People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1894 — THE INVESTIGATION. [ARTICLE]

THE INVESTIGATION.

Proceedings of President Cleveland's Labor Commission. light I» Sought Upon the Causes Which Resulted in the Late Strike—Debs’ Version Is Given on the Fifth Day. MANY UNION MEN TESTIFY. Chicago, Aug. 18.—On Thursday was opened *he second day’s proceedings of President Cleveland's Labor commission. George W. Lovejoy, former yardmaster at La Salle, 111., for the Rock Island, te stifle jthat he was discharged June 19 for reasons ■unknown to him. The employes of the Rock island struck because of a local grievance and ■of the Pullman troubles. The Rock Island jpeople, the witness declared, will not employ A member of the American Railway union. (His plan for preventing strikes was governIment ownership of railroads. He thought compulsory arbitration unsatisfactory. Sylvester Keliher, secretary of the American Railway union, was the next witness. He thought that the cause of the boycott was the grievance of the Pullman employes. The Pullman employes were organized as a lodge of the American Railway union. Te a committee of the American Railway uniojL__Khich waited on them Manager Wickes and Mr. Pullman said the grievances would be investigated. »nd these gentlemen promised that the mem*bers of the grievance committee of forty-three Should not be discriminated against. Notwithstanding this, the members of the committee were discharged the next day. Then the Pullman employes went out and the convention of the American Railway union voted to sustain them. Mr. Keliher said be thought the best preventKe of strikes on railroads would be governent control of all railroads; the next best thing, compulsory arbitration. B. B. Ray, who was assistant yardmaster for the Rook Island road at Rook Island, 111., but ■was discharged previous to the strike because he joined the American Railway (union, was the third witness. He pave the usual account of what led to the strike. The remedy for strikes, he thought, lay in compulsory arbitration. At the afternoon session T. W. Heatheote, ■who was chairman of the Pullman strike committee, was the first witness. He presented to the commission the wage scale that obtained at Pullman in 1893 and compared It with that in force at the time the strike was Inaugurated, In June, 1893, he said he knew first-class mechanics who made between $43 and $45 in two weeks. A year later be said it was necessary for the men to <lo four times as muoh work to get the same pay, there having been a reduction of about 60 per cent, in the pay of the men. While wages were reduced to this (remarkable extent Mr. Heatheote said |there was not the slightest reduction in |the rents 00l eeted by the Pullman company tout of the wages of its employes. Mr. Heuthteote also presented an official copy of the list’ prepared by the Pullman company and forwarded to other corporations with She request that the men whose names it contained be not employed. i Jennie C art is wasu seamstress for live years jin the repair shops of the Pullman company, president of the girl’s local union 569, American Railway union, at Pullman, and also a member of the committees that called on Mr. Wickes and Mr. Pullman on behalf of the (girls employed at the carshops town. In her (department, she said, employes made in Liune,«lß93. $2.25 a day, and at the time of the strike from 40 to 80 cents a day. "My father Iwprkod for the company for thirteen years," phe said, “and last fall he died. He was a tenant of the Pullman company. He owed S6O (rent, and out of my small wages I had to pay that S6O or leave the employ of the company.” R W. Combs has been a car carpenter In the freight department of the Pullman works lor ten years. He testiiled: "A year ago jny wages averaged $2.30 a day and in March, 1894, they -were 68 cents. The cut commenced in November. 1g93.

