The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-03
Facts Relating 20 Strikes.

lished few days ago condemning strikes
Las been quite severely criticised by some
of the Knights of Labor, but those who
take the trouble TO inquire into the results
of strikes will hardly deny that it contains
good advice. Mr.. Powderly takes the posi-
! ton that, as a rule workingmen are in
jured more than they are benefited by
strikes, and the facts which are collected by
the government and Brddstreets support
him in that position.
From Jan. /, 1887, up to the present time
there have been nearly 1000 strikes in this
country. There were SS4 in 1897, and there
have already been more an 100 this year.
Some of these strikes involved a large num-
Der of workingmen and vast interests, and
in not few of them the losses suffered by
! the strikers were enormous The whole
number of employees engaged in them was
about 39l 900. OF this number perhaps
| 10000 are still out.
According to BrddstreetS there was an
increase of $50 per cent in strikes for 1887
as compared with those for 1885. The sta
| tistics furnished by the government, how
ever, do not show so great an increase.
Some of the strikes of 1887 viii be long re-
membered by those who were interested in
them, because of the damages done to en-
| ployers as well as the losses of and suffering
inflicted upon employees. That of the
| Pennsylvania coke workers, in which
1900 men took part, was one of
the most notable of them. 1t lasted
ten weeks, and the estimated loss was
81 900 900 The strike of the coal handlers of
New Jersey involved 10000 men. 1t was
Iegun in January, and lasted until the mid
die of February. The losses of the strikers
amounted to fully 81, $4,000 In Septem-
Der there was great strike of the miners in
the coal region of Pennsylvania, and it was
followed in December by a strike of the
road. The strike of the coal
miners involved about $1,000 men
and their loss in wages was estimated at
something over $1,000, 900. In the Read
ing railroad strike it was estimated that
10000 men were involved, and according to
the best information that Br'ddstreetS
could obtain the strikers lost s., 600, 900, the
Reading Railroad Company 81 100000, and
consumers of coal, On account of the in
crease in the price of that article, 1000, 900.
The above are only few of the most i'm
portant of the strikes of last year. OF
course the great strike of the carpenters in
Chicago in April, when 5000 men struck for
higher wages aud fewer hours of work, and
that of the 5000 hod carriers in the same
city, whose demands were similar to the car
penters, are remembered. All of those men
toned failed, and they entailed immense
loss and suffering on all who were con-
cerned in them. There were a good many
strikes during the year which were success
full, but, as a general thing, they
were not such as attracted the attention of
the whole country. According to Brad
streets figures about one-third of those who
went out on strikes succeeded in having
their demands allowed or made compromi es
which were more or less favorable to them.
The showing for 1887 was more favorable to
the strikes than that in 1885, when only 20
per cent. of the strikers got what they de-
rnanded. When that which the strikers
| gained in 1887 is compared with that which
they lost it appears that they were largely
the losers.
1t is impossible to say what the record of
CnlS year Will snow. III looks as IL III were
going 10 be a notable one for strikes Those
100 that have already occurred leave no
doubt that labor is in a very restless condi-
ton. The strike that was started on the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy read is
gradually spreading, and before it is set
tied it may involve nearly all the railroads
of the West.
Another factor is making its appearance
in the labor problem. 1t is the combna-
tons which are being made among employers
to resist the demands of employees. What
its effect will he cannot now be predicted
with any degree of certainty, but the i'm
preston is that it will tend to discourage
strikes.
Labor to some extent is beginning to APP
preciate the ia, that strike is not salts
factory remedy for grievance, because it
hu. Is those who use it oftener than those
against whom it is used. There must be
some other way adopted for the settlement
of grievances Mr. Powderly has declared
agarnst strikes, and it is certain that he is
as much interested in the welfare of labor
as any one can possibly be. Arbitration
has not yet been given a fair trial. 1t is
possible that ii there were laws making
arbitration compulsory strikes might soon
become things of the past.