OCR Text |
Show PUBLIC SHOULD DECIDEjiTRIK.ES I Julius Kruttschnitt Believe WHk American Opinion Even- Jwl tually Settles All Labor Troubles. i ADVOCATES PUBLICITY S C. E. . Fuller Denies Alleged I 'Sjj Lawlessness of U. P. Strike- ,j breakers in 1911 Be- H lieves in Open Shop. - Chicago, April 10. Julius Krutt IL : ll schnitt. first assistant to the late E. 'W&'ft H Harrlman, and himself one of th ... S; leading railroad authorities of th l i V' I country today expressed to the Uni V i, I ted States commission on industrial y jt, j relations the opinion that the only ! I solution of labor troubles is the de "; . signing of a vehicle through which I " Vi'"' the public "which is almost always i ', right," shall decide tbe merits of con- ". troversles. 1 ' I I "One of the dutiee of this comrais- I H mon ." said Commissioner Jamea I O Connell to Mr. Kruttschnitt, who I I was the first witness at today'B se- i Z sion, "is to ascertain the causes of I H industrial unrest and to recommend 1 a remedy if possible. "Tiat is your ' . v - opinion?" v' Public A Just Judge. j "I have observed a great many lj strikes and in the end public opinion decides justly as a rule," replied the H witness "No strike that 1 recall I I ever succeeded with public opinion j 1 ; I against it The great American pub- f lie settles them all ' The older ' j grow the more I am convinced tha the task of settling labor trouble is t the task of keeping the public In- formed. "The establishment of a machin 1 for the purpose should be compara- lively simple. There is a publicity Clause in the uanaaian arDiixauon and the Canadians have a machine for j informing the public lmprtially of the merits of its labor disputes. The Canadian public thus officially be-comes be-comes a board of arbitration In all ' such cases. 1 do not. faor compute- j ory arbitration; it has been a failur in' New Zealand where it was tried out for some years. I People Decide Strikes. "It was public opinion which decided deci-ded the strike of 1911 in favor of tb railroads The board of mediation and conciliation at Washington seems HH a move in the right direction, but ma 1 ehinerv for getting correct and Impartial Impar-tial Information to tbe great arbitral ing public is needed. ii "The government now controls the railroads their earnings and even fl their expenses. It is only right that J laor disputes which may involve the railroads in additional expense, shall be referred to it, so that- among other things, it may point out where money 1 for increased wages is to come from " Fuller Denies Lawlessness. ! Allegations of lawlessness made against strike breakers and guards employed bv the Union Pacific In tbe shopmen's strike of 1911 in testtmo D) before the United States commis-Mon commis-Mon on industrials yesterday were de nied bv C E. Fuller, superintendent of motive power and machinery of the I'nlon Pacific when he became a witness wit-ness today The Union Pacific, like tbe Illinois Central and other so-called Harriman lines, resisted efforts to form the va-rious va-rious labor unions into system federa- j Hons Nuclei of the federations were torme.l on the Harriman linos but the companj managers declined to treat with them and the strike resulted. re-sulted. H Oppose Closed Shop H "We resisted,'.' said Mr, Fuller, be Cause the federation meant a closed shop which we believe is unconSUtu- I tional and also unjust to men who pre-i pre-i fer to remain independent. I he ..mnal urnrlrara to belonc to anv cmaiiialiou is. w believe ques- tlonable Our men, individually, were nut particularly interested In the federation fed-eration plan." H The Witness sa.id that two eai prior to the strike the mechanics on the Union Pacific were granted a Hat j Increase of three cents an hour. Two thousand men answered tbe strike i m call and 19 per cent of these returned . to work Two hundred who applied for re-employment were not accepted M The company he said, did not know- Inglj employ professional bad men" . and be doubted If any crept It. All ot the strikers were not taken back K in. acsc there was not room for them K "Ninety per cent of our present shop P' employee." said Mr. Fuller, "are local W & men: they are not Importations ' t Shop Men Home Ownfi, Before the strike the witness stated r 25 l 2 per cenl oi the shopman were W home owners: the present percentage W I is 2fl tier cent. The payroll for Sep- leinber. I'Ol wtien the strike was K - la'led. was $31 1,607. while last Se- ;' tember it was .::S9,97i. jEf. There have, been fewer train acci- f dents since the strike and fewer de- R , . fectlve jobs turned out of the shop be- IK ', cause or closer supervision and sue- cess lu inspiring the men.'' said Hie m' I witness. "Present conditions are Ei - satisfactory and the company svlll W'i' continue to meet Its employes of the H respective crafts in such conferences E' aa raaj mutually be agreed upon." mju- ' |