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Show fiPPEAL DF ; I L L P E -iefs of the Four S Great Brotherh o o d s Said to Be Determined to Call a Strike Unless Their Demands for a Basic 8-Hour Day Are Granted. ULTIMATUM TO BE PRESENTED TODAY W. G. Lee Declares the Men Dssire Only What I the Adamscn Law Would Give if Put in Force ; General and Lccal Chairmen Meet in New York. NEW YORK, March 14. An appeal to the patriotism of the members of the four great railroad brotherhoods to refrain any "rash movement" which would i bring on Industrial warfare in the present : mm national crisis was made here tonight by "l,r tne national conference of railways on the eve of the conference tomorrow with the ; Thefs of the trainmen's organizations. j There were additional indications, how- 1 ever, tiiat the brotherhoods were determined deter-mined to call a strike unless their demands de-mands were granted. ' After a meeting here with several hun-1 hun-1 dred general chairmen and chairmen of the locals in the brotherhood organizations organiza-tions on lines entering New York, W. G. Lee, president of the Brotherhoodof Railway Rail-way Trainmen, announced that unani mous support had been voted the brotherhood broth-erhood chiefs in the demands they Intend to make at tomorrow's conference. These demands, he said, would be based on the modified demands of . last December, which called for a baBic eight-hour day and pro rata pay for overtime. Granted by Adamson Law. This is virtually what the Adamson law would Rive If put In force, he said. The original programme of the men, the refusal re-fusal of which resulted in the call last September of the strike, which was averted avert-ed by the passage of the Adamson act, ' included an eight -hour basic day with time and a half for overtime. Mr. Lee Indicated that there was no Intention of going back to the original claims. Me admitted that recent forecasts of a progressive country-wide strike beginning S;tnrd:iy night at 6 o'clock, unless the railroads accede to tlie ultimatum of their employees, "were written by a good gucsscr." " 'barges t hat we are acting in had faith In bringing tip this question again at thifi time without waiting ror the decision de-cision of Hie supreme court on the Adamson Adam-son tn't are baspless." lie declared. "We ; were not part ies lo the agreement en- te.red into between the attorneys for the railroads and the representatives of the Vk a t torney irononil's oftVe to do nothing wnniil the derision is handed down. Position Unaltered. ("Our position is the same as though t tlilere were no Adamson law ami no de rision pending. Whether the decision is Soy or against I lie law. our oemands, 4 wdrh w c shall present tomorrow, will be I . ninlten.sl. If the law is upheld, It would I' e us w hat we will ask for tomorrow. 1 If it Is ihrown out, we still will stand " pat and take no less than the Adamson law would have given us. t "We four brotherhood chief?, through ' Hiese recent meetings with our men, now feel that wo have the united hacking of our men behind us In this. Wo want to ue i this 1 1 ues t i on of the eight - hour day i I net tied, and set tied quickly. The reason j . . tor our seeming haste at this time In ' forcing it to an Issue Is that the country! may ho in a war within a few weeks or months, and we believe this ought to be j settled before that comes." I , Railroad Statement. 1 The statement of the nat iomil eonfer- cure com mlttf e. signed by Its chairman. Klisha Lee, said: "We are sincerely desirous that the wages and working conditions of our employees em-ployees should be on the highest plane consist put with the efficient operation of th railroads. When the national wage demands of tlie four train brotherhoods were made last year we frit that, they wore beyond reason, eift ailing, as they dhl. an annual increase of $1 nri.OflO.OOO. or a limit S.i pr "n! In the wages of tlie F.i'n0 most highly paid workers In the t o'intrv. "Miit we were iVady and anxious to suhmii this waso controversy for settlement settle-ment to some impartial public tribunal, l-i the hoie that our employees would Join with us in seeking the judgment of such a board of Inquiry, we earnestly urged that the whole case be referred re-ferred to; "1. The irdirprate commerce commission,1 commis-sion,1 the po eminent body regulating the i npnortat ion Industry in the public ln-i ln-i ""st : or, A hoard of arbit ra tton under the jgC ewlands arbitration act of 1!U, a law jr (Continued on Page Three.) C APPEAL OF RAILWAYS DOOMED TO FAILURE i (Continued from Page One.) enacted at the joint request of the employees em-ployees and the carriers; or, ! "3. A board of inquiry to be appointed ; by the president. I "Our offers for a peaceful settlement I were all rejected by the brotherhoods. If we had refused to meet with our employees em-ployees to diauues their demands, or it we had refused to submit the issue to arbitration, arbi-tration, this great body of workers might have been justified in leaviner the service. 1 But, under the circumstances, the threat , of a nation-wide Rtrike was indefensible. , We left every door open for a fair de- ! termination of the merits Of the contro- versy and every door is still open. "The Adamson railroad w:ise law, hav- ins; boon enacted last summer to avert , : the threatened strike, is now before the I highest court for a determination as to Its ! constitutionality and meaning. The rail- j ! roads entered into an agreement with the , government to Keep t lie pay roll records j of these 300, MO employees from January j ;l In such manner as to assure prompt j payment to the employees of whatever ! amounts may be due under the construe- I lion placed upon the act hy the court.; The brotherhoods, on their part, publicly. 1 stated that they would take no radical .action pending the decision of the court. ! "Congress lias made no provision, as so I earnestly urged hy the president, for insurance in-surance against the interruption of rail- ; way traffic by strike, and the country is j apparently in the same position now that j it was In the crisis of last August. Situation Serious. ; "The serious Interna ilonal situation cauRes every good citizen to put every i thought of personal ri(,-ht or desire second sec-ond to his duty to his country. Surely i this is no time Tor interna! industrial warfare. war-fare. The reported shortage of food and the generally congested traffic of the uountry bring forcefully to all our minds what 'would happen in the event nf a : Htoppage of the railroads of the coun- : trv. "With this situation before us. we. feel confident that the patriotism and loyally of our men will not countonnnce any rash movement which may seriously embarrass the government and give, tho impression; outside our hot dors that this country Is ' torn by industrial strife and therefore an j easy prey to any foreign foe." j Counter Claims. I After thev rvid Feen th!s statement the i brotherhood -hiffs ipsin-d the folhivn:g: I "Thn nearl: two hundred chairmen of' the tran sporta t ion organizations mctii ing her to: lay. representing a nunil-c-r of ' principal lines In eastern territory , , unanimously a p proved the i on i prom ise 1 propidl Ion present ed to the ma ringers' committee last Prrember. in the hope at that time of a peaceful settlement. "Th railroads, after having refused to' arerpt a setllciiient of the picht-cour controversy proposal hy PresHem Wilson ' I last August, and after having refused to 'Observe the eight-hour law enacted by j congress, must accept responsibility for a strike should it take place. It is too late for them to now pose as patriots, hoping thereby to defeat the just contentions conten-tions of their employees. "We have requested a renewal of negotiations, ne-gotiations, commencing tomorrow. In the hope of effecting a peaceful settlement." Calls It Treason. Resolutions were adopted here today by the Jjoard of trustees of the American ; Defense society stating that in view of tho international situation a widespread 1 railway strike "would inevitably result in appalling consequences to the nation" , and would "so delay supplies and munl-1 munl-1 tions as to prove in truth a direct blow ; at our own naval and military arm." : Such a result, it was declared, "could j be characterized only as treason to the United States." It would also discredit organized labor, the resolution said. |