The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1894-11-15

duties to their employees. This
position is taken advisedly and we
have no intention of departing from
it.n
The attorney generals letter is
an exhaustive discussion of the
questions presented and he reviews
the various problems and consistent
solutions to be applied in every
report. In substances he holds labor
organizations as practically power
less, that in combinations such as
this lies the only safe guard of
the v orki g man ir his dealings with
lcTsafiized capital and that his right
to belong to such union-beneficial
in intent and purpose-is a legal
right which he cannot be deprived
of. In the letter, after citing the
questions at point, Attorney General
Olney says: at is respectfully sub
mitted that the receivers are wrong
and that the action proposed by
them ought not to be sanctioned
/ by the COURT
Continuing he says: "The Reading
railroad now being in the hands
of receivers, the receivers and en-
ployes OF the company are officers
Of the court. The court, therefore,
and not the company, is the en-
ployer of all persons engaged in
the operations of the road. The
present policy of the court and
not the past policy of the company,
is the material thing to be con-
sidered and hence the previous
question is, will the court not lay
down the rule that the members of
the Brotherhood of Trainmen shall,
because they are such members,
be discharged from the service of
the road? The court, it is admitted,
ought not and cannot lay down
any such rule on the ground that
until either the purposes and objects
OF the Brotherhood or means by
which they are to be attained, are
shown to be illegal.r
The objects of the Brotherhood are
then given and Mr.. Olney concludes
by declaring there is nothing in
them to which the most cautious
critics can object except the prvvis-
ions made for strikes, and, says he,
at is well to note even these pro-
visions are of an eminently conserv-
ative character"
He holds that whatever may be
customary or probable incidents and
accomplishments of strike it cannot
De rs.ieC't tina, there is no such thing
as a legal strike and that every strike
must 6e unlawful.
"The quitting of work in concert
between two or more simultaneously
and in and of themselves involves no
taint of illegality. The strike becomes
illegal when to necessary features
are added others and such as malici.
Gus intent, followed by actual injury,
lntimidating violence, creation of
public nuisance or breach of peace of
any sort. The spectacle would be a
curious one that court of the
United States may on business
grounds refuse employment to per-
sons for no other reason than their
membership of an association whose
purpose the laws of the United
States expressly sanction. When
treatment so apparently discririnat
ing is administered through the
instrumentality of a court the
resulting discomfort and resentment
of employees are inevitably intensi-
fled because the law itself seems to
have gone wrong and in some
manner 10 have taken sides against
them. No better mode for the
settlement of contests between
capital and labor has yet been denied
or tried than arbitration, and
arbitration as a mode of settling
difficulties between capital and
labor must necessarily be applied in
the course of a receivership and in
its best and most effective form"