The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1888-03-22
EXPLANATORY.
motive Engineers, the E1remen,
Brakemen and SsVitehuaen.

nE1ke144O4 ana SEglEehU4Sn.
: A committee composed of membe
of the Locomotive Engineers, the L.
! connective Firemen, the Brakemen an
the Switchmen's organizations thi
forenoon called at THE NEWS ofic
, and requested the publication of tn
: following statement, with which re
/ quest we cheerfully comply:
To the Public:
We, the undersigned, division 1SO
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
! and division So of the Brotherhood O
: Locomotive Firemen, in the a. T.
: 5. F. Railway company's employ a
J Emporia and branches, desire to in
i form the public of the causes anC
reasons Of and for quitting work OF
March 10, 1888. And at the same
time desire to refute the false anC
grossly absurd statements concerning
} them, their actions and objects, some
of the dispatches in the Associated
Press reports having been dictated by
the hand of absolute falsehood and
prejudice, and are doubtless intended
to conserve the interests of the c., B
Il q. Railroad company, and other rail.
road companies, and without hearing
to condemn the men and create pref
udice against them.
1t is true that the above named
bodies of men had, at the time of theiI
ances with the Santa Fe company as
regards wages" or the violation OF
any existing agreements" made by the
company with their men, and
when the trouble occurred between
the c., B. & Q. railway managers, and
even the SO" had refused to counsel
| with its men or to arbitrate with them.
| Even then the men on the Santa Fe
had no idea of making it their own
business, but only passed resolutions OF
| sympathy and wished them success.
But it did not stop there. It soon be-
| came apparent what the real issue was
in that struggle between the c., Is. &
| q. and its men. 1t was this: That
| company had undertaken to absolutely
| crush out of existence the brother
hoods on that road, and that most of
the roads centering in Chicago had I'M
| dertaken to help the %" to do it.
This showed itself in many ways. They
hired and advertised for and shipped
| the scab and scum and outcast ele-
| mentS of those oTganiZationS-mend dis
| charged from these bodies for crimes
| and OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES their roads free
of charge. They hauled their cars for
| them; they transferred their freight
| and shipped it for them; they pooled
|
their terminal and connecting stations
and abetted the company in the plans
| formulated for the campaign and I'M
derstood by them to be carried out.
| 1t must also be remembered that the
stock in the ''Q' and Santa Fe COM
panies is owned and controlled by al
| most identically the same men. Then
and not till then, did the men on the
Santa Fe system become alarmed,
the Santa Fe managers that they
could not and would not be party to
and instrumental in this attempt to
crush out the brotherhoods on the 30"
road and its branches. But
the Santa Fe company did
not heed the protest of the
men, but directly and indirectly, openly
and secretly, went on until the engin-
GERS informed the Santa Fe authori-
gineers and firemen on the Santa Fe
road would regard their action as a
menace to their organization at large,
and that if the CO.. aided by all the
companies around her, should succeed
in crushing out the brotherhoods on
that road, they would be defeating
| those organizations Singly. and it would
only be matter of time when the or
CARNATIONS would be stamped out in
repeated warnings, and to defend their
organizations the men have quit work.
Around these organizations hang the
/ only hope of the $1,000 skilled laborerS
who compose them. Aye, more, around
them and upon them hang the hope of
every laborer in this country to protect
him against the greed and avarice of
great wealth and great corporations,
and to defend these organizations the
II -4a - he I,a
men who compose these organizations
love and revere the laws of their coun-
try, and obey them great deal better
than the railway corporations do; and
they love and revere the principles of
their organization, as well as practice
them.
1t is refreshing to the men to witness
| the ''sincere devotion, - the affection
ate regard of the railroad companies
| for the interstate commerce law. OF
| the companies it can be truly said in
regard to their obedience to the law:
| 'When the sinner was sick, the sinner saint
would be;
But when the sinner was we'll, the devil a
saint was he"
These great organizations are not
only loved and revered by the members
| but the public also know their value,
for no one can be a member of them
except he be temperate, law-abiding,
industrious and skilled, and they teach
their membership of their vast
responsibilities to the public
| who intrust their lives, their property
| and pleasure to their hands. 1t is the
| duty of the public as well as corpora
| tiOns to foster, uphold and encourage
these great nurseries and training
| schools of sober, responsible and skilled
| laborers. These great organizations
| are of great value to the public, but
| they ask no millions of dollars in bonds
to carry them on. Yet their services
to the country are of incalculable value
to life and property. The press, nota-
| bly, the Globe-Democrat in its issue of
the 18th, grossly and falsely represents
the action of the engineers.
The engineers did give the Santa
| Fe company warning two weeks ago,
that they would quit work if the Santa
Fe company did not desist from its
| open and direct efforts as before
stated, to aid the G. B & @. in its at
tempt to destroy the organizations of
the brotherhoods, the company's 'tsur-
| prise" and other prostestations of in
nocence, to the contrary notwithstand-
| ing. The managers of the company
asked messengers of the engineers two
weeks ago if the men on the Santa Fe
were going to quit. Why ask such a
/ question? Friends, we expected to see
| Just such ''absurd statements ''tele-
graph dispatches and reports
thrown out to deceive and blind you
and prejudice you against these men
| and their associations.
| But through evil report and through
good report the members of these broth
erhoods will stand firmly and faith
fully by them until every menace to
their organizations is removed by any
and all railway corporations. For
three weeks 1000 men on the c., b. &
Q. system have stood up for their
| rights, their manhood, their homes
their organizations, and all they hold
dear, against injustice and wrong, and
not a man has wavered in his ale
glance to honor or his society, mol
lifted finger to obstruct the road OF
to touch penny's worth of property
Such a showing deserves the apprecia
ton and the admiration of the world
We believe the public are standing anC