Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1892-07-15
The Homestead strike.

attcmpt to brig Ia lbt Of hirelings,
Pinkertou Detectives. and in with sev-
lersl men 90 both side. we're killed and
wounded, has given opportunity to dem
gogues oil over the country to denouuce
the Mckinley bill as the cause Il the
strike aai its fatal. consequences. or
course ell intelligent, inca know that the
Mckinley tariff bill had no more 10 do
directly or indirectly with the strike
than had the man in the moon, but that
viii not deter the unprincipled dems-
Egcgucs from trying to create the contra
" Impression in the hope Of securing
woes at the coming election in cppSsi-
ton to that proven friend Of American
workingmen aud America Interests.
Benjamin Harrison.
The causes that Nd +, the strike is best
expiaised in an interview given to the
press By Mr.. Friok. Virginia gentle
man, who is manager Of the Carnegie
Company. MIR. Prick says
There were three points upon which
We offered. The skilled workncn in
rhe .Ymalgsmatsd Association work IN
der what is known as q sliding scale
As the price Of steel advances, the earn
ings Of the. men advance; as the prices
fall, their EARNINGS decrease in proper
ton. While there is no limit to an sd-
vance Of earnings on the scale, thcre is
point at which the decline stops. 1t is
known as the minimum, and the figure
heretofore has beeo S25 per ton fol AKA
Bcssemer billcts. We believe that il
earnings based on the selling price Of
steel can advance without limit, the work.
mer should be willing to follow ID, sell
ing price down to reasonable minimum,
and so this figure wa. finally fixed by
the Carnegie Company at the rate of
$23. instead of S25.
THE reason for esAinz thi' upon our
part was that the Carnegie Company has
spent large sums of money in the miro
duction of new machinery 10 its Home
stead plant, BY means Of which the work
men were enabled to Increase the daily
output. thereby increasing the amount
of their own earnings We.had origi-
pally asked reduction Of $22. but sub
sequently agreed to comprise the rate al
S23. The Amalgamsted Association
| was unwilling to consider a reduction
below S24 on steel biliets. notwithstand-
ing the fact that the improved machine
! ry would enable their members. even al
1928, to earn more shanis paid in other
Analgamated mills. This was the first
p int at issue.
az 1er tie present Amaigamated
syetei-, the lac Of the expiration of the
sliding scale is June SOthi annually
= asked that this date be changed to
December 31st (same as at Edgal
Thomson D fer sherapssn tlptthsehsngi
" uld permit ns to takeeup & tim upoE
~ s'd-s'ws mug vsy dessg tht
year. beginning on Jappals a st,aso- sb ii
we would be enabled u mae contract,
'nr the year accordingly. This poiu,
the Amslgamated Associs,iOu refused tc
accede, aad demanded the Old dase,-
The third proposition was the reduction
!, y tonnage o. rates in those dep I,rtment il
' s1s mills where the imrsssyema nts l huv.
spoken Of have been made. and Which
enable the workiagmen to increase the
output and consequently their earnings
Where no such improvements had been
made, there was no request upon our
part for reduction in tonnage rates. -
In other verbs, we asked no reduci ion
in any department at which the output
had not been greatly increased, by rea-
son of our expensive improvements since
the scale of 1889 went into effect. We
are prepared to show that in nearly eve
~ department. under our proposed re-
duction in the tonnage rates, the skilled
workmen would make more money than
they did when the scale Of 1889 went
into effect.
"As a rule, the men who are making
the largest wages in the Homestead mill
were the ones who most bitterly de-
nounced the proposed revision of the
scale, for out of the $500 men employ
ed in every department, only 1875 were
directly affected BY this reduction.
Finding that il was impossible to ar
rive at any agreement with the Amalga-
mated officials, We decided to close our
works at Homestead"
1--WE have never given thought as
to what effect our affairs nigh. have on
either Of the political parties. We can
not afford to run our business and run
politics at the same time. 1t would
prove very Improbable if we were to
trim our sails to meet political issues. =
At the same time | may say that il is
not matter in which the protective tariff
is involved. and every intelligent man,
whether be be manufacturer or employee,
rs aware Of the fact. Il is, however, a
question as to whether or not tie propri-
etors or its workmen viii manage the
works.
1--WE did not propose to reduce the
earnings of our employees below those of