World Affairs Institute

RAILWAY LABOR DISPUTES AND THE PEACE MOVEMENTSource: Advocate of Peace through Justice, Vol. 91, No. 1 (January, 1929), pp. 14-15Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20681200 .

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14 ADVOCATE OF PEACE January

defend its territory or other vital inter ests in accordance with the traditional American policies ;

2. That the treaty imposes no obliga tion on the United States to resort to coercive or punitive measures against any offending nation;

3. That the treaty does not obligate the United States to the conditions of any treaty to which the United States is not a party ;

4. The Secretary of State is requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the representatives of the other powers."

There is nothing in this resolution to disturb any friend of the treaty. Its views have been set forth in the corre

spondence between Mr. Kellogg and Great Britain and between this country and France. The treaty does not deny to any signatory the right of self-defense. There is nothing in it that carries an obligation, legal or moral, to wage war in its defense, or to support treaties to which the United States is not a party. In our judgment the Moses Eesolution is quite unnecessary. If in order to assure the ratification of the

Treaty by the Senate, the Senate should insist also upon passing the Moses Resolu

tion, so be it.

RAILWAY LABOR DISPUTES AND THE PEACE MOVEMENT

The Board of Mediation, set up under the "Railway Labor Act" of 1926, is work

ing out the problem of settling disputes between the employers and employees of our interstate railways, in accordance with

principles some of which must apply in the settlement of international disputes. The fundamental purposes of the Board are to provide methods for settling ques tions arising between employees and car riers promptly and peaceably through the

medium of conferences, adjustment boards, mediation, and arbitration ; second, to pro vide, in cases of differences not adjusted

by a carrier and its employees, for the ap pointment of an emergency board by the

President, who, in the language of Hon orable Samuel E. Winslow, Chairman of the Board, "shall be advised by the Board of Mediation when in the judgment of such Board a substantial interruption of interstate commerce to a degree such as to

deprive any section of the country of its essential transportation service is abso

lutely threatening. The President may, therefore, appoint such number of persons as he considers desirable to serve as an

emergency board."

It is provided in the law that this

emergency board shall investigate the facts of a given case, and report within thirty days to the President. The board has no

power to compel anybody to do anything. Its whole purpose is to be helpful, and to

bring about as far as possible a voluntary agreement between the parties.

The law goes further. If an issue can not be settled, a Board of Arbitration may be estabalished at the request of the Board of Mediation.

The interesting thing about all this is that it is the product of experience. Everyone associated with the plan accepts the view that the more voluntary settle

ments there are between carriers and em

ployees, the better. In the earlier efforts at mediation in

this class of cases, the words "fight" and

"dispute" were freely used, both indicat

ing that the parties approached each other in a spirit of hostility. The discussions

were frequently between the carriers as

representing "economic power," and em

ployees as representing "numerical

strength." Today the practise is to sub stitute for such thorny words the more

appropriate terms "problem" and "dis cussion." The result of this new approach is already beneficent. The problems are

discussed on their own merits in the in

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1929 EDITORIALS 15

terest of all-around fairness. While no

two cases are exactly alike, these simple, fundamental principles apply to them all.

Through the years there has grown up a variety of precedents and rules of pro cedure. These precedents and rules are

being modified under the new methods of

procedure. In this way there is develop

ing a promising kind of law which will

prove to be of service in the cases that are sure to come up in the future. In any event the processes now being employed

by the Board of Mediation cannot help but

promote friendly settlement and lessen the

dangers and losses of strikes. There is more than one evidence that we have here a hopeful effort to bring about the estab

lishment of respectful and accommodating mental attitudes, with the inevitable result

that acrimonious activities must lessen, and the intellectual procedures of justice increase.

The most hopeful thing in the whole business is the elimination of all threats of coercion. Throughout the history of our Federal labor laws, Congress has con

sistently refused to pass any such laws with "teeth" in them. There is no demand in our public opinion for any such kind of a "league to enforce peace." The aim of the law is to bring about a desire and a

method for the voluntary settlement of

issues, if possible, without outside assist ance or pressure. At the last there may be a necessity for some government agency whose findings can be accepted by both sides as fair and equitable. Changing of course to meet economic conditions, the

abiding principle is that each party shall stand willing to give and take in the in

terest of all, including of course the

public. The men responsible for the carrying

out of this law are interested in safe

guarding the public interest, which means the well-being of the greatest number.

They believe that the fewer laws there are

the better. They are aiming to promote

goodwill between the employees and em

ployer. The whole business is to promote the solution of problems in accordance with the principles of fairness, which are, of course, the essence of justice.

Here in a small compass are the spirit and the methods for the peace movement of the world, at this the beginning of a

New Year.

MR. BRITTEN AND THE INTER PARLIAMENTARY UNION

THE 11ST E BPABLIAMENTAEY

Union has been brought so perma

nently to public notice by Congress man Fred Britten's proposal to Britain's Prime Minister that the problem of naval limitations be discussed directly by the

representatives of our Congress and the House of Commons, that it is well to re

call just what the Interparliamentary Union is. This is the more germane since

Bepresentative Britten, Chairman of the House Committee on Naval Affairs, has announced that if no better plan presents itself, he will bring up the subject of fur ther naval limitation at the Interparlia

mentary Conference in Geneva, in Au

gust, 1929. Congressman Britten evi

dently believes that only good can come from frank, open discussions by the chosen representatives of the people.

In a letter to a member of the British

Parliament, December 15, Mr. Britten went on to point out that : "The time has

passed when millions of men and women can be tricked or blundered into war by ambitious executivies or irresponsible dip lomats. Secret so-called diplomatic un

derstanding and mysterious treaties af

fecting the very life of the nation are out of place in a world desiring peace and a

world of opportunity.

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