forces in
railroad operation. shall be permitted to
choose course which imperils public
welfare. Neither organizations of en-
ployers nor workingmen unions may
escape responsibility. When related to
n public service the mere fact of or
ganization magnities that responsibility
and public interest transcends that OF
either grouped capital or organized
labor.
Right to Lawful Pursuits Upheld
Another development is so signifi-
cant that the hardships of the moment
may well be endured to rivet popular
attention to necessary settlement. 1t
Is fundamental to all freedom that all
men have unquestiOned rights to law
full pursuits, to work and to live and
choose their own lawful ways to hap
piness.
'In these strikes these rights have
been denied by assault and violence, by