The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1894-08-29

nication was returned simply because
1t was signed by officers Of the A. R. U.
Judge Worthington asked: "Didyou
think it derogatory to the honor of the
mayor to bring respectful, peaceful
overture looking to a settlement OF q
strike that was costing the city hun
dreds of thousands of dollars?"
81 did at that time"
"Did your association make any Of
fort to settle this strike other than by
force?"
Mr.. Egan could not say. He thought
the general managers did not care for
a peaceful settlement on the basis pro-
posed by the A. R. U. officers.
WAS it not a matter of general con-
currence among the general managers
that the strike should be crushed out
rather than settled peaceably?"
Il couldn't say as to that"
Mr.. Egan did not know of his own
/ personal knowledge whether strikers
took part in the riots or not In his
reports he had always designated them
as strikers or their sympathizers.
How would you fix a scale of wages?"
81 would have the employees of each
railroad meet with the officers and fix
a schedule of wages. think there
would be no trouble in doing this"
Mr.. Egan thought the cause of strikes
was the agitation of labor leaders
rather than any real grievances. He
admitted that in some cases the men
! had grievances.
1T is charged" said Mr.. Herman,
''that you have used money to employ
: men to burn cars"
Considering the source from which
that statement came, it is the vilest
kind of lie. consider it on a parity
with other statements made by Debs,
Howard and Others"
Isaiah Campbell, contractor and
builder living at Kensington, thought
there would have been no strike but
for the organization of the A. R. U.
! CHICAGO, Aug. 27.-President Debs,
of the A. R. u, was recalled at the be-
ginning of Saturdays session of the
national labor commission. He pro-
duced letter substantiating his state
ment that the now famous expression,
Save your money and buy gun" was
not his but that of his stcnographer, l..
p. Benedict, and was by the latter used
only in spirit of badinage. The let
ter declares that the expression was
common one in the office at Butte,
Mont, from which Mr.. Benedict came.
Mr.. Debs was then asked the question:
"Do You believe it justihable to tie up
the commerce of the country in order
to obtain redress for comparatively
small body of men?" to which he re-
piled: THAT depends. For small
grievance do not think it would be
justifable; for one affecting large
number of men, | think it would be.
do you think railroad company
would be justifable in tying mp com
merce in order to resist demand made
on the road?'
"Wcll, that is the way the general
managers do the thing"
Commissioner Wright then read Mr..
Debs a communication which suggests
that labor and capital each be required
to file bond, to be forfeited in case of
a refusal to submit any question to ar
bitration. The witness did not like
the plan. He said he was opposed to
anything like compulsory arbitration.
President Debs said he had no personal
knowledge Of a black list He then
devoted his attention to denying state
ments made by General Manager st.
John, first denying that there were
only 200 members of the A. r. U. on the
Rock Island system.
1--WE had larger membership than
that" he said.
Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation Of Labor, next
took the stand. He said the member
ship was $4,000. Mr.. Gompers told in
detail about the meeting at the Briggs
house at which action was taken on the
A. Il. U. strike.
"We decided at this meeting" said
Mr.. Gompers, that since the prime
minister of England had deemed it ex-
pedient to use the great power Of En-
gland to end the coal strike it would
not be beneath the dignity Of the presi-
dent of the United States to take some
action in this unhappy crisis. To this
end we telegraphed him, asking him to
either come to Chicago or send repre-
sentative. To this telegram the presi-
dent did not deign to reply. The
American Federation of Labor deemed
it inexpedient at this time to recon-
mend strike"
Mr.. Gompers read an address to the
public, explaining why the organiza-
ton of which he is president refused to
order a strike. He referred to the town
of Pullman as Pullman's Pharasaical
Paradise
1T would be very difficult thing
for the American Federation of Labor
to declare strike" continued Mr..
Gompers. ''We could only do it in
some matter of general interest, such,
for instance, as the establishment ofan
eight-hour day."
When asked whc,'.er he thought q
strike justifiable at any time, Mr. Com
pers said: ~ believe that labor has
the right at all times to better its con-
lition. II commerce or industry is in
cidentially paralyzed it is not the fault
Of labor, but of the corporations which
reguse to grant its just and reasonable
demands B tF
Asked how he would solve labor
problems, Mr.. Gompers said: $50 long
as the present conditions exist there
will be strikes. I do not join in this
3 s.a,,1raI Accommodation, ~ ek-;lxoe -