B
RIEF
R I G H T
R E E Z Y
BITS OF. NEWS
M'ADOO TO WORK TWO
WEEKS FOR NOTHING.
'Washington, Dec. 8. Secretary
McAdoo, who quit the cabinet be
cause his salary ' was insufficient
now faces the predicament of work
ing tWO weeks for thi irnvrnimntit
for nothing. He will retire as secre
tary of the treasury December 16,
and his pay at the rate of $12,000 a
i year will stop. Until January 1,
however, he will continue as director
general of railroads and for this job
he receives nota cent although re-
. ry.snnr J: . , ,i , . ,
suiidi uircciors receive u.uuu aJ
consequently, trom Decem
ber 16 to January 1, he will be off
"the payroll.
SCHWAB RETURNS TO
BETHLEHEM COMPANY
New' York, Dec. 8.-Char!es M.
Schwab, whose resignation as direc
tor general of the emergency fleet
corporation was accepted by Presi
dent Wilson yesterday in a wire
jess message, will return immed
iately to active participation in the
management of the Bethlehem Steel
company, he announced at' his home
hefe tonight. v
, "My own ai.airs are of such mag
nitude that I feel that I will be of
gqter service to the country there
during the period of reconstruction
t.ian I would be as director of the
. fleet corporation," he said.
Mr. Schwab-said that while he ex
acted "some economic troubles."
. (luring the period of reconstruction.
. lie btnved that period would he
short and .that the nation would
emerge to greater industrial devel
opment than ever before.
4? I. W. W. MEMBERS
COME TO TRIAL TODAY.
Sacramento, Cal, Dec. 8. Forty
seven defendants in the Industrial
Workers of the World conspiracy
case which grew out of the investi
gation of the dyqamiting of the
home of Gov. William G. Stephens
here December , 17, 1917, will be
brought to trial here tomorrow in
the United States, district court on
charges of attempting to obstruct
the war progranf of the federal gov
ernment. x
The defendants were accused in
the indictment of a conspiracy to en
courage sabotage by aisonand other
means and of fostering resistance to
federal war measures and proclama
tions. TESTS SHOW HIGH ORDER
V OF. BRAINS IN U S. ARMY. ,
, Washington, Dec. 8. Eleven per
cent of the 1,500,000 enlisted men of
the army subjected to psychologi
cal, tests were found to be qualified
mentally to become officers while
more than 26 per cenj of the men
examined yere rated as above av
erage intelligence. Eighty-three per
cent o the officers to whom the
tests were applied met the required
standard of intelligence, said a state
ment issued by the war department,
giving for the first time the data
compiled by the division of psychol
ogy of the medical department.
Less than one-Jialf of one per cent
of the men were recommended for
' dischaiye as mentally deficient.
; WOMEN URGE ACTION
ON SUFFRAGE QUESTION.
Washington, Dec. 8. Immediate
passage of the woman . suffrage
amendment in recognition of the
services rendered by the women of
the country during the war was
urged upon the-senate in a resolu
tion passed at a meeting here today,
called by the National Woman Suf
frage association. The efforts of
American women in support of the
country's fighting forces were de
scribed by a number of speakers, in
cluding Dr.. Anna Howard Shaw,
Y
EVERYTHING THAT'S BEST IN THE GREAT
The Omaha
AND GLORIOUS-WEST THAT'S OMAHA.
Daily
Bee
VOL. 48. NO. 149.
Entrd u MCOHd-eltM Hitter May 2J,
Omtfta P. O. wiw act it Mtrch
I9M. it
3 IS79
OMAHA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1918.
By Mill (I yur). 0illy. S4.S0: Sunday. I2.M;
Dally and Sua.. W.50: rattldi Nab, aottaga aitra.
- TWO CENTS.
THE WEATHER';
Partly cloudy and colder;
Monday; Tuesday fair. . v-
Thrmomttr Rtadlnfal v
5 a. m 4S 1 p. m.... .M
ft a. m 41 j p. m M
7 a. m 43 8 p. m'..., M
a p. ai 4l i 4 p. m. 51
0 a. m 47 S p. m. M
10 a. in 40 p. m 85
11 a. ni S3 7 p. m 5t
1 m 58 S p. m.i
. . ; r- r ? -
. ...
