The Portland daily press., 1894-01-03
ST RikE FIGURES.
Immense Cost ofStrikes More Than Three
Fourths of Them Fail

y The strike of the employees of the
Lehigh Valley Railroad Company is
an appropriate occasion to direct the
public attention to the official record of
strikes in 1892, those that succeeded,
those that failed, the various purposes
for which they were initiated, and to
recall the most suggestive of all the
statistics on the subject-the losses. The
figures are sufficiently impressive with
out comment. The reports of the
bureau of industrial statistics constitute
ing part of the annual report of the
secretary of internal affairs of Pennsyl-
vania exhibit the details relating to
strikes and lockouts which occurred
in the State during last year. From
this official compilation it appears
that there were twenty six strikes in
Pennsylvania. Of these three were sue
cessful. four succeeded in part and nine
teen totally failed to accomplish their
objects. The number OF persons directly
engaged in these rs strikes was 4, 1856;
but the number involved was 7,414
The causes of the Pennsylvania strikes
life Were the refusal of employers to rec
ognize the Amalgamated Iron and Steel
Association, and their refusal to agree to
the terms of employees. Each of these
produced five strikes. Other strikes were
for increase of wages" against rules
of companies" against reduction of
wages" "aglnst non union men," g or
shorter hours of labor" against the in
PRODUCTION of machinery" These, with
disagreements as to scale OF wages, the
improper loading of cars by minets, and
the improper repairing of tools, EN- brace
all the causes fer which employees have
resorted to strikes.
The total losses entailed upon the pub
lie by the voluntary suspension of Ia bor
by employees during 1898 cannot be esti-
mated. The loss to employees, as shown
by the pay rolls, was s376, 246 The en-
ployers' losses cannot be fixed They
were reported in only seven instances,
In these they reached s5O,9a5 The
heaviest reported loss to employers was
in the Pittsburg street railway strike,
continuing from January 5, 1892, to March
companies lost $40, 600 and the striking
employees S,0Q0. In the other instances
where the employers losses are estimat.
ed the striking employees were by far the
greater losers.
In the strike at the Pittsburp iron
WORKS August ~, 1879, twelve DAYS, the
employees Sacrificed 1872, 900, while their
employing company lost SIS, 00O During
the strike of the rolling mill hands at
Allentown, lasting forty Live rday, from
July to August Is, 1892, the men sacri-
feed $1,000, against loss ofss$2 900 sus-
tanned by the company.
Only portion of the losses resulting
from the great Homestead strike are
included in the tabulated statement.
1t lasted nearly nine months, and, as
the monthly pay roll there was about
$3.50, 900, the loss to the strikers for the
entire period of the troubles was about
81, $50, coo. The secretary of internal
affairs says that no estimate of sthe loss
sustained by the company could be OBJ
tanned. The expense to PHILADELPHIA in
maintaining the National Guard at
Homestead was $40, 1851 Here is
total combined loss and expenditure of
81, 500, 256. 81, with an underlined loss from
the suspension of business, and, perhaps.
the permanent transfer of some of it to
other places, to be added to the above
sum.
In the face of these exhibits, with the
completesfailure : to accomplishing de-
sired end in nineteen of the twenty-six
strikes, and with only partial success
in three instances, it may be safely as
serted that, as a means of redressing
grievances arising between EMPLOYERS
and their employees, strikes do not nav
in Pennsylvania. On the contrary. they
have brought untold losses to the puh-
lie, great privations to employees and
their families, and serious interruntion
to business. -Philapelphia Ledger.