Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1886-05-01
powDERLY TO GOULD.
The Text Of this Remarkable Letter.
SCRANTON, Pa, April II, 1886.
9 o'CrOCE NJ

JAY GOULD, ESQ, President Mo. p. II. r.
DEaR SIR:-The events of the past for
ty-e;ght hours must have demonstrated to
you the absolute necessity Of bringing
this terrible struggle in the Southwest to
a speedy termination. You have the pow
Ter, the authority and the means to bring
the strike to an end. have done every
thing in my power to end the strife; the
gentlemen associated with me on the
General Executive Board OF the Knights
of Labor have done the same. Everything
consistent with honor and manhood has
been done in the interest of peace. No
false notions of pride or dignity have
swayed us in our dealings with you or the
gentlemen associated with you.
In that conference with you on Sunday,
March %, understood you to mean that
arbitration would be agreed to. The only
method Of arbitration that was discussed
was in line with that suggested in the let
ter which / sent to you in the name of
our Board the day previous; there was
nothing par ticuiarly agreed upon, as you
well know. You said that in arbitrating
the matter the damages sustained by the
company during the strike ought to re-
ceive consideration. / said to you that
it would not be the part of wisdom to
bring that question up in the settlement
of the strike. When [ called on you
again that evening you had prepared, as
the result of your understanding Of the
mornings interview, letter, which you
intended to give to me. That letter in
cluded telegram to be sent to Mr.. HOxie,
and in that telegram you said that the
damages sustained by the comp any would
be proper subject for the Arbitration
Board to discuss. This latter part OF the
letter, or telegram, you agreed TO strike
off, after we had talked the matter over
for some time, and L left you as you were
about to go to your room to write the let
ter, WHICH You afterwards placed in the
hands of Mr.. Mcdowell to be given to me-
for I had to leave at that time in order to
keep an appointment at the hotel where [
stopped.
3 The statement which you have since
then made to the effect that you had pre-
pared that letter before I called is not
quite correct, or if you did have it prepar-
ed, you changed it after we had talked
the matter over for some time. This, [
believe, you will admit to be true.
In the conference held between the
members of our Executive Board and the
Directors of the Missouri Pacific Co., at
1876 Broadway, on March 80, you said to
me that you understood me to say that
the men along your lines would be order
ed back to work at once-they having Vi
oiated the rules of our organization. /
then reiterated the statement which /
made to You, and now repeat it: 1.-The
men out along the lines of your railways
can be ordered back to work; but If they
are given TO understand that they are de-
serted, that we do not take any interest in
therl, 1t will not, III any way, mend mat
tiers. On the contrary, it will make things
worse. There are all along the roads out
there great many men who have no re-
gard for organization of law; men Of har-
dy spirit, energy and daring. Such men
as have let the East and have taken MP
their homes out in wild country, such
as that is, will not submit as quietly as
the men they have left behind in the East.
They are apt to do rasher things than they
would do elsewhere; and [ have no doubt
we have some of them in our Order. In
fact, my experience with the men of that
vast section leads me to think that the
men on both sides out there are more
dare-develish than they are in the East.
Even the business men of that country
are of that same stamp Of character"
: Both you and Mr.. Hopkins heard me
make the statement, and believe the
latter agreed that that was his experience
also. The danger of the strike spreading
was also discussed, and l said that it
would not spread; that an effort had been
made to have the men of the Union Paci-
fic take part in it, but that the Knights
of Labor on that road had standing
agreement with the management of the
real that there was to be no trouble or
strike until the last effort to effect settle
ment had failed, and not then until the
court of last resort had been reached.
When | made that statement, Mr.. Hop
kins remarked that they had better strike
then; for, if they did not, the Union Pa
cific would not much longer have suf-
ficient money to pay their employees.
The impression made on me was that you
would be pleased to see strike take place
on the Union Pacific.
This, believe, covers the chief points
of discussion. L did not hear either you
or Mr.. Hopkins say that the present troub-
lie out along your roads would not be arbi-
trated with the men who were not at work. |
1t was my firm belief when [ left you that |
night that you meant to have the entire |
affair submitted to arbitration at the first |
possible moment. That belief is shared |
by MIR. Mcdowell, who was present dur
ing the entire interview.
When You sent the telegram to Mr. |
H6xie, you sent it as President of the Mis-
souri, Pacific Railroad Company. You
sent as the chief sends his message to an
inferior officer, and it meant as much to
a sensible man as the most imperative Or
der could possibly mean. When /, as the
chief officer of the Knights of Labor, send
a message such as that, i. is understood
to be my wishes, and those wishes are re-
spected by the subordinate officer to
whom they are sent. 1t is not his place
to put different construction on them
and give them his own Interpretation.
His duty is to obey the spirit of the in
structons The man in power need not
be an autocrat in order to have his wishes
respected. Il would like to see it done"
comes with as much force from the man
in authority as 81 must have it DONE"
That was the idea that entertained when
/ left your house that night.
: I also explained to you at your house
that night that the men who had entered
upon the strike had not violated any law
of the Order in so doing; that while 1
thought it would have been better if they
had laid their grievances before the Gen
eral Executive Board before striking, yet
there was nothing in our laws to command
them to dos 1 said that District As
sembly OF the Knights of Labor bore the
same relation to the General Assembly, of
MI L N,-os, no ,af al