AftflER GAM
Mrs. W. Q. McAdoo, Mrs. Josephus
Daniels and Miss Jane Delano of the
American Red Cross.
Mrs. McAdoo said the history, of
American women during the war "is
the last word, the direct and ton
elusive proof of their fitness for self
government." 7
v Illinois Traction Lines
) .Still Tied Up by Strike'
Peoria, 111., 'Dec. 8V Officials of
the Illinois traction system tonight
, declared no end of tne strike for
trainmen was in sight and thai for
the present at least no attempt
would be made to operate cars on
any part of the line with non-union
men.
INFANTRY
OCCUPIES
COB NZ
Entry Into City on Rhine
Hastened at Request
of German Authorities
to Maintain Order
Mayor Says it is Up
to Company to Start
Operation of Cars
Mayor Smith gave the follow
ing statement on the strike sit
uation: "I am very sorry that the men
have turned down every propo
sition for an amicable settlement,
but now that they have done so,
I think that it is up to the street
railway company to resume op
eration of cars and it is up to
the city to protect the company
in doing so.
Mayor Smith has received the
following telegram from the sec
retary of the national war labor
board:
"We have communicated with
the officials of the Amalgamated
Association of Street Railway
Employes and are assured that
they will do everything possible
to have 'employes accept award
and are hopeful that successful
results will be obtained."
180 KILLED
AND HURT
IN FIGHT
AT BERLIN
Wattles States Reason
for' His Stand on Unions
Treves, Rhenish Prussia, Dec. 8
(Special to New York Tribune and
Omaha Bee). Food and supplies
for the American army of occupa
tion are costing Germany $9,000,000
daily. Three thousand motor trucks
cart supplies from the American!
Germans are enjoying greater
freedom under American rule than
German authorities permitted and,
despite strict orders, civilians are
troubling American officers by their
attempts at fraternization with the
troops. '
By Associated Press.
American Army of Occupation,
Dec. & A battalion of the Thirty
ninth infantry, left Treves by train
today for Coblenz, a four hours'
run. The premature occupation of
Coblenz is due to the request of the
German authorities, who are appre
hensive of the conditions that might
prevail there after the Withdrawal of
the German forces.
Britons Require Saluted
. Amsterdam, Dec. 8. The British
authorities in charge of the occupa
tion in the German zone assigned to
the British army have ordered all
German men to raise their hats to
British officers, according to an of
ficial announcement in Berlin. They
must do similarly when the British
national anthem is sung.
Ready to Quit Poland.
Berne, Dec. 8. The Polish bureau
here anounces that the German rep
resentative at Warsa.w, Count Kess
ler, has officially informed the Pol
ish government that Germany is
ready to evacuate the districts of
Rosan, Flodavna, Konstantinow and
Biala.
Shut Out of Switzerland.
From 25,000 to 35,000 German sol
diers, who formerly lived in Switz
erland, are in " waiting along the
Swfss frontier, anxious to return to
their homes. The Swiss govern
ment, however, has made strict regu
lations regarding the crossing of the
frontier by these men. Headquar
ters' for supervising the transfer
have been established at Fraulen-feld-
Fighting at Afoc-La-Ch,apelle.
Aix-La-Chapelle, Rhenish Prussia,
I Dec. 8. Fighting in Cologne be-
tween repuoiican revolutionists ana
imperialist adherents has led to the
speedy Vlispatch ot British troops
there to maintain order, on the ap
peal of the burgomaster.
E. M. ANDREESEN,
BUSINESS MAN OF
OMAHA, IS DEAD
victim if Automobile Acci
. dent Succumbs to Shock
and Dies Early Sun
- day Morning. ,
Elber M. Andreesen, pioneer busi
ness man and prominent citizen of
C.naha, died early Sunday ...orning
from injuries received in ..n auto
mobile accident that, cccured last
ThurcTay when he -was , crossing
Farnam street, near Thirtieth.
The funeral will held at 2 o'clock
Tuesday afternoon from the resK
dence of his daughter Mrs. Luther
Kountze, Thirty-ninth street and
Dewey avenue. Rev. T. J. Mackay
officiating. Burial will be in Forest
Lawn.
