The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-02-07
It Is Said There wiz Be One I'm
Chicago Within the Next Few
Days
Which viii Eclipse Anything Of the
Kind Yet Attempted -Switchmen
Engineering It.
Those on Twenty Roads Ready to Go
Out Officials OF Various Unions
Net to he Consulted.

like nightm Tres over many of the rail
road lines entering Chicago. On author
ity from several reliable sources itseems
more. than probable that within ten
days an attempt will be made to tie up
every line in the city. and paralyze the
traffic Of many thousands OF miles OF
track. ..
$50 apprehensive have the officials OF
one of the Western trunk lines become
that it is reliably reported that the
trouble starting with the unorganized
switchmen the disaffection has spread
until, it is claimed, the various branches
of unorganized employees will unite in
one OF the most determined strikes ever
known in railroad annals.
Demand Big Advance.
''Tne switchmen of Chicago have de-
cided to demand an advance of cents
per hour in their present pay, and to
strike if they do not get it. This inn
portant action was taken Sunday at q
meeting o. committees representing
the twenty-seven railroad yards in this
city. ..
"The demands will be made on the
several roads centering here as soon as
petitions can be circulated among the
men of the respective yards and ma
jority of signers secured.
.tThe peculiar feature of the move
ment is that the regular organizations
of the switchmen are entirely ignored
in the new move, and that it is sort OF
general movement on the part of the
men, irrespective of the heads of the
old organizations.
Not New Thing.
Zone of the men represented in the
move said: This is not new thing
by any means, but we have been very
careful that our aims and objects have
| not become generally known. Tt has
been seriously considered ever since the
failure of the Buffalo strike. After that
affair the men got to talking among
| themselves that their organizations
were failures owing to the way they
were conducted Strike after strike
had to be a failure through misunder-
standings AMI mistakes of the head men
| of our organizations, and it became
general talk among the men that the
only way in which men could ever i'm
prove their condition would be
BY a Popular Uprising.
We conci. led to make an effort on
our own account without the guidance
or assistance of the unions at all. I
don't mean to say that individual mem
bers of the unions will not support us.
On the contrary. they will help us, but
| they will not 60 out of it when ordered
to do SO by the officials of the unions.
In other wo-ds, if it becomes necessary
| for us to strike, it viii not be done by
| order of the union officials, nor will
their mandate be effective in declaring
such strike off. The rank and file of
the men are heartily sick of the way
strikes have been managed and propose
to take hand in the problem in more
democratic way in the future. We
have had
A Little Too Much Union
in one direction and not enough in the
| other. There is no lack of officials
drawing salaries; while great major
| ity of the men engaged in the various
lines are kept out of the union because
of the arbitrary rulings and fines i'm
posed by these wel-paid officials. The
men to man agree that wages of rail.
road men generally are too low, and
they also express a willingness to &C
into popular movement to secure the
same and never give up until they Sc
cure it. The movement started on tne
| Chicago, Milwaukee and st. Paul rail
road and row includes the men in
every yard in the city.
Keep: the Movement Mum.
| We have kept the movement as nearly
secret as possible for several reasons
| We did not care to have either the rail
road or the union officials know what
our idea was. We have no big leaders
to blow their horn for political and
other effect. Even the chairmen Of ou1
meetings are changed at every meeting
Consequently no Mr. President, nor Mr.
Secretary has any inducement to gethi.
name in print as the author of some
very startling news.
/ ..The gresfestsefforts have been made
to keep the whole movement pro
found secret, and in this the men hav,
to great extent been successful Onl,
few vague Tints leaked out. and thes,
gave rise to all sorts of rumors, bu
until Sundays meeting nothing reall,
definite was known regarding the obiec
of the movement
Refusing Perishable Freight.
| 'sTelegrams from poins along the lin,
Of the Pennsylvania railroad indicat,
that that company EXPECTS trouble at al
early date over the question of wages
as they have refused perishabl'