The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1894-08-29
AFTER THE STRIKE.
Labor Leaders and Railway Man
ayers Tell How 1t Was.
Presidents GOmpers and Debs Give Their
Views on Strikes and Compulsory Ar
bltration-A Rock Island Rail-
road Official Talks About De-
struction of Property.

at the beginning OF yesterday morn
ings session of the national labor COM
mission He said, in answer to ques-
ton, that he was SS years old and in
addition to being at the head of the A.
R. U. was editor of the Locomotive
Firemens Magazine. He testified that
from the beginning he was opposed to
strike and so told Vice President
Howard He then continued:
Il twice went to George NJ. Pullman
and to the town of Pullman to thor
oughly investigate the conditions ex-
isting at the car shops. / found the
employees were not only not getting
enough wages to live, but were daily
getting deeper into the debt of the
Pullman company No matter how Of
fensive the conditions were there, the
men wore obliged to submit to them.
When found out all these things i'm
diately determined that the A. R. U.
should go to the assistance of these un-
fortunate people. We believed that any
fair board of arbitration would have
decided in favor of the employees, and
all we asked was arbitration, This the
Pullman company arbitrarily refused
I'm view of the men working through
out the fair the railway managers on
many of the roads promised an increase
of wages after the fairwas over In
stead of doing this they began immedi-
ately after the far c.osed to begin
systematic reduction of wages through
out the country. Notwo companies re-
duced wages at the same time. This,
TO me, was very significant action 1t
shows me that there was concert of
action among the various roads, and
that they did not wish to arouse the
antagonism of too many of the railroad
employees at the same time"
President Debs said moreover no rail
road reduced the wages of all its men
at the same time, but reduced them by
sections. He declared the A. r. U.
viewed these reductions with the great
est apprehension. The organization
felt that the time had come to act. He
continued: when the A. r. U. met in
convention in Chicago on June 81, it
was confronted by these conditions as
well as the state of affairs at Pullman"
"Was this convention called to con-
slider the reduction of wages or the
| Pullman matter?" asked Commissioner
Wright.
THE convention was called for no
specific purpose. 1t was the regular
quadriennial convention, provided for
| by the constitution"
81 would like to state, said Mr.. Debs,
''that tho railroad companies have
never raised wages of their own ac-
cord Every increase in wages has been
wrung from them by organized labor" "
He charged Gen. Miles with being in
league with the railroad managers to
suppress the strike, and related in
stances where, as he alleged, men were
made to work at the point of the bayo-
net Mr.. Debs denied that the A. R. U.
had any antipathy for the old organi-
cations.
President Debs occupied the stand
four nearly for hours. He advocated a
cooperative commonwealth, the aboli-
ton of the wage system, and the gov
ernment ownership of railroads. 7. H.
Morrissey, first vice grand master of
the Order of Railway Trainmen, and
Grand Chief Clark, of the Order of Rail
way Conductors also testified.
CHICAGO, Aug. 22.-0fficials of the
American Railway union and local la.
bor leaders are much pleased with the
methods of the national strike commits.
sion so far. Several of them have ex.
pressed themselves as satisfied that
both sides of the question will receive
fair and impartial hearing.
The first witness put upon the stand
yesterday was Michael j. Carroll, edi
tor of the Eight-Hour Herald Mr..
Carroll believed government ownership
Of railroads the true solution of the
labor problem. He cited the situation
in Australia where the government
owns the telegraph lines as proof that
his ideas are practicable.
| Rev. NJ. II. Wickman, the Swedish
minister at Pullman, told of the reduc
tion of his parishioners' wages. He
said the Swedish laborers at Pullman
were made to pay more rent at Pull
man than at Roseland or other places
in the neighborhood.
"Why, then" asked Chairman
Wright, "do the men not live in Rose
Iand or vicinity?'
They are commanded to live in Pull
man, on pain of dismissal. Even where
men own homes outside of Pullman
if work becomes slack these men ar,
the first laid off"
Mr. Wickman told Of the case OF al
employee who was injured in the Pull
man shops and obliged to stay at the
hospital for nine weeks, During tha
time the company charged him rent fol
his house in Pullman, refused to pay
him any damages and cut down hi
wages when he returned from the hos
pital, because his injury prevented hin
doing as much work as formerly.
Herman E. Dutton gave his observa
tions as reporter for two morning pa
persa different times during the strike
He had seen but few railroad men en-
gagged in rioting.
CHICAGO, Aug. 2S.--Although Chair
man Wright announced at the begin
ming Of yesterdays session of the labo
commission that most Of the represent
atives of the American Railway uniol
and of organized labor in general ha,
been heard and that the railroad sid
Of the question would now be talsel
up, the day was about equally divide,
between both sides. Real estate agent
testified that property in Pullman rent
as cheap as that in the vicinity, tn