The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1865-12-27

| Two contractors on the st. Paul and Pacific
Railroad which is now being constructed in
Minnesota, have absconded with 5000 of the
company's money, entrusted to them for the
payment of the laborers.
| A similar case occurred here few months
ago. MCDONALD left large number of work
men in distress, and some Of them in debt,
which distressed Others. We have heard and
! talked with several of bis victims, and they say
vengeance will be theirs if they fiAd him. Can
not someplan prevent this most disgrace full ana
too general accompaniment of railway building
and other large corporate exercises Why
| not make the Company liable by law Z This
would carcfalize them MS to whom they con-
traeted to, and they would also sec that he paid
his laborers, certain. We do not want the job,
but it is in US to think that about FIVE sections
of good, wholesome "Be it enacted" would
straightcn this crying villainy toward the poor
men who toll hard to put bread in the
mouths Of their cherished ones at home Oh,
that we were the President and could make
proclamasions ! We would issue one on this
subject this afternoon, and others Of like
class as fast as Seward rang his ding dong" a
few years ago. One thing is certain, at least
ona-ha!f of them would be practically anchor.
alive of the condition of white people, rather
than al devoted to the doubtful benef. of the
present great American Sumner-Wilson--
G,ee'y- Hobby, the NEGRO. ""
Suppose some good fellowsin the Iowa Leg.
il! atuie, turns his attention to this subject Let
the principle rest in the liability of the Com.
pany, and not in The contractor The latter
would not be entrusted with funds to run cfi
with-he might draw orders on the Treasurer
VIII the press second our motion for law
to protect white labor in Iowa? Nous Verroas.
Since the above was in type, We have seen
in the Elyria (Ohio) Democrat, AN article, mos,
Of which is below. ."
SAGE & EATos we're contractors with the
/ Cleveland e. Toledo r. H. Co., on the new
line from Elyria to Cberlin. In November
they increased their force largely, and were
paid their estimates. Payday was fixed for
December 18th. The workmen came In to re.
ceiyc their dues, and after waiting day OF two
in the greatest suspense. news arrived that lhe
scoundrels had left Cleveland with their fanli
lies, on pretended visit to New York for the
holidays We copy the balance of the article
liz full. As Jonathan Cilley had to be butch
cred b. Graves, before duelling was effectual.
ly stopped among mon worshipping false no.
tons of honor, SO we trust this astounding act
in the role Of contractor villainy, will awaken
legislators to the Importance OF drying it up.
Hon. b. I. Hunt, who was here day Or two
since, assures US that on arrival at Des. iIoncs,
the subject shall have his earliest attention
The pas of a law protective of the laborer,
would add to the strength Of the Company, and
give that Company legal reason for holding
contractors in check. Let us have the law,
and quickly: ~.
The train on Friday evening brought no con-
tractors, and the excitement ran high among
the crowd of creditors who thronged the
streets. Still many chung to the hope that
they would yet appear with their pockets full of
greenbacks, but their non-arrivalthe next trani
convinced them that they had been made the
victims of an outrageous swindle. A telegram
| to the President of the Railroad Company
brought a reply that the contractors were paid
the day previous, the amount of the estimate,
and that they left the city, stating that they
were going to Eiyria that evening to pay off
the men. This is the last that has been heard
from them.
We have no means of knowing the amount
Of their Indebtedness, bat as we learn that they
returned percentage OF the amount due the
laborers, on the previous payday, there was
due the men their wages for over month and
half This, with all their other accounts for
board, materials. etc., must amount to from
twenty to twenty five thousand dollars. This,
in its effect upon the creditors is the greatest
swindle that was ever perpetrated in Lorain
County. Not only are the laborers defrauded
of their hard-earned wages, but numerous
families in Elyria, in Oberlin, aud on the line
Of the road, who boarded the men, are cheated
out of all that is due them. We know many
instances OF peculiar hardship, where provis-
ions were purchased on credit, and the loss of
the amount due them, in some cases amount
| ing to several hundred dollars, will leave .kc
fami les entirely penniess
The laborers, too, are left in a condition of
universal sympathy. Many of them came from
the East, and haye no. penny to pay for an
ticket to their homes, or even to purchase a
humble meal. During the excitement, we are
glad to say, for the credit Of the men, that
their department was, with very few excep.
tons, entirely unexceptionable. There was
none of that rowdyism and drunkenness that
one frequently witnesses under like circum.
stances. They took their misfortune pliloso-
phically, and dcported themselves in manner
that largely increased the sympathy of the
public in their behalf. We hope the heartless
aud upm:tigated scoundrels who have caused
this great sutferiug,will be arrested and brought
to summary punishment.
They left with elegant suits of clothes,
which were not paid for and, indeed, among
our business men, those who are not their cred.
itors, are almost an exception Our lawy ers
were busy on Saturday afternoon and evening
in filing attachment and garnishee papers on
behalf of various creditors, few of whom will
doubtless secure their claims. Fully three
lourths of the work on the road is completed
and the company will doubtless finish it UP as
soon as the affairs of the late contractors can
DC satisfactorily adjusted We hope the Leg
islature will pass law this winter that will
protect those who labor for corporations By
making all corporate bodies responsible for the
full AMOUNT Of all contracts entered into il
their behalf. This would work no injury t.
corporations, and would only make it necessar,
, Tor them to send paymasicr out to pay th'
laborers, instead ofpayns the contractors, and
giving them an opportunity to run away wit
inc IuHuS. we Have no uOuDL the SleVch.i,
and Toledo Railway Company will do Whist i
right and honorable with the lahorers who nav
been so oatraGeousy swia'lled by the Gel
tractors
| .---------------o s>-----,s------
Tie New York Tribune says there will b,
Zen large or principal cites in the Unite'
States in the year 1900. How Horace can tel
what may be the effect on commerce of tn.
vast lines of communication and transit tina
. | are heinz iucnhatel ia more than VIZ know