St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-26
THE COOPERs' STRIKE.
They Will Not Work Until the
Trouble Is Adjusted.

inclination to striking, and another
meeting Will be held this morning to
settle the matter. All of the men have
agreed to abstain from work until some
definite conclusion has been reached.
Meetings will be held every morning
until the present difficulties are cleared
up.
AS soon as the meeting of the barrel
makers was called to order yesterday
| morning it became evident that the
men were unanimous on the subject OF
a raise. The only difference of opinion
was on how to secure the raise. One
obstacle in the way of strike is the
condition of the cooperative shops. The
co-operatives cannot strike without
striking against themselves and becom-
ing liable for breach of contract Most
of the opposition to strike arises from
this fact. The men in the Hennepin
County Barrel company'S shop see this
difficulty, and one of their men, Philip
Knapp, summed up the situation thus:
"Mr. President, you cooperative men
come up here and preach strike. What
does it mean? Do men strike against
themselves? You are your own bosses.
1t is for you to set the price OF barrels.
Weelect those bosses. Ii they do not
do as we direct we can discharge them
barrels to the millers. am in favor OF
demanding 35 cents a barrel of them
ard seeing that no barrels are sold for
less than that price. There is the place
for us to strike"
His remarks were we'll received. and
there were several more such speeches.
all favoring demand upon the mlllers
for raise on contract prices.
George III. Christian, Of the Hardwood
Manufacturing and Storage company,
was at the meeting, and he here inter-
posed with his little plan to unite all
the shops under one management. he
believed that the combination should
rent the shops and carry out the present
necessary to make new contracts, prices
could be fixed at fair living wages.
The Vital Point
of his scheme was that the men should
bind themselves to work at the agreed
schedule of prices for at least year.
There was considerable approval of
Mr.. Christians proposition to certain
extent, but there were objections, and
they were clearly outlined by NJ. j.
Gill. an old cooper and mem
Der of the committee. He ia
vored Christians plan in general, but
he was unalterably opposed to the
carrying out of the present contracts.
Christians proposition he thught
good one to consider later, but be be-
lieved that the men had it in their
power to better their condition right
now. and he wanted to see the men do
it. 1.-The only way" said Mr.. Gill, ito
make demand on the millers is to
make it in the form of strike. The
men are determined on staying out, and
l say let no shops throw anything in the
way"
This was the first square, outspoken
demand for a strike that had been
heard, and it encouraged the others
who favored walk-out. Some oppoSi-
ton to the strike developed among the
Hennepin and Acme men, for the rea-
son stated before. that they would be
striking against themselves and would
be liable to suit for breach of contract.
There seemed disposition, too, to drag
in old troubles and talk of former
broken condolences, but the cooler
heads poured oil on the troubled waters
and all became harmonious in the de-
sire for the general good of all the coop
erS.
Peter r. Champion, Of Kennedy's
shop, a leader among the men, was
called for and he responded emphatic
ally. Despite Christians assertion that
it is not feasible to get an increase in
wages until the present contracts shall
have expired, Kennedy thought other
wise.
eff we take a stand like men," said
he, every miller on the falls will grant
a raise tomorrow. The trouble is that
the bosses are too slow. We want to
hurry them up little"
He Reproduced the Men
for thinking of past differences, urged
them to stand together and secure liv-
ing wages. Fl. S. Kabler agreed with
Champion. He did not think Chris
tian's plan feasible while present con-
tracts remained in force. He wanted to
see the men stand for simple Justice.
Champion made motion, and it re-
| ceived amendments until it could not
help but be binding, that meetings be
| held every morning and no work be
done until settlement should be
| reached. Just as it was about to be put
| that he and his associates had agreed to
take no definite action as to strike
until after another meeting, but Philip
Knapp settled that question by saying:
"We amt said we won't 20 out. Well
go out as quick as anybody when we
| know everything's square, The motion
| to refrain from work until settlement
had been reached was then put,
and every man in the room stood
up. That settled it. A delegate from
the machine men appeared at that point
and said that they had decided to stand
by the coopers, which contributed to
the good feeling among the coopers.
| 1t seemed Just possible that q split
| WOULD ba .oucnd hv thp dicnu cinn of
how the barrels now on hand were to be
divided, and all the shops, it was de-
| cided, must run out of barrels stimuli
| taneOusly, and the stocks on hand now
will he equally divided. There are bar
rels enough in the city to last about
three days.
George II. Christian, despite his offer
| to the men, came in for
A WELL-DEVELOPED ROAST.
It was charged that he had hired about
| twenty-five men from out of the city
while treating with the coopers for
settlement. The papers are asked to
warn coopers away from Minneapolis,
and notices to that effect will be inserted
in their columns, and an attempt to Sc
| cure settlement with the millerS will
be made at once.
| The action of the bosses will depend
upon what the men have doue, and they
may meet to-day. The men will also
meet this morning. The bosses have
not demanded, but have asked raise to
35 cents barrel from the millers. and
it is said the millers are disposed to
grant it. At present, though, the bosses
say it would be impossible to give the
men Is cents barrel and Z and 10 cents
for hopping on.
Whatever the outcome of the present
| difficulty, it is probable that George II.
Christians consolidation, or pooling,
plan will eventually be adopted. The
men are favorably disposed toward the
scheme, and the only obstacle in the
way of it's consummation is the exist
ence of the contracts. 1t is a general
sentiment that some sort of organization
should be perfected whereby the work
| can be divided and the competition,
| which has prevented the making of good
wages heretofore, done away with.
HONEST JOHN MILLER.