The Portland daily press., 1894-07-14
WILL CALL STRIKE OFF.
The Industrial Leaders Send a
Mediator to The Railroads.
ISSUES A STATEMENT
REGARDING THE TROUBLE.
He Shows That it v


the Pullman Company to Submit to
the Demands of the Men and it Would
be Useless to Arbitrate for They Could
Not Accept Any Decision That Would
Force Them to Increase the Loss in
Their Business-Other Strike News.
New York, July 13.-This evening
George M. Pullman issued the following
statement:
"There is hardly anything new to be
said as to the position of the Pull
man Company. have SO many indica-
ions of the facility with which my ex-
pressions and those authorized by me
become distorted and thus misleading
to the public, and of the entire forget
ting of my earnest efforts to prevent
the strike, that perhaps it is we'll /
should again make public my assurance
that the deplorable events of the last
few weeks were not caused by the Pull
man company taking a stand in the de-
batahle matter and refusing to listen
to reason. The leaders of the disorder
have not hesitated to harrass the Pull
mans by all means in their power, be-
cause as they say the Pullman company
would not ,.su bmit to arbitration and
now that disorder seems to be auelled,
they are reinforced in clamor for arbitra-
tion by some prominent newspapers, but
so far as | know by very few, il any
business men in the country. What is
the demand concealed under the inno-
cent sounding word arbitration?
Little more than a year ago the car
chn hill o-c,4,,
| porous condition, work was plen.y and
wages high, while the conditions of the
employees is indicated by the fact that
the local savings banks had savings de-
posits of nearly 100000, of which near
ly all was the property of the employees.
Our pay-roils for that year shows an av-
erage earning of over 5000 per annum for
every person, man, woman or youth on
the rolls. Then came the great panic
and depression of last summer. Many
customers stopped negotiations and can
celled orders and the out-working force
had to be diminished from nearly 5000 to
| about 2000. In November, 1898, the
great business depression existing
| throughout the country naturally result
ed in wage depression as the only
hope of getting orders was by biding
for work at prices as low or lower than
course neccessitated reduction i'll wag-
es of the employees at Pullman. This
was arranged satisfactorily as / sup
posed. By close competitions, disregard
ing all account of capital and machinery,
| secured work enough to gradually
increase my force 10 1900
the number on the rolls last April. Nine
weeks ago the car shops at Pullman
were working with car-building contracts
enough on hand to keep them going.
The most important OF the work in
hand was taken by me in competition at
prices less than the actual cost to the
company of delivering cars with any
reckoning for the use of capital and
plant. This work was taken to keep
large force of men employed and post
pone and with the hope of avoiding the
numberless embarrassment to all classes
of people at Pullman and vicinity of the
closing of the works to prevent which
the company considered it
wise policy to operate these shops
temporarily at an actual loss.
In this condition of things came the
agitation seeking to create labor organi-
cations embracing all the railway en-
ployes and apparently other industries
1t is my belief the controversy was ex-
cited at Pullman merely to move in the
lected not on account OF discomfort in
them, but because of their prominence
in various ways and because of chance
of show of justif cation for the stimuli
taneOus and causeless attack upon the
railways of the country for use under
long contracts by three-fourths of them
of the Pullman sleeping car-system.
branch of the company's business totally
distinct from manufacturing of cars for
In the early part of May committee
of employees demanded the restoration
of wages of year ago. explained to
the committee minutely and laboriously
the facts, showing that the company had
already been paying them more than it
was receiving for the contract work and
l offered them for their complete assur-
ance and to end all question an inspec-
ton of the books and contracts in hand.
This and the beginning at Pullman OF
the proposed careful investigation OF the
number of shop complaints seemed to
end all the trouble. A few days later
under the excitement of their recruiting
into the new organization the workmen
closed the shops by abandoning work
and thus doing themselves what was
strenously trying to prevent being done
by the depression of the car building
business.
The employ who quit work have de-
prived themselves and comrades of earn
ings of more than 100000 up to this
time. The demand was made before
quitting work that wages be restored TO
the scale of last year, or in effect the ac-
tual outgoing money losses then being
daily occurred by The company in car
building be deliberately increased to an
amount equalling about one-fourth of
the wages of the employees. 1t must
be clear to every business man and every
thinking workman that no prudent en-
| ployer could submit to arbitration
question of whether ne should commit
such piece of business folly.
A few words pertinent as to some irdust-
rlously spread charges against the COM
pany. One of these charges is that rents
are exorbitant, and implied Pullman en-
| ployes have no choice but to submit. The
average of rentals at Pullman is $3 per
room per month, and the renting of houses
at Pullman has no relation to the work in
the shops. The employees may and very
| many do,o or rent the houses outside OF
the town. In short the renting business of
the Pullman company is governed by the
same conditions which govern any other
large owner of real estate, except the COM
6 4 :;