The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-08-20
Federation of Labor Will Stand by
the A~malgamated Association
of Stockholders.
A Joint Statement of the Condition of
Affairs and All Appeal for
Help Issued.
The L.Ncked-Out WOrkmen Confident
Of Winning the Great Contest
with Carnegie.

PITTsBURG, Aug. 13.--rhe conference
between the Amalgamated association
and the executive council of the Ameri-
car Federation of Labor ended this
evening. President Gompers and others
of the federation have gone east. Before
their departure the conference issued
the following statement:
80 the American public: Seldom in
the history of our county have we wit
messed the lines of battle SO clearly
drawn upon the field of labor as is now
witnessed at Homestead. The Carnegie
Steel company, one of the most gigantic
monopolies of the age, has undertaken
to reduce the wages of its employees from
10 to 40 per cent. In their desperation
and avarice they hired and brought to
invade the homes of men who created
the millions Carnegie now possess.
Under cover of the Pinkertons the COM
pany endeavored to introduce pauper-
Used and degraded set of laborers
to supplant our fellow American
workmen. The contest with the Pinker-
tons and its result are well known. So
many erroneous and false statements
have been published as to the cause for
which the men are so nobly contending,
their conduct during the struggle, the
present situation and their prospects of
victory, that we feel called upon to issue
this statement to the American public:
1T is not true the men are receiving
high wages as generally supposed. Nor
do they own a large number of their
homes. We haye made careful investi-
cation and find out that just before the
lockout there were 3,42l men employed
in the mills. OF this number there were
l3 whose wages averaged about $50 per
day; II averaged between s. and
81 per day; "a of them averaged
from 81 to 50 per day, LIZ averaged
SLIGO to $3.50 per day, and 1925 received
IA cents per hour or less. And, further,
we find s to 10 per cent own their own
homes and about IL per cent more have
their homes under mortgage. The re-
mainder pay rent and a number of them
have been evicted by Carnegie. 1t is
not true that men are only defending
II @ wages of the higher-priced workmen.
1t is in defense of the II cents per hour
men, as much as any other, that Home
stead workmen are making their gallant
fight.
1.-THE cunning, calculating company
arranged that the call should terminate
when the cold blasts of winter should
penetrate with the hard and severe
weather, desired to place the men at
disadvantageous positions for negotia-
tons with them upon a new scale in
January incfnaI nf nc COMMONLY g, Tall,
Notwithstanding the military forces of
the state of Pennsylvania have been
under arms at Homestead for nearly five
weeks and the entire country has been
ransacked to find beings so low as to
hire themselves to the company, there
are less than 600 persons in the mills
and less than a dozen skilled workmen
who can perform the work required. The
situation is such that we CON
tidently assert that at no time during
the struggle were the prospects of victory
as bright as they are now.
"What men in this contest need is
your substantial support as well as your
sympathy. h poorer paid men in
Homestead and other Carnegie mills
where men are nov out to help their
brothers at Homestead are the ones who
need u immediate help and money is
required to maintain their manhood.
honor and interests.
every worker and liberty loving citi-
zens should come to the financial SUD-
port Of the brave men who, today occupy
the position of the advance guard of the
labor movement Of America. The strug-
gle at Homestead represents the issue
between freedom and slavery, progress
and reaction, and must be maintained
until the workmen have some fair
of recognition from Carnegie.
"We assure you that every dollar CON
tributed will be devoted to the men en-
gagged in the contest. An effective
of relief has been organized with
proper safeguards and every cent will be
economically expended and rigidly
accounted for. We also advise all work
ing men not to come to Homestead or
Pittsburg for work until the dispute
with the Carnegie Steel company is set
tie. Send all contributions to VIM.
Weihe, president of the Amalgamated
association Of iron and steel workers,
5l2, Smithfeld street, Pittsburg Pa,
and notify Thos. j. Crawford, box 1876,
Homestead, Pa. Fratcrnally yours
Samuel GOmpers, p. j. Mcclure, VIM.
A Carney, John b. Lennon, Chris Evans.
Executive Council of AmericaD VIM.
Weihe, Steven Madden, M. M. Gardner,
(Amalgamated Association); Hugh o.
Donnell, John Mcclure, Thomas j.
Crawford, David Lynch, for Advisory