The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-07

wagner company nave only ABOUT seven
hundred cars. On the other hand, many
Of the road companies own most of their
sleeping cars, so that the American Rail
way Union asked them to boycott their
own property.
beginning here. it has gone on now
until it is a simple rebellion of railroad
employees against their employers. They
have shut out California and the Pacific
coast in way that is simply amazing.
TO 20 back to something near the
beginning of the strike, it is necessary to
say that III anticipation of the great travel
TO the worlds fair in Chicago last year
some four hundred new sleeping cars
were built. Many of these cars are now
stored in Pullman. So you see there is no
particular demand for new cars.
Il may say that one of the advantages
! of the plan Of one company operating
/ system Of sleeping cars over that formerly
| in vogue, where every road had its own
| sleeping cars, is that in case of an extra
| demand the central company can supply
accommodations which individual roads
/ could not. II is a great cooperative COM
! pany and not monopoly.
"WeL, when hard times began to come
on was DESTROYS Of keeping as many en-
| ployes at work as | could, for had hoped
! longer than year AS much as possible
Of the work is done by the piece, so as to
! facilitate figuring on the cost Of cars.
/ The selling prices of all kinds of cars
/ have fallen off about "A per cent. in the
last two years, so that the schedule of
/ piece work rates was reduced about the
/ same percentage. At the beginning of
the very serious depression we were en-
| ploying 5,s6l men. Negotiations with
intending purchasers of cars had been
stopped by them and orders for new work
cancelled. We had been obliged TO lay of
men, SO that by Nov. l, 1898 there were
only about 1000 employed.
~ determined that with the new sched-
ule OF wages ! would endeavor TO get con
tracts at Il reduced price for what few
cars might be wanted. The manufacture
ing department was anxious that as many
men as possible might be kept at work
even at a slight loss, and was willing to
make contributions for that purpose 1t
was partly from desire to give the men
chance TO earn living and partly be-
cause didn't want 10 see Pullman and
the adjoining towns so deserted that prop
erty values would depreciate,
The company put in bids for fifty
cars for the Long Island Railroad Com
pany at a price which was 300 less than
it cost the company to build them.
learned afterward that NE got the con
| tract by about $24, which shows how de-
pressed the car building industry is.
"Ihe 300 stock cars built for the Chi
cago and northwestern, and the refrig-
orator cars for the same company, will
net loss of $l2 on each car | could 20
on and give other figures in plenty.
THE average wages of all employees,
skilled and unskilled, for the year ending
! July. 1893, was q little over 5000. and
there was deposited in the savings bank
at Pullman 1858, 900, showing that the
working people were prosperous In the
| period of depression, when we were run
| ming with n force of only 1000 the de-
| pOsit sank to $40 600. After we had got
| these contracts we increased our force to
| 1000, and there was on deposit S4SS, 600,
| showing that money could still he saved
| on reduced wages. That was May IL,
! when the strike began. Since then 1872
600 has been withdrawn from the deposit.
! Nine tenths of those who have money in
the bank arc employees Of the company
II want here to correct an impression
/ that the men who work in Pullman have
to live in Pullman and pay rent there.
| OF the , 800 employees we had, 1900 lived
outside of the town. The property in
! Pullman comes into competition with out
side property in the matter of rents.
! The reduced wages were re eived
! without complaint for several months
May last a committee called upon Mr.
| Wickes, the vice president, to present
] SulAG lllilOI grievances dpOQb SuOp du-
ministration and to ask for return to
! the old schedule of prices. Two confer
ences We're held, i'll which the situation
was explained | even offered to show
! them the books to prove that it was i'm
! possible to pay any higher wages.
"All seemed to be going well, when, on
the night Of May 10, a large meeting of
employees was held in kensington, town
right next to Pullman. The committee
reported my statement of affairs to this
meeting, and the men decided not to
strike. The day following all seemed
happy at the thought that the threatened
strike had been ayerted.
That night local committees of the
American Railway Union, on the pretext
that there was to be lock out, and that
the committeeman were TO be discharged.
decided to call the men out, which they
did the following morning. Twenty-Five
hundred men went, leaving about 600
men, mostly unskilled laborerS. Notices
were then posted that the shops would be
closed until further orders.
What is your opinion as to the outcome
of the strlkeln
zone mans prophecy is as good as
another's. The situation is impossible
II cannot last. hope for a peacea Bile So
luton before very long"
Mr.. Pullman's stay in Elberon is indef-
mite. He usually remains from juno to
September, making six or seven trips
west, as business may require.
Conner For President