The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-11-22
THE RAILWAY AGE ANSWERS
THEIR REPORT
1t Refutes Numerous Stotomo.
by the Commission and Says
1t Was Personal
Petition.

sion orr tHS 1cuerdl strike commits
sIon, are invested with unwonted intnrnst
TO tne public at large from tbn foot &c az
bnn cial dignity with which thew bene ave
Deen clothed. All good citizens w,S I"U We
necesSlt% be interested in the comn,i ol
Sloli oIhclal conclusion and If onnoo ne 20
pe tne part of citizenship to caII otfou ~
aion 10 and if possible correct anv nvo,.-
SiSnts or misstatements of facts inf
NM Tblcn the commissioners have fallen
,,n nG report says: 1t should be noted that
eroi LIZA me railWays set the example a gen
tamnt ulion n OF employees was never at
iI;elipted, The union had then begnn on
listing the men on different svste um en- n
stparate trade ORGANIZATIONS This
stattement is wholly false. The renort IT,
ser says in another place, "The order nf
lne knights of Labor, with an estimated
membership of 100000 to Ia, 600 has
Always way advocated the solidity of labor
~ IN. Inc history of railway organizations
OF me last 20 years is largely made IN of
wliat me report says was never attemn-
scu: AGAIN and again have efforts been
ri'Ge " consolidate, federate or absorb
various existing orders into one Apain
ana again in strikes have the different
ciasses OF labor on the same road and
the same classes of labor on differant
ROADS stood together. Again and again
mas the allied labor of several companies
been called on to enforce the demand of
on class of labor against one COMPANY
me me ignorance of this fact and of the
Iur!her fact that it was the repeated eX
perlence OF 1t which at length drove the
lIatfiWays reluctantly to unite also in self
defense, is to any one at all familiar with
labor almost incomprehensibe.
The Measurements are moda moro
gross by the Importance which the com
MISSION seems to attach to its assertion.
Inc report speaking of the Pullman
phase of the trouble says: The cut in
wages during this period averaged %
percent, about This is not true. The
amount of the reduction was placed in
,n, before the committee in detail
me average reduction in wages for
Journeymen and mechanics was % $40
percent and the average reduction for all
other shop employees was II IL The av-
eerage reduction for all shop employees was
10 percent.
Again the report says: Under the
contracts between railway companies
and the Pullman company the railways
have paid since 1887 2 cents per mile for
each mile run by Pullman cars
This is not fact, nor from the one
form of standard contract placed in ev-
ldence before the commission was it JUS
titled in concluding it to be a fact. The
contract specifically provides for excep-
tons to this rate of payment, which en-
tiers into the aggregate business of the
company with the railways so as to fall
sify the generalization which is made.
"On page 36S the report says:
Throughout the strike the strife was
simply over handling Pullman cars, the
men being ready to do their duty other
wise
"Tllis is not only untrue, but is a rad
innI lore ntaf ion Of thn nt,fs oit
cumstances of the strike. 1t is only nee
essary to point out that the strike ex-
tended among other roads, to the Mich
igan Central, Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern and Wabash companies, on
which no Pullman cars were i'll operation.
The statement quoted shows an amazing
and almost incomprehensible misunder-
standing of the essential elements of the
strike.
Further on the report says in refer
ence to the Pullman tenants as the bank
is the collector it presses for the rent and
is aided in collecting it by knowledge on
the part of tie tenant that he may lose
his position
"On what was this knowledge based?
During all the years there has never been
Il case where any employee lost his job for
nonpayment of rental and the employees
had knowledge of that. How is the
statement quoted reconcilable with the
very next sentence? AT the time of this
strike $4,000 of unpaid rent had ac-
cumulated and the debtors ' pre- still i'll
possession of their jobs,
The commission omits also to state
the fact clearly placed in evidence that at
the time of the strike less than One-third
of the shop employees were tenants of the
company and the question of rentals
could therefore have nothing to do with
the terms of the employment of over two
thirds of the men.
Further on the report says: 1T Is III
evidence and uncOntradlcted that no VI
olence or destruction of property by strlK-
ers or sympathizers took place at Pull
man and until July j no extraordinary
protection was had from the police or mil
tary against even an anticipated us
order
at was not until July that the ser
vices of the military was called Tor. even
in Chicago itself. And the commission
Apmits to mention the eXtraordinnry, pro
Election of the POI guards of the Pullmah
n nmpany who were in service before the
fend of June. who (the danger OF antlcl-
tpated disorder being so great were III
creased to $50 in the first week III July
Moreover, there was violence at full-
man; physical assaults upon persons Wiz
attempted to return to work, Wneil tne
military were put in the field they were
used at Pullman longer than anywhere
= else. Nowhere did che police nave mort
difficulty than in protecting from the vio-
ence of those who wished to, resume
work at Pullman. Some or al OF tne
acts were clearly in evidence. 80 pu99iit n
and notorious were they that it is a dlS Us,
grace to the methods of the inquiry IL "ii
were not. $40, o
Later the report says, There Is ~. ho
evidence before the commission lllat .; ,no
officers of the railway union at any t !n,,
participated in or advised intiml9"'ioh'
violence or destruction of property. ;o,,
"The evidence before the comlhlssiiGGi u
not only included testimony as to. Spetil af
speeches in which the vice presidelIeTr VI
the union. amid grossly violent ana olle ~
sive language, recommended the uSe ~
counting pins as a method OF arSuilliGi! ~.
&but the vice president himself stated ;a ~
he commission that the language m' hod
l5e used on those specific occasions llc n' L.
|also used at hundreds of other pl'3ces NOT
lit possible that your commission toeo nan ,tu
'regard the recommendation 10 i'll! ~ ni' Of
/ with n couplin- pin as the 'adNl9i"7
/ Intimidation or viOlenceE .,nco
"The errors of fact in the report la III
ball the way from the quotation OF col col
paratively trivial figures to false gelt gen tn
|izations ms TO the whole essence VI ;,,+s
trouble. There are many MINOR iol na,,-
in your report in which criticism a anu III
rection would be easy, as the Teilill nan" I'm