Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1894-07-14

of Labor Present Their Case to Presi-
dent Cleveland AS the Statement Of Long.
Suffering and Starving Laboring Men
Against Crashing and Grinding Corpor.
ate Employers.
..,..
OhioA'o' 'uly o.-hl'er consultation
between the board of directors of the
American Railway union and General
Naetar No,l,,ar Sorora;o,n of tba
hhiSnVs VI Ldpor' INC ioiio"ihB "aS
sent TO washington last evening:
CHICAGO. July 7. 1904
To Hon Grorsr Ciereland President Of the
United States, Erecntire Mansion Vashiu1ton,
DC:
Dr.R SIN. Tbrouob n long ner,od n, denres.
sion enforced ialeness and low wages result
inc In yyidesnreod novorty ard In ,n,ry couos
actual starvation tho worrying neonle have
bcon natient and iaw-ohidin, ard not untiI tho
iron heel of cornorate tyranny was ann,ied
with the intention to suh,upate the working
peoplc to the win of arrogant mononolies did
tbov mako anv erort IN stav their onnregsors
The Pullman strike was not declared until
the emnloves Of the Pullman companv were
driven To the verge Of starvation their en-
treaties snurned with contemnt and their
prievances denied a hearine M refnsa, tn
handle Pullman cars was declared nv anv rail-
way employe until all propositions looking to-
wards arbitration and Cancellation were re-
iected nv the Pullman comnanv Notvitb
standing the facts set forth above which were
known to the public and the national authori-
ties. YOU have seen fit. under ,he,puise Of pro-
tecting the mails and acknowledgements, to in
woke the service of the United States army.
! whose yery presence is used to coerce and i'm
| timidate peaceable working neonle into a
! humiliatinp obedience to the will of their on-
pressors.
| Nv your acts. in so far as vou have sun-
! nlanted civil and stare authorities with the
| federal military mower the snirit of unrest
and distrust has so far been aupmented that a
| deep-seated conviction is fast Incoming prev-
alent that this government is soon to be de-
clared a military despotism The transmits
| sion of the United States mails is not inter-
rupted by the striking employes Of auy rail-
way company, but by the railway companies
themselves, who refuse to haul the mails on
trains to which Pullman cars were not at
tached II it is a criminal Interference
with the United States mails for the em-
ployes OF a railway company to detach from a
mail train a Pullman palace car, contrary to
the will of the coupany. then IL holds true
that it is the sane criminal interference when
evcra Pullman palace car is detached from a
mail train in accordance with the will of rail-
COmDaDy, while said mail train is in
transit. The line of crlminalitv I'm such case
should not be drawn at the willingness or un-
willingness of railway employes hut at the act
itself. and. inasmuch as IL has been the COM
mon practice of railway corporations to attach
and detach from mail trains Pullman palace
cars at will. while said trains are in transit
and carving the mails of the United States.
il would seem an act of discrimination apainst
the employcs of the railway corporations to
declare such acts unlawful interference with
the transmission of the mails, when done bv
employes, with or without the consent of their
employers.
In view Of these facts we look upon the far
fetched decision of Attorney General Oncy
the un American injunctions against railway
employees and the movements of the regular
army as employing the powers of the general
government for the support and protection OF
the railway corporations in their determine
ton to degrade and oppress their employees
The present railway strike was precipitated
by the desire of the railway corporations TO de-
stroy the organizations of their employees and
make the working people more subseryient tc
the will Of their employers and as all students
of government agree that free institutions de.
pend for their perpetuity upon the freedom
and prosperity Of the common people, it would
seem more in consonance with the spirit o
democratic government if federal authority wa
exercised in defense of the rights of the toll.
ing masses to life, liberty and the pursuit o
happnesS But, on the contrary there is no