Mr. Andreesen is survived by his
daughter and two grandchildren.
His., wife died 29 years ago.
Born in Sweden October 7, 1844,
Mr. Andreesen came to the-United
States in 1875, locating in Toledo,
O. TJiere he remained until 1879.
when he came to Fremont and
associated himself with" the Lee
Fried Hardware company. A year
later he moved to Omaha and be
came the active head of the An
dreesen Hardware company that
soon afterward was recognized as
phe Lee-Glass-Andreesen Hardware
company. This company went into
the jobbing busines. and socm be
came one of the leading hardware
jobbing houses in the west. Later
it became the Lee-Coit-Andreesen
company, Mr. Andreesen -lolding
tTTe position of treasurer. His Oma
ha property interests were exten
sive and during his lifetime he was
a leading spirit in. fostering many
business enterprises in the ' city.
For many years he was director
in the First National bank.
Spartacus Group Reported
to Be Holding With Ma
chink Guns Three Su
burbs of Capital.
Zurich, Dec. 8. The casualties in
the fighting at Berlin Friday
mounted to 180, according to latest
Berlin advices received here. The
Spartacus, or radical socialist group,
are reported to t be defending with
machine guns three sections of Hie
suburbs of Berlin.
The workers and soldiers' com
mittee has become demoralized and
refuses to use arms.
Street fighting is reported by the
Cologne Gazette. Many persons
have been killed.
Several Girls Among Vistims.
Berlin, Dec. 8. The clash, between
government troops and followers
of the Spartacus, or radical group,
resulted in 16 persons being killed,
and many injured. Several . girls
who were passing on a street car
were among those killed.
It appears that the" audience from
one of the three meetings of desert
ers from ,. the . army was marching
northward in Chaussee strasse to
join the audience from a meeting
held in a hall further north. The
Fussilier' guards were drawn up at
the intersection of Invaliden strasse
and the commander warned the peo
ple to disperse. The marchers were
crying "forward! The soldiers won't
shoot their comrades." The march
ers tried to pierce the line, where
upon the order to fire was given.
Besides the wounded severely were
badly hurt rushing through broken
show windows seeking cover.
Attack Liebknecht's taper.
A group of soldiers stormed the
editorial rooms of Karl Liebknecht's
newspaper and attempted to destroy
the plant. Frustrated in their raid
on the newspaper office by govern
ment orders, the soldiers then at
tempted to arrest the members of
the executive committee of the sof
(ConiinjUed on Page Two. Column Four.)
Officer and-Six Men Drown
On Way to Rejoin Their Ship
Paris, Dec. 8. One officer and
six men of the American destroyer
Lansdale were drowned Saturday
when attempting to rejoin their ship,
according to a Havas dispatch from
Tangier.
They were a party of thirty of
ficers and men who had spent the
afternoon in the Moroccan portund
were returning to the Lansdale
when the boat capsized in a heavy
sea. '
At the conclusion of Mr. Wattles
address to the street car strikers
yesterday afternoon, one of the men
asked this question:
"Give tis your objection to the
union, while you are up there,
please."
Mr. Wattles replied:
"I am asked to give my objection
to your union. Briefly, my objec
tions are these: I do not want the
city of Omaha nor the Omaha &
Council Bluffs Street Railway com-
Ipany to'be tied up with an organiza
tion whose headquarters' and head
offices are outside of the city of
Omaha, and fr'om whom they take
their orders, instead of the people
who live here. That is it.
"We experienced this trouble 10
years ago, when an organizer came
here and started a strike. It was ap
proved by the men outside of the
city and this man who came here
said he ; would stop the wheels of
progress of the city of Omaha unless
we acceded to. his demands. We said
we would not accede to his demands
and we did not and we fought out
the strike and you know the result.
"My objection to your contract at
this time is this: That it violates
the agreement -that we have both
made with the national war board
and I, for one, will not be. a pafty
to violating an. agreement to which
I have set my name and agreed to
stand by.
