St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-30

same. y. Il. CfOnln TOOK tne cflalr and
Il number of the strikers made remarks,
the substance of which was that other
/ laborers were getting $3.50 day and
upwards, and they did not see why they
should not get the same. They
ALL ADVISED A STRIKE,
saying that s1.25 a day was not enough
for any man to live upon, and they
would not lose much if they lost their
jobs. They apparently had no griev-
ance, except that they wanted % cents a
day more pay. After some discussion a
committee, consisting of Messrs. Kelly,
Conroy, Deal, Davis, Farmer, Foley and
ask Supt Wise for an extra
quarter a day. The committee left,
and during their absence speeches
were made by j. f. Cronin, j. ID. Cough
lin and James Burns. These gentlemen
all spoke in favor of the demand for in
creased pay, and advised the men to
keep away from saloons, to avoid gath
erIng on the streets in groups. not to
Interfere with men working and to re-
turn to their homes quietly after the
meeting. They also requested every
| man to be present at the meeting ON
Payne avenue last night and to meet
again at the hall at 10 a. m. to-day. The
committee returned after a brief abb
sence with the report that Supt. Wise
declined to give them any raise in
wages, but said that they could come
and get their time and wages whenever
they wanted it. The question whether
to ask for S1,5 or 81 80 caused considl
cradle discussion. but it was at last
decided to be modest in their demands
and only ask for the smaller sum. A4
show of hands was asked for of those
who would prefer to lose their jobs to
working for Sl.25 a day. Every hand
went up and big cheer shook the build
ing. AT precisely 6 p. m. the meeting
adjourned. and the perfume of that
chamber after the gang departed was
indescribable. The air had been
breathed over and over again by over
1000 pairs OF lungs, and vast clouds Of
| tobacco smoke had been added to it, sol
that it was trif1e stutfy when the meet
ing adjourned. After the meeting
Messrs. Coughlin. Cronin, Burns. and
several other prominent men in labOE
circles were asked for an expression Of
opinion on this second edition of the
strike. Mr.. Cr0nin said:
We had nothing 10 do with it; it took us
entirely by surprise. as we had tried two
weeks ago to get these men to strike. without
/ success. Had they struck when we did, it
would have compelled the street car com
pany to back down | don't see how it viii
affect the first strike now. 1t will do 1t no
harm, but can't see how it will help us
much. None of US knew anything about it
till we were told they had struck. OF COURSE
we offered them the use of the hail. as that is
what it is here for, / don't see what the COM
pany can do, as II viii be harder for it to get
men to take the jobs at $l.23 day than it
would have been to have filed the drivers,
places at $50. This latter they failed to doj
and had to import men to run the cars.
Mr. COughlin said:
We are only acting in our individual
capacity in this strike. 1t is not Knights OF
Labor affair at all as these men are entirelX
unorganized. We are not authorized by any
labor organization TO help this strike, but
are simply doing it of our own free will. You
know it is reported that the street car com!
pany took the contract from the gas com:
pany at 81 so day, and is only paying
Sl.25. OF course, that is business, but the
men do not propose to work for Sl.25, and,f
so far as we can learn, no men gre working
on similar Work for less than Sl.50. / can't
see how il will affect the street car strike ond
way or the other. OF course it gives tha
company, more trouble, but 1 cannot see that
it will help us. ,
While this meeting was taking place
Supt. Cliff Wise was seated i'll his pri-
vate office, over the Peoples bank, sur
rounded by maps, plans and elevations
of Z. L. Bars Cable-car slots and pulS
leyS. He did not seem much worried
about affairs. and talked freely about
the situation.
The cause of the strike,'' said he. sis
agitators and some of the other strikers gof
around among the men and persuaded them
to strike. OF course it causes some temper
airy Inconvenience, but we shall go on with
the work tomorrow just the same. NnetY
per cent OF the men who have struck, did i'll
through fear. | went around among them
and asked if they were satisfied. They alg
replied that they had nothing to complain OF
either in work or wages. Not a single
man has ever applied to me for n raise of
wages, or even intimated that they would
like it. But when gang of ruiianS came
down the street and forced some to quit, the
others were afraid to refuse. In many cases
men said they would not quit, but told them
they had better do so for the afternoon, and
report for work in the morning as usual
don't believe that the majority of them ara
fools enough to throw up their jobs, know
ing as they well do that there are hundreds
of others able and even anxious to take tbeir
places at once You will tind that the ma
jority of them will be working in the mOr11
ing; if they are not some one else will, so
that all there is to it.
At this point Col. Barr entered:
We'll, colonel said the reporter, zap.
parently your life is not a happy one
COL. BARR Is HAPPY.
Perfectly happy replied Col. Barr, with
smile, "the more trouble am in the hap-
pier am. A little thing like this does not
bother me. Give them their time, Mr.. Wise,
as soon as ever they want it. There are
plenty of other latDrers to be had and we
don't propose to pay S1.50 when We can get
l..
lot of good-for-nothing agtators VINO
walk around and persuaded some and
scared others into quitting work. IL viii ba
all right Ill the morning
Later III the evening Col. Barr said:
Some of the men have come for THEN
checks, about twenty-eight in all, believe.
A number of these have since returned thems
expressing the intention of going to work I'M
the morning. We have hundreds of applca.
tons for work every day, and shall find no
difficulty al all i'll filling the places of those
who do not choose to go back. My impress
sion is that these will be few; as the men
must know that there are so many Others out
of work and looking for jobs that it will only
require few hours to fill their places We
shall go Oh with that work just the same,
either with the old men or with some others''
'Do you expect any trouble with the new
men on the cars when they are reduced To
81 80 day.
The only reduction l have heard of has
been in the papers, and the only accounts Of
our having ever paid more than that have
come through the papers from outside par
ties. i have seen 1t stated that we have been
paying them S3 a day, So a day, So day and
various amounts. l have never made any
statement as 10 what we have been paying,
and am not going to, but there will be no
strike on their part. As for this new strike it
does not amount to anything and does not
worry me the least bit Do you believe that
those other strikers had nothing to do with
this! They were at the bottom of the whole
business. They can deny it if they like but
they are responsible. and if they say they
don't see how it will benefit them, that IS
merely bluff 1t keeps the agitation up in
creases their numbers, and was intended as 81
blow at the car company. IL will not hurt us
at all, as we have all the men we can en-
ploy.''
Supt. Wise also stated that there were
thousands of men out of employment,
and from the indications he would have
no difficulty in filling the strikers