The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-21
The DOINGS OF DEBS.
The Part Taken by the A. R. US
President in the Great Strike.

of Wages Claimed to Have Been In
augurated by the Railroad Managers.
Charge that Gen. Miles Was in
League With the Corporations to
Suppress the Strike - Debs' Stric-
lures on the Press.
Chicago, Aug. 20-Eugene V. Debs of
the American Railway Union occupied
the stand for nearly four hours to-day be-
fore the national strike commission.
He advocated a cooperative common
wealth, the abolition of the wage system,
and the government ownership of rail
| roads. He told his side of the strike as
| connected narrative, which was fire.
/ quently interrupted by applause from the
| laboriug element present.
! T H. Morrisey, first grand master of
! the order of Railway Trainmen, and
! Grand Chief Clarke of the order of Rail
way Conductors, also testified.
Debs was the first to take the stand at
! the opening of the days session. He said,
| in answer TO a question, that he was 3S
/ years old, and in addition to being at the
head of the American Railway Union,
was editor of the Locomotive tireman's
! Magazine. He testified that from the be-
ginning he was opposed to a strike and so
| told V. p. Howard He then continued:
| Il twice went to George Nj Pullman and
to the town of Pullman to thoroughly in
vestigate the conditions arising at the car
shops. | found the employees were not
only not getting wages enough to live but
were daily getting deeper in the debt Of
| the Pullman company.
mo matter how offensive theY Condi-
tions there, the men were obliged TO sub
nit to them. When / found out all these
things, | Immediately determined that the
American Railway Union should go to the
assistance of these unfortunate people
We believed that any fair board of arbi-
tration would have decided in favor of
the employees, and all we asked was arbi-
tration. This the Pullman company ar
bitrarily refused. Not only this, but
when we asked them to examine into the
question to see whether or not there was
anything to arbitrate, they also refused
this,
VERY much has been said about an
alleged conspiracy against the railroads
and against hauling the mails. | want to
call the attention of this commission to
the fact that every meeting of the Ameri-
can Railway Union was held with open
doors and that representatives of the
press were allowed TO be present
IF there had been any conspiracy con-
templated, we certainly would have been
more secret about it"
Mr.. Debs then told of the several fail
ures of the American Railway Union TO
secure arbitration from the Pullman
company and the subsequent inaugura-
ton OF the strike.
Not only did the employees of the va
rious railroads strike because of the in
justice being done TO the Pullman EN-
'ployes, but because the various roads had
grievances of their own, which 1 shall
proceed in time to show We used our in
fiuence to prevent strikes during the
worlds fair, as we did not believe it Just
to the public TO inaugurate strike al
such at time. 1t was all that could be
done by the leaders of the labor unions
to prevent a strike. In view of the men
working throughout the fair the
railway managers on many of the roads
promised an increase oil wages after the
fair was over. Instead of doing this
they began, Immediately after it closed,
to begin a systematic reduction of wages
throughout the country. No two compa-
nies reduced wages at the same time
This, to me, was a very significant ac-
tion. 1t shows me that there was concert
of action among the various roads, and
that they did not wish to arouse the an
tagOnism of too many railroad employees
at the same time
President Debs said, moreover, no rail
road reduced the wages of all it's men at
the same time, but reduced them by sec
tions. He declared the American Rail
way Union viewed these reductions with
the greatest apprehension. The eorganiza-
tion felt that the time had come to act.
He continued: when the American
Railway Union met in convention in
Chicago on June 81, it was confronted by
these conditions as well as the state Of af-
fairs at Pullman
"Was this convention called to consider
the reduction of wages or the Pullman
matterl" asked Commissioner Wright.
The convention was called for no
specific purpose. 1t was the regular
quadrennial convention, provided for by
the constitution"
The witness then enumera ted the fail
ures Of the old labor organizations to gain
redress for the grievances of the en-
ployes, and they felt their only hope lay
in the American Railway Union, to which
they finally turned for help. When asked
what the outcome of the convention
which declared the boycott against Pull
man cars would have been had it not
been for the grievances of the Pullman
employees, Debs said there would have
been no strike but for the Pullman
trouble, as the American Railway
Union, owing to the depressed condition
of the country, deemed it an inauspicious
time to strike.
Il would like to state' said Mr.. Debs,
"that the railroad companies have never
raised wages of their own accord. Every
them by organized labor.
II had no voice in ordering this strike
myself" said the witness. But If had
had voice in it, | would have ordered
it. Ihave no desire to shirk any responsi-
bility. My record will show also that
have always counseled against violence.
The telegram attributed to me which
read, Save your money and buy gun,
though sent over my signature. ] never
saw. 1t was sent By our stenographer to
his superior in Montana. and was not in
tended literally. IL was merely playful
expression current in Montana"
The witness claimed that the men
would have won the strike had not the
courts lnterferred
1T was not the soldiers" he said, ''nor
the old labor organizations, but the fed
eral, courts that kept US from winning
BY the arrest of the leaders the ranks Of
the strikers were demOralized
He charged Gen. Miles with being in
league with the railroad managers 70
suppress the strike, and relates instances
where, as he alleges, men were made TO
work at the point Of the bayonet. The
refusal of the general managers TO accept
the American Railway Unions PROPOSE
tion 20 end the strike was then recited.
Mr. Deos denied that the American Rail
way Union had any antipathy for the
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