Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-05
Its fullest possibilities before tying up q |
road or rather assisting to do so.
Rights of the Travelling Public.

its fullest possibilities before tying up q
road or rather assisting to do so.
Rights of the Travelling Public.
1T strikes ME az being very plain that
the third party i'll interest, the travelling
and trading public. has rights to be carried
out in connection with labor difficulties
on railroads and in coal mining. In the lat
ter case when the miners strike up goes
the price of coal, the general public is made
to pay the fddlers in the matter Of fuel for
warmth, and the manufacturer for power
purposes. 1t doesn't take a blind man to
clearly sec that a combination could. easily
be arranged between the labor leaders and
mine owners wherein these two parties
would be richly rewarded and even the
strikers gain what they struck for when the
time came to grant the same In the mean
time the general public suffers. Consider
alton Of the question from this standpoint
is q new one to the iaboring class. but the
one generally taken by the intelligent
thinkers of the country. AS a rule the
workingman will put forward his claim
and with q logged perseverance VIII see
no other side to the question
1.-THE same might be said OF the Coxeyites.
You know how many the Industrial army
represents of our population. VIVA. right
has the government to give this class work
any more than 1t has \ well-drssscd clerk
who comes to Washington and Demands q
thousand dollar position? Boys. this coun-
try is big and at present is suffering from
the chills and fever, but viii soon right 1t
self and move along better as result OF
the sickness but We mustn't lose sight of
the fact that there is q big general public
outside of the working people as a class
Taking a correct Interpretation OF the
word justice. 1t is not right that railroad
corporations should be required to submit
to any exactions, however arbitrary and
unreasonable which the worlsmcn might
unite to extort, in order to fulfill their legal
obligations. Neither is 1t TO be expected
that the workmen should submit TO any
conditions that may be imposed. however
unjust, without resorting to united effort
for self-defense, because the only weapon
at their command will injure an innocent
public. The railroads and other corpora
tons should be required to do justice to the
have the means of securing justice but
neither party has any moral or legal right
to interrupt the operations of railroads and
interfere with an important public service
in settling their disputes. The sensible con-
clusion Is that there should be some other
authority to determine such contests. to
whose decisions both parties would have
to submit in the fulfillment of obligations
to the public which are inherent in the
railroad business. The action recently
taken by the western courts would indicate
that there is light breaking ahead and
that the workingmen will in the future be
and that crooked combinations between la
Dor leaders and corporations be q thing of
the past.
Good Thing to Do.
about the best thing the railroad men
of the country can do is to organize. Not
as labor organizations, mind you. but as
working bodies in politics. This idea is not
my own. but comes from President Chaun-
cey Depew of the New York Central road
All of you know what a power the railroad
men have in small country towns in local
bttf
state contest. Why shouldn't they elect
state senators and assemblymen as well
as burgesses? Let their candidates he
pledged to stand by the railroads in the
states they represent and instead of driv-
Ing them into the hands of receivers
| through adverse legislation, pass laws that
Will permit them to make money and pay
better wages to their employees.
THE politicians all over the country have
been going hither and thither, telling every
body that the railway managers are sharks,
and giving the people glowing accounts of
railway earnings. But they never tell about
railway outputs. They have to pay state
taxes. local taxes. expend money on re-
pairs, new rails. new ties. new cars and
new locomotives. Then comes the salaries
from the president down to trackman. If
we add up what they pay out and what
they earn We can see exactly what they
have to pay on interest charges and the
| stockholders in the way of dividends and
II will be found to be not a very large
4 *
| ing cents mile for passenger fare and
cent mile ton for freight. In several of
the western states this rate has been re-
duced through legislation. and as a conse-
quence the railroad hands pay the bill in
reduced wages. They can't cut down ex-
penses on state taxes nor on local taxes,
nor on repairs. and very little on new equip
ment, but they can in wages.
There are as many railroad men who
are voters in the United States as there are
voters in nine of the states of the Union;
| that is, the total vote in these nine states,
which are New Hampshire, Vermont Rhode
| Island. Delaware. Florida, North and South
| Dakota, Colorado and Washington; and
these states have eighteen Senators. There
are 10000 railroad men who vote in New
York state, 10000 in Pennsylvania, 10000
| in Connecticut, 1900 in New Jersey and
$4,000 in Indiana, all, with the exception of
| Pennsylvania, being classed as doubtful
states in national elections. Now two and
! two make four. and ii can just as easily be
arrived at what an organization in either
of the states named could do IL their de-
mands We're ignored.
| "Anarchism and socialism may be all
right in the old country, but 1t won't do
here. The poor man has almost as good a
| chance to come out on top In the United
States as his more wealthy brother IL he
will only take the right way to go about 1t.
| Organize to work together in politics. ham,
rner down the prejudice against railroads.
secure the supreme courts of the different
states as arbitrators to settle differences
between corporations and organized labor.
and the chances are we will be wearing
diamonds inside of five years."