Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-23
DROPPING THE BARS.
Railway Conductors May Withdraw
Their Anti-Strike Feature,
AT THE CONVENTION NEXT MONTH.
The New Clinton Mill and Furnace to be
Blown in To-Day.
COAL MINERS OFFICERS IN THE CITY

At the next annual convention of the
Order of Railway Conductors, next month
it is probable that the anti-strike clause o.
the constitution OF the association will bt
withdrawn, and the way opened for any
division to 20 on strike if the members SET
fit. Ways and means will also be devised
for standing committee to confer with al
railroad organizations, to deal with any
common grievance which may arise.
w. o. Beckley, chief conductor of Kav
Valley Division, No. 90, of ST. Louis, the
largest division of conductors in the United
States, was in the city yesterday visiting
friends. Mr.. Beckley is conductor on the
Wabash road, and one of the most conserva.
tive men in the organization. In speaking
of the order, he said it was growing In
membership monthly. It now has about
20, 900 members, in 365 divisions or local
branches in the United States and is repre-
sented on nearly every railroad in the
country. The order is an insurance and
beneficial organization and the lines are
narrowly drawn on labor matters. The
constitution forbids the members from en-
gaging in a strike, and having nothing in
common with labor organizations the order
refuses to go into the Federated Order OF
Railway Employees.
EXTENT OF THE ORGANIZATION.
The annual convention of the organiza-
tion will be held in Rochester, N. Y, be-
ginning Tuesday, May 13, and will be in
session about ten days. Each division is enti-
tied to one delegate, and there will be over $50
conductors at the meeting.
Mr. Beckley said: There is a feeling on the
part of hundreds of conductors all over the
country to have the clause in the constitution
forbidding strikes withdrawn. There is no real
necessity for this, as none of us want to engage
in a strike. II any attempt was made
to get the conductors out 1 think it would
result in a fat failure. The men who want
the constitution changed think the lines are
too closely drawn, and the change will probably
be made. If strike was agitated in any par
ticular locality. the local division in that sec
ton would handle it Just as the majority OF
strike there would be nothing to prevent them
If the change was made.
THE Federated Body of Railway Employees
common with the organizations they rep
resent there is no reason why
we should 20 in. We maintain the
same grounds that the engineers do. At the
convention, however. an effort will be made
toward the appointment of a committee to con-
fer with the other railway organizations when
a grievance turns up in any locality. The other
associations think we should federate with
them. and the proposed scheme would, in
measure, fill the bill, without placing our or
ganization in position where it could be con-
trolled in labor trouble. If the committee is
appointed they will ask for the appointment of
similar committees from the other organlza.
tlons. The joint committees will compose
kind of conference board, and should anything
of a national character turn up, they would be
able to handle it.
WILL LEAVE IT ALONE.
mo, the convention will not touch the recent
discharge Of Pennsylvania conductors in this
vicinity. There may have been good cause for
their discharge and there may have not.
Spoilers, as a general rule, will report q con-
ductor to show the officials that the former are
earning their salaries, when the reported men
are the best conductors on the road. / knew
of a case once that had better be illustrated
locally as follows:
Suppose passenger gets on Panhandle
train at Pittsburg with an old unused ticket for
Steubenville and wants to go to Dennison. He
gave the conductor the ticket and SIS bill.
Out of the latter the conductor took the mans
fare from Steubenville to Dennison. A spotter
on the train reported the conductor as collect
ing fare from Pittsburg to Dennison and only
turning in the portion from Steubenville to
Dennison. The spotter had been travelling
around on the road for weeks, and could not
find a case to report. He was in desperate
straits, knowing that he would be discharged
if it was found that he was not doing anything,
SO he reported the conductor. A case of this
kind could be handled with good effect by the
order as it affects the standing of every con-
ductor in the country"