The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-04-22

SCRANTON, IA ADTll IL. $50.
O'Clock A. NJ. I
To Jay Could. Esq. President Missouri Pacific
Railroad. NeiC York:
eight hours must have demonstrated to YOU
1he absolute necc5s ty OF bringing this ter
rible struggle in the Southwest to a speedy
termination. You have the power, the
authority and the means to bring this strike
to end. 1 have done everything in
INV power to end the strike. The
gentlemen associated with me 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 notion of pride or dignity has swayed
rs in our dealings with YOU the gentle
znen associated with you. In that confer
ence with you on sunday, March o. Un Ter
stood you TO mean that arb tration would De
agreed to. The ONLY method Of arhitrat on
that was discussed was in line With that
suggested in the letter which sent to yon
in the name OF onr board the day
previous There was nothing particularly
agreed upon. as YOU well know. You
said that n arbirstinR the matter the dam
ages sustained by the company during the
strike ought to receive consideration. /
said to you that it would not be the part of
wisdom to bring the question up in the set
t'ement of the strike. When / called on you
Rgain that evening You had prepared as the
result or your understanding OF the morning
interview a letter which yOu Intended to
give me That ietter included Il telegram to
gram you said that the damages sus-
tanned Dv the company would be q
proper subject for the arbitration board to
discuss. This latter part OF the letter or tel
eZran Won agreed to strike off. After We
had talked the matter over for some time,
] left you as yoU were about to 20 to
your room to rew;ite the letter, which YOU
afterwar,. placed in the hands OF Mr.. Nc
DowelI 10 be given 70 me. for had to leave
at that time in Order % keep an appoint
ment at the hotel whore | stopped. The
10 the effect taat YOU had prepared that
le ter before | called. * not quite correct.
or il Won did hav" it prr"ared, You changed
il after we had talked the matter over for
some time. This believe, you will admit
to he true. In the conference held between
the members Of our executive board and the
directors of the Missouri Pacific Company
st 10 broadway on March 81. Won said to me
that Won understood me to say that the men
along your lines would be ordered back
70 work at once. They having yio-
Ia"ed the rules of our organization,
then reiterated the statement which made
to you and nowrepeat it, 1.-The men ont
alOn" the lines Of yOur railways can be
dered back to work but il they are given to
understand that they are deserted, that we
do not take interest in them. it VIII not in
any way mend matters. On the contrary, it
will make things worse. There are all along
the roads out there a great many men VINO
have no regard for organization or law, m en-
OF hardy spirit. energy AMI daring. such
men nave left the East and have taken up
their homes out in Il wild country, such
a. that il. They will not submit as
quietly 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 orr or
der. 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
deT!lish than they are in the East. Even
the business men OF that country are OF that
stamp Of character"
Both you and Mr.. Hopkins heard me make
that statement, and l believe the latter
agreed that that WIS his experience. The
danger o. the strike SrreaIing was also dis
sDlead: that an effort had been made to have
the men of the Cnon Pacific part in it,
standing agreement tn the manage
ment OF the road that there
was to be no trouble or strike
until the last resort to settle had failed, and
moi then until the court OF last resort had
been reached. When made that statement
Mr.. Hopkins remarked that they had better
strike then, for il they did not the Union Pa
ellie would not much longer have sufficient
money 70 pay their employees. The impress
sion made on Inc was that You would be
pleased to see strike take place on the
Union Pacific. This, l believe covers the
chief points OF discussion.
J did not hear either yOu or Mr.. Hopkins
say that the present trouble ont along your
roads would not he arbtra'ed with the
men who were not at work. Il was my
firm belief, when 1 lett you that night,
that Won meant 70 have tine entire affair
submitted 70 arbitration a: the first posi-
BILE moment. That belief is shared in by
AIR. Mcdowell, who was present during the
eptire interview. Wnen you sent the tele
:er;m TO Mr. Hoxie You sent it as presi-
DEM Of the Missouri Pacific Rail.
the chief sends his message to
an n 'erIor officer. and it meant as much
10 a sensible man as the most imperative
Cr.'er could possibly mean. When ], as the
,'hi' officer Of the Knights of Labor, send
me,stGe such As that. IL is understood to be
my wishes, and those wishes are respected
by Jh- subordinate officer to whom they
sent. Ii is not his place to put differ
enE construction on them and give them his
own Interpretation. His duty is to obey the
spirit OF the instructions. The man in pow
er n, e I not be an adtocrat in order to have
his wishes respected 81 would like to see
Il done" comes with rs great force from
the man in authority as Il must have it
done"
That was the idea that 7 entertained when
left your house that night. 1 also explained
10 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;
80 that. while / thought il would have been
hetter il they had laid their grievances be-
striking, vet there was nothing In our laws
10 command them to do so. / said that
district assembly of the Knights of Labor
bore the same relation to the gen
eral assembly, OF which 1 am the
chief officer, that one OF the States of
tne American Union bore to the general
government of the United States. and that
while | could INTERFERE. u was under the law
which gave me jurisdiction over thu entire
order. and not under any particular law. /
explained to YOU that the spirit
of our organization and its genius was OPP
posed to strikes, and that was the reason
why our general convention never
enacted any particular legislation
for the government OF them.
I also said that the occasion had never be
fore called for anv reference from the gen
Sral officers. but that this strike would show
OF laws THAI would place the
ubject of strikes under the control OF the
general executive board of the general or
der.
When. on Monday, March -. You sent me
the letter marked personal you At the
same time told a newspaper CORE spondent
that you had done so. What your motive
was in marking your letters personal and
at the same time informing a representative
nj the press tnat you had addressed me. /
do not know, nor do question your motive.
/ felt it TO Re my duty TO let the public
see the letter. which contained nothing of Il
personal nature whatever. There are people
who might be uncharitanle enough TO say
your intention WAS to give out the impress
sion that there WAS something between you
and me which would not bear the light of
public scrutiny 1 nave had no such deal
ings with any man since this trouble began,
nor previous TO that time. L am quite will
ing to allow the fullest light possible to
shine upon my every transaction. l have
to conceal
You can settle this strike. It's longer con-
rests with You. and YOU alone
Every action of violence, every drop of
blood that may be shed from this time must
be laid at You door.
The knights of Labor were not founded to
promote or shield wrong doing, and to day
the order of the Knights OF Labor stand be-
tween your property and ruin.
We are willing TO absolye the men along
your railway from their allegiance to
our order We leave that to them
selves. We will not allow anv
claims which the order may have on
them 20 stand between them and their
to their former positions. The
order of the knights of Labor asks of no
man to remain a member II it Is not to his
interest to do so. You may deal with them
as citizens il you will. We will surrender
our right to claim these men as members IL
they wish; but we will not surrender our
right TO see this affair thoroughly investi-
gated.