"In the third place, my objection
to signing an agreement and chang
ing our status at this time is simply
this: This 'whole question of wages
and industrial conditions is in the
air everywhere. The president of
the United States has called the at
tention of congress to the fact that
wages have been elevated during the
war and that probably they ought to
remain there, and to undertake to
reduce them will cause industrial
strikes and trouble everywhere, and
he has called on congress to enact
some general legislation that will
last through the reconstruction
period.
"I am hoping and praying that the
United States of America is big
enough to make such legislation in
the near future as will cover every
conflict that might arise between the
employers and employes and I shall
be greatly disappointed if they do
not. With that expectation andhope
ahead I do not want to change our
status until that question has a" fair
chance of being settled in some big
and broad way." (Applause.)
GUARDS SHOOT
29 FRENCHMEN
INPRpCAMP
France to Demand Repara
tion for Act of Germans
Declared Unjustified by
Spanish Ambassador.
Paris, Dec. 8. Nine French pris
oners were shot and killed by the
Germans and 15) other prisoners
seriously wounded at the prison
camp in Langensalza, Prussian Sax
ony, tne Spanish ambassador at
Berlin reports. The behavior of the
prisoners did not in the least jus
tify the severity of this act of re
pression, it was declared.
The French government, it is in
dicated, is resolved to demand repa
ration for this act of the Germans,
which will be. added to the already
long list of occurrences of this and
similar nature.
It was reported in a Paris dis
patch of December 5 that incidents
of "serious gravity" had occurred
w,ithin the last few days in a prison
camp in Saxony, where allied sol
diers were confined, and the allied
governments were said to have de
cided to act energetically in this
connection. It was apparently this
incident which gave rise to the re
port printed in the North German
Gazette of Berlin that "allied occu
pation was to be extended temporar
ily even to Berlin," the reason given
in this report being a "regrettable
incident, during which a supervisor
of a prisoners' tamp shot three
Frenchmen."
AUTO SMASH-UP
INJURES THREE;
LEUSSLER HURT
Car in Which General Man
ager of Street Car is RicF
. ing Smashed in
'Collision.
R. A. Leussler, assistant general
manager of the street railway com
pany and Mr. and Mrs. Alvin John
son were Injured yesterday shortly
after noon when the auto in which
they were riding was hit broadside
by a speeding automobile at Thirty
eighth and Leavenworth. Mr. John
son is vice president of the Busi
ness Mens' association.
Mrs. Johnson was driving the
machine and they were going south
on Thirtv-eiehth street, after hav
ing left L. F. Crofoot at histihomei
As they were going south on ihir
ty-eighth street, Mr. Leussler saw
a machine coming down Leaven
worth street. He yelled to Mrs,
Johnson to "look out", and grabbed
the two Johnson children who were
in the back seat with him saving
them from injury. The Johnson car
was hit squarely in the middle and
both cars were badly wrecked. k
Mr Leussler- received a bad
bump on the nose, his glasses were
broken and his head scratched. Mr.
Johnson was bdly cut on the arm
which bled profusely, hisface and
ear were badly cut. Mrs Johnson
also'' suffered bruises and a severe
shaking up.
The other car in the coliSion was
driven by J. R. Phipps, 1504 Harney
street, v '
STRIKERS VOTE TO
TURN DOWN OFFER
. OF RAIL OFFICIALS
'.V',
President Wattles Addresses Employes at Mass Meeting
After Which Vote Is Taken; Strikers Agree to Re
fuse to Make Statement After the Long
Session at Labor Temple.
t The street car strikers declined to consider any of the
propositions made by President Wattles of the street car com
pany at the meeting with the men in the Labor temple Sun
day afternoon. . ,
This leaves the strike situation unchanged.
When the secret ballots had been counted by the execu ,
tive committee of the union, President Short declared that h
had no statement to make. N
The vote as announced by President Short was 686
voting no and 23 yes. - j
Serious faces were observed ai the men filed out at the
close of the long session. " J- '
STRIKERS CARRY FLAGS.
The strikers marched to the meeting place with flags,
On the sidewalk were President Short of the union and Presi
dent Wattles of the company who shook hands as the men be--gan"
to enter the building. y
Mr. Wattles observed that possibly some men other 'than
bona fide members of the union might attempt to enter, the
meeting, whereupon Mr. Short' assured him hat arrange
ments had been made to admit none but members of m
"Show your cards, boys," said Short to the men. " The "
strikers quickly displayed their union cards as they marched. .
past their-employer.
