St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-06-19
THE STREET CAR STRIKE.

Yesterday was more nearly day of
rest for the good people Of ST. Paul than
any Sunday which has passed over their
heads for years. The rest was an en-
forced one. Save Oh one or two lines.
and then only at long intervals. there
were no ears running after IL O'Clock.
There was a strike. The morning pa
pers had told of trouble brewing, but no
one thought the storm would break so
soon. 1t ended by evening, and today
the cars will run as usual.
The cause was the issuing by the COM
pany in Minneapolis of an order which
made the conductors and motormen re-
sponsible for all damages TO persons
and property arising from their neg
ligence, carelessness or misconduct. A
contract of employment was also pre-
scented, embodying this feature and
some stringent regulations relative to
terms of employment and pay. The
Minneapolis men refused to sign, and
the st. Paul men went out on a sympa-
thetic strike. They had no grievance
of their own, but were apprehensive
that the order and contract would be
enforced here if it were successful
there.
Neither the order nor contract con-
tains anything that is not now part or
the common law Of the land. Any en-
ploye is liable to his employer for dam
ages to the property in his care caused
by his negligence or carelessness or
misconduct, and employers have the
right to propose and the employees to re-
ject terms and conditions of service and
payment. A feature of which the men
complain is the requirement of a
deposit, stated to be of 800, on entering
the employment, as guarantee against
loss from damage caused by the fault OF
the employe. and which is returned
when the man quits or is discharged,
but on which he receives no interest,
and the use of which the company has.
But the singular feature of this and
kindred strikes is the GOODNESS with
which both parties to it ignore the pub
lie which creates the corporation and
furnishes the employment for the men,
and without whom neither could get
along. The company imposes its terms
OH the men without consideration of its
effect on the public, and the men go on
strike and stop the transportation the
public have contracted for without the
slightest regard for the rights of that
public. The public is again the Forgot
ten Man. Should this strike have COLI
tinued during the weekdays, the abso
lutte money loss to the public would
have been greater than that OF both the
contestants. One way or another, it
would have affected every one i'll the
city. And yet neither party seems to
consider that this public has any rights
which either is bound to respect.
The company is not the irresponsible
master; the men are not merely the en-
ployes of the company. There is an i'm
piled contract of the company with the
public that it will give them service
interrupted only by some act of nature
beyond their control. There is an implied
contract on the part of the men with the
public that they will enable the COM
bany to render that service. Neither
has any right to take any step that will
impair this implied contract. This is
true of all transportation companies, and
we will have the service the public has
right to expect when. in some way,
this principle is embodied in the laws
regulating both the companies and the
men.