New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-08-16
SOME LESSONS OF THE STRIKE


aborcrs against any large CORPORATION which based
on the grievance Of the discharge Of aborers for cause
| has ever yet succeeded. There are many gCod ana
sufficient why failure follows ana VIII i'lo"
every such attempt No labor organization ever yet
| existed however bcnefcent its purposes and nearly
| perfect its plans, which did not have as members
| some worthless The dismissal OF one or more
OF these for personal objections cannot justly be re-
scented by the organization as BODY any moro 'iah
society in general can object to the imprisonment Oh
one of its bad members guilty of wrongdoing sriAe
to be successful must have sympathy boh OF the iaoor
organizations and the general public and it can secure
neither II It's grievances are not geieIal auu ~ w
| mands are not Just. No sympathy was wasted on
simple reason that their demands were not just Inc
road as well as every other corporation or cinplo!cr
nnres On the part of a great railway company like
The Central daily entrusted with thousands OF i've.
the obligation 10 the public TO discharge
employees is absolutely imperative
Little has been heard of either Cornelius Vanderbilt
| or Mr. Depew in connection with the strike Of the
Central railway men; vet one is the largest Stock
holder and the other the highest Official OF the nne'
| We know that one is at Newport and the other III
Europe ENJOYING vacations The first had SAID piac-
tjcaly nothing about the strike; and Mr. Depew -
rcported 10 have said that had full confidence tat
his associates In the management would deal WIN
he strikers inst as he would If present M Wander
biIt cal be said to have no conspicuous oICls ai
thorlty his own lines but reIegates ta
bity falls upon Mr. Webb and judge BY his prompt
action that he recognizes that the spirit OF tie oiu
Commodore still directs the policy OF the cchpahS,
iIn even donbtless remembers an incident In which
| this policy illustrated.
serious disturbance among the employees had oc'
Cured on section Of the road whose superintendent
appealed personally to Commodore vanderbilt 10 hho"
what he wished done. The Commodore Iislehed " "o
superintendent's account Of the origin ard progress
Of tbe trouble and when he had finished he asked MS
subordinate: Well what do you propose to do about
nav . came to know what your wishes are was
| the renly "Oh! have none" said the Commodore
Or what Won think should do ~ added the supeTih-
endent a haven't thought about it, returned me
mpergbaDe C0mmo s0 it , A noW and the Com.
modOre left the man no room 10 doubt 'ao tg n in
fact gave the mater no further thought, Inc ma eiied
endent had 10 assume the responsibility ana sc ,n
the matter reporting to the So ssfIea it, S said the
| Commodore The felt encouraged 10 stAVc i'm INC Z.
eondito9s but ~ ne voS l well for YOU that you
did or it would have settled you with inc cop hn
| Ii hired you for details and you would nave o'0"
dismissed If you hadn't acted"
Possibly the grandson. Cornelius. and the central
Railways president. Depcw, who are pracusihg 'he
| othods NJ the old Commodore in leaving young VICE
presdcnt Webb TO act on his responsibility III inc
| rroscnt emergency are guided somewhat by announcer
hit Of ,Jbcy of the old man which found nust"uoh III
| his testimony before coroners Jury whioh vas HI
| vcsticatng a disaster the road In which TWO or
| three lives were lost. The Commodore was much IT.
ritated at being summoned to testify TO matter ne
| had no personal knowledge Of, and replied In curt
| farms IN the coroner The latter was as foolish a
coronors proverbay are and persisted In asking use
| ,ess ouestions "You know such a disaster had &C
| curred on your road - ayes" "And that lives mao
| been lost ~ eyes, GLOW did you heart Inc
| fool conductor telegraphed me about It, sara nc.
| uwherc is that telegram II was the next query "
| IL. .tt4N
M action on the matterl'' Certainly not cried the
| now angry Commodore "when the dispatch came
uas nlavinc whist at home and never allow business
IN interfere with the game" Cornelius Vanderbilt ana
Chauncey NJ Dpcw are now ENJOYING yacd nnon Mr.
Webb Is probably interfering with their leisure.
IL is probably better to take vacations uuc[ ~, Nh
cor IN agord n he idle by the action Of few bad
| members of the same labor organizations
One Lesson of this Central strike should not be over
| looked An Albany lodge Of the Knights oil Labor
which is engaged in the strike turned out as policemen
aud guarded and protected the companys property al
an exposed point. In stihes rs recent as I'VE years
ago such an act would not have been possio.1 Dy any
lodge of the Knights Of Labor, or even the beuer
cded and more SOLD organization Of the Brotherhood
| 81 Engineers Such acts show that each year EN-
plovers and employees are advancing rapidly to inc
point Of deciding all difficulties by arbitration amoig
scton have done much TO advance the practical app
| cation Of arbitration II committee "i is own .Ih
| nIoyes had laid the complaints before The Central
| ofIicers arbitration would have followed posslbis
| settlement been amcably arranged Inc commute
| which asked for arbitration represented men ho' CHI
| ployed by the company.
Men arc not striking nowadays as formerly AGAINST
underlined grievances or anticipated wrongs. on th'
contrary they think several times before going out
II is less than twenty-five years since there was tan
Of general strike against the wearing Of Distinguishing
uniforms BY corporation employees. NOW there !
hardly a man employed railway, steamship or othe
TRANSFORMATION lines who docs not recognize that IN
uniforms habtually add at once TO the ~
spectabllty Of the employees and the efficiency OF IN
| service