St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-17

WHY OIuoIcu out. nOf nave tney ever 10
this day presented any statement. A
high official in the order called upon me
by an appointment made by his private
secretary. In discussing the alleged
grievance, which he came to correct,
soon discovered that he knew nothing
either of the character of the work or
the wages paid, or the hours Of service
OF the people whom he represented.
He then confessed that he never
had been in the railway service,
or worked an hour upon a
railroad in his life Such representa-
tives of organized labor bring it into
disrepute both with employers and with
the public. A committee called upon
me last fall with series of complaints
and demands, all of which were quickly
and satisfactorily adjusted. They then
made demand for the locomotive en-
gineers. l said to them: "Gentlemen,
that is body able to speak for itself"
They then said that their object was to
break up the organization of locomotive
engineers, and to gather Into the one Or
ganiZatiOn every department of the rail
way service, and that if the manage
merit of the Central road would recog--
liZe the claims of engineers only
through them, this result would be
brought about, and upon much lower
basis than the brotherhood could admit
under their rules. and if we did hot do
so they would strike and tie up the
rnad. 1 said TO them:
Il regard the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers as the best labor organization in
the United States as safeguard both TO the
public and TO the corporation, against I'M
reasonable demands or intemperate violence,
and you may do your worst but in q matter
which affects the brotherhood l will recog-
nize only them.'
That night the officers of the brother
hood were informed, and the cOnces-
sion made to them, and that threat of
strike was never carried out. The
duties of railroad to the public are
now so clearly defined and so well I'M
derstood that all of us, in whatever
grade of service, are in certain sense
the servants of the public. To close a
line like the New York Central. and in
fiict the attendant hardships upOn
hundreds of thousands of people, and
the enormous losses upon business men
and V age earnerS alike. is SO great
calamity and SO near a crime that those
who are responsible and in the wrong
are bound to suffer. Public opinion is
the mighty arbiter on such ali occasion.
If against the corporation it cannot re-
Sist but must yield; if it be against the
employees who are causing the trouble
the road will surely win. Years of sue
ceSSfIl trial of fair, frank and friendly
discussion with the employees of the
Central upon questions or differences,
which arose from time to time, had led
me to believe that a strike was impOs-
Slble upon the line of that road. In
that trust went abroad on my annual
holiday during the summer to have my
hopes roughly shattered while musing
at Oberammergau one Sunday evening
on the happy lesson of peace and good
will among men taught by the Passion
Play, by cable announcing that the
words ''Webster'S Dictionary" flashed
over the wires had caused thousands
To Desert Their Posts,
and the greatest artery of commerce
and travel in the United States to be
stopped. But you were true to the re-
iatiOns which for many years had been
established and sustained, and reinvig-
GRATED M fading faith IN the efficacy OF
any effort to maintain satisfactory and
permanent understanding between cap
ital and labor. The citizens of New
York and of the whole country owe to
the Brotherhood of Locomotive En-
gineerS debt of gratitude for the cOur-
age. fidelity and intelligence with which
they stood 10y their posts and performed
their duties during the recent troubles
on the New York Central. The period
ought to come when the employees in
any industry shall not he arrayed in
hostile camps over the whole country
against their employers in the same
business, when the combinations will
not be of the workers on the one hand
and the officers or firms OH the
other as against each other, but
with good sense, friendly feeling
and kindly tempered dispositions, they
shall meet upon common grounds for
the common good and an overwhelming
sense of common interest. Then men
of every grade of employment, from the
president down, in corporations like the
New York Central or the Pennsylvania
railroad will be united in the loyal en-
deavOr to make the railroad which they
serve the best equipped, the most at
tractive and the most formidable in the
field of competition, to put it in the
position Where its service will be the
the patronage of the public. Then the
communities which are dependent on
these great lines of transportation will
feel the benefcent influences, increasing
| in populations and general prosperity,
| which come so marvelOusly where the
| railroads are wisely administered, and
stockholders and employees alike will
! share in the prevailing good times.
Cheered by the Chief.
Grand Chief Engineer p. NJ. Arthur
| was next introduced, and was enthusi-
| aStically received by the audience.
| Chief Arthur congratulated the BROTH
| erhood on the condition of its aHairs,and
| said: ut is by honorable action that we
| have achieved success as labor organi-
zation, not by might, not by loud and
boastful assertions of what, owing to
our numbers. we might compel corpora
| tons to do. No; that has never been
| our policy. We ask but fair. Just dues,
nothing more. The laborer is worthy
of his hire. is entitled to hours of rest, is
| deserving of consideration, has the same
needs. feels the same longings and de-
Sires. is altogether human and as much
man as he who sits in bis office and
| directs the work of others. If there be
| those who would array labor against
capital, / am not one of them nor with
| them. If there be those who regard the
interests of labor and capital as naturally
! or properly antagonlstic | do not agree
| with them. The interests OF labor and
capital are identical, or, to he more ac-
curate, reciprocal. Any argument re-
| speeding labor topics which does not
| distinctly recognize and cOncede the
| truth vi tilS piCpOoitloH HuSl HCtuS NC
| fallacious. and, as matter of fact, it is
recognized and conceded by all the emf
nent authorities on the subject under
discussion from Adam Smith down."
The Insurance feature OF the brother
hood was then touched upon at length
by the speaker, who said that during
the past fiscal year the brotherhood has
paid to the widows and orphans and
| disabled members 1922. 500, making
| grand total of So, 122. 66961.
Following Chief Arthur, addresses
were made by Lieut.. Gov. Davis and a
number of delegates. the exercises clos
| ing with few remarks and prayer by
Bishop Whitehead.
He Missed the Familiar Tunes.