Omaha daily bee., 1888-03-08

such action must necessarily arouse the hos
tility of the whole general public. While this
company hopes and believes that its locomo-
tive engineers and firemen, who admit that it
has treated them with fairness, justice and
consideration, will not in great degree iu-
jure IT financially because 1t feels COM
PEELED TO obey the law, yet in view
of the fact that such O possibility has
been suggested, we feel it our duty to advise
our employees fully Of the whole measure of
responsibility which they assume under the
law IL they shall combine in refusal to do
that which the congress of the United States
DECLARES that every employe of railroad
company must do. We call theirfore attention
to section 10 of the inter- state commerce act,
which reads as follows:
,''That any common carrier subject to the
provisions OF this act, or, whenever such
common carrier is a corporation, any director
or officer thereof, or any receiver, trustee,
lessee, agent, or person acting for, or en-
ployed by such corporation, who, alone or
with any other corporation, company, person,
or party. shall willfully do or cause to be
done or shall willfully suffer or permit to be
done any act, matter or thing in this act pro-
hibited or declared to be unlawful, or who
shallaid or abet therein, or shall willfully
omit or fail to do any act, matter or thing so
directed or required by this act to be done,
not to be so done, or shall aid or abet any
such omission or failure, or shall be guilty of
any infraction of this act or shall aid or abet
therein, shall be deemed guilty of INSIDE
any district court Of the United States
within the Jurisdiction of which such offense
was committed, be subject to fine of not
to exceed five thousand dollars for each Of
fense.n
Under this section there can be no udoubt
that ever officer and employe Of railway
corporation from the highest to the lowest
who refuses to receive freight from con-
Meeting line, who aids or abets any other per.
son in SO refusing, or who suffers or permits
any such refusal, commits a crime against
the United States and is subject to arrest,
conviction and punishment therfor as above
set forth.
There can be no escape from the full
measure of responsibility and liability under
this section of the law of congress. While
this company might not be disposed, as
against any of its employees, to commence a
criminal prosecution, yet such prosecution
might be begun either by the officers Of the
United States or by any shipper, consignee,
officer or agent, of the line whose freight
they refused to receive and handle.
Our duty to our employees is not fully per-
formed unless we call their attention to
another statute of the United States, under
which prosecution could certainly be COM
menced and successfully carried through:
Section 544O of the revised statutes of the
United States is as follows:
eff two or more persons conspire either to
commit any offence against the United States
or to defraud the United States in any man
ner, or for any purpose, and one or more OF
SUCH pdTtleS UO any dCU W cHcCb VI
the conspiracy, all the parties to such con-
spiracy shall be liable to a penalty of not less
than 81 600 and not more than $4,000, and to
imprisonment not more than two years.
Under this section and the decisions of the
courts OF the United States any two or more
persons who agree, combine or confederate
together to violate any law Of the United
States, may be prosecuted, and upon con-
viction must be punished by both fine and i'm
prisonment. 1t has been suggested and we
informed a1ViSad Inv COUNSEL for the
brotherhood that an engineer or employe of
railway company could escape the penalty
imposed under section 10 of the inter state
commerce act, by Internationally leaving the
service of the company, and thereby ceasing
to be an employe against whom the language
of the section is directed. Even if that posi-
tion is correct the refusal on the part of EN-
ployes of the Union Pacific railway company to
receive freight from the Burlington could
only be successfully maintained by the whole
locomotive force of the road leaving it's en-
ploy. This is something entirely different
from and beyond the ordinary action of a
strike; for body of men in the employ of a
corporation to strike means that they tenn
porarily refrain from the performance OF
duty. To leave its service in the manner.
suggested is to sever all connection with the
/ corporation and to place themselves in the at
titude of mere outsiders, having no possible
claim of consideration from. the corporation
or its officers; and being no more entitled to
re-employment than any other competent
men whose services can be secured But,
suprosing that the penalty of section 10 may
| be escaped by the employees of corporation
| severing their connection with it, yet it is
| perfectly clear that in taking such concerted
| action for the purpose Of preventing COM
| pliance with the law of the United States,
| which requires compapy:to receive and ac-
cept freight OF all connecting lines alike, they
| are clearly guilty of a conspiracy under sec
| tion 5440 as above quoted, and subject to pros
| ecution, and punishment in the courts Of the
Tnit cd Stofnc
| We therefore submit that the locomotive
| engineers of this company have no grievance
| of any kind against it; that our relations
| with them are of the most friendly possible
great measure identical; that we
| have recognized the hitherto. con-
| servative and reputable character of the or
| ganzaton to which they generally belong;
and we believe, as we know its members in
| our employ to be air-minded aw-abiding
| citizens, that they cannot advisedly enter
upon any course of action which will compel
| this company either to violate the law of the
land or upon its refusal so to do to bring
| upon it great losses, if not rretrievable. dis
aster, and which will at the same time SUBJ
| ject every man joining or engaged in the ex-
| ecution of such a scheme to criminal prose-
cutien and punishment under the laws OF the
| United States.
| The position Of the Union Pacific in this
matter is clearly and unequivocally stated in
| the following dispatches from the highest Of
| fetal authority of the corporation:
Boston, Mass, March ST. l.. Kimball,
| Omaha Neb.: Have received your telecram
| stating Arthur's orders to our engineer in
regard to interchange traffic with the Bur
| lington. The Union Pacific is operated
under United States charter, and the pro-
| visions Of the Interstate commerce act
| are clear and specific We cannot lay
| ourselves open to the penalties Of the
| act and the possibility of forfeiture of our
| charter by refusing to interchange business
with all connecting lines in the usual way.
Point this out to our men, and show them
! that it would be no more illegal for them to
| call upon us to burn the Chicago, Burlington
| & Quincy freight house or murder its officials
| than to make the present demand. Our posi-
| tion is one of neutrality. If the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy, because it is engaged in
| a contest with the brotherhood, were to call
on US, and under penalty of the loss of their
| traffic, to dismiss every brotherhood en-
| gneer in our service, the proposition would
| be denounced by the brotherhood as high
handed outrage, condemned by public opin-
| ion, and at once rejected by us. Yet
| Arthur demands exactly the converse
| of this when he calls on us to
| violate the law by refusing to inter
change traffic with the Chicago, Burlington e.
| Quincy, and so to compel us to take sides with
| the brotherhood against connecting line.
| Our men capnot be so unreasonable as to take
| this position If the case is fairly put before
| them. They will recognize that the sauce for