The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1894-07-13
The Pullman Strike.

II is, indeed, supreme effort that
united labor organizations are now
making There is not city in the
country but what feels the disadvsnt
ages of the tie-up. Some feel it more
particularly in the advanced price OF
meats and vegetables, but in fact all
business relations are somewhat affect
ed. Had the tie-up taken place before
home vegetables were to be gotten
from home gardens, as at first intend
ed even the smaller towns would have
felt it. Delegates from all the trades
unions Of Chicago have decided to
order general strike in which 100. 900
workmen will be involved, unless Mr..
Pullman yields to their demands. This
he eatly refuses to do, claiming that
private business should be conducted
without interference.
The Pullman company issued full
statement in the Chicago papers of
all the events leading up to the strike,
and also of the nature and relation of
his car-building to the railroads en-
gaging his cars. He gives in this state.
ment a complete exposition of the
wages he paid his hands along with
his profits and losses in business. AS
a whole the paper is not calculated to
engender sympathy for his striking
wage-earners, since he puts the respon-
sibllity Of their loss Of wages and Of
employment largely upon themselves,
in consequence of their arbitrary at
titude after his explanation of the
depersed conditions and Of the com
petition in the car-building industry.
He says many things by way Of
public and personal explanation
The absolute necessity of the last
reduction in wages, under the existing
condition Of the business of car manu-.
featuring, had been explained to the
committee, and they were insisting
upon restoration of the wage scale
of the first half Of 1895, when Mr.,
Pullman entered the room and ad-
dressed the committee, speaking in
substance as fOlloWS.
AT the commencement of the
very serious depression last year we
were employing at Pullman $50
men and paying out in wages there
S5o5,oOo a month. Negotiations with
intending purchasers of railway equip
ment that were then pending for new
work were stopped by them, orders
already gwen by others were cancelled
and we were obliged to lay off, as you
are aware, large number of men in
every department, so that by Nov. 1,
1898, there were only about 1000
men in all departments, or about one
third of the normal number. ] real
lied the necessity for the most strenu.
Gus exertions to procure work i'm
medlately, without which there would
be great embarrassment, not only to
the employees and their families at
Pullman, hut also to those living in
the immediate vicinity, including be-
tween 700 and 500 employees who had
purchased homes, and to whom en-
ployment was actually necessary to
enable them to complete their pay
ments."
Il canvassed the matter thoroughly
with the manager of the works and
instructed him to cause the men to
be assured that the company would
do everything in its power TO meet
the competition which was sure to
occur because of the great number OF
large car manufacturers that were in
the same condition, and that were
exceedingly anxious to keep their
men employed. knew that if there
was any work to be let, bids for it
would be made upon a much lower
basis than ever before -
The result of this discussion was
a revision in piece work prices, which,
in the absence Of any information to
the contrary, / supposed to be accept
able to the men under the clrcum.
stances. Under these conditions, and
with lower prices upon all materials,
| personally undertook the work Of
the lettings of the cars, and by making
lower bids than other manufacturers,
| secured work enough to gradually
increase our force from 1000 up to
about 1900, the number employed,
according to the April pay rolls, in
all capacities at Pullman"
In further justification of his at
titude on the increased wages demand
ed by his hands Mr.. Pullman pro-
claims in his manifesto that the selling
price OF the cars they were turning
out had deprecated about "a per
cent. in the past two years.
Whether these deterrents be true or
false, and whether the demands of
his employees be right or wrong, the
deplorable fight is raging more or less
aggressively, and it will be felt by rich
and poor alike if continued for any
great length of time.
The impoverished condition of