The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-14
RIDDLES WRICHT'S REPORT.
The Railway Age Declares it Worthless
and DiSCTCditable.

The Errors of Fact Said to Range All the
Way From Inaccurate Quotation of
Trivial Figures to False Generaliza-
tions as to the Whole Scope and Cause
OF the a. R. U. Strike-An Insinuation
that the Report is Purposely Unfair.
Chicago, Nov 13.-The editors of the
Railway Age to-day gave out for pun
lication an open letter addressed to the
members of the strike commission, whose
report ON the cause and conditions of the
American Railway Union strike last
summer was given out yesterday. The
letter in a criticism of the report, ''To cor
rect any oversights or misstatements of
facts"
Quoting the paragraph in the commits
sions' report which says that it should
be noted that until the railroads set the
example a general union of railway en-
ployes was never attempted, the editor of
the Age says: This statement is wholly
false The history of railway labor or
ganizations for the last twenty years is
largely made up of what your report
says was never attempted. Again and
been called on to enforce the demands of
one class of labor against one company
The ignorance of this fact, and the fur
ther fact that it was the repeated eN>
perience of it which at length drove the
railways to unite also in self defense,
is to any one at all familiar with the
history Of labor almost inComprehensible.' -
The statement Of the commission that
"the cut in wages during this period av-
eraged about 25 per cent" is pronounced
untrue. The average reduction in wages
for all shop employees was IS per cent,
says the letter. The editor says the Pull
man standard contract placed in evidence,
which shows return of cents mile,
was misinterpreted by the commission in
their exception to this rate of payment.
On the question of high rents at Pull
man it is denied that the company aims
to secure six per cent. on the investment,
and that ever since the houses We're built
in 1881 the income has not exceeded AZ per
cent.
The commissions assertions that no vi
OlenCe or destruction of property by strlk-
ers or their sympathizers took place at
Pullman, and that until July no extra
ordinary protection was had from the
police or military against even antici-
pated disorders, are contradicted. The
commissions report of the fact that 22l
guards of the Pullman company were in
service before the end OF June Is COM
mented on, and the assertion is made
that when the military were put into the
field, they were used at Pullman longer
than anywhere else.
The letter closes as follows: These
errors of fact in your report range all the
way from the Inaccurate quotation of COM
paratively trivial figures to false generali-
cations as to the whole scope and essence
of the trouble There are many minor
points in your report of which criticisms
and corrections would be easy. 1t would
be equally easy to pillOry the cheap levity
with which you treat the educational in
stiUtiOns and the aesthetic and sanitary
features Of Pullman. But these things
errors of taste or fallacies In theory-will
be apparent enough to the general readers
and will receive their proper treatment
from the frank critic of the daily press.
The curious accident that these mis-state-
ments Of fact are all on the same side
all tending to throw discredit upon the
corporations and to increase the bitterness
of the laboring classes against capitals
an accident from which we prefer to draw
no infareuces. one conclusion only would
we draw which is that no matter on which
side your errors are, the mere existence
of such errors alone sufficcs to make your
honorable report entirely worthless and
discreditable as u public doCument-dis-
creditable alike to yourselves and to the
country