The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1894-07-28
NEIHART. MONTANA, JULY %, 1894.

traffic has been very heavy, and is
practically dead loss. Expensive
through trains have been run with
out passengers enough to pay for the
coal consumed. Suburban traffic on |
most of the Chicago roads was sus-
pended three to ten days, and was
run at a loss when it did start, be- |
cause people were afraid to ride in
the cars. There is little to offset
this loss in saving wages, for, while
many thousand strikers will not have
to be paid, many thousand other men
have been employed as deputy mar
shals, watchmen and guards at the
railroads expense, and exorbitant
wages and expenses have been paid
to new men to take the place of
strikers.
The strikers themselves will lose
from five to fifteen days pay as in
dividuals, but the laboring people as
a mass will lose practically nothing
There were only about fifteen thous-
and actual strikers, and at least ten
thousand Of the formerly unemployed
have been at work as deputy marsh
ais and guards at higher wages than
the strikers would have received. In
the profit of whatever extra traffic
comes from freight bushes, accum-
ulated during the strike, the work
ingmen will share, for men will be
needed to handle it.
The only concern that will suffer
any really serious and permanent
loss from the strike is the Pullman
Palace Car company. The damage
to his property has been terrible,
but the injury to its popularity is in
calculable. Heretofore railroad
companies have preferred Pullman
cars to those of other lines or to their
own parlor cars, because the public
has had an idea that unless car
was labelled "Pullman" it couldn't
be really and truly parlor car or a
sleeper. Hereafter the public will
{ take righteous satisfaction in keep
ing money out Of Pullman's pockets
This will be especially true in'tht
west where hatred Of Pullman seem.
to be almost the only bitterness lief
after the strike. The difference tha
the existence of this sentiment will
make when the Pullman compan,
. comes to renew its contracts with thu
= railroads is obvious, but even regard
less of this the direct loss will b.
& very great. The nature of the Pull
g man business is such that, when tn
! reduction in business becomes S
10 great that fewer cars have to be run
= every passenger less is so much clea
loss. 1t costs the Pullman compan
" no more to run car with twenty
five passengers than one with onl
= FIVE.
'e To the working classes, an
'e especially the organized workin
classes, the value of the strike Ina
q been estimable. 1t has taught thel
3 at once their strength and their weak
a ness, Debs, comparatively unknown
he the head of an organization a yea
"a old and never publicly heard of VI
d til three months ago--alone with
is real grievance, has tied up the whol
N freight traffic and most of the pa
y enger traffic of the great ives
II What would happen if the old raj
t. road labor organizations, the brothe
u hoods and affiliated unions, shoul
at together order a strike has bee
er shown by the success of Debs, lin
n tied as it has been.
e. On the other hand the evil TIN
'd does to the cause of the workingms
n has been amply proved by tn
ID strike. The whole west would ha'
re been tied up yet as tight as miser
ny purse if no cars had been burned I
Us other damage done. 1t was not Il
es soldiers nor the courts nor Debs til
ITS killed the strike, but the acts
IN. violence. 1t has been worth all t
TN strike has cost the workingmen
ITS learn that lesson.
m ----
M A Pound Of Gold Dust.