Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-01-09
THE CARMAUx AFFAIR.
Story of One of the Most Important of Mod
ern Strikes, and How 1t Was Settled.

| first place the origin of the difficulty
was an unusual one, and illustrates in
remarkable way the advances that work
ingmen have made even in the Old
World within the recent years. Strikes
| in the past have been almost without
exception on the question of wages OF on
matters Immediately or remotely con-
pected with wages. In the Carmaux
strike, however, the question at issue
was the civic rights of a workman.
At the last communal election in Car
maux M. Calvignac, a miner, was can
didate for the office of mayor and was
elected. The duties of the mayoralty
made him rather irregular in his attend
lnce to his ordinary work. 1t is stated
that the authorities of the mines were
bitterly opposed to his election, and
when, in spite of their opposition, he
was returned they were disposed to do
him an ill turn if they could.
They seized upon his absence from
duty as a suitable pretext, and he was
| discharged. His comrades shrewdly
guessed the connection between the
election and his dismissal They boldly
proclaimed that M. Calvignac was being
punished because he, workman, had
dared to aspire TO a position above his
calling. They gave their employers the
choice of reinstating M. Calvignac or
submitting to strike. The authorities
of the mines refused to re-engage NJ
Calvignac, and the great strike immedi-
ately began.
The purely sentimental nature of the
difference between the men and their
employers appears to have been quite as
formidable matter as a dispute about
wages. Nor was this the only remarka-
| BILE feature of this unusual labor strug-
gle. Never before was the influence of
the workingman in public affairs 80
plentifully demonstrated. In the first
place the councils of Paris and other
cities made municipal grants in aid of
the strikers, and then, when the trouble
was at its height, it invaded the cham
ber of deputies and proved hard riddle
for the government to unravel.
Scores of the deputies, in whose con-
stituencies the artisan vote is consid-
erable factor, were eager to condemn the
company for dismissing M. Calvignac,
and the government for not compelling
it to submit the question at issue to
arbitration. Many of the deputies jour
neyed down to Carmaux to see the sit
uation with their own eyes. The pres
ence of the lawgivers of the nation en-
boldened the men and rendered the
police timid, so that proceedings were
allowed which were never known in
France before.
The men held stormy meetings, while
the "walking delegate" was permitted
to run things in his own way, and the
police stood by and looked on, content
ing themselves with arresting two or
three of the rioters. This is not the way
they usually do these things in France,
or in any other part of the continent for
that matter, but it may be accounted for
by the fact that republicanism is making
its impress on French institutions.
M. Loubet, president of the council,
perceived that the opposition were ready
to take up the matter as body, and in
any resolutions they might submit they
were sure to capture votes from his own
supporters. He headed off the move
ment very skillfully, however, by sud.
denly proposing to act as arbitrator be-
tween the contending parties himself,
provided the mining company would
agree to submit to whatever decision he
arrived at. The company undertook to
do 30.
The chamber was delighted to get rid
of the troublesome question, and M.
Loubet, associated with his minister of
public works, at once proceeded to in
vestigate the grievances and difficulties.
The company on its part adhered to its
right to appoint or dismiss its employees
as it pleased, asked that those who had
been engaged in riot should be pun
ished, and that its manager should be
protected in the operation of the mines
with such hands as he chose to employ.
Ihe men, on the other hand, asked
tnat M. Calvignac should be restored to
his position; that all the strikers should
be allowed to return to work; that the
men In prison for rioting should be re-
leased, and that NJ Humbolt, the man.
ager, should be dismissed The last re-
quest was not pressed very urgently.
These were the dlscordant views that M.
Loubet had to harmonize, but he sue
ceeded fairly well. He decided that M.
Calvignac should be restored to his en-
ployment, but with the rather curious
provision that while he held the mayor
atty he should be considered under leave
of absence without pay.
The men who had broken the law
were to be kept in Jail, and when set
free were not entitled to reinstatement
l,.4 81 1o