We've goj the cards; Til say so. How does that look?" -remarked
one of the men. , f
One of the strikers suggested that a union card should
be presented to Mr. Wattles when the latter recognized some
of the men as they entered the hall. -
"Wattles is all right, but is on the wrong foot," was a
characteristic greeting from employe to employer. ,
Among the expressions heard during the meeting were:
"What's the matter with having the union recognized?'!
"What's the matter with turning down the war board?"
President Ben Short explained to the assembled
men that it was the desire of the union officers to let Mr.
Wattles express himself before the strikers, as to the statui '
of the company and its employes, and that the union should
express itself by secret ballot. Mr; Short added that it was the
desire of Mr. Wattles that the vote should be byballot He
was followed by David Coutts, who urged the men to refrain
from demonstrations or interruptions.
"Now, brbthers, as far as I have anything to say," added
Mr. Short, "I am sure you will be all right, and I am through,
and r now want to introduce to the rank and file of the street
car company MrT Wattles.
Mr. Wattles prefaced his remarks by stating that he had
no fears of appearing before the men of the company and tell
ing them anything that was on his mind. He said he took
pride in the thought that employes of the company were
gentlemen. He reviewed the events of the last few days, and,'
stated again that he was willing to submit "this whole contro
versy, so(far as working conditions are concerned, to the war
labor board for decision." ,
HIGH SPOTS' OF SPEECHES AND DISCUSSION AT THE STREET CAR STRIKERS' MEETING SUNDAY
Extracts taken from 'a steno
, President Wattles of the traction
company. Coifciliator Smith of the
United States Department of Labor
and C. L. Shamp, general organizer
troubles to the war labor board and
finally we said. 'Well, we will do it,
for the AmericaI federation of La-"although we don't know what the
bor were the principal speakers at
the strikers' meeting Sunday. Mr.
Wattles spoke for fifty-five minutes.
He emphasized the point, as he con
. tended, that the carman have not
acted in good faith by striking in
s the face of the award of the national
, war labor board, after having ac
cepted the award of that board last
spring.
Mr. Smith asserted that the war
"labor board was more powerful in
dealing with questions bf laboc. than
other boards now in existenve, and
its members are the choice of the
, president oi the United States.
Mr. Shamp stated that he organ
ized the carmen but had not inter
fered in this strike situation. He
addressed several pointed remarks
to. Mr. Wattles. , . '
Wattles Reviews Situation.
MT.. Wattles reviewed events lead
ins ud to the recent strike:
"So much for the war labor board
and the men who constitute thf
board. Last spririg a conflict arose
between the employes, or some of
them, and the street railway officials.
We, were, asked fo sign a contract
recognizing a union which had been
formed among the men that are em
ployed by this company. It was
quite evident that we were'liable to
have a strike when the men came
forward and asked us to submit this
case to the national war labor board
for tieir decision. I think before
' they fame to us with this proposi
tion tliey hd already asked tha war
Libor board to intervene in this
trouble out here and avoid a'coa-
v .
graphic report of the session of strikers which was addressed by President Wattles of the street railway company, after which the men voted against arbitration by the U. S. War LaborBoard.
flict. The mayor urgently request-1 here, in my hands. That decision I ington by the board on an appeal I "The strike was called," he con-1 award ol the labor war boarJ.'Vwas I ment which requires you to'continue 1 1 will make 100 per cent VodV I '
ed this comoanv to "submit our cave a substaritial-I might say a from the men. tinued. "We had appealed to the i Mr. Wattles' comment. your services and submit vour com- alwavs-have anrl al;a -
result is going to be. We were
willing to do it.
'Take Evidence.
"We' were notified that the evi
dence of the dispute between the
men and the company would be
taken at Kansas City, if we so de
sired, by two agents of the hoard
who would be there to hear this evi
dence and take it down. The offi
cers, of the street car company and
therepresentatives of your organi
zation went to Kansas City. Before
these examiners would take this evi
dence they presented an agreement
by ihe company and the men that
they would abide by the decision
of that board, before they proceeded,
and that agreement was signed by
your representative, Mr. Short, and
by another employe of the company,
and iy the officers of the company:
"The evidence regarding your de-
Umands-was considered by those ex
aminers and taken -down in detail.
