Arizona weekly citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Ariz) 1880-1901, 1894-07-14

. fairly we'll rented and the rent collected.
I'm spite of hard times, the company.
, said one of the strikers this morning,
has managed to shift all the loss upon
/ the operators: it's own profits have not
J been affected. This has aroused feel
ing of injustice and discomfort. 1t has
prevailed in Pullman for some time, and
reached its elimination In the strike.
AS yet there has not been a suggestion
}, Ct violence. The strikers hope that
there will not be; and there will not if
the leaders can control the men,"
! Another striker, who said that he WIS
, a skilled workman, when approached
this morning, said that there was a
system of paternalism at Pullman, under
which 1T was very hard for man to
maintain his self-respect.
"The houses we live in" he said, fare
owned by the Pullman company; the gas
we burn, the water we drink, the clothes
we wear, we buy from the Pullman COM
paDy; and to such an extent are we con-
rolled by the system here, that it seems
at times as if the very air We breathe ee
inhRle by virtue of sacred permission
kindly extended to us by the Pullman
company. The thing is almost Intoler-
abe. You may say what you like about
4
town itself, abont the money that has
been spent to help the Pullman en-
ployes, about the advantages that they
derive, about the school, and the
| churches and the theater and the
library and the other things that ordi-
narily are not characteristic of a great
manufacturing town. but the fact re-
mains that we feel here as if the effect
of the system which subordinates every
thing and which brings it under one
common control undermines and des-
troys the individuality of an employe.
| He ceases to feel that he is man, with
| aspirations that he hopes some time to
crafty. His ambitions are blunted'
| His future is narrowed, and finally he
| finds that be has gradually been crowed
out of his manhood and that about the
only thing for which he stands is as an
| employe of his company"
A statement was furnished the writer
by the Pullman company this morning,
and in the course of this statement some
remarks of Mr.. Pullman himself are
quoted, which he addressed to commit
tee of the employees just prior to the
strike. Mr. Pullman said, in substance
this:
'At the commencement of the very
serious depression last year, we were
employing at Pullman 5,S16 men, and
paying out in wages there S3O5,OOO a
month. Negotiations with intending |
purchasers of railway equipment that
were then pending for new work were
stopped by them: orders already given |
by others were cancelled, and we we're
obliged to lay off, as you are aware, a |
large number of men In every depart |
ment; so tnst Dy November, 1898, there
were only about 1000 men in the depart |
ments; or about one-third of the nor
NAL number. | realized the necessity |
for the most strenuous exertions to pro-
cure work immediately, without which |
there would be great embarrassment,
not only to the employees and their fami- |
lies at Pullman, but also these liv- |
ing in the immediate vicinity, including
between 700 and 500 employees who had |
purchased homes and TO whom en-
plOyment was actually necessary 10 en-
able them to complete their payments. |
L canvassed the matter thoroughly with |
the manager of the works, ana instruct
sd 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 num Der Of large Car manufacturers
that were IN the same condition, and |
that were exceedingly anxious TO keep
their men employed. l knew that il |
there was any work to be let, bids for it |
would be made upon much lower basis |
than ever before.
"The result of this discussion was q |
revision in piece work prices, which, in |
the absence of any information to the |
contrary, suppose, TO be acceptable to |
the men under the circumstances. Under |
there conditions, and with lower prices |
upon all materials, personally under
took the work of letting of cars and by |
making lower bids than other manufac- |
turers, l secure work enough to gradual |
ly increase our force from 1000 up to |
about ), ,100-the number employed, ac-
cording to the April pay rolls in all |
capacities at Pullman. This result has
not been accomplished merely by reduc- |
tion in wages, but the company has |
borne It's full share by eliminating from
it's estimates the use of capital and ma
chinery, and, in many cases, going even
below that and taking workl lstEconsider- |
able loss-notably the 80 Long Island |
cars, which was the first large order of |
passenger cars let since the great depres- |
sion and which was sought for by practi- |
cally all the leading car builders |
in the country. My anxiety to secure |
that order, SO as to put as many men at |
work as possible, was such that put in |
at bid at more than $500 per car less
than the actual cost to the company. ii
can only assure you that if this COM
pany now restores the wages of the first |
half OF 1898, as you have asked, it would |
be most unfortunate thing for the men, |
because there is less than 60 days of |
contract work in sight in the shops
under all orders, and there is absolutely
no possibility in the present condition
of affairs throughout the country of
getting any more orders for work at
prices measured by the wages of May,
1893.
"Under such scale the works would
necessarily close down and the great
majority of the employees be put in idle
ness: a contingency | am using my best
efforts to avoid. TO further benefit the
people of Pullman and vicinity. we have
concentrated all the work that we
could command at that point, by closing
our Detroit shops entirely and laying off
large number of men at our other re-
pair shops. We have given Pullman
the repair of all cars that could be taken
care of there. We have also carried on
large system ofinternal improvements,
having expended nearly 100000 since
| last August in work which, under nor
| NAL conditions, would have been spread
| over one or two years The policy would
| be to continue this class of work to as
| great an extent as possible; provided, of
course that the men at Pullman show
| a proper appreciation Of the situation
| by doing whatever they can to help
themselves to tide over the hard times
which are so seriously felt in every part
of this country.
"There has been some complaint made
about rents. Asto this | would say
II - Il ~