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Show HEWS REVIEW OF. CURRENT EVENTS Government Refuses to Vacate Legal Proceedings Against Coal Strikers. GOMPERS APPEAL IS IN VAIN Operators Declare He Has Misrepresented Misrepre-sented the Facts People's Attitude Atti-tude Toward Radical Labor Leadership Shown in Massachusetts Mas-sachusetts Election. By EDWARD W. P1CKARD. Firmly refusing to be put in the position po-sition of compounding a felony,, the federal government lias rejected the proposition of the union labor leaders that it abandon the legal proceedings against the coal strike as a prelimi-, nary to negotiations for peace. On Saturday Assistant Attorney General Ames asked Federal Judge Anderson at Indianapolis to make permanent per-manent the restraining order, thus establishing es-tablishing the illegality of the strike. If this done, according to the leaders lead-ers of the miners, the strike will be of long duration because the men "will resist to the last any attempt at wrongful compulsion." In most of the bituminous fields there was little change in the status, though operators in Colorado and West Virginia reported gains in production. pro-duction. In several states the shortage of coal began to make itself felt and there were appeals for the release of coal confiscated by the railroads ; a number of trains were cancelled to save fuel ; in some places the schools were closed for short periods. President Wilson gave to Fuel Administrator Ad-ministrator Garfield full authority over prices, distribution and shipment of all fuel. Doctor Garfield delegated to the railroad administration his authority au-thority over distribution. Such broadly was the coal strike situation at the tiine of writing. There was little sign of yielding on either side. The operators of Illinois were of the opinion that the strike would last two weeks longer and that then public opinion and the government would compel the miners to call it off and accept arbitration, in which case the operators would agree to the five-day week, if assured of adequate supply of cars, and would grant an increase of wages. Samuel Gompers, who with W. S. Stone, head of the locomotive engineers, engi-neers, has been working to bring about a compromise, made the, appeal for vacation of the injunction against the strike, and issued a statement designed de-signed to justify the demands made by the strikers and accusing the operators op-erators of much wrongdoing and unfairness. un-fairness. The latter retorted with a statement saying that Mr. Gompers' pronouncement was full of misrepresentations, misrepre-sentations, continuing: "It Is not true that the operators' representatives walked out of Secretary Secre-tary Wilson's conference, leaving Mr. Lewis with no alternative but to call a strike. The operators' representatives representa-tives accepted President Wilson's proposal pro-posal In its entirety and withdrew from the conference in order that their presence might not embarrass Secretary Wilson in his effort to persuade per-suade the miners to take the honorable course thus opened to them. "At the time of their withdrawal, the operators advised Secretary Wilson Wil-son that they would remain in Washington, Wash-ington, awaiting his call to further conference. "It is not true, as Mr. Gompers implies, im-plies, that the miners are not permitted permit-ted by the operators to work full time. The operators have no control over the demand for coal. They can merely stand ready to produce and furnish it when the public requires and is willing to accept it. "It is not true that the miners received re-ceived an advance of 20 cents a ton in 1914. "It is not true that the operators raised the price of coal $5 a ton in 1914. On the contrary, the price was reduced. "It is not true, as Mr. Gompers states, that for the past several years the miners have averaged only 1G0 to ISO working days a year. "It is a fact, however and Mr. Gompers could easily have ascertained it that virtually every bituminous mine in the country has on its payroll pay-roll a substantial number of men who deliberately lay off from one to three days a week when they have an opportunity op-portunity to work." Samuel Gompers and his conservative conserva-tive associates among the leaders of the American Federation of Labor deserve de-serve commendation for their efforts to keep the radicals and anarchists from gaining control over organized lahor in this country, but they are not doing their cause or themselves any good by giving their full support to such movements as the coal strike, the steel strike and the strike of Boston Bos-ton policemen. Public sympathy is being be-ing rapidly alienated by some of the methods, adopted by union labor, and in America public sympathy is absolutely abso-lutely necessary to success in such matters. That the people really are waking up to the perils of the situation was fully demonstrated in the Massachusetts Massachu-setts election. Governor Coolidge, who had taken a firm stand against the striking policemen and had insisted in-sisted on the maintenance of law and order, was up for re-election and was opposed by Richard H. Long. The latter, lat-ter, running on the Democratic ticket, had promised to reinstate the policemen police-men if elected, and the contest really centered in the strike. The result, of course, everyone knows Coolidge was returned by an overwhelming majority major-ity and the l-adicals, who had gathered gath-ered their forces to the support of Long were crushed. Of the other elections of the week the most interesting was in Kentucky, where E. P. Morrow, Republican, defeated de-feated Governor Black by a large plurality plu-rality and the state-wide prohibition amendment won. In New Jersey E. I. Edwards, Democrat, who ran on a wet platform, was elected governor; and Ohio voted wet on all four of the liquor propositions presented, according accord-ing to incomplete returns. Maryland and Mississippi were carried by the Democrats. In New York city Tammany Tam-many sustained a terrific defeat, losing los-ing ten aldermen and eighteen assem-" blymen besides various other offices. The Oyster Bay district sent Lieut. Co!. Theodore Roosevelt