Trie question of runs, the question
of wages, and numerous other ques
tions were gone into and taken
down. When this report reached
the war labor board, in Washing
ton, it was considered by them and
an argument was, presented on the
part ot both sides, as 1 understand
it, before the war labor board them
selves, or before Mr. Taft and Mr.
Walsh as arbitrators, for their final
decision in that case; r
Board Increases Wages,
, due time they rendered their
decision and I have a-, copy of it
large increase of wages to the men,
increasing their wages" to the extent
of about -$300,000 a year to the com
pany. I don't ask any cheers and
I don't ask for any demonstrations
of any kind .on that account. I want
fo present this in a dispassionate
way and have your Htidivided at
tention, becauje this is too important
a matter for any of us to get excited
on.
"They penalized the company, in
addition to the additional pay whir I"
they granted, they penalized the
company for what we call the
"swing" runs, making it more ex
pensive for the company to operate
those swing runs. They pervided
in this award for, the settlement of
any lisputes that might come up
under it." '
s Gives History of Board. -
Mr. Wattles related the history of
the organization oflhe war labor
board, in which work . President
Compers of the American Federa
tion of" Labor was interested. 'The
Secretary of Labor," he stated,"
whose sympathies I am mformed are
entirely with the labon unions, in
conference wltlv Mr. Gompers, and
the president of the National Indus
trial Conference board, "devised a
plan to avoid strikes arid 'conflicts
during the war. The members of
the war board were equally divid
ed between union and non-union
men." i
In his continued reference to-the
award of the war board, Mr.
Wattles related that several disputes
arose, one of which is now pending
and is to be heard todaj in Wash-
Expect Decision Today.
"We were notified to present our
case in Washington, indicating that
they were going ,to make a prompt
decision as to who was right and
who was wrong," he said..
"So we have been acting under
the supervision of the war board
since "trtir , dispute last spring, and
when this dispute came up, I said
to the men who came to us that we
would continue to act, under that
board. They were our bosses. " We
agreed that they should be our"
bosses until the war was over, and
you men aKreed'that they should
be; until the war was over, and the
war is not over.
A voice: ' "If is!"
Reads from Unionist.
Mr. Wattles: "Well, 'now, let us
read an extract from your own union
paper, the Unionist, of date of De
cember 6, 1918: 'Joint Chairmen
Taft and Manley of the war labor
board'have been asked by Secretary
of Labor Wilson to remain in charge
ofthe board until the war is finally
ended. While an armistice has been
declared, the secretary, in his letter
says we have not yet reached the
statuaof peace; and for that reason
it is desirable that the war board
continue its activities.' "
On the "subject of recognition of
the union, whidh is the chief point
in the strike controversy, Mr.
Wattles remarked that the princi
ples of the war board contemplate
that the union or non-union status
of an establishment stall not be
deemed as a grievance" during the
. i - r .! i
cnou m mc wi.
war labor board that the men had
violated their agreement by calling
this strike before the war was over
a,nd I asked them to state their posi
tion. I received no answer because
I suppose that the boarJ wanted to
be absolutely nonpartisan. The
mayor notified the war labor board
that a strike was onhere for the pur
pose of coercing recognition of the
union and . a Closed shop.- Mayor
Smith was advised by the b6ard that
a telegram had been sent to Presi
dent Short of the union, stating:
'Under the principles of the board
you have no right to insist upon
contract and your striking is a viola
tion of good faith on your part. We
Miave conferred with Mr. ahey,
your own lawjer. and he agrees with
us in this view. We say to you that
good faith requires you to end the
strike and resume your work under
the award of the board of the bene
fits of which you have accepted.'
Continuing he said:
"Now, gentlemen, ther is one
thing that we must learn, whether
we be laborers, and I am one
I have worked all my life-as hard
and harder than most' men have
worked, and am still working. I
have labored Nwith my hands and
with my brain, and I have worked
nights and days and Sundays as
hard as any of 'you have worked
and my sympathies go out to every
man who works. I subscribe to
the doctrine that men who labor
plaints to the war board during
the war, or at least until the presi
dent's proclamation says that the
war is over"
War is Not Over.
