The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1888-03-09
THE BURLINGTON STRIKE,

THE BURLINGTON STRIKE.
A Probability That 1t viii Extend to
| ton s Northern Road Ordered Out
| Both Sides Confident of Success-The
knights Side of the Affair.
CHICAGO March Eight hundred engi-
neers and fremen are now working for the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad.
The payroll showed total of 800 names
last Sunday night In less than week the
road has manned more than one-half of its
engines resumed passenger traffic regularly
and started few freight trains running. The
officers of the road are highly gratified
with this showing They claim that dur
ing the present week they VIII obtain all
the enginemen needed to operate their
trains and that they win keep these men,
the strikers to the contrary notwithstand-
ing The first loss of life attributable to
the strike occurred Saturday at Brook field,
Mo-; q striker was shot by a Burlington
guard at this point. There seems little chance
of compromise. The road claims that
it does not need the strikers. aud will make
no overtures to get them back, while the
men are equally stiff-necked Chief Arthur
says that as soon as the Brotherhood men
leave the Reading road general exodus of
the new Burlington engineers will follow,
leaving the field clear for the strikers If no
other measure will bring the railroad to his
terms, Chief Arthur may order a general
strike. This will be done only as a last re-
sort
The general managers of most of the
roads centering in this city are rapidly
coming to the conclusion that a general
strike can not be avoided, no matter how
careful they may be to give no ofense to
their men, and are making their prepara-
tions accordingly. They think the radical
element is getting too strong for Chief
Engineer Arthur and that he will not be
able to prevent them from taking
arbitrary and reckless steps. The con-
nections of the Burlington say they
can not and will not refuse TO take through
freight coming to them from that road or
deliver freight consigned to it at the bid
ding of the Brotherhood, because such
action would be contrary to the law.
They all say that if q strike on their lines
is inaugurated they will shut up shop
and discharge all hands. The engineers.
they say, will be responsible for the i'm
mense damage to al the traffic and bust
ness interests of the country such action on
and suffering it would entail upon millions
of poor laboring people who have to live
from hand to mouth. 1t would solve, they
think, the conflict between capital and
labor in favor of capital, and make labor
combinations or organizations impossible in
the future.
The Brotherhood have notified the Chi
cago, Burlington & Northern that unless it
oil hot i,,I he,
freight and passenger departments, with
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy road, by
z o'clock tonight, all enginemen on that
line would be ordered off
Mr.. Arthur took a hopeful view of the
situation, and said the Brotherhood was al
most certain to win. He thought the men
had stood together remarkably well. In no
place had their lines been broken, and he
thought they would remain firm.
phase of the strike that has arisen in
Iowa is likely to be taken up in Nebraska
and Illinois. For several days the Iowa
Railway Commissioners have been investi-
eating the competency of the new men.
In several instances the evidence showed
that the men were not competent. Some
of the new men admitted that they had
never run engines before-that they had
been fremen or had not worked at the
business for several years.
New YORK March ga secret meeting
of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi-
neers was held at Tammany He'll yesterday
to take action on the strike OF the engineers
on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy road
Delegates from fifteen divisions of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in
this city were present, representing all the
roads centering in this city.
Resolutions were adopted declaring that
the managers OF various railways through
out the country have combined in secretly
aiding the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
road in its present trouble, and denouncing
such action as cowardly and unfair. They
announce the belief that the engineerssof
the country would be Justified in resorting
to extreme measures to overcome this out
side interference, and to this end recon-
mend that if the trouble is not settled with
in a reasonable time upon fair and
reasonable basis, that all the Brotherhood
men upon the connecting lines of the Chi
cago, burlington & Quincy system resign
their positions upon given date, and that
y If this action, as means of last resort, is
not sufficient to gain the just and reasonable
demands of the engineers and fremen upon
the aforesaid railroad that we lis an entire or
Canada and Mexico, join with them in
universal demand for their acknowledged
rights-of being paid the established rates
for work actually performed. The resolu-
tions continue that this action should not
be taken before March 10. in order to inter
fere with business as little as possible.
THE K. OF L. SIDE OF IT.
PHILADELPHIA, March 5-The following
statement by Mr. Eastman was prepared by
the direction of Chairman Lee, Of the
Reading strikers, and was Endorsed this
evening by the Reading railroad employees
executive board:
1.-THE remonstrance of the engineers and fire.
men of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy rail-
road against the attitude assumed by the Read
ing railroaders in stepping into the places re-
Gently vacated by the former has given rise to
the impression that they are the in
jured and aggreved party. Have they
forgotten the time when the Knights
were striking against oppression in
the Southwest. how their chief was the means
of causn the strike to terminate in dsas-
trous and ignomnious failure? This is one OF
the many aggressive and unfriendly acts per-
petrated by the Brotherhood at the tnstgation
of their leader. In pursuance OF their selfish
policy they again stepped in to defeat the
knights and render the Reading railroad strike
unsuccessful. Mr.. Arthur was particularly Off
cious in proffering aid to the Reading officials
by Offering to supply the places Of the strikers
with the Brotherhood men. After passiyely
enduring defeat on these several occasions
through the instrumentahty of the Brotherhood
forbearance at length ceased To be virtue and
the Knights adopted the law Of retaliation, anc
I authoritatively statesthat they will not relin-
ouish the position they have taken until Mr.
Arthur redresses the wrong he perpetrated
against them by Withdrawing every Brother
hood the Reading system, including
the Bound Brook division.
GEORGE L. EASTMAN,
"National Organizer X. of l."
A Whole Family Dead.