The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-08-29
Pullman Replies.

ana you would not De out any ulOTb
than you would have been had you shut
down a year ago.
Pullman Replies.
Mr.. Pullman replied at length. making
reference to Governor Altgeld's declin-
alton of the escort of Vice-President
Wickes yesterday. which fact Pullman
regretted. Mr.. Pullman then continues:
AS an indication of the Importance
Of the aid of local knowledge in making
essential discrimination, / may say 10
you that l have the best reason for be-
lieving that the husband Of a wife who
is published as representing her family
to you yesterday as in need of help,
drew more than $500 Of his savings
from a bank on July last for the pur-
pose. ii is said, of buying lots. While
it has not been represented to the OFF,
GERS of this company by any persons
concerned that there was any such eX-
| tended distress at Pullman as was rep
| resented for the first time by the eX-
traordinary method of a published tele-
gram to you in your official capacity, /
do not doubt that there are many cases
Of need caused by the refusal of the
employees for more than two and one
| half months 10 earn offered wages or
more than 100000; and that such cases
have been increased and made more Sc
we're by the persistence of more than $50
or our employees. of whom about $50 live
in Pullman. in refusing to apply for their
old places after the strike was practi-
cally over and after they were publicly
invited on July is TO resume their work
until the gradual coming in Of new men
during the whole month, their places
have been filled, and the full force en-
| gagged for all work on hand.
''As TO those who are not at work. the
cancelling of their rents is not ques-
/ ton to which attention should first be
given at the present juncture If their
pressing needs are as You suppose them
TO be. Your suggestion that the work
should be divided so that A sufficient num-
her of our present employees should be
put on half time in order to give at
/ least half time work for all, was tried
| last winter. The result has been that
the gross earnings Of various individual
employees were last winter so small as
to- give an erroneous impression WITH
reference to the SufIicency of the rate
! Of wages. The policy Of the company IS
! now To employ only as many men as II
is possible to furnish work for on ful
| time"
To this the governor replied sub
stanually:
Il see that your company refuses to do
any thing toward relieving the situa lion
ct Pullman If You will make the round
| made. go into the houses of these peO-
pie. meet them face to face. and talk
with them, YOU viii be convinced that
none Of them had Sl,300 or any other
sum of money a few weeks ago. 1t Is
not my business TO fix the moral respon-
sibility in this case. There are nearly
5000 people suffering for the want Of
food-they were your employes-four-
fifths of them are women and children
some of these people have worked for
you more than ten years. / assumed
| that even if they were wrong and had
I .rr11 ~ la V-fl N
to see them perish. 1 also assumed that
as the state had just been TO large
expense TO protect your property You
would not want to have the public
shoulder the burden of relieving distress
i'm your town. As you refused TO do any
thing to relieve the suffering in this case,
1 am compelled TO appeal to the human
ity of the people of Illinois to do So.
l. CHICAGO. Aug. 22.-Several Of the wit
nesses examined by the strike commits
sion today gave testimony more favorable
TO the Pullman company than that when
had previously been heard.
Frank W. Glover. real estate agent,
said ne considered the Pullman houses at
SIS and $50 a month really cheaper tlan
$12 month houses in surrounding towns.
The Pullman houses were well equipped
and beautifully located, he said. and rents
were not in his opinion too high. In re-
ply to a query Of Commissioner Wright,
Mr.. Glover denied that he was in any
way connected with the Pullman COM
pany.
Paul Herms. a newsdealer. who form
erly worked in the Pullman shops, said
he did not place much faith in the COM
plants of the men. Their trouble. he
thought was largely due to a fOndness
for beer. All the salOonkeepers in the
surrounding towns had grown rich. Mr..
Herms declared that a large number of
KensingtOn beer wagons were well sup
ported by the Pullman employees. OF
real estate values he knew little, but
did not believe that Pullman rents were
unusually high.
II. II. Johnson. a Pullman furniture
dealer, testified that store room rents IN
the town had been cut, though no re-
duction had been made in the residence
rentals.
Alex Lundgren, an employee of the
Pullman company for the last thirteen
years, was the first witness to take the
witness chair in the afternoon. He said
in all his years of service for the COM
pany he had no complaint to make as to
wages or treatment. He had advised
against the strike, although he was a
member of the union, and had gone back
TO work when the opportunity offered,
surrendering his membership in the union
and signing a contract to keep out of 1t.
Eve drew large wages for the first
seven or eight years." he. said, land did
well. We all made good wages. A year
ago i'm June | was making S2.95 day.
We used to make as much as "a on piece
work. but they cut us down until now
no one can make more than 1925, even if
he works very hard"
Fire Marshal John Fitzgerald appeared
next with a record book and a copy of
reports which showed the following
losses in the incendiary fires during the
strike:
One hundred and sixty-eight freight
cars, eight switch towers, six freight
depOts, five switch shanties and one hay
barn.
IT attended pretty nearly all of these
fires myself" explained the marshal.
1.-The only fires we saw kindled were by
boys the oldest of them not more than
nineteen years or age"
Chief Of Police Brennan during the aft
ernOon session and was compelled to
adjourn for lack Of witnesses when the
chief failed to appear. He sent word
through his private secretary that he
would be before the commission tomor-
row morning to tell what he knows as to
the nature of the rioting and the efforts
made to prevent 1t.
The Pullman strikers and their fam
lilies were greatly encouraged today, the
visit of Governor Altgeld to their homes
having led them to believe that they will
receive immediate aid. The relief head
quarters, which have been closed for a
week We're reopened today in expectation
of returns from the governors proclama-
ton and a few supplies Were received.
- Tr.11