The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-09-05
WON'T GIVE 1T AWAY.
Pullman officials Decline to State the
Salaries They Receive.


Salaries They Receive.
CHICAGO, Aug. 2S.-In the investigation
of the Pullman strike today by the national
commission, C'hauncey Kelsey, of the Chi
cago and Alton railroad, took the witness
chair and testified as to the losses sustain
ed by that road during the strike. He
declared that the total loss was $236, 800
Then William McFadden, of the Lake
Shore and Michigan Southern railway tes-
titled that the loss on cars alone to that
road was s., 154. The Chicago and Eastern
Illinois reported $21,60O and the Chicago
Burlington and Quincy reported $15O0O0 in
destruction to property with other losses
that had not been tabuated.
Charles L. Webb chief clerk of the
Bank at Pullman, testified that Jennie Cur
tbs, who had claimed she was compelled to
pay back rent, had paid the rent volun-
tarily.
Then Vice-President Wickes took the
stand. Questioned by Chairman Wright,
he said that the cost to the company of
building cars under contract at the time of
the strike was about, ST. 900. The labor
would cost about s240000. 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 it's receipts $500
and the employees wages $4,000. Mr..
Wickes said that The cut in pay had been
made to fit the depression in business and
the low selling price of cars, and not to
stop any encroachments on the profits that
were paid to the stockholders. The surplus
of $25 000, coo undivided profits consisted
partly Of idle cars, whose value was con-
stanuy deteriorating. The cost of the cars
was counted in the surplusses that there
was, to some extent, a fiction in the figures
of the surplus.
He said that the Worlds Fair, in his
opinion, did not do his company any par
ticular good. The company spent $4,5OO,o0O
in building new for fair traffic and
the traffic was not nearly SO large as was
expected He thought that the fair work
mad something to do with the cause of the
strike When the fair was over the prices
got down to bedrock and the men were
dissatisfied. He did not think that volun-
tary division of the profits in prosperous
times would be better than the present sys-
tenn. 1t would not be fair to the stockhold-
ers to divide the profits.
Mr. WicEes said the amount of back rent
due the company from strikers was Sl0Oo00.
No eviction list had been made and there
had been orders for eviction. Very little
effort had been made to collect back rent.
He said the company had contracts with
the roads it's cars over (abOut three
quarters of all the mileage in the country.
On the territory covered by the contracts
the Pullman company had monopoly. Mr..
Wickes denied that Pullman employees We're
compelled to rent the company's dwellings.
He said that he did not believe that the
principle of arbitration could be applied to
man in the operation of his business. A
matter of opinion was available to arbitra-
ton, but not the matter of a man run
ming his own business.
The witness was questioned to the
salaries paid the companys officers, but de-
clined to answer.
General Nelson A. Miles took the stand
when the commission met after luncheon.
He denied fatty the story that on his ar
rival 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 backbone of the strike, the gem
eral said this not quite exact. What
he had said was that he had broken the
backbone of the opposition to the federal
troops.
The commissioners wanted to know if the
troops forced railroad men to work at the
point of the bayOnet General Miles said
that while this might have happened in
some instances he had not been aware of
it, and had no orders to that effect. He
said he knew nothing about the strike.