to the assembly as-sembly with a whopping big vote. President Wilson warmly congratulated congratu-lated Governor Coolidge on his victory vic-tory over the forces of misrule, as do all good citizens regardless of party. The Republican leaders also rejoiced because they looked on the results in the Bay state and in Kentucky as a forecast of the results in the next presidential election. Democrats were elated over New Jersey, and the wets derived much comfort over the vote in that state and in Ohio. Despite the apparent deadlock over the peace treaty in the senate, the indications in-dications are that an agreement for early final action is at hand. Secretary Secre-tary Tumulty arranged with the president's pres-ident's physicians for a visit by Senator Sen-ator Hitchcock to Mr. Wilson In order to lay before him the entire situation, explain the evident intentions of the majority concerning reservations and ohtain the president's word as to what he would accept in that line. Over and over again Mr. Wilson has said he would accept no change in the treaty or reservation which would compel the resubmission of the pact to the other nations, and the majority senators are taking cognizance of his determination. Already they have changed the Lodge reservations by a sentence pointing out that the acceptance ac-ceptance of the reservations by the other powers, as required by the proposed pro-posed ratification resolution, may be obtained through an exchange of diplomatic dip-lomatic notes. They also planned to strike out the fourteenth reservation, declaring the United States is not bound to submit to the League of Nations Na-tions questions of vital interest or national na-tional honor. According to Paris advices the treaty of Versailles will become effective effec-tive on November 2S, when the exchange ex-change of ratifications between Ger many and such nations as have ratified rati-fied the pact will take place. Ge?'-mnny Ge?'-mnny has not yet fulfilled a number of the provisions of the armistice and was instructed by the supreme council coun-cil to send a delegation to Paris on November 10 to sign a protocol guaranteeing guar-anteeing to carry them out, and also to surrender certain vessels and floating float-ing docks as a penalty for the sinking sink-ing of the warships in Scapa Flow. Germany is excited over the revelations revela-tions in a leading Berlin paper of a big communist plot for an uprising this winter which, beginning with strikes to cripple industry, shall end in the establishment of a soviet form of government in close association with the present bolshevik government govern-ment of Russia. The conspiracy, it Is said, is led and financed by Russians. The outbreak is to have its beginning in the Ruhr coal-mining district, already al-ready full of Spartacans, and Munich and Brunswick will be among the main centers of uprising. The communists com-munists believe a large part of the national defense army will desert and joiD their red army. The pendulum of civil war swings back and forth with considerable regularity in Russia. At this writing it is the bolsheviki that are winning. General Yudenitch and his white army of the northwest not only failed to reach Petrograd but are now said to be in a most precarious situation. The reds assert they are surrounding him, that they are receiving heavy re-enforcements re-enforcements and that bolshevik troops are attacking him in the rear from Luga. This, however, came direct di-rect from Trotzky, and he is a notorious notori-ous liar. Consideration must be given a report from Helsingfors that 20.900 Finns have secretly volunteered to join Yudenitch and are well equipped. Denikine's artillery has destroyed Derhent on the Caspian sea, and he claims the Don Cossacks in the latter part of October captured 55,000 bolsheviki. bol-sheviki. But he does not seem to be getting much nearer to Moscow. Admiral Ad-miral Kolchab's Siberian armies, which were defeated on the Tohol river, have retired far to the east and likely are still on the move. The bolshevik government leaders have reiterated their willingness to make peace and to pay the old Russian Rus-sian debt if they are let alone. Congress had been dawdling along in the matter of railroad legislation, but was aroused to action last week when Director General Bines Informed In-formed Senator Cummins that President Presi-dent Wilson had determined to return the roads to their owners on January 1 whether or not congress had passed any bill for their regulation. It was recognized as impossible to pass the Cummins bill or anything like It at this session, so work was begun at. once on a temporary measure to ,ir:eet the emergency and to avert E 'threatened 'threat-ened financial catastrophe. It will provide for the restoration of the roads to their .former owners and for conti.iustiOB of the government guaranty, guar-anty, but all controversial matters, like the anti-strike provisions of the Cummins bill, will be omitted. General Pershing, appearing before the senate and house military committees, commit-tees, opposed the creation of an Independent Inde-pendent department of aviation as proposed pro-posed in the New bill, but urged the concentration of authority for the procurement pro-curement of airplanes for the army, navy and post office departments. A special army board has just made a report recommending that congress enact an aviation policy hased either on a ten-year program with large annual an-nual appropriations guaranteed to stimulate commercial aeronautics, or make appropriations for air development develop-ment by the post odice. war and navy departments. If the former policy is adopted the board recommended that a separate department of aeronautics be created ; if the latter, that a commission com-mission under the director of aeronautics aeronau-tics reporting directly to the president be formed to co-ordinate the work. Secretary Baker transmitted the report re-port to the senate committee, stating that he disagreed with both the proposals. pro-posals. He said if a single agency were to be created, it should be appointed ap-pointed and controlled hy the cabinet members whose departments would be directly affected. |