Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-16
The Strike Ended.

The great strike OF the employees OF the
pork and beef packing establishments in
Chicago which, a few days ago, promised
to be protrscted, ard to be marked by vio-
lcnce and bloOdshed, has ended. The
strikers have obcyed the order of Grand
Master PoWGerly to return to work, and
peace once more relgns IN Packingtown.
No doubt the course pursued by Mr.. Pow
DERBY was dictated by what he believed to
be the best interests of the wOrklngmen
employed in the strike. The prospect
that the packers would have yielded to
the demand for the eight-hOur system was
not promising. Their works We're well
protecte by the militia and by Pinker-
toms men, and they were rapidly getting
force sufficient 10 run their establish
ments. If the strike had continued the
result would have been that several
thousand men would have been out OF
employment in Chicago this winter. and
they and their fam lies would have had
to endure the hardships of winter without
even the necessaries OF life.
This Chicago strike and the great
Southwestern railroad strike last spring
ought to convince the knights of Labor
that they cannot succeed In fnrcinS com
piiance with their demands where they are
resisted by powerful com panies and cor
porations unless they have thorough or
ganization ard right on their side, and
not always then. When they are in the
right, however, they Will have the sup
port Of public. sentiment, and that sup
port is worth more thsn any other kind
to them.
Neither e great Southwestern strike
nor the Chicago.strike- was sanctioned by
the Grand Master. and the Executive
Board. They were both unauthorized by
the proper authority. In view of the fact
that great strike in one locality affects
the interests of workingmeu In other To-
calities, no strike ought to be inaugurated
by the knights that is not ordered by their
executive head, because he Is in posi-
ton to form the safest judgment respect
ing the advisabIlity OF it. A strike
is pretty certain not to be ordered by him
unless there are good reasons for il and
an excellent prospect that 1t will be sue
cessful. Before Grand Master Powderly
would sanction strike he would, if he
to secure a settlement of the differences
between employers and employees.
The Chicago strikers have gained moth
ing. On the contrary, all of them have
suffered losses. They have lost several
days wages and many OF them have lost
their places. No one whose heart is in
the right place will rejoice over this con-
ton of affairs. 1t means hardship for
hard working but, perhaps, misguided
men. and suffering for hundreds of women
and children.
1t has been stated that a very large per-
centage of the men did not want to strike
| because they saw that the Chicago pack
ers under the eight-hour system could
not compete with packers IN cities where
the ten-hour system prevailed, and they
did not believe, therefore, that a strike
| could be successful. Their protests, how.
ever, were unavailing. The aggressive
element rldiculed their reasons and their
fears and pushed them towards idieness
and poverty. 1t is pity that those VINO
are to blame for the i'll advised affair are
not alone the sufferers.