The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-06-20

| county, WIS, IN consequence vi SCidIibIS
between two railroad companies for land
grant of two hundred and fifty thousand
! acres This grant was made to the Chica
go, Portage and Lake Superior Railroad
| company, conditional upon the completion
of its line to Superior City by certain
/ time; and now-so it is reported-the St.
| Paul. Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad
company has entered the field with large
construction force to compete for the prize
This company believes it will secure the
grant. At any rate, there will be some
brisk racing.
| KINGS RESIGNATION
A special dispatch to the Cincinnati
| Commercial contains the sub]oined causes
for Kings resignation:
A prominent railroad man whom | inter
viewed to-day regarding the resignation of
Vice President King and William Keyser
| of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, said
that Robert Garrett, the third vice presi-
dent of the road, who is a son of the pres
ident. has great deal of influence with
his father and is the cause of it all When
| Mr. Garrett went to Europe the road was
left in charge of Messrs. Keyser and King,
and during his fathers absence Robert
wanted to take several important steps
which were not approved of by either
King or Keyser, and the result is an i'll
feeling between the three. When Presi-
dent Garrett returned, his son related his
grievances, which made his father very
angry, claiming that King and Keyser
overstepped their authority. This, my in
| formant says, led to the designations
A GENERAL STRIKE.
An important and significant circular
| letter has recently been sent to every rail
road president or manager in the United
| States, calling attention to the disturbed
condition generally of the working classes.
| The circular is timely. The facts it sets
| forth are worthy of grave consideration.
The working classes are in an unsettled
and feverish condition. For some weeks
past there have been strikes, or threats of
strikes in almost every industry in the
land. 1t is notable also that in many in
stances these movements have been sue
cessful to some extent; wages
have been raised; hours of labor
have been shortened; employers have
in many instances, met their men fully half
way, and an amicable REIMBURSEMENT of
| their relations has prevented any suspen-
sion of business: The circular to which
we refer states that probably never before
| have the various trade unions and secret
labor organizations been so strong in this
country as they now are. The compare
Socialism are also to be reckoned with;
they have undoubtedly introduced new fac
tors of unknown power into our social and
economical problems. During the past
few years the trade-unions and secret labor
societies have been steadily at work per
fecting their organizations, filling up their
ranks and forming affiliations with each
other. Their development is notified
throughout the entire country. The men
are in most cases doing tolerably we'll
their wages are sufficient for the supply of
their daily wants, and save in few ex-
ceptional cases their hours of labor are
not excessively long. But there is strong
tendency to dissatisfaction; the men, not
unnaturally nor unwisely, desire some
thing more than a mere subsistence from
hand to mouth; they want to lay up
something; and desire for higher
wages and the disposition to strike
for them unless they can be easily obtained
otherwise is very prevalent. 1t is not I'M
likely that this tendency will be manifested
during the approaching summer among all
classes of employees of railroad and mining
companies, and other large corporations.
1t is not improbable that slight causes may
precipitate general strikes, more general,
dangerous and enduring than those of
1871. We have had already some tenta
of the brewers employees in this city; the
threatened strike of the horse-car railway
men, which was averted by concession on
the part of the companies. In the West,
the switchmen of the Chicago and North
western. Illinois Central, Chicago, Bur
lington & Quincy Michigan Central, Lake
Shore, Grand Trunk, Chicago, Alton and
st. Louis, Chicago and Vincennes, Pitts
burg, Fl. Wayne and Chicago and
Pittsburg, Chicago and St. Louis rail
transforming in themselves strong
combination and acting in unison
simultaneously demanded an increase of
pay to three dollars per day. The COM
panies did not comply with this demand;
they acted with quickness and decision, and
the threatened strike was tor the moment
abandoned. But it is known that the men
are not satisfied. There is deep and
spreading undercurrent of complaint
and there are rumors, more or less authen- /
ticated, of preparations for a more extern
sive strike than has yet been attempted
one that will take in the most formidable /
trade union in the world, the Brotherhood |
of Railroad Engineers. We believe that |
the more prudent of the presidents and
managers of the companies have for
some days had all these facts in their pos
session, with others to which we shall not
now allude. 1t is possible the season may
pass over without the serious trouble which |
is now considered probable; but the |
chances are that the men are preparing
once more to try conclusions on very
large scale with their employers. = Graphic |
MISSOURI RIVER POOL.
The Chicago Tribune thus notices the |
meeting of the members of the southwest /
ern pool held in Chicago few days ago;
The report, as stated yesterday, propos
es reorganization of the pool on a SINH /
lar basis as the present one, with the ex-
ception that it provides for the taking in
of some new territory along the Missouri
river and sonth thereof The question of /
percentages is left open for the general
managers to settle.
Those sections providing for the contin
uance of the Missouri river pool were
readily adopted without dissenting vote.
but when the clause regarding the taking
in of more territory was reached the tug
of war commenced. The Missouri Pacific
claimed that the business from its branch
lIylac Taaehipo int NaL