St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-15
NOT LOCAL QUESTION.
Strikers Say President Lowry's
Action Is Blow at Organized

Labor.
The following is the position of the strik-
erS, as gathered from conversation with a
large number of them. This is not Il purely
local question, but one that affects the very
foundations of society the world over. The
tendency of the rich to get richer, and the
poor poorer, is becoming more marked as
year follows year. and civilization, so called,
takes greater strides. Riches are becoming
the Ultima Thule" of mems lives, and
there seems TO be no limit TO their ambition
for wealth. Here in America The race for
wealth is rapid one. According TO the con-
Stitutiom all men are born equal. Every man
has an equal right to live. But America is
rapidly sinking into the same position in
which Europe has been for centuries. In
stead, however. of an arlStocracy OF gentle
men. plutocracy of grasping parvenues has
arisen. The worst hands in which the reins
of power can be placed are those of men
without breeding or education-men whose
only claim 10 social superiority rests
upon their possession of money. mo
man is so hard upon those in his employ as
one who has risen from the humber ranks
in life" said one of the most intelligent
strikers yesterday He continued: Nv hen
IL man becomes wealthy and has hun
dredS of men in his employment, his
true makeup shows itself. If he be man.
his acts are noble towards his hands. but if
he is Il A. on general principles. his
men have hard time of it. Some men are
born TO rule, but the trouble here is that the
men who are The rulers (nCt in political
Sense) are those who were born to serve
These men. i'll their wild race for ealth,
forget the rights of others. Their one aim in
life is TO get rich. How the money is ac-
quired is minor point. If they can enrich
themselves by grinding down their employees
until the minimum living point of wages is
reached, they too frequently do so. So it is
that the breach between the classes and the
masses is gradually widening. How
WILL THIS DRIFTING APART END?
In the old countries il has ended in rev.
olution and bloodshed, and if something
does not occur to bring ABOUT change in the
condition of society, revolution and blood
shed viii result in America. But the labor
ing classes in the new world are more intel
ligent than those III the old, They have not
been born and bred TO be slaves ana have
all received fair education. The effect of
this is that they win brook no arrogant oppres-
sion, no domineering interference with their
lnalienable rights to live as freemen. This
feeling is the seed which. beng sOwn in re-
ceptIVe ground, Sprang up as an ear of corn
into the principle of organization. Organ
1ZatI0n Tor the protection OF mutual interests
was regarded by the wiser heads as a remedy
for The evil which apparently was growing
more emphatic year by year. The Knights
Of Labor were started and have succeeded in
many cases in apleliorating the condition of
its members.
The strikers claim, as do all the knights
that they have right to organize, of which
no individual and no corporation, however
powerful. can deprive them. The action of
the company was nothing more nor less than
blow specially directed at organized labor
They refused to employ any organized men,
discharged item i'll patches of three or four
without giving reasons. and filled the places
of those so discharged with men whom they
made sign an ironclad agreement. by which
they were pledged to withdraw from any
labor organization to which they belonged
and not to join any other. The strikers say
hOf
was intended to have precisely the same eff
feet it has had. They think the managers of
The company wanted the men to strike in or
der that they could fill their places with non
union men, whoswould be willing to
WORK AT ANY PRICE.
Many of them say it is probably true that
the company has not paid after deducting
Sl18,000 for interest on bonds. But these
bonds are almost all held by the directors of
The company, so that in reality the company
Is making money in large amounts.
The men all feel confident of success, and
look at the situation in most hopeful way.
They say strike is the only weapon they can
use against organized capital and recog-
llize- the fact that their success de
ponds III large measure on public SYM
pathy So long as they can keep public
opinion on their side they feel they are all
right. This is why they deprecate any resort
10 violence of any nature feeling that at the
first outbreak of any disorder, public opinion
will at once he aroused against them-when
they may just as well bid farewell TO all their
hopes OF bringing the strike to successful
termination. These facts have been i'm
pressed upon them by all their speakers, and
seem to be admitted by all the men.
The inacton of the gripmen has appar-
entity caused some disappointment. Coop
Grafton was confidently looked for. but. as
one of them said yesterday, Those cable car
men have no organization, the reduction in
their wages was not so great as III ours, and
none OF them felt like taking the Initiative ~
The strikers are perfectly willing to allow
the cable ear men to remain at work If they
desire 10 do so, but would very much like to
see them come out and join their ranks
They have little hope of success in this di
rection, as the grip men seem TO avoid any
meeting, and prefer to let matters drift