The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-08-28
WEBB'S WORD.

| "eooo "ONOs
Mr. Powdsrly Questions the Truth Of the
New York Central Msnager's statement
That 1ntemporsuce and Inoompotsnoy
We're tho Reasons for the Discharge Of
| the knights Of Labor.
New YORK, Aug. 25.-Master Work.
man Powderly Saturday night gave out
another manifesto in the shape ct an
''open letter to II. Walter Webb, Esq"
This is the document:
Il see that you have at last ventured to break
the long silence that sealed your lips In rela-
ton to the causes which led to the discharge Of
tho fifty or sixty employees Of the
New York Central railway Your alleged
explanation is even less creditable
! to you than the silence it has broken and does
not In any way excuse the stand you have
taken Your statement is eminently worthy of
q man who can see no cause for investigation in
cases Of drunkenness, incapacity, breach Of
duty and INSTRUMENTATION. Let me quote
| your exact words: The company has
discharged men, irrespective Of their men,
bership in the order Of the knights of Labor,
for drunkenness, incapacity, breach OF duty, in.
| subordination and for lack Of Sufficient work to
| employ them, and it will continue to do so
| whenever proper occasion arises
| "The Knights of Labor have never ques-
| toned your right to take such action as is out
| lined in that statement Our order is as much
interested in the maintenance of discipline as
you can possibly be. You are inordinately
| careful in the choice Of words, for you to
say: The company has discharged
men irrespective Of their membership
etc. You do not say the company discharged
! any one Of the fifty or sixty whose cases are in
! dispute. You may have referred to them, or
you may have hal reference to the discharge Of
employees who were forced out Of the service Of
ON md h0
not belong to the knights of Labor.
All Of these men have the right to know
| whether they were discharged for cause. You
can not assert with any degree OF accuracy that
| any one OF these men was dismissed for the
cause you set forth. You must depend on the
statements made to you by your subordinates
| your superintendent and foremen."
John Briggs, one of these men, Mr..
Powderly says, is not worthy, and 1.-The
poor laborers have to pay the boss sew
eral dollars each month in order to win
favor from the man on whose statements
you lean when asserting that you have
the right to discharge man for any
one of a dozen causes without telling
him which one applies to him." Mr..
Powderly con tinues:
! II have yet to learn the reason why your SIM
| pie word based on hearsay should stand un.
| questioned, or that it should nave any more
| weight than that of an honest workingman.
| For from five to twenty years the discharged
| men were in the employ of the company YOU
! represent, BUTT was only when they Joined the
Knights Of Labor that you discovered that they
were drunkards, incompetent or inattentive to
| duty.
''You continue to assert that there is nothing
! to arbitrate. Can you be so blinded by your as
| sociations and surroundings as not to realize
that the travelling public ought to know which
OF these men is the drunkard, which the incom-
petent, ;n1 so on, that they maynot trust
their lives in the hands of such characters
| either in your service, should you see fit
! to again employ them, in the EMPLOY
| OF any other concern. In the face
| of the plain, statesmanlixe words Of your su.
| perior in office, Chauncey M. Depew, you deny
| the right Of arbitration. Let me remind YOU
| sir, that he does not or did not sustain you in
| the position you have assumed. The first own.
ers of the road were not averse to talking direct
| to the workmen. They relied on them. They
| had confidence in the men, and that feeling was
| reciprocated by the employees. Then the
| corporation had the men and were in need Of
money, now they have the money and don't
! care for the men.
| Men whose words have never had reason
| to doubt make the statement to me that they
| were called up before their foremen or superin.
tendents, asked if they were Knights of Labor,
ana When they frank y admitted that they were
| they were discharged.
ut is not arbitration alone that YOU have 70
| fused. First, you have refused to arbitrate;
| second to investigate; third to face those
| men in my presence and to satisfy your
| self whether your foreman told you the
truth; fourth, you have defied the laws
| OF the State in ignoring the Board OF
| Mediation and Arbitration; fifth, you have re-
fused to listen to the voice of the public, which
asks for simple justice and cares nothing Tor
the personalities of either parties to the con-
troversy; and sixth and last, you have shown
| that humanity has no claims upon you what.
ever.
You have refused to satisfy the men whom
you have discharged, and that act will always
stand to protest your claim to true nanli-
! ness.
| 81. v. PowDERLY, G. NJ. w., Il e. L."
! Mr.. Powderly was told that Mr.. Ar.
thur stated that he had heard nothing
of the strike in an official way. but had
only read of it in the papers, and that
he had not heard of any engineers taxi
ing the place of tiremen.
'Of course he would not hear of such
a thing" said Mr.. Powderly: but if the
Knights of Labor did any thing of the
kind l would very quickly hear of it.
Why. his men would just as soon go to
Mr.. Depew with their complaint as they
would to him. All I want Mr.. Arthur to
do is to declare which side he is on. Is
he for the workmen or for the corpora.
| ton. When we know this we will know
better how to act. 1t is an easy matter
| for Mr.. Arthur to settle tho doubling,
| if he feels inclined to do So"
TERRE HAUTE, Ind, Aug. 25-The
Supreme Council of the Federation of
Railway Employees, consisting of three
members each from the organizations of
! the firemen, switchmen, brakemen and
conductors, met here Saturday to
consider the question of ordering
q general strike of the employees
Of the Vanderbilt roads in sympathy
with the striking knights of Labor of
the New York Central line. Chief Sar-
gent, of the Brotherhood of Firemen,
and president of the Council, made a
lengthy statement of the status of the
existing strike. and a long dis
cussion followed, it being tho
drift of opinion that the action
of the New York Central officials point
ed to a determination to make war on
organized labor. 1t developed that
there were questions as to the consti-
tutionality of the proposed action of tho
council, and the whole natter was
finally referred to subcommittee of
three members to investigate and re-
port to another meeting to be held to-
day.
Snow In Pennsylvania.
MILTON, Pa, Aug. 25.-The tempera.
ture that was up in the eighties Friday
afternoon changed shortly after mid.
night and an inch of snow fell. The
early freight trains on both the PhilaD
! delphia & Erie and Philadelphia 4 Read.
| ing roads Saturday were covered with
about half an inch of the white article.
Two Cincinnati Murders.