Proceedings of the Third Day. Chicago, Aug. 20.—The first witness before the labor commission at the opening of Its third day's session was Ray Goodwin, one of the directors of the A. R. U. Mr. Goodwin was somewhat inclined to be uncommunicative, and occupied the stand but* a short time. |He thought the way to prevent strikes was to (have a cooperative commonwealth. Vice President Howard, of the A. R. U., again ’became a witness, and created something of a sensation when he informed the compnission that the United States govern*nen is boycotting 3,000 of the A. R. U. men iand the strikers in the courtroom became (interested. The Union Pacific road receivers |are United States officers, and they have refused to reemploy the 3,000 men who struck on that road. This, according to Mr. Howard, is ® boycott of the men bv the United States. The commission did not consider the statement of Mr. Howard relevant, but heard him on. He proceeded to say that half a dozen roads are engaged in a boycott on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas road on account of a passenger rate made by the latter road. Yet the government had not interfered as it had in the boycott on Pullman cars. It should let the railways and their employes fight out their differences just as it does not interfere in disputes between one road and another. There was a volley of hand clapping as Mr. Howard finished. The commission decided, however, that the matters he referred to were hot germane to the investigation. E. W. Bemis, associate professor of political (economy in the University of Chicago, appeared as a witness. Arbitration, he said, peems to have worked well imthe settlement bf disputes in private industries in Massachupetts, where there is a state board of conciliation and arbitration. In cases C rhere either side refuses these coniliatory measures the board may make an investigation. Where the parties consent to the commission has the right to eomIpel employers to show the books as to wages, put they cannot be compelled to testify as to (profits. | As to railroads, it was likely that some time in the future they would pass into governjtnent control and that civil regulations would [prevail. But that time is remote, and as a present remedy Prof. Bemis suggested [the creation of state courts for the settlement (of disputes between company and employes km interstate roads, and of a federal court of inquiry, conciliation, and arbitration for Jhe adjustment of labor difficulties on interstate railways. These courts should ibave power to make exhaustive inquiry and •compliance with their decisions should be •obligatory. He thought it would be a good plan to license all railway employes, just as lake and river engineers and pilots are licensed. H. F. Griswold testified in regard to blacklisting. He is a switchman. 28 years old, end had been a railroad man about ten years. He was one of the American Railway •Union organizers for the Northwestern road. •“I applied, for work less than a week ago lat Altoona, 0.,” said he. “I wrote out my pame and then the trainmaster turned to a book, and, finding my name there, said I was placklisted and could not have work on that road. The same experience was met with at Columbus. O.” A. B. Connors, the next witness, also had pome experience with the black list. He learned of it for the first time when he applied jto the Union Stock Yards. & Transit comEy for work. His name was upon list, he said, which the company in the office, and he was turned ,y because of his participation in Hhe strike. Rev. William H. Carwardine, of the Pullman [Methodist Episcopal church, testified at the [afternoon session. After stating briefly the [origin of the strike, Mr. Carwardine said: “After the strike was declared I felt in justice I must state my views on the question, and jl discussed the matter in the pulpit. The •wages were cut severely and unequally. There jwas dissatisfaction with the local administraitlon and with the abuses of the foreman The teen did not have a reduction of the rent when

the wages were cut. and the men felt that justice could not be received. Mr. Pullman aad Mr. Wiekes are not so much to blame for the present state of affairs. The difficulty is with the local administration. If Mr. Pullman had been in closer relationship with his men and if rent had been reduced when the wages were the strike would have been averted. I don’t know how much the rent should have been reduced. The Pullman company starts out with the idea of a system of paternalism and the system was founded to improve the workingmen. I contend that the company should not cut the wages of their old employes, but act from the standpoint of the paternalistic system.” Mr. Carwardine went on to explain how he had met the committee of the Pullman strikers and had Interviewed Mr Debs and endeavored to have them declare the boycott off. He was not an advocate of strikers, was inclined much in favor of arbitration and the government management of railroads. He had been charged with being an anarchist and a socialist. It was Impossible to be both. Anarchy he repudiated entirely; he was what might be called a Christian socialist. Referring to the strike he said he thought the conduct of the strikers had been remarkably good. He said he knew sixty-four families were soon to be evicted at pullman, and after he left the stand said he was in the city to raise money some way to stop the ejectment proceedings. Eugene V. Debs has telegraphed the commission that he is recovering from his recent illness, but on account of the sickness of his wife, he will not be able to appear for examination before the middle of next week.

