St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-07-14
WILL Be NO STRIKE.
American Federation of La
bor So Decides.
AN ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.
4 Strike at This Time UnWiSe
and Contrary to the
INTERESTS OF LAB0RiRG MEN.
All Connected With the Fed
Grafton Are Urged
TO RETURN TO THEIR WORK.
Action of Debs and the A. R.
U. Commended.
Action of Debs and the A. R.
U. Commended.
81, 900 VOTED FOB HIS DEFENSE.

81, 900 VOTED FOB His DEFENSE.
CHICAGO. July 1S.-The conference
of the American Federation of Labor
adjourned at 80 O'Clock this evening,
after having decided against general
strike. The action of President Debs
and the a. K. U. was indorSed, how
ever. and $1,000 voted for defense fund
for the coming trial of Debs. The exec
utive council OF seven will hold a final
session tomorrow. The following ad-
dress to the public was issued after a
long discussion:
The great industriG Z upheaval now
agitating the country has been care
fully. calmly and fully considered in a
conference of the executive council Of
the American Federation of Labor and
the executive officers and representa-
tiyes of the national and international
unions and brotherhoods of railway
men, called to meet in the city of Chi
cagO on the 18th day of July. 1894. In
the light OF all the evidence oUtai 1able
and in view of the peculiar cOmplica-
tlonS now enyelOping the situation,
we are forced to the conclusion that the
best interests of the unions affiliated
with the Federation of Labor demand
that they refrain from participating in
any general or local strike which may
be proposed in connection with the
present railroad troubles. In making
this declaration we do not wish it un-
derStood thar we are i'll any way an
tagonistic to labor organizations now
struggling for right or justice, but
rather to the fact that the present con.
test has become surrounded and beSet
with complications so grave in their
nature that we cannot consistently ad-
wise course which would but add to
the
GENERAL CONFUSION.
1.-The public preSS,ever alive to the in
ierest of corporate wealth, have with
but few exceptions so maliciously mis-
represented matters that in the public
mind the working classes are now ar
rayed in open hostility to federal au-
thoritY. This is a position we do not wish
to be placed in, nor will we occupy
1t without a protest. We claim to be
patriotic and law-abiding as auy other
class of citizens claim to be; a claim
substantiated by our actions in times of
public need and public peril. BY
misrepresentation and duplicity GER
tain corporations assume that they
stand for law and order, and that those
opposing them represent lawlessness
and anarchy. We protest against this
assumption, as we protest against the
Inference that because a certain in
1iVidual or a certain class enjoys a
monopoly in particular lines of trade or
commerce 1t necessarily follows
that they are entitled to monopoly in
loyalty and good citizenship. The
trades union movement is one of reason,
one of deliberation. and depending en-
tirely upon the voluntary and sovereign
action Of its members; it is democratic
In principle and action; conservative in
Its demands and consistent in its efforts
TO secure them. Industrial contests
cannot be entered into at the behest of
every individual officer of this confer
ence, regardless of the position he may
occupy in
OUR ORGANIZATION.
"Striiles in our affiliated organizations
are entered into only as a last resort,
and after all efforts for a peaceful ad-
Justment of grievances have failed, and
Ia.
their own votes, usually requiring a
two-thirds and often a three quarters
vote, so decided. The trades union
movement has its origin in economic
and social injustice. 1t has its history,
Its struggles and its tendency we'll de-
fined. 1t stands as the protector of those
who see the wrongs and injustice re.
sultant of our present industrial system.
and who by organization manifest their
purpose of becoming larger sharers In
the product of their labor, and who by
their efforts contribute towards Sc
curing the unity and solidarity
of labor's forces, so that In the
ever present contest of the wealth pro-
ducers to conquer their rights from the
wealth we may, by our Intelligence
and perSlstency, by the earnestnesS of
our purpose, the nobility of our cause.
work out through evolutionary meth
DDS the final emancipation of labor,
While we may not have the power to
order a strike of the working people of
our country, we are fully aware that
recommendation from this conference
to them to lay down their tools of labor
would largely influence the members of
oul affiliated organizations, and apprecI-
ating the responsibility resting upon US
and the duty we owe to all, we declare
1t to be the sense of this conference
that
A GENERAL STRIKE
at this time is ineXpedient, unwise and
contrary to the best interests of the
working people. We further recon-
mend that all connected with the Amer
lean Federation of Labor now out OH
sympathy strike should return to work.
and those who contemplate going out
on a sympathetic strike are advised to
remain at their usual vocations. In the
strike of the American Railway union
we recognize an impulsiye, vigorous