St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-08-29
EXPOSITION CAUSED STRIKE.
He Denies That Any Eviction
List Has Been Pre-
pared.
GENERAL MILES TESTIFIES.
Troops Not Used in interests
Of the Railway Corpo-
pationS.

CHICAGO, Aug. 2S.-In the investiga-
ton of the Pullman strike today by the
national commission, Chauncey Ke lSey,
of the Chicago q Alton railroad, took
the witness chair and testified as TO the
losses sustained by that road during the
strike. He declared that the total loss
was 1886. $50. Then William McFadden,
of the Lake Shore q Michigan Southern
railway. testified that the loss OH cars
alone 10 that road was S5.154.
The Chicago IL Eastern Illinois re-
ported $4,000, and the Chicago. Bur-
lington IL Quincy reported Sl5O,000 in
destruction to property. with other
losses that had not been tabulated.
Charles E. Webb. chief clerk of the
bank at Pullman, testified that Jennie
Curtis. who had claimed she was COM
PEELED to pay back rent, had paid the
rent voluntarily.
Then Vice President Wickes took the
stand. Questioned by Chairman Wright,
he said that the cost to the company of
building the cars under contract at the
time of the strike was about Sl,40o.0O0.
The labor would cost about $4,000,
The contracts were taken on basis of
reduction of 20 per cent. and thus,
under the old prices, the labor would
cost about $4,000
Mr.. Wickes admitted that on this
basis the company had reduced its re-
ceipts $4,000 and the employees wages
100000. This. the vice presiden said,
looked hardly fair. but he thought 1t
nh hntt no IN ho
tirely out of employment. In answer to
the chairman Mr.. Wickes said that the
Cut in Pay
had been made to fit the depression in
business and the low selling price of
ears, and not to stop any encroach-
ment on the profits that were paid to
the stockholders. The surplus of s25,-
100000 undivided profits consisted
partly of idle cars, whose value was
constantly deteriorating. The cost of
the cars was figured in the surplus, so
that there was, to some extent, fiction
in the figures of the surplus.
He said that the worlds fair, in his
opinion, did not do the company any
particular good. The company spent
s, SOC, 900 in building new cars for fair
traffic, and the traffic was not nearly SO
large as was expected. He thought that
the fair work had something to do with
the cause of the strike. When the rush
was over the prices got down to bed
rock and the men were dissatisfied.
He did not think that a voluntary diviS-
ion of the profits in prosperous times
would be better than the present sys-
TEN. 1t would not be fair to the stock
holders to so divide the DrOfltS
Mr.. WickeS said the amount of back
rent due the company from strikers was
500, 600. No evicted list had been made,
and there had been no orders issued for
evictions. Very little effort had been
made to collect back rents. He said
the company had contracts with the
roads its cars ran over (abOut three
quarters OF the entire mileage of the
country. On the territory covered by
the contracts the company had absolute
control.
Mr.. Wickes denied that Pullman
employees were compelled to rent the
com pany's dwellings. He said he did
not believe that the principle of arbi-
tration could be applied to a man in the
operation of his business. A matter of
opinion was available to arbitration,
but not the matter of "a man running
his own business.
The witness was questioned as to the
salaries paid the company's officers, but
declined to answer.
Gen. Nelson A. lilies
took the stand when the commission
met after luncheon. He denied fatty
the story that OH his arrival here from
Washington he had at once consulted
with the general managers. On July 2,
when this conference was said to have
taken place, he was in Washington, and
arrived here on July 4. Asked if it was
true that he had declared he had broken
the bac kbone of the strike, the general
said this was not quite exact What he
had said was that he had broken the
, backbone of the op position TO the federal
| TROOPS.
The commissioners wanted to know
| if the troops forced railroad men to
work at the point Of the bayonet. Gen E.
Miles said that while this might have
| happened in some instances, he had
not been aware of it, and had given no
orders to that effect. He said he knew
| nothing about the strike.
General Superintendent Sullivan, of
| the Illinois Central. was the last I'M
| portant witness of the day. He declared
that many of the striking railroad men
| had committed acts of violence, and
backed up his assertions with tangible
| evidence. This was the main point in
| his evidence.
| The balance of his testimony was
similar to that given by preceding wit
| ntSSeS.