New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-20
LABOR MEN EXCITED.
.porSED BY JUDGE RICKS'S ACTION.
,,rv DENoUNcE THE HOLDING FOR CONTEMPT
or COURT OF MEN WHO QUIT WORK WITH


OUT NoTICE-wHAT LAWYERS SAY.
Tho extraordinary orders granted by United
e,.,es District Judge Ricks on Saturday in tho
,.mnction case against =. NJ Arthur chief of the
o,o,herhood of Locomotive Engineers, excited
Dn.b interest Yesterday among the |. Dor men and
,..rers of this city. Judge Kicks ordered Mr.
..,Su, 10 withdraw the order which he had Is
.n.a recurring the Brotherhood engineers T. re-
sx 10 handle of non-union boycottcd
.as In addition to this Judge Kicks held in
,ooo bonds five engineers and three fremen who
';t work on Saturday because trains which they
"A been directed TO haul contained cars which
.me from the Toledo, Ann Arbor and North
w,bran Railroad, where the engineers have been
strike.
Judre Rickss order the one topic of dis
.usion at all the meetings of the Central Labor
bodies yesterday Labor leaders. as a rule, de-
,mnced the action of Judge Kicks. Lawyers
we're avorsc 70 expressing any extended opinion
m the matter without first having complete
nport of the case
lame, T. Archibald. the wcll-known delegate
from the Paper Hangers Union to the Central
Labor Union, said Judge Ricks's interprcta-
tim Of the law Is outrageous, and | believe that
II will be overrulcd bv the United States Supreme
Court His action has created great sensation
in labor circles. If. however, his ruling is
tanned, the law under which it was made will
certainly he amended. His decision simply means
that railroad employees have right TO
urke II compels them to work whether they
want to or not, and if the decision is upheld it
will take mighty big prison to hold all who
will be guilty under it. The sending of a
pecial train for the use of Judge Kicks and the
extraordinary haste displayed in getting him 10
the scene Of action are certainly strange. The
only significance of the whole thing is that it
s an attempt TO coercc and frighten the men into
seville submission. The railroad magnates are
tresding very dangerous ground
Mortimer O'Connell, president of the National
Brotherhood of Street Railway Employees, bitterly
dehonnced the decision. and said that it would
undoubtedly mark a memorable era in the man
ssement and control of railroads with respect to
their relations with their employees
Alexander Jonas. the leader of the American
Socialists. said: This is the most important de-
cision for labor given in many years. II is
direct step in the evolution toward Socialism IL
Is an admission on the part of the Government
and also the part of the railroads that
railroads and other natural monopolies
are public properties. and subject TO
public control This decision will cause social
revolution if sustained IL will break down the
old pure and simple trades uniOnism and will
force the unions TO independent political action
Wager Swayne, the well-known railroad and
corporation lawyer. when seen at his home. at
No. IL Gramercy Park said that he had not heard
of Judge Rickss decision. After reading the
published accounts Of the decision, Mr.. Swaync
said: 1T is still unlawful under the common
law to cOnspire 10 raise the price of labor or any
thing else. Strikes railroads are of a quasi
-yahlic character. In England they have had
Tor centuries statute that if man makes a
contract to labor in quasi-public employ
ment and quits before his time is up his action
can be dealt with as a breach of the peace. My
idea of the solution of the question
b to employ such persons as railroad
and other quasi-pubic employees on
time contracts. If there Were a law that no
railroad employe should quit or he discharged, ex
cept on two weeks notice. it would operate :
Q protection TO the men and for the protection
Of the public for railroads would have time 70
find new men. and the men would have time
to find new places. Now as TO this particular
case II has been the rule of equity ever since
there was equity 10 grant orders for injunctlons
commanding individuals corporations TO rH-
frain from doing certain things that would cause
irreparable injury But that is very different
from commanding man to do thine Inn
kind Of an order, which has been caiich a man
datory Injunction, has been sparngy granted as
. rule. OF late years injunctions ol 'his hin'
have been granted moro freely.
a notable case was where the late Justice
Miller of the United States Supreme court. iS'uo'
an order which was enforced for seVerai s'diS
afirmatively requiring certain important Iairo'"
companies 10 allow equal rights on theil ram o"''
to all express companies, irrespective oil ''ic i'o'
Of their having made with one company vi 81"
other an exclusive contract
Now this order of Judge Kicks IS 100 I'LL
por,ant and novel to be passed upon hastily py d
lawyer. There is present the element OF lrrepaf-
able damage and the position may DE sus'aihe"
that a locomotive engineer Is uhder al
implied contract not to derange the transportation
a he Mould do, for instance, by lea'hS woiN
without notice. At the same time, lhdlViuuai
freedom is the basis of what Is most Va'uaoie al
our national existence. l only nope that 3D.
luton will be reached that will preserve at once
that and the necessities of travel ana commerce.
The fact that these men are brought up ior
CONTEMPT will 90 to the root OF the whoie ques-
tsa.-
General Swayne added that there might DC
some difficulty in sustaining Judge hlcks uo
cson On constitutional grounds. for II migh' oe
held that 10 prevent the engineers from qui..ihe
work without giving notice would be compelling
them 10 remain in Involuntary serNi.uuc' WIN"
would be, OF course, unconstitutional.
Chauncey NJ. Depew, when seen at his ho"o,
No. AZ West Fifiy-fourth-st., last evening, saio
"a Tribune reporter 81 cannot discuss 'u"S'
Hcks's action. The New-YorIS Central is on the
hst Of terms with its engineers, and this action
does NOT concern MS. The decision stru TX me as
hycl.
Joseph H. Choate, when seen at his home, no.
80 West Forty-sevcnth-st.. last evening, had not
hard Of Judge. Ricks's action. lie said 'ha' ns
ia not know anything about Judge Kicks ana
hat he did not care to discuss the question ahi,i
k had full ana complete understanding 1i ,binl; M
Edward Lauterbach said last hlgn. 1I. don,rtmre
JUDGE Ricks's action is rcInarkape uclal.uIV
f:m fine law as / have understood it. Actors,