The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-09-17
Especial Correspondence.l

! NEW ONpbs 1AO SACoONGb
railroad strike which this country ever
saw was that inaugurated on the 18th of
July, 1877, at Camden Junction. on the
| Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The causes
which led to it are apparent enough
now, although at the time they were so
obscure as to make the sudden uprising,
which swept through the country like
fame, matter Of genuine surprise to
even the shrewdest observers.
The rate and freight wars between the
great railroads and the enormous water
ing of the stocks had produced two fac
tors which called for a decrease in the
operating expenses. The receipts were
less, while the capital on which inter-
est was to be paid was more. The varl-
GUS roads had reduced their expenses,
and the discomfort among the men was
very great. On the 18th of July the
Baltimore and Ohio announced the
usual reduction-10 per cent.-and the
men protested. On the 10th the men
struck at Camden Junction and Martins
burg, w. Va, and within five days the
traffic of the middle and western states
was paralyzed. The governors of West
Virginia and Maryland applied to Presi-
dent Hayes for United States troops,
stating that their state volunteers were
not sufficient to quel the riots which
had followed the strikes. Within week
from the initial refusal to allow trains
to move riots had taken place in Balti-
more, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Buffalo, Indianapolis, ST. Louis and Chi
cago, and the National Guards had been
ordered ont in New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Indiana,
Kentucky, ILLINOIS, Michigan and Mis-
souri,.
The commerce Of the country was
simply paralyzed. Not only were the
railroad men on strike, but labor unions
all over the land called their men out.
This was not all. There were formid
able riots and much loss of life and
property.
Pittsburg was the scene Of the worst
riots during the whole period of disturb
ance. National Guardsmen had been
sent from Philadelphia, and on their ar
rival found that the sympathy of all the
people was with the railroad men. At
mass meeting Of the trades unions held
July 90 resolutions indorsing the strik-
ers were passed. On the 21st the riots
began, and the troops were driven into
the round house, where they made
stand On the 22d fires were started and
burning coke trains were run against the
round house The regiments thereupon
fought their way out and left the city.
The fires spread until in buildings alone
over S4,000,000 worth of property had
been destroyed, while the value of that
burned in the freight trains has never
been known.
Nothing but the remonstrance of
Secretary of State Evarts prevented the
president declaring the state of Pennsyl-
vania in instruction and calling for vol
unteers to invade it. The attitude of the
railroad kings was offset by the action of
the executive committee Of the Interna-
tionals in St. Louis, who dictated to the
mayor of that city and the governor of
Missouri in a most lordly way, and for a
time actually had their commands
obeyed. From the Atlantic to the
Rocky mountains the railroads were
stopped and troops were on guard. The
strike did not extend to the south nor to
the eastern states, but during its contin-
nance the middle and western states
were almost at the mercy of the strik-
ers.
1t was practically killed by its own
friends. The railroad men, who were
fighting for q living rate of pay, and not
for the destruction of the property Of
others, soon became tired of the COM
munistic element, and the riots changed
public opinion, which had been at first
favorable to the strikers. Vigilance
committees were called into existence,
and they accomplished what neither the
National Guard nor the regular troops
had been able to. The citizens who be-
lieved in law and order speedily separat-
ed themselves from the destructionists,
and the latter found at once what small
proportion they really were. But the
strike while II lasted was a memorable
one, and the losses in property were sim
ply frightfuL The wage earners gained
by it, for the companies were taught Sc
verely that there was a point beyond
which they could not go. On the other
hand, the laboring men learned the dan
ger to them and their cause which ex-
listed in the anarchistic element in So
cietv.
There were two strikes of the shop
men on the Union Pacific railroad in
| 1854. On May l of that year notice was
posted in all construction and repair
shops, and at prominent places on the COM
pany s premises, giving notice OF a reduc-
ton in wages OF from 10 per cent. to 25
per cent, 10 take effect at once, and in
Guiding all employees excepting engineers
and fremen. With the exception of
the brotherhoods OF firemen and engi-
| neers there was an absence of organiza-
ton on the road at that time. But the
! shopmen quit work within three hours
after the posting Of the notice, and they
were joined during the day by the
! switChmen and trackmen.
Denver seemed 10 take the lead, and
the temporary organization which was
at once formed there was recognized
by the employees at other points as
/ the strikers spokesman. \ committee
was dispatched TO Omaha TO consult with
the managers of the road, and all freight
trains We're stopped. The hitherto I'M
olganized men flocked into the tenn
| porary unions, and within forty-eight
! hours the whole force Of shopmen and