New-York tribune., 1922-10-12
Railroad Heads
Approve End Of
Union s. p ool
Public, Roads and Labor All
Gain by Removing Mem
ace of General Strikes.
Executives Here Declare
Still Room for us. Board
Lees Announcement A Seen
as Move TO Offset Future
Government Interference

Decision of the Brotherhood Of Rail-
road Trainmen and the Order Of Rail
road Conductors to split with the Big
/ Four railroad unions and go their own
/ way in negotiating wage and working
agreements with the roads received tn e
approval of even the most conservative
/ among the Eastern railroad executives
yesterday.
|. While declining to permit the joia,-
/ ing of their names with what they
; had to say. they were unhesitating in
declaring that they regard the step
taken by the two brotherhoods as inn
portant in oifsetting future govern
nent interference" in railroad labor
/ disputes. They agreed that the re-
turn to the oldtime basis of regional
negotiations directly with the rail
roads, without concern as to any busi-
ness transactions between the other
brotherhoods and the roads, should
prove far more satisfactory to all con-
cerned, including the public, than tat
tempts at reaching concentrated settle
ments through the medium of the
United States Railroad Labor Board"
Such a reversion will relieve the
Labor Board of good many details
in its work" it was held, but should
not cut down its actual power to any
great extent" Rather, the BELIEF was
expressed, that "the board may find in
the ruture that 1t has gained instead
of lost
sit will remain in existence az a
threat, if nothing else; one which
either party may seek to use in the
event of failures to agree one execu-
tive declared. "It's like man holding
stone in his hand. If he throws the
stone he loses his weapon. but if he
continues to hold it, merely in readi-
ness to throw, he may still be reck-
oned as formidable opponent"
Some Results Shown
The executives pointed to the sue
cessfui. conclusion of regional negotia-
tions between the roads and the train
men and conductors, announced yesser-
day by W. G. Lee, president of the
trainmen, as proof that more satisfac-
tory results can be obtained through
such manner OF adjustment than by
the methods announced by Mr.. Lee an
abandoned. 1t was limited, furthermore,
tHaC thefe Is little Likelihood OF a
failure of similar negotiations soon to
be entered into between the roads and
the engineers, fremen and switchmen,
following perforce in the trainmen's
footsteps.
The agreements reached were that
present wage and working conditions
shall be continued one year.
While giving Mr.. Lee full credit for
his announcements and declaring that
| "the4roads have the utmost confidence
in what he says" the executives were
not convinced that his accompanying
| statements were SO altruistic as they
appeared at first reading
Bill Lee. said one railroad head,
sis a man of very high character, and
when he gives his word about any
thing to the executives it is trusted
implicitly. But Lee also is one of the
[ shrewdest and most willy politicians
among the labor leaders in these
| United States, and the fact is that the
| trainmen and conductors have broken
away from the others because Lee
thinks they will have more to gain by
! it. And they probably will.
What Lee has accomplished is a re-
turn to his old tactics of playing one
road against another, and one brother
hood against another, with the object
always of keeping the trainmen on
top. In this art, it cannot be denied,
| he is a master"