For Non-Resident Member

RAYMOND V. V. MILLER GILBERT G. BROWNE

The President appointed Mr. GEORGE E. MOLLESON and Mr. EDWARD K. CROOK as tellers and the vote taken resulted in the election of the candidates for membership in the Chamber.

BANQUET COMMITTEE

Mr. DE BOST, for the Executive Committee, presented the following resolution, which was adopted unanimously:

Resolved, That the President be and he is hereby authorized to appoint a Special Committee of five, with power to make arrangements for the 156th Annual Banquet of the Chamber, to be held at the Waldorf-Astoria on Thursday evening, November 13th, 1924.

THE PRESIDENT.-The Chair announces the appointment of the following as the Banquet Committee:

ELBERT H. GARY, Chairman

P. A. S. FRANKLIN

THOMAS W. LAMONT

FRANK A. MUNSEY

HUBERT T. PARSON

SPECIAL MEETING TO ELECT A PILOT COMMISSIONER

Mr. DE BOST, also on behalf of the Executive Committee, presented the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That a special meeting of the Chamber be held on Thursday, October 2nd, 1924, at 11.45 A. M., to elect one Commissioner of Pilots to serve for two years from that date, in place of WILLIAM SIMMONS.

THE PRESIDENT.-You have a further statement to make, Mr. DE BOST, I believe.

HOBOKEN SHORE ROAD PURCHASE BY PORT AUTHORITY

Mr. DE BOST.-At the last meeting of the Executive Committee there was brought to the attention of the Committee the fact that legislation was pending in Congress to provide for the sale of the Hoboken Shore Road by the Government to the Port Authority, and the Chamber was asked to lend its aid in support of this legislation. It was stated to the Committee that the matter needed attention immediately and could not, therefore, wait for the meeting of the Chamber to-day; and in view of that, I wrote, as Chairman of the Executive Committee, a letter to the various Committees of Congress interested in that question. The Chamber has already endorsed, in general, the Comprehensive Plan of the Port Authority, which has been approved by the States of New York and New Jersey and ratified by Congress. The Hoboken Shore Road is an integral part of belt line No. 13 of the Comprehensive Plan.

Under the new By-Laws, a Committee of the Chamber may take action on a matter of this kind if it is understood that such action comes from the Committee only and does not represent the action of the Chamber itself. The By-Laws also require that when such action has been taken by a Committee, it should be reported to the Chamber at the next meeting for the Chamber's action.

I am, therefore, bringing this matter up now, and advising you of the action that was taken by the Committee.

THE PRESIDENT.-Gentlemen, you have heard the statement of the Chairman of the Executive Committee. Perhaps you may desire to ratify the action of the Committee.

A VOICE.-I so move.

The motion was seconded and unanimously adopted.

ABOLITION OF LABOR BOARD AND ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW MACHINERY IN HOWELL-BARKLEY BILL OPPOSED

R. A. C. SMITH.-Mr. President, in the absence of the Chairman of the Committee, I take pleasure in presenting a report of the Committee on Internal Trade and Improvements:

To the Chamber of Commerce:

A measure now pending in Congress, known as the HowellBarkley Bill (S. 2646 and H. 7358) proposes to change the Transportation Act 1920, with respect to its labor provisions. Among the outstanding features of the Bill are:

1. Abolition of the Railroad Labor Board;

2. Setting up of four National Adjustment Boards (made up of equal numbers of representatives of railroad management and employes) to handle grievances;

3. Creation of a Board of Mediation and Conciliation which is expected to bring about the arbitration of all disputes regarding questions of pay, etc.

Your Committee on Internal Trade and Improvements is opposed to this Bill. The Chamber on January 5th, 1922, unanimously adopted a report in which it was stated that the Transportation Law of 1920 was one of the most constructive acts of railroad legislation and that enough time had not elapsed to make "a fair demonstration of the efficiency of the provisions of the law." Your Committee is still of the same conviction.

Elimination of the existing Labor Board removes the one tribunal in the settlement of disputes between the railroads and their employees in which the public has equal representation with the other two parties. Members of the proposed Board of Mediation and Conciliation, it is true, will be drawn from the public, but their work will be directed towards bringing about an agreement between the railroads and their employees or in arranging arbitration.

Membership in the proposed Boards of Adjustment from a labor standpoint is confined to representatives of the nationally organized crafts and no provision is made for representation on these boards of the hundreds of thousands of railroad employees who do not belong to these organizations. This means that these employees will be practically forced to join the national organizations to insure a fair handling of their grievances, a situation calculated to bring about the closed shop upon the railroads.

These Boards of Adjustment, with full authority to pass on rules governing working conditions, etc., will be in position to

standardize conditions on the railroads on a National basis and without regard to the situation in any particular section of the country.

The whole plan, in the opinion of your Committee, sets up a complicated machinery which in the end offers no definite progress toward industrial peace. So far as arbitration is concerned, where the two parties agree in advance to abide by its results, the findings will be entered as a judgment of a United States District Court and under such an arrangement, the railroads are positively bound, but there is no such restriction on the employees; Paragraph (8) D of Section 7 reads as follows:

"Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require an individual employee or subordinate official to render labor or service without his consent, nor shall anything in this Act be construed to make the quitting of his labor or service by any employee or subordinate official an illegal act; nor shall any Court of the United States, or of any State, issue any process to compel the performance by any employee or subordinate official of such labor service, without his consent."

This Bill places upon the President of the United States the burden of making forty-five appointments, all of which must be confirmed by the Senate.

It will cost the taxpayers of the United States $338,000 a year for the salaries of the forty-five Board members, plus the fees, commissions and wages of certain arbitrators, attorneys, assistants, clerks and other employees and their traveling and other expenses. The Bill gives to the Adjustment Boards and the Board of Mediation and Conciliation full authority to determine the number of their employees and to fix their wages. It is estimated that the expenses of the various Boards will exceed $1,000,000 a year. Against this the Government has been asked to appropriate only $322,200 for the salaries of the members and all the expenses of the present Labor Board for the fiscal year ending July 1st, 1925.

These proposed Boards promise nothing more toward insuring peace between the railroads and their employees than is offered under the existing law through the medium of the present Labor Board.

Your Committee therefore offers the following resolutions:

Resolved, That the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York hereby reaffirms its support of the Transportation Act of 1920, and is opposed to legislation like the HowellBarkley Bill S. 2646 and H. 7358 or similar measures which will vitally affect the principles of that Act; and, be it further

Resolved, That the Committee be authorized to send copies of this report to the President, members of Congress, and to appear at hearings and otherwise oppose the Howell-Barkley Bill or similar measures.

Respectfully submitted,

BENJAMIN L. WINCHELL, Chairman

RUSSELL R. WHITMAN

ELIHU C. CHURCH

R. A. C. SMITH

Committee on

Internal Trade and Improvements

EDWARD E. LOOMIS

CHARLES H. SIMMONS

HERBERT L. DILLON

NEW YORK, May 27, 1924.

The report and resolutions were adopted unanimously.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Special Committees of the Chamber Appointed

THE PRESIDENT. In accordance with the provisions in the By-Laws, the President reports the appointment of special committees as follows:

Committee on Workmen's Compensation Legislation