Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-03-12
IMPORTANT SESSION.
The Grievance Committee Of the C..
RI & p. Meets.
All the Divisions OF the Brotherhood
Represented in n Secret Meeting mt
enport-PrObabIe Attitude in the
Present strike.

An important conference Of locomotive
engineers was held in Davenport Satur
day. 1t was a secret session of the
grievance committee OF the brotherhood
of the c., Il. l. & p road, and lasted
from 10 o'clock in the morning until 9
in the evening, The meeting was strict
ly and absolutely private. The commit
tee is composed of W. Fred Gould OF
Stuart, chairman, and representing the
Stuart and Council Bluffs division; d, G,
Woods of Chicago, representing the Chi
cago and Davenport division; James
Ewing, representing the Davenport and
Brooklyn division, Geo. w. Russell OF
Des Moincs representing the Brook
lyn and Stuart division; George Hoffman
of Eldon. representing the Davenport
and Eldon division; G. ]. Rnge of Tren-
ton, representing the Eldon and Trenton
division; j W. Griffith of Keokuk, rep
resenting the Keokuk and Des Moiues
division.
The Democrat. Gazette says attempts to
interview any one of these engineers as
to the nature of their deliberations were
in VAIN. They would talk on any sub
iect but the one which had engrossed
their attention al. day.
You can assure the public of one
thing, though; there viii be no strike on
the Rock Island, that is settled" said Il
member who officiated as spokesman for
group of three or four whom a reporter
met together after tackling several mem
bers individually. There isn't an ems
gineer on the Rock Island who wouldn't
do anything and everything possible to
further the interests Of the company Its
managers do everything for us. Why
shouldn't wcreciprocate? And yet every
engineer on the Rock Island will do
everything to sustain the Brotherhood in
its struggle with the @" too.
But Manager Stone says he can't
afford to be beaten in the contest" said
tho Demo- rat q dsette reporter.
Yes, there we sympathize with him
we can't afford to be beaten either"
"Well, gentlemen, do you actually
think that you have the best of it, so far,
with nearly all their engines supplied,
and so many Of their trains running? In
the eyes of the public Manager Stone has
the best Of it,"
"Well, we know that he has not the
best of it--know 1t. While the contest
is expensive for the brotherhood, it is
hundred times more expensIvesfor the
%" The competency of every engineer
that has gone to work for the 20" since
the strike opened is known to the
gnes is known to us, too--and we know
that IS engines have been ruined by in
conpetents. That costs money
"How do YOU know thisr'
That's our business. This is a life
and death struggle with the brotherhood.
The public can't afford to see the broth~
hood go down; neither can the railroad
companies. and the managers of about all
the great trunk lines who are our friends.
They know that the rules of the brother
hood allow no incompetents in its menu
bership. Every one of them considers
the brotherhood card q sufficient recon-
mendaton. They do not inquire as to
his experience and ability if he possesses
a certificate of membership of the broth
erhood. We are not mob. hut an assn
citation of intelligent men, experienced in
our vocation. Disband the brotherhood,
with its rules that protect the railroads S
well as its engineers, and who have the
railroads to deal with then2 See where
it places them. The managers of the c.,
B. & @. are not more earnest in desire
for settlement of this difficulty than we
are, and it can be settled in three days
time by arbitration.'
The seven engineers who compose the
grievance committee, took the late Satur-
day night train for Kansas City in Il
body. They held another conference
there yesterday afternoon.