Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-23

Railroad Companies and Their Employees.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
We have the anthracite coal trust. s400, 0O0,-
600 infant, absolute tyrant over us during the
blasts OF winter, which, having ''limited pro-
duction" to its private ideas a. to what is a
normal supply Of fuel, proceeds to tax us
outrageous prices. which. being unable
to pay. many in our large cities actually perish
from cold.
We have the Standard Oil Company. abso-
lutte monarch over that which lights three
fourths OF our homes, and which. by controlling
the sale OF oil. enables the grocers Of any coun-
try village to charge consumers 10. IL or Is
cents per gallon for oil that has been sold at 6
cents
We have a host OF trusts, combines, associa-
tions. &c., whose only ''raison d'etre" is by
mist quack's law of supply and demand" and
who execute their plans in defiance of the
written law Of the land.
The mammoth railroad corporations of the
United States after paying all operating ex-
penses, which include salaries equal to that
law suits precipitated by wilful violation
OF our laws, still send many hundred
millions Of dollars annually to nonresident
stockholders 1t is expected that during the
present year their receipts will be unusual :,
large, yet the companies intend to in1ict u '
under former similar conditions.
In employing assistants as switchmen. opera
tors, brakemen. engineers. &c.. the companies
are governed precisely as in purchasing rolling
stock or supplies, viz, by the state Of the
market These employees very naturally want a
share of the extra profit, and any fair-minjed
person will say it is right that they
should have it Do the companies
propose to share? Not at ALL They mouth the
words OF the before mentioned pseudo-scientist
and say supply and demand .'IHyou do
not wish to work for the wages we offer we'n
get another man who will" they say. Now.
to meet this condition of things, railroad
workmen have also formed associations
whose object is to nullify the Iron
law Of wages" This they are able in
small degree to accomplish and their en-
ployers, while seeking to maintain their own
combinations in opposition to law and right.
nevertheless seek to use these same laws to beat
their employees. What is sauce for the goose
Is sauce for the sander" will apply right here.
: The position of railroad company before
the law AZ a common carrier is plain, viz, it
must carry.
The position of the employee before the law is
also plain-he may work or not as he pleases.
He may contract to work one day or thirty
days and quit without completing his part
Of the contract and his employer may
anss hm but ssn do do no
which would be worse than useless ninety nine
times in . hundred. The employe is in no
sense an agent of the company, merely an
irresponsible hreling. This being the case
railroad hands have it in their power
to stop every wheel at their will.
There are more than 1,OOO, 900 of such men
and 1t would be impossible to replace them
for q long time should they be discharged
Thus it will be seen that the men can enforce
their demands for increased pay unless their
employers can compel them to service. This
they are now striving to do in the west
Whether they will succeed remains to be SEEN
But, when that day dawns on which man is
compelled by force to perform labor contract.
on that same day is he reduced from an Ameri-
can citizen to a slave.
If the courts decide that an employee must
perform his contract, then in justice they must
accord him not wages, but a share of earnings;
in short make him de facto owner A rail-
road is not a drivate but public institution.
MORGAN SPENCER.