Additional Testimony. Chicago, Aug. 21. —The first witness before the labor commission at the opening of the fourth day’s session was Thomas W. Heathcote, chairman of the Pullman strike committee, who had been recalled. He said that tho Pullman company's statement that the company’s books might be looked over by the employes was merely a statement by one of the clerks. When the employes went to investigate the books they were refused. He said that the Pullman branch of the American Railway union was formed during the last of March and the month of April. Nearly all of the 4,000 employes of the company joined the union. Each man paid one dollar for the privileges of membership. Of all the employes between 2,500 and 3,000 lived in the houses of the company. Miss Mary Abbott Wood, who worked in the electrical department at Pullman, was the next witness. She said she was a member of the American Railway union and was one of the Pullman strikers. Her father had died some time ago in the company’s employ. She had to support her mother on the one dollar a day she received from the Pullman company. She lived in one of the Pullman houses and paid $17.71 a month. Miss Wood showed the commission a notice of eviction, dated May 3, she hud received from the company. She testified that she had paid her rent to April 30. ’The company, by mistake, had credited the rent to her sister. When she asked for a rectification she was refused. She had not yet been evicted. Frank P. McDonald, a locomotive engineer outlie Chicago Great Western was next called. He said that sometimes he was compelled to remain on continuous service from sixty to seventy-two hours without rest. Mr. McDonald went into an extended account of the trouble on the Chicago and Great Western. It was caused by a refusal of tho company to restore wages, which had been cut. Mr. McDonald said he opposed the recent strike because lie thought the American Railway union was not strong enough to fight the general managers in tho hard times when so many men were out of work. He did not think the strike would be successful. He voted for the strike only because he was so instructed by his local union. “I am opposed to strikes in general.” said Mr. McDonald, "but when the federal government will do nothing for us, and we have no weapon but the strike, we must use it. If it were not for st rikes the railroad men in this country would be working for one-half the pay they are now getting.” Asked wliat he knew about the stoppage of mail trains the witness said that the Chicago & Great Western mail train No. 3 on June 28 last was "killed” by the management of that road and its crew was used to take out an excursion train to St. Claire. This mail train was obstructed by the railway managers and not by the strikers or the members of the American Railway uniori. McDonald told how it was impossible for him to obtain employment after the Burlington strike, when he was blacklisted The company's influence was used against him, he said, even to the extent of protesting to Gov. Francis, of Missouri, against McDonald's appointment as oil inspector at St. Joseph, Mo. Miss Jane Adams, superintendent of Hull house and member of the board of conciliation of the civic federation, was next called. She recited the efforts of the civic federation to bring about a settlement of the trouble. The employes of the A. R. U. were always willing and anxious to arbitrate, but Pullman and his officials would say to the committee only that they had nothing to arbitrate. Arthur M. Wilson and Nettie M. West, employes of the Pullman company, testified as to the reduction in wages. H. W. Pearson, a real estate agent who operates at Kensington, Itoseland, Southwest Pullman, and other localities adjacent to Pullman, said houses which rented for sl7 In Pullman could bo had for $lO a month in Kensington. In all eases, in his judgment, rents were about 75 to 100 per cent, higher in Pullman than in the adjacent towns. The commission adjourned to 10 o'clock Monday. Application has been made the commission to hear statements by representatives of unorganized labor. All persons who think they can give the commission any information as to the conditions of labor, organized or unorganized, will be heard. President Delis’ Testimony. Chicago, Aug-. 22.