He stated again that the war is
not over, and that being the case,
the question of fair and just treat
ment between the men and the com
pany arises. He said itvhad been
necessary for the company to ask
the men to do things which would
not have been necessary under ordi-
in wages during the war
Will Not Beat, Down Wages.
"I hope the standards of labor
Strike is Disloyalty. ! that have been raised during the war
Mr. Wattles read the following K"11 never be lowered and do not
message sent by President Wilson, !lave' a.y e. boys, from me. of
,f,,:., , ,,.t ctriti. pnnirn. my trying to beat down your wages
because I( stand for these things and
Iwill stand by" you in getting
have a rieht to be eranted fair treat-; nary conditions.
ment and honest pay and I hope "And so," he added, "I said yester
that out of this war we will learn I 'ay to your executive committee,
a lesson and that is, that the rights! 'We will-put the whole damn thing
of every man must be more' care-'before the war board and ask them
fully safeguarded in the future than to. decide it,' qualifying it, however,
perhaps they have been in the past, with the statement that the ques
Labor has received a ereat increase tion of recognizing the union dur
ing tne war had already been decid
ed and therefore was not a subject
for negotiation.
'! asked for a meeting of
men, that you might take a ballot
upon the question of whether you,
wanted ro Keep up tne tignt and
versy in Bridgeport, Conn.: "
"Tf curli iticr.md in f li solemn !
adjudication of a tribunal to which
both parties have submitted their
claims be temporized, that agree
ment becomes a mere scrap of paper.'
If errors creep into the awards the
proper remedy is submission of.th
award with an application for a re
hearing to the tribunal, but to strike
aginst the award is disloyalty and
dishonor.""
"That is what President Wilson
says ot strikers wno aisregaa tnc
them. 'I stand for fair and honest
treatment and honest conditions:
And there is an obligation on your
part, men you must stand for hon
esty, for the inviolability of con
tracts and agreements. ( you do
not stand for that you, destroy, all
confidence that "employers may hr:ve
in you, if you ter them up and
throw them aside. And what I am
contending for here today is just
this: that you have made an agree-
' - "
this strike or whether you wanted to
have this submitted to the war board
and abide by their decision. If your
conditions are bad they will be cos
tected. You do not need to go to
the war board -to have this done;
you can get every single complaint
made to me corrected in five min
utes' time and could have had it cor
rected if you had notified me of
what the trouble was, long ago.
(Laughter.)
"I don't see anything funny about
that. Whatever I have ever said to
yojj men of this community, in con
nection with the street car service,
Mr. Wattles told the men that the
question for them to decide is 1
whether or not they wish to go on
wjth the strike and deprive this com.
niunity of street car service, and '
spend their time picketing" around
the barns, or whether they will put 1
the Jiiatter up to the war labor
board. , ' -.."
"You may all be wrought up to
such a pitch of excitement that as
standing vote would be entirely- un
fair, because,, in my mind, any man .
who failed to stand up, the finger of
scorn would be pointed toward him.
I want a fair and honest expression, .
not influenced by excitement or
prejudice," he said. , ..
"I did not think it was quite fair
for Mr. Short to go out to the barm
yesterday and tell you all how tc 1
vote. That is a question you ought
to have decided after the evidence '
was all in. I haven't anything
against Mr. Short. I have found him .
von to be a man of abscJutehonesty.
"W. 1 I-
c uc mauc an agreement .
and for God's sake regard it as a
sacred agreement as I do and stand
by it. We are standing by it al
though it is busting the company
today to do it." (Laughter.)
Sees Receivership Coming.
"Oiryom can laugh now; 'that ii
entirely through ignorance whet "
btou make that expression. But ii
is a tact twt the company is go-
ingapidfy into" the hands of rh '
receivers, because the recommenda- '
tions of the war labor board, that thi
governing body of this state should
.V.
increase the fare, has" not been givet.-
to us.' We are doing business or,,
(('nlluurd en rate Two, Colnmjt 0a4
. v .
i
