St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-11
Four Thousand Men Walk Out,
but Will Walk Back
Again.
After a Twelve Hours Con-
ference an Agree ment Is
Reached.
The Attempt to Unionize the
Fair Resulted in Fail
ure.

and the men who walked out this morn
ing will walk back again tomorrow
morning, and ninety-nine out of every
hundred will work for the same hours
and the same pay he received before he
struck. For the first time since its in
ception organized labor came squarely
in contact with the United States gov
ernment, and while all questions of
wages were satisfactorily settled, the
right of the employer to use nOn-union
men or union men, the right of men to
be in the ranks of organized labor or
without them, was insisted upon by the
national representatives and acknowl-
edged by the union men themselves.
For twelve hours today the results of
the painStaking expenditure of more
than $4,000, 900, the good name of a
mighty nation and its pledges to the
nations of the earth were imperiled
and endangered, while men who reaped
the benefits of the expenditure of that
money argued with the men who con-
trolled over question of five cents an
hour, and the rights of men to think
and act as they please, within the law.
ItTOok Cool Heads
and temperate blood to guide the dis
pute to peaceful issue, but the heads
were there, the blood was not wanting,
the great white city will be ready for
its guests at the time and in the manner
which were promised at its birth.
1t was 10 o'clock when the meeting
between the council of administration
and the representatives of the building
trades council came to an agreement
which is to continue throughout the en-
tire period of the exposition and under
which further trouble was impossible.
The men have received the formal con-
cesson of minimum rate of wages, and
have yielded to the demand of the expo
sitIon officials that they may employ any
man, whether he be or be not a men,
ber of any labor organization. The first
step looking toward peace was made
this afternoon when committee OF the
strikers was appointed TO submit to the
worlds fair council of administration
the following proposition:
That if the worlds fair council will
agree to submit the differences between
the men and the exposition to arbitra-
ton at p. IN, April II, the building
and trades council will order the men
back to work at once. pending the result
of arbitration. The building and trades
council binds itself to abide by the deci-
sion of the arbitrators; one arbitrator to
be selected by the building and trades
council. one by the worlds fair manage
ment, and third by these twO."
This Proposition
was submitted to the council of admin
iStratiOn, as the labor mems ultimatum.
The council of administration was in
session, and promptly returned an
answer that it was prepared to meet the
men at once. The matter must be set
tied soon-it could be settled then as
we'll as at any other time. TO this the
committee agreed, and the result was
meeting which for long hours went over
all the aspects of the case, with but two
short adjOurnmentS--One by each side
for consultation. At 10 o'clock tonight
the council of administration presented
to the executive committee of the
strikers the following resolutions. which
were preceded by short preamble. set
ting forth the existence of the strike:
"ResOlved, That in the employment
of Workmen of artisans in the several
| trades represented by said executive
| committee for the performance of work
under the direct charge and supervision
| of the worlds Columbian exposition,
representatives or union or organized
labor shall 0e entitled to equal conSid-
Grafton with those of nOn-uniOn, and
that the wOrkmen heretofore employed
| by said exposition company who have
| this day
Gone Out on Strike.
| after OH that account, it being the eX-
press purpose of the council that organ
| lied labor, as such, shall not be dis
| criminated against; and,
Resolved further, That there shall be
| paid 20 every artisan so employed by
| the exposition company at least the
| minimum rate of wages precrlbed for
! the trade in which he is employed; and,
Resolved, That an authorized repre-
! sentative or delegate of each OF said
trades shall be furnished With a pass
eutitling him to free admission 10 the
| grounds, and shall have the right to
| confer with the workmen of his trade at
all times, provided such conference shall
/ not materially interfere with or retard
! the work.
Resolved further, That the cOnces-
siOnS made in and by the foregoing res
I
understanding that they shall be ac-
cepted by said executive committee as
full settlement and solution of the
present controversy, that the men who
have gone on strike shall return to work
at once, and that the provisions and
| stipulatiOns of said resolutions shall con-
! tinue in force and be operative during
the whole period of the exposition.
These resolutions were at once signed
| bv all members of the strikers eXecu-
| tive committee, representing the 5000
or 5000 laboring men, and The trouble
was over.
1t Was a Close Call
for the exposition, not only for its open
ing, but for its success. The work of
the men who struck today is nearly
over, and, while they could not have
ruined the fair, they might, by stopping
the work, so have delayed matters that
the exposition could not have been in
complete readiness by the 1st OF
August. There was great relief eX-
pressed on both sides when the thing
was over, for the members of the cQGu-
ell of administration, and of tne Strik-
ers' committee alike, We're fearful OF
the weight of public opinion which
| would fall upon the party that opposed
| or INSTRUCTED the success of the eXpoSi-
ton.
The strike today was an attempt to
unionize the fair-nothing more, moth
ing less. The labor leaders claimed
that the worlds fair had not kept faith