OCR Text |
Show GOOD NEWS. The entire country breathed a sigh of relief when it was" announced yesterday that the railway trainmen lad aooepted an offer of mediation by the federal board of mediation and conciliation. A strike throughout the western country at this time would check at the very beginning an era of prosperity which seems to be at hand. Everywhere the crop indications are favorable and promise greatly increased business for the railroads and wealth for the farmers. farm-ers. A railroad strike involving 60,000 men would go far to prevent this pros- : perity and would result In no good for 1 "u; uuu;- After the usual conferences and pro-s pro-s nunciamentos the employees and the railroads have adopted the only course that will be approved by the country in general. A happy solution of the difficulties should be the result, and with this attained the country can look j forward to a revival of prosperous con-! con-! ditions throughout a long series of years, especially in the western part of the United States. It is quite useless to go into the merits of the controversy, whether or not the men are entitled to more pay for their services. It is enough to know that the matter will be fully threshed out by disinterested parties and an award made. While acceptance is not obligatory, there is much ground for hope that both parties to the controversy will enter into the conferences in a give and take spirit, and that the business of the country will not be interrupted by an upheaval in the laoor world such as would follow a strike of the engineers and firemen. Cool heads and clear brains are needed in every crisis, industrial in-dustrial or otherwise. Fortunately Messrs. Carter and Stone are men of this caliber, and the danger of interruption inter-ruption of railroad traffic is thus minimized. min-imized. Doubtless the men who will represent the railroad managers will be found to be equally high-minded and reasonable. All of which goes to show that a strike on the western railroads is highly improbable. |