Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-05-05

lationS Of Eugene Dehs, the promoter
and president Of the American Railway
union, the new railway labor organiZa-
ton, to the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Gfrcmcn, whose headquarters are To-
Gated here, it is known that the pro-
ceeding to discipline him is being dis
cussed by brotherhood men il all parts
Of the country.
He has been the idol Of the organ
zation, and when he resigned the posi-
ton Of secretary and treasurer at the
international convention at Cincinnati
last year he could have had anything he
might have asked for from the order
lie was reelected in spite Of his decli-
nation and was forced to decline the
second time. The convention then
wanted to vote him a handsome gift
Of money with which to take a vaca
uon in Europe. This he also declined.
Some Of his friends know that he
believed the brotherhood had passed
tive day Of its usefulness, but it is
safe to say that not many expected him
10 speak of it in the terms which are
the occasion Of charges against him
on which he is to be tried this evening"
before the local lodge of the brother
hood.
Debs held undisputed sway in the
brotherhood for a decade. He, more
than any other man, framed It's laws,
and that is why the brotherhood men
resent his recent interviews. The
question is raised as to whether he
I,a n. fn fob lore I,1f
following into the new organization
DebS says the brotherhood is handi-
capped with Cliicial machinery and bur
d"ned with costly insurance assess
IncntS; that he has been in forty-nnc
contests with railroads and not one
has been a victory for the brotherhood:
that the men who cannot keep up with
their assessments are expelled aud
wear the stigma of ''Scab,"' until now
u large majority of firemen are re-
vengcful enemies Of the brotherhood.
On the other side, it is denied that the
brotherhood has been or is an cXpen-
sive and effectual association.
Up to the year of 1885 there was no
strike provision in the laws. Since
then the brotherhood has engaged in
but four authorized strikes, two of
which were lost and two won. Those
lost were the Burlington big strike,
which drew upon the members for
nearly u half million dollars, and the
Ann Arbor strike which is, as a matter
Of fact, counted as lost. The two won
We're the New York elevated railway
strike and the Carondelet and East
St Louis strike
The fact that there have been but
four strikes is urged as the best recon-
mendation for the effectiveness Of the
brotherhood policy and it is known
that there are scores of instances where
concessions have been received from The
employers through the mediation of the
brotherhood representatives. Road
after road is named which granted to
the men an increase of pay on other
requests when asked by the brother
hood
DebS is Il man of rare power with
laboIin, men and is full of resources
in such an emergency as the present
one. While he was building up the
tiremen's brotherhood he did not fig
ure in public as a labor leader but
that he will conspicuously do so from
now on all who know him, including
those who oppose him in this contest,
freely admit. 1t is believed that in the
next few years his name will become
as familiar to the reader Of newspapers
as that of Powderly or Gompers
Perhaps there is no other man i'll the
country who has so intimate personal
relations with the local labor. leaders
in the various cities of the country.
He has been with them in their lodges
and assemblies and invariably made Il
strong impression. Whenever he has
visited Il city, and he has visited all
OF them in his capacity as grand secre-
tary and treasurer of the brotherhood,
he has been called upon to deliver an
address in the lodgeroom. After the
meeting he has met the local leaders
and such is his personal magnetism
that he has made friend and adj
mirer OF about all with whom he has
thus come in contact.
In the brotherhood lodge here. be-
fore which he will be tried he has
many personal friends, but most of
them think he has gone too far in his
effort to construct new, or rival or
ganiZation. They like him personally.
but what he has said tends to break
down the brotherhood. to cut from
under them the support and prospect
Of insurance benefit, for which they
have paid, on a plan he himself faith
cred. They are also surprised to find
MIN making assertions which they say
m1SrepreSent the brotherhood. such,
for instance. as the intolerance for fire
men who are not brotherhood men.
and call over the names of a number
who live here and who are close per-
sonal friends of brotherhood men. The
brotherhood, they say, never was SO
strong numerically and so wisely and
conservatively conducted as in this the
seventeenth year of its existence.
What Debs will do or say tonight is
not known, but he will undoubtedly
make defense that will appeal to
the cld-time friends. If he is expelled
or forced to resign he will no doubt
rel1nquiSh the editorship of the Fire
mems Magazine. which has become a
prosperous and powerful periodical
under his control. 1T has q circulation
OF more than 10000 monthly copies.
While Deb has not appeared before
the public in national sense he is
perhaps, the. shrewdest observer of
public sentiment of any Of the labor
leaders and it Is this natural aptitude
that begetS the desire to address the