Morning journal and courier., 1886-04-06
DISAPPOINTED CITIZENS

At the NOn-Receipt of Dividends-An
 Effect of the Missouri Railroad
 StrIke-MOney That Would Have
 Been Spent i'm New Haven.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL COURIER:
 Quite number of the citizens of New
 Haven are greatly disappointed at not receiv-
 ing their usual quarterly dividend on stock
 of company in which they are stockholders.
 The dividend was declared payable on the
 20th inst, but circular received few days since informs the disappointed stockholders that lowing to the strike on the part of the employees of the Missouri railroad" which l there seems to be no sign of settling, "the company are prevented from getting to Nico- | let and therefore it is deemed expedient to l defer the payment of dividends until such time as they are sure of being able to get \ their products to St. Louis" and receive the | cash They do not like to pay out the cash | on hand which was reserved for dividends l for fear they will not be able to realize In l time to meet the payments to their em- l ployes, of which they have, all told, several 1 hundred. Here is a company with capital l of over one million, having property worth 1 several millions, not dollar of bonded debt | and practically free from debt, paying regu- l lar quarterly dividends, and still unable to l pay the dividend declared, unable to | get to market and unable to move their | product on account of the strike on the rail I road. This is only one Of many instances l which is distressing scores of innocent Wo- l men and children who relying on the 1 dividends for support, to say nothing or the l merchants and others who are lnconVenl- enced, and on account of which must suffer loss if not bankruptcy. The withholding of ! the dividends of this one company deprlves l the citizens of New Haven Of many thous- | ands of dollars, nearly, if not all, of which l Considering the condition of the parties
 | holding the stock) would have been paid to
 l landlords for rent and the dry goods and grocer merchants of New Haven. If I there is. not 8 stop put to these
 strikes capitalists will withhold their money 1 from stock companies whose revenue IS de- l pendent upon manual labor, and invest Tn | something independent of trades unions and | instead of seeing as it was in New York re- \ gently, decrease of gold reserves in the l New York banks of over three millions on account of shipment of gold to Europe, the l decrease of reserve will be many times three l millions. Not only do the poor women and l children suffer, but capitalists who have this l money invested in their companies, It they | do not receive their dividends, and their in comes are cut off, will have to curtail by dis l charging those employees so that in addition l to the mechanics which are thrown out of employment then employed by linen of
 means" will be discharged. And
 now as the planting season. is I hands out West are striking" If that is car ried to any extent who will do the planting? l And if the seed is not put into the ground | in time there will be no crop to harvest; II | no crop how can these farmers pay the inter | est on their farm loans, of which there are | said to be held in New Haven alone over two | millions of dollars of what are termed Harm ] loans" Reading of strikes in Missouri, Kan l sas and other states so far away some say it l cannot affect us in Connecticut" but we | shall soon see that it does affect us in Con- l necticut if dividends and interest on loans l are not forthcoming, and it IS getting | to be a very serious question, not only with l the workmen but with the capitalists. We are beginning to feel it here in New Haven, l especially in the carriage business. Orders have been countermanded which would l have come here (had it not been for | the strike.) They have gone elsewhere and we hear from some of the managers Of our best establishments the words ''It has killed our spring trade" Six weeks ago it looked as if we were to have the best spring business since 1885, but the strike has ruined it. The question is being mooted F'shall we not shut down entirely" as instead of their being at present some 200 carriage men out of em- ploy there will be three or four times that | number. We give publicity to these facts to | show the parties Organizing and encourag- | Ing these SGrlkoS) WnaC every oue lHusI seo will be the result if they continued and
 that public opinion which must be the arbi- l trator may step in and encourage both sides l (for we will allow there may be some cause) 1 to settle differences of the earneIs and ! the payer in friendly way.
 | Unless some such thing is done no settle l ment can be made satisfactory to both sides i.e. between capital and labor. In order to | have both move on harmoniously there must
 be no extended relations which would only | work injury to both sides involved.