The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-08-02
WAR ON THE RAILROADS.

Tho Convention at st. Joseph, Mo-, Up
holds the .n" Strikers aud Lays the
Foundation for Federation OF the En-.
ginecrs, Firemen, switchmen and Brake.
men.
ST. JosEPH, Mo-, July 8.-The Joint con-
ventiOn Of the railroad employees brother.
hoods met at 2 O'Clock Wednesday after
noon and concluded its deliberations, ad-
meeting had very little relevancy to set
tlemcnt Of the Burlington difficulties,
but on the contrary, was held for
the purpose of making war to the
knife on the railroad system. w. u.
Armer, chairman Of division No. l6 Broth
erhood OF Locomotive Engineers, offered
the following, which was unanimously
adopted:
'ReSolred, That the meeting heartily -
dorses the action taken by the Chicago, Bur
lington & Quincy men in refusing to declare
the strike on on the conditions offered
The conditions referred to are those
which are now being circulated among the
members Of the brotherhood by Hoge and
Murphy. and which are that no men shall
bo blacklisted; that the company shall
take back such men and as many as it may
elect; that for the next two years the
company shall employ the late strikers in
preference to other men, and that it shall
give letters Of recommendation to such
men a. it can not give employment. The
brotherhoods construe this proposition ~
meaning that the company can stoy
after taking back one or a dozen mea
and that the great mass Of the strikers
will not be benefited in the least by the
acceptance of such q proposition. 1t was
unanimously resolved by the meeting this
afternoon that the company be compelled
to take back all the men who went on the
strike or none. This means that the situa-
tion to-day is exactly as it was February o.
One Of the objects Of this meeting was
to arrange matters financially pertaining
to the strike. 1t has been claimed by many
that the brotherhood treasury was depleted
and that the Eastern men were in favor
of declaring the strike on in order
that the assessments for the support
Of the strikers might be discontinued II
was announced positively by the press
committee Of the brotherhood that the
Eastern men are heartily in favor Of the
continuance of the strike, and sufficient
finances were arranged to carry the strike
until such time when the four organiza-
tions would be federated.
The federation plan was indorsed by the
meeting and it is quite certain that in less
than four months the scheme will be in
force Each of the four brotherhoods will
hold conventions as follows to consider the
matter:
Brotherhood OF Engineers ut Richmond IL
October; Brotherhood OF Firemen ut Atlanta,
Ca, in September: the switchmen At St
Louis in September; Brotherhood OF Brake
men at Columbus, o., in October.
Tho fret yo n i,,, will aInp< fOdnro
tion clause in the con institution which will
be accepted by the other conventions at
their meeting, and when this work is &C.
complished q grand advisory board will be
es abiished, to be made up of delegates
from the four organizations 1t will be
the business. of the board TO handle all
difficulties that can not be adjusted by
the various grievance committees, and in
extreme cases the chiefs of the four or.
ganizations will be called in.
The Brotherhood has issued another cir
cular addressed to the American people.
In it an appeal is made to all laboring men
to shun the Burlington; il reminds the
public that the strike is not OF the 20"
and that the road is losing all the timo.
The desperate situation of the com.
pany," the circular goes on to say, lis
shown by the dynamite scheme ol
the Pinkertons which they are vainly en-.
deavoring to fasten on the brother
hood. The officials Of the Burlington have
said they would crush every labor organi.
cation in the country, and every dollar paid
to them will be used to buy courts and law.
makers and other manufacturers necessary
to crush the laboring men and to protect
English monopolies. If the working men
do not protect themselves and throw Of
the chains forged by these English bull.
heads our condition will be worse than that
Of the pauper labor of the Old World"