The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-08-22

oinceIs 10 secure nearing for the dis Charged
men were unavailng. The correspondence
which has passed between the general master
workman and Webb has been published
ga wednesday morning, August Goth, John
Deviin, OF the general executive board, and n.y.
self awaited on Toucey, general superintendens
ano endeayored 70 have the matter arranged
ana investigated. Toucey was emphatic in his
r iusal- On the afternoon of that day Webb was
visited by the same gentlemen, and he
reiterated what Ioucey had said in the morn.
ing. lt was suggested TO him that disin.
terested parties should hear and determine.
IL was also suggested that during the investi.
CATION the strike should be declared
on and the Investigation be pro-
ceeded with. This was refused. Then the
following proposition was made by me:
webb, could not you sit down with me in the
presence OF the men who were discharged, and
allow me to question them in your presence, so
that might know the facts in the case and be
better able TO arrive at decision?" This Webb
emphatically refused. Deviin said: DO un-
derstand you 10 assume that the public and the
employees have no rights that you ara bound to
consider. and do you look upon the matter
simply as though the railroads were your own
property? Because if you take that view OF it
there is no need of our saying anything
further" WEBB hesitated and took refuge in
silence.
The public may have formed an erroneous i'm
preston of the position OF the Knights in the
controversy We do not pretend to dictate to
the company that il shall not discharge
employees, but In all fairness the discharged
man should be told why he is dismissed.
During the session of the last state
legislature the knights of Labor of New York
were sctive in the passage of weekly pay bill.
COMMITTEES OF Knights representing the en-
ployes OF the New York Central were faced in
the legislative committee at Albany by attorneys
OF the railroads and browbeaten, questioned and
terrorized. Some of the members of that com-
mittee who were at the time employed by the
New York Central were discharged without any
given cause. There exists not q shade of doubt
in the MINDS of that committee that these men
were discharged for endeavoring TO secure the
passage OF the above mentioned Jaw.
After thoroughly investigating the causes
which led to the strike. and after making every
Ell 1T in their power with the company to arbi-
trate or submit to investigation by impartial
men the question at ISSUE namely. whether the
men were discharged because they were
Knights OF Labor and for the purpose
OF destroying their organization, as
they believe and maintain, or for just
cause and proper reason, as the officials OF the
company allege, the general executive board
have by unanimous vote determined to stand by
the men, who. whether their strike was
opportune or not, had no alternative consistent
with their manhood. have no doubt 10 is the
determination OF the management to destroy
the organization of labor along the line of the
New York Central unless the organization sub
serviently bends the knee to the viii of the VAN
derbilts.
During the controversy Toucey and Webb
stated and repeated the statement that the men
were not discharged because they were Knights
and they expected the public to
believe them, simply because they
say so. Both these gentlemen deny certain
things in their conversation with me to which
both Devlin and myself prepared to make
shidavit Everything that could in honor be
done to terminate the strike on an honorable
basis for those men was done. aud the alterna-
tive of unconditional and absolute surrender
on the part of the men who protested
against the tyranny of the railroad
officials was presented to US. Under the cir.
cumstances such q surrender would be un-
manly. IL would be cowardly and unworthy
the sons OF men who on two hemispheres have
struggled and died for the rights of humanity.
We did not seek the quarrel. The general ex-
ecutive board of the Knights knew nothing of
it until it was thrust upon them. Now that We
have to face 1t, we ask the order
of the Knights of Labor to come
to our assistance with means to
win the strike. We have to fight a power
which owes Its lofty bearing to the wealth
which 1t has piled up from the labor of EN-.
ployes of the road. Untold millions are at its
command, and we want money to carry on
the struggle. We not only ask the knights of
Labor to come to our aid, but we ask IL of all
members of all organized labor. We not only
ask labor organizations, but we ask of the great
public, away beyond the organization of labor,
to come TO our side
We are fighting against a power far more dam
gerous than that which laid down its arms at
Yorktown 100 years ago. Their fight was for
one king. Today it is against hundred, one
of whom in an after-dinner speech, mot long
ago. said; There are fifty men in
their power to control the currenc,
of the United States. to control her commerce
and at days notice to stop every wheel in the
whole territory OF the United States" Ths
struggle is far more momentous than ii wa
during the American revolution. oui
forefathers fought for liberty; now
we are fighting to maintain it
Then the enemy was fully 1900 miles away,
now he is entrenched in his own domicile. He
has his fingers around our legislatures; he
stands at the doors of our congress to bar
out legislation in the interest of the masses;
he presumes to dictate TO the executive of the
nation; he attempts to st-angle and corrupt the
judiciary, and he does all these by no shadow
of divine right, bat by the power OF money,
wrung from the bended backs of the railway la
borers; wrung from the mortgages of the farm
ers; wrung from the business interests of Amer
lea; wrung from the very hearts of the best and
noblest of the nations poor.
power
cares for no right but its own, that we struggle
and whether we win or lose in the present fight
the battle will go on until that power Is
weakened forever or the public is
damned" The real animus OF the strike lies
in the fact that our order has been struggling
with questions which concern the control OF
trusts corporations and syndicates by the gov
ernment of the people The allied forces of ths
Knights of Labor and Farmers Alliance are
marching on to Washington City TO secure leg
isation favorable TO the whole people. They are
going there TO secure the repeal of certain
unjust laws which stand in the way of progress
and which antagonze justice. 1t is in the hope
OF turning our attention away from these mat
ters that this warfare is made upon the allied
forces. II Is 10 weaken us when we can do
them the most harm and the country the great
est amount of good that these anEoyances are
visited upon Us.
The orderly and law-abiding conduct of the
men on strike has won the admiration of the
public, and yet the best feeling of the com.
munity has been destroyed by the introduction
of an armed force under the COM
mand of Robert Pinkerton, man
who boldly holds commission from
the state or nation to recruit or arm
men for military duty Had the interests of the
state of New York required, there are many
thousands of old veteran soldiers within her
borders who faced death q quarter of q
century ago. 1t was not necessary at all
TO call upon them, and yet q mob of the
worst characters in the land has been quartered
upon the people OF New York to terrorize her
citizens, to provoke them to anger and wrath,
to shoot down those who asked for the right to
be heard in their own behalf.
The conduct Of the men since the strike be-
gan mas been most orderly and commendable,
and until IL closes no knight OF Labor will be
found in an unlaw full act Of any kind. We are
nledged 10 maintain law. We will obey the le-
gal commands OF the ate, but not of q corpora