San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-04-23
GOULD ON THE STAND.
WHAT DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE
RAILWAY STRIKE.
Chicago Unchanged-Turkey Goes For
Greece More Strikers New
York Uneasy-Payneful
Printing, Etc, Etc.

1
that Of Mr.. Hopkins, the committee
closing its labors at $50, p. IN. Gould
was attended by his counsel, General
Swayne. The examination ELECTED lit
tie or nothing not previously known
The principal statements made by Mr.
Gould, and all in answer to direct ques-
tions, were:
The first recognition which our COM
pany made, as far as l know, of the
the Knights Of Labor, came out of the
strike in April oflast year. was away
at the time, and until August In
August Mr.. POwderly came TO New
York with committee. That was the
first time l had anything to do with him
He stated their view; which was that
part of the road that was in the hands of
a receiver should reinstate large num-
Der of men who were Knights of Labor,
who had left the employ of the COM
pany, and whose places had been largely
filled. The impression seemed to be
that controlled all the railroads in the
United States; that the sun did not rise
nor the moon set without some sanction
of mine. | had nothing to do with the
road. | explained that to them while
this interview was going on. When it
came my time to leave | turned to the
committee and said:
Now, gentlemen, has the Missouri
Pacific lived up to our agreement with
you? | want to know that"
They said: "Yes, you have"
"Well, them" said 1, ~ want it now
understood that if you have grievances
hereafter against the Missouri Pacific
you shall not strike; but you will come to
me, man fashion, and we will talk 1t
over and settle it.
They agreed to that, and said, good
bye" and left.
Let me explain TO the committee what
the strike was that took place in March.
and what the effect would have been if
it had been simply a strike. We had at
the date of the strike l4,3lj employees.
The knights of Labor of the strikers
numbered 37l7, but they were not the
men who were necessary to the opera
tion of the road. They we're the men i'll
the machine shops, the men along the
track, switchmen, who perform the lower
work of the railroad, so that If those 81 IL
had struck and left the premises, we
would not have missed train. Our
business would have gone along as
regularly as clock work. But following
the leaving of our employment, what did
they DO?
As he stated this question, for the first
time during the course of his statement,
MIR. Gould raised his voice and showed
symptoms of excitement, and it was
with energy that he proceeded to answer
his own query:
They exercised more than the right of
eminent domain, they took ST. Louis,
Sedalia, Atchison, Kansas City, Parsons,
Fort Worth, Little Rock and Texarkana.
They took foreclosure possession of
them, and said: mo man shall run a
train over that road" That is what they
said. What did Hoxie do? He said:
"They have taken possession of our
road; we have no earnings now" and he
was forced to write an address to all the
men suspending payments, and thus TO-
0U0 who were loyal to the company, who
| could run our trains every day, were de-
| prived of their work and their power to
| earn their wages. That was what fol-
| lowed the strike-the seizure, you can
| call it by no other words, fOrcible
seizure, something that the Gar of Rus
STA would hesitate to do with his mil
lions of soldiers behind him.
HoXie's address to the men was then
read by General Swayne, and as he was
finishing Mr.. Powderly entered the room
and secured position opposite Gould
The Chairman What was Hal
charged with? What crime had he com.
mittee? What was the reason of his
| discharge?
He was asked his opinion as to the
cause Of the strike, and the only reason
that occurred to him was the desire OF
| some of the leaders to obtain notoriety
10 had hnn rl
| of, and did not believe in, such cases OF
complaint as Mr.. Powderly alluded to in
the first days testimony, such as the
cheating of the employees in the matter
OF hospital taxation, homesteads and
stores belonging to superintendent and
foremen. Such statements were ridicu-
lous, and he felt positive there were NO
instances of the kind.
He was inquired of by Mr.. Cultivate
as to stock speculations growing out of
the strike, and said he knew nothing of
the kind, and that, SO far as he was him
self concerned, he had not made a trans
action in stock, either long or short,
since the LIST OF January, and had no
speculative interest In the market. He
was sure that none of the directors OF
the Missouri Pacific had any dealings in
the stock of the road on the days follow
ing his interview with Powderly.
MIR. Outhwaite-Where would the pub
lie interests or the interests of the COM
pany have suffered by the representa-
tives of the company accepting the prop
osition of the Knights Of Labor
Gould-To arbitrate what, that was
the question.
Outhwaite-You certainly know what
you differed on?
Gnnll-I do mot knpu hof -a diffaraI
at all. l read my proposition over to
Mr.. Powderly, and he said he agreed to
every word OF it.
Outhwaite-But what injury could
have come to the company If 1t had &C
cepted and acted upon Mr.. Powderly' {
view of the case?
Gould-I do not know what subject
their arbitration would cover. IL it COW
cred the question whether We should
discharge men whom we had employed
after the strike, we would not admit that
to be subject of arbitration.
Outhwaite-Then you did not intend,
or want to have any arbitration or effort
to settle any difficulties with the Knights
Of Labor who had struck, or were out Of
your employment at the time? Was
that the understanding?
Gould-That is it, distin city.
Mr.. Hopkins, Vioe-President OF the
Missouri Pacific, was then sworn and
examined. He corroborated generally
Mr.. Gould's account Of the interviews
with Mr.. Powderly, at which he was
present. He had always believed in ar.
bitration as a means Of settlement, and
he saw no objections to compulsory ar.
bitration, provided 1t was made com
pulsory on both sides. But such arbi'