— 0 n the fifth day of the proceeding’s President Debs told his story. After relating- the situation as he found it early in May. Mr. Debs said he was satisfied that the employes were justified in striking, and he resolved to do all in his power, under the law and in justice, to help right their wrongs. Mr. Debs then recited the history of the strike, relating the various attempts to induce Pullman to submit to arbitration. Mr. Debs denied that he had sent or ordered sent any inflammatory telegrams. Explaining the telegram, “Save your money and buy a gun,” he said it was written by a clerk named Benedict to a former employer at Butte, Mont., as a joke and nothing whatever to do with the strike, Mr. Debs severely criticistd Gen. Mile's for calling at the offices of the General Managers’ association on the day he came to Chicago as being vulgarly out of place,and maintaining that his only duty here was to maintain order and preserve the peace. Continuing, Mr. Debs desired the commission to understand that he as president of the American Railway union did not and could not order strikes which were decided on by the local unions themselves. “I am not shirking any portion of my responsibility.” said he. "I heartily concurred in the action taken and if I had had a voice in the ordering of the strike I would have ordered it.” “Five days after the strike was declared we had the railroads completely beaten and at our mercy, as we believed.” continued he. "They were paralyzed. They could not get men to take the places of our men who were out. Then I and my associate officials were served with a sweeping injunction issued by the- United States covets restraining us from performing our functions as officials of the American Railway union. Similar injunctions were issued at all terminal points. A few days afterward we were arrested for alleged contempt of court. We were unable to direct the men, and that defeated the strike. “We protested against the presence o( the

federal troops. We did not object to state troops or the police. If I am correct, all the trouble, except some minor disturbances, took place after the arrival of the federal troops, the coming of whom angered and Inflamed the men. The police have reported to me that our men were entirely law-abiding.” “Did your men intimidate other men not members of the American Railway union?” asked Commissioner W right. “We did not. Intimidation is against the policy of the American Railway union. We told our men that we had the right to quit work and there our rights absolutely ceased; that other men had the absolute right to take their places and that any one interfering with them would be punished by our order and the civil law.” At the afternoon session Mr. Debs opened his testimony with a denunciation of the unfairness shown by some of the Chicago papers in their treatment of himself and the strike generally. He said that some of the papers had purposely misrepresented the facts until, if there had been a revolution, the press of Chicago might properly have been held responsible for it. Said he: "I was persistently misrepresented in interviews with the evident intention of alienating public sympathy from us and disorganizing our men by discrediting us.” "Do you claim.” asked Mr. Wright, "that the railroads were responsible for the strike because they insisted on hauling Pullman cars?” "No, sir. The American Railway union was responsible for it, but under aggravating circumstances. The general managers are united to reduce wages. The employes are united to resist such reductions. In case of a reduction that leads to a strike we think the company is responsible.” "What is your opinion as to methods of averting strikes?” asked Commissioner Worthington. “Of course submission would avert strikes. That is the plan of tho old brotherhoods. If a general manager wants to make a cut of 10 per cent, he gives notice of a cut of 20 percent., and then they meet and compromise, The history of the organizations shows that their system tends to inevitable and gradual reductnon of wages. My own idea, and it is the idea of the American Railway union, is to unify all the railroad men of the country. A power like that prudently managed would avert strikes. The railroad managers would recognize the wisdom of treating it fairly and meeting it in a conciliatory spirit. But even if we had such a unification the men would not win a strike. All the forces of the government would be against them the moment the strike interfered with the convenience of the public.” "Do you believe a strike is justifiable that interferes with public Convenience?” "I believe strikes are justifiable, no matter what the result, when it is to resist degradation and enslaving conditions. If it were not, the tendency of our civilization would be constantly downward. If railroads and corporations generally treated their employes fairly there would bj no labor organizations. Their origin in almost every case is traceable directly to the tyranny of the employing classes. "Do you believe in government ownership of railroads?” asked Mr. Kernan. "Yes, sir, 1 believe tho government ownership of railroads is decidedly better than railroad ownership of the government.” The reply caused much merriment. Then the witness said compulsory arbitration was a contradiction of terms. To be effective arbitration must be voluntary. In local troubles state courts might be established to compel an adjudication of troubles, but it would be impossible to enforce an award in a great territory such as the railroads covered. The witness also said that he believed a government license for railroad employes would be a good thing.