The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-10-02
OF RAILROAD STRIKES.
Some Modern History that Is of
Current interest.
Correspondence Of the Press

Idiiioau sIlhe- WHICH THIS country ever
saw was that inaugurated on the 10th of
July, 1877, at Camden Junction, on the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad The causes
which led TO it are apparent enough
now, although at the time they were SO
obscure as to make the sudden uprising,
which swept through the country IKE
flame, matter Of genuine surprise TO
even the shrewdest observers.
The rate and freight wars between the
great railroads and the enormous water
ing of the stocks had produced two fac
tors which called for a decrease in the
operating expenses. The receipts were
less, while the capital. on which inter-
est was to be paid was more. The vari-
GUS roads had reduced their expenses.
and the discomfort among the men was
very great On the 18th of July the
Baltimore and Ohio announced the
usual reduction-10 per cent.-and the
men protested. On the 10th the men
struck at Camden Junction and Martins
burg, w. Va, and within five days the
traffic of the middle and western states
was paralyzed. The governors of West
Virginia and Maryland applied to Presi-
dent Hayes for United States troops,
stating that their state volunteers were
not sufficient to quell the riots which
had followed the strikes. Within week
from the initial refusal to allow trains
to move riots had taken place in Balti-
more, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Buffalo, Indianapolis, st. Louis and Chi
hn Noff L.
ordered out in New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Indiana,
Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and Mis-
souri,.
The commerce of the country was
simply paralyzed. Not only were the
railroad men on strike, but labor unions
all over the land called their men out
This was not all. There were formid-
able riots and much loss of life and
property.
Pittsburg was the scene of the worst
riots during the whole period of disturb
ance. National Guardsmen had been
sent from Philadelphia, and on their ar
rival found that the sympathy of all the
people was with the railroad men, At
mass meeting of the trades unions held
July 20 resolutions indorsing the strik-
ers were passed. On the 21st the riots
began, and the troops were driven into
the round house, where they made
stand. On the 22d fires were started and
burning coke trains were run against the
round house. The regiments thereupon
fought their way out and left the city.
The fires spread until in buildings alone
over $4,0OO,0 900 worth of property had
been destroyed, while the value of that
burned in the freight trains has never
been known.
Nothing but the remonstrance of
Secretary of State Evarts prevented the
president declaring the state of Pennsyl-
vania in instruction and calling for vol
unteers to invade it. The attitude of the
railroad kings was offset by the action of
the executive committee of the Interna-
tionals in st. Louis, who dictated to the
mayor of that city and the governor of
Missouri in a most lordly way, and for
time actually had their commands
obeyed. From the Atlantic to the
Rocky mountains the, railroads were
stopped and troops were on guard. The
strike did not extend to the south nor to
the eastern states, but during its contin-
uance the middle and western states
were almost at the mercy of the strik-
ers.
It was practically killed by its own
friends. The railroad men, who were
fighting for living rate of pay, and not
for the destruction of the property of
others, soon became tired Of the COM
munistic element, and the riots changed
public opinion, which had been at first
favorable to the strikers. Vigilance
committees were called into existence,
and they accomplished what neither the
National Guard nor the regular troops
had been able to. The citizens who be-
heved in law and order speedily separat-
ed themselves from the destructionists,
and the latter found at once what small
proportion they really were. But the
strike while it lasted was memorable
one, and the losses in property were SIM
ply frightful. The wage earners gained
by it, for the companies were taught Sc
verely that there was point beyond
which they could not go. On the other
hand, the laboring men learned the dan
ger to them and their cause which ex-
listed in the anarchistic element in So
ciety.
There were two strikes of the shop
men on the Union Pacific railroad in
1884. On May of that year notice was
posted in all construction and repair
shops, and at prominent places on the COM
pany's premises, giving notice of reduc-
ton in wages of from 10 per cent. to 25
per cent, to take effect at once, and in
Guiding all employees excepting engineers
and firemen. With the exception of
the brotherhoods of firemen and engi-
neers there was an absence of organiza-
ton on the road at that time. But the
shopmen quit work within three hours
after the posting of the notice, and they
were Joined during the day by the
switchmen and trackmen.
Denver seemed to take the lead, and
the temporary organization which was
at once formed there was recognized
by the employees at other points as
the strikers spokesman. A committee
was dispatched to Omaha toconsult with
the managers of the road, and all freight
trains were stopped. The hitherto I'M
organized men hocked into the tenn
porary unions, and within forty-eight
hours the whole force of shopmen and
trackmen was thoroughly united. The
shops remained shut down and freight
trains tied up for four days, at the end
of which time the company surrendered,
and the obnoxious notice OF reduction
was recalled.
On Aug. 10 following a reduction af-
fecting the shopmen at Ellis, Kan, was
ordered and about fifty men in Denver,
who had taken pronounced parts in the
trouble of May 1,were discharged without
explanation. In the meantime the en-
ployes had quietly perfected an organ
ization and were attached to the knights
of Labor. The headquarters was at
Denver. An order was sent out by the
district assembly striking all shops
and once more tying up the freight
trains. At the same time a committee
hurried to Omaha to discuss the subject
with the management. For two days
the situation was very threatening, but
on the third day the company once more
yielded and the men resumed work.
There was an extensive strike on the
wabash" in the summer of 1885, and
for three weeks Sedalia, Moberly, Han
nibal and Kansas City hung on the rag
ged edge of serious outbreaks. This
strike was occasioned by an order posted
in the shops of the company discriminate