Wichita eagle., 1888-10-18
FNCINeFRSlN CONVENTION.

RICHMOND Va. Oct. 1.-THE twenty
fifth annual international convention of
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was
called to order this morning at 9 o'clock
at Belvidere hall by p N. Arthur, grand
chief engineer. Various committees were
appointed for the purpose of effecting
preliminary organization, after which
recess was taken until a;3D O'Clock.
At the afternoon session of the Brother
hood of Locomotive Engineers Chief Ar
thur delivered his annual address. He
announced a total membership of twenty
five thousand. Regarding the brother
hoods recent strike Mr.. Arthur said:
Upon the Threshold of new year as an
organization we have witnessed the Sc
verest confict-in the history Of the BROTH
erhood, namely: the strike on the Chicago
Burlington & Quincy system. Never even
in our earliest DAYS, when the powers then
IN existence Strove to crush US, have we
met with such stubborn resistance against
simple right and justice. Every known
eXpedent was tried to bring about set
Element between the company ard the
men. only to meet with the utmost
indifference and we were forced to yield
to the inevitable and sanction strike.
Had either the president or the general
manager shown the slightest disposition
to treat the men fairly, as the managers of
orher roads have done, there would have
cause why they ought not TO pay their en-
gineers and firemen as much as their com
petitoTs They both admitted that they
had as good a class of men as there was on
any road in the country, yet rather than
grant the requests of their old,
tried and trusted men, some OF whom
had grown gray in the service,
they allowed them to quit and employed
others, regardless If their ability and
qualifications, as men or locomotive en-
gineerS, paying them a higher rate of
wages than we were asking, besides board
ing and guarding them with Pinkerton
detectives, virtually squandering over S.,
100000 in their mad attempts to force the
old men into submission. We know as
rule there is nothing to be gained by re
sorting to strikes. They are the bane of
every organization e that engages in
them. They create diStruSt and
suspicion, engender i'll feeling
and entail misery and suffering
upon innocent women and children. 1t is
and has ever been the policy of both
brotnerhoods TO avoid them as much as
possible. Mr.. Perkins and Mr.. Stone are
the first railway officials we have been I'M
able to settle with during the past eleven
years. We fail to understand what they
expected to gain by the course they pur-
sued. A large percentage of the men they
employed We're incompetent-such men as
itltS NOuAt hoI eiiipiON EilOI ~ the StIIht
Ii we had made unreasonable demands
or attempted to dictate to them how they
should operate their road, they would have
been perfectly justified in resisting But
when we expressed Willingness to sub
nit our claims to any three general man
ayers in Chicago and abide by their decis-
ion. and they were unwilling to do like
wise, it showed that they knew they were
in the wrong. Be it said TO the credit of
our men that they acted in unison and eX-
hibted throughout patience, prudence and
forbearance and were at all times ready to
make some sacrifice rather than to prolong
q struggle that could scarcely end fairly
where tyranny actuated by selfshness was
the euergy.