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Show PUBLIC INDIFFERENCE Public indifference to labor controversies when the public suffers no immediated personal ' inconvenience has been exemplified exempli-fied in the case of the railroad and coal mine strikes. When the people can realize that in a day or two all trains may be stopped, or that the shutting down of the mines will mean lots of shiver-ing shiver-ing next week, then comes the cry from the public for an immediate im-mediate settlement, but even at the present time neither of these possibilities exist, and matters are permitted to drag along. ; The coal strike had been in progress for three months be- fore the Federal Government exerted, ex-erted, any pressure to bring the contending parties together and then there was no force of public opinion sufficient to compel them to agree on a basis for the opening open-ing of wage-scale negotiations. Meanwhile the stocks of coal are diminishing daily and fears are being expressed that even if, coal jnining is resumed at an' early date it will be difficult to mine and deliver sufficient coal to prevent a serious shortage this coming winter. When the public awakens to the fact, then an effort ef-fort will be made to obtain peace in the coal fields. ' In the railroad strike the chief interests have been the peace moves of the ' Railroad Labor Board. At several railroad centers cen-ters there were minor riots when the striking shopmen attempted to prevent other men from taking tak-ing their places and state and federal troops were called to maintain order. The strike is interfering in-terfering with the operation of trains more than had been anticipated,, an-ticipated,, and several railroads have been compelled to curtail both passenger and freight service. ser-vice. ; ; In neither strike does there appear ap-pear to. have been a real effort to infoi-m the public of the merit of the case, so that it could form an intelligent verdict so that force might be used for a just settlement. What interest has been displayed seems more to determine de-termine "who will win," rather than 'who shpuld win." |