The record-union., 1893-08-25
SYMPATHETIC STRIKES.
Commercial and Political Considera-
tions Involved.
thoughtful Paper on an Important
Subject by a Distinguished
Statistician.
[From the Railway Review.l

terstate Commerce Act" have been
quoted iudicially in the decisions rem
dered recently at Toledo by Judges Taft
and Kicks for the first time as barrier
to that interruption of the internal COM
merce of the country which is involved
In what is commonly known as sympa-
thetic railroad strike. The proprieties OF
judicial procedure of course confined
these jurists somewhat closely to the
legal aspects of the particular matter un-
der consideration, but the controversy
involves commercial and political consid-
erations of the highest moment upon
which mainly the popular verdict con-
corning the question at issue will be
made up.
The right of the employees of railroad
companies to organize for their mutual
advancement as a class. and for their
mutual protection against themselves and
against external evils is generally con-
ceded. 1t is right enjoyed by laborers
OF every class and legitimate manifest
alton of human liberty.
On the other hand it is a clearly estab-
Eshed principle of human government
that no man or association of men can be
allowed to adopt any expedient or
method which may appear to him or them
to be most effectual for the purpose of Sc
curing their rights, irrespective of the
rights of others. The enlightened judg-
ment of mankind also opposes intemper-
ate and destructive methods of redress.
Such procedure, If unrestrained, would
throw unorganized society into confu-
sion; for men exist as members of society
through conformity to the conditions inn
posed by their environment. Refusal to
hiHa hV Snph restraints nrnGpflhn0 hV
government authority, is revolutionary
The particular question OF public policy
involved i'll the Toledo case is this: Shall
the locomotive engineers and tremen OF
railroads connecting with the Toledo,
Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Rail-
road be allowed to interrupt a portion of
the internal commerce of the country as
a strategic measure for the purpose of
forcing the railroad mentioned into COM
pliance with the demands of its employees.
This cons. .itutes the sympathetic strike
under consideration. Aside from the law
III the case, the propriety of such action
suust OF course turn mainly upon the
question as TO whether such remedy is, or
is not Incorporate, or destructive of the
rights of others. Let us consider the
matter i'll its broadest significance, as a
public question
The locomotive engineers of the United
States are engaged i'll an exceedingly inn
DOILdub OCcupdAlOlls lnNOlNlliR pCIl4g anu
full OF heroic fascination. They perform
an essential function in the conduct of the
grandest system of transportation ever
seen on this planet-the American rail-
road syStem-a vast and complex organ
ization formed by the coordination of
many elements, personal, commercial,
financial and Northumberland sustaining
viially important relations to the COM
mercial and social life of the nation. This
system of transportation, with its uni
form relationships, constitutes the busi-
ness environment of the locomotive en-
gineers and tiremen of the country-an
environment with which they must live
il harmony, in order to secure their own
we'll being, and in order that they may be
useful helpers in the great work OF in
ternal commerce. This is beyond all
question.
The American railroad system is not
the product of railroad corporate devise
nent, nor has it been in any sense legis-
lative creation. 1t is the product OF an
evolution, and as such the concrete eX
preston of a great commercial necessity
affecting the whole country. The rail-
road companies, great and small, strove
for years to remain law unto them
selves in the great work Of internal trans
purtation, but at length, even the strong
est of them were forced into compliance
with the compulsion of independent re-
lationships, which connected tracks, the
common use OF cars over connecting
roads. and other joint facilities for unin-
terrupted through traffic involved both in
regard to the rates which should be
charged, and the routes which traffic
should pursue. This unity and continuity
of the transportation facilities OF the coun-
try is to-day as inviolate as that political
unity of States which constitutes US ma
ton.
In the course of time this unitication of
the railroad transportation interests of
the country led to the enactment of a law
of Congress which may properly be re-
garded as the charter of the American
railroad system-the most important
commercial statute ever enacted by Con-
gress. | refer TO the Act of June Is, 1866.
which provides as follows:
That every railroad company in the
United States, whose read is operated by
steam, its successors and assigns, be, and
is hereby, authorized to carry upon and
over its road, boats, bridges and ferries
all passengers, troops, Government sup
plies, mails, freight and property on their
way from any State to another State, and
To receive compensation therefor, and to
connect with roads of other States, so as
to form continuous lines for the trans
portaton OF the same to the place of des-
tinatiOn."
That this Act was in the nature of a
legislative charter Is evident from the fact
that it is permissive; that it is in the
nature ofa grant OF power, and that out
OF abundant caro- for the public welfare it
was provided in the second section of the
Act 'that Congress may at any time alter,
amend, or repeal this Act"
The benehcent character of this Act has
been abundautly demonstrated by the
lessons of experience, and there is to-day
no purpose more firmly fixed in the
minds of the American people than that
HR-ffbin rho limit ipnnnSGH nv -,
considerations, our internal commerce
shall have free and uninterrupted passage
over the railroads OF the country, and ii
is a source of national pride that the rail-
roads of the country to-day present them
selves to the traveller and shipper practi-
Il caily as one system of transportation.
The growing conviction in the public
mind as to what is right and necessary
regarding the American railroad system,
has found vigorous expression in provis-
ions of the Interstate Commerce Act of
February /, 1887, which stripped of legal
amplihoation are as follows:
A. (Sec. 81 Facilities for Interchange
of Tratfic.-EVery common carrier shall
AFFORD all reasonable, proper and equal
facilities for the interchange of traffic be-
tween their respective lines and those
connecting Herewith.
Is. Sec. - Continuous Carriage.-It
shall be unlawful for any common carrier
SUBJECT TO the provisions OF this Act to
enter into any combination, contract or
agreement expressed or implied. to pre-
vent the carriage of freights from being
continuous from the place of shipment 10
the place OF destination.
y calm consideration of the whole sub
ject must convince the most extreme
among the Brotherhoods of Locomotive
Engineers and Locomotive Firemen that
the expedient TO which they have had re-
course is IN the highest degree intemper-