The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-06
A LABOR CONGRESS-.
TTainmen in This Country, Canada
and Mexico to Hold a Parliament.
Lawmakers Asked to Take Action.
Sensational Revelations Concerning
Railway Management to Be Made by
Firemen, Engineers, Brakemen and
Switchmen.

Railway Management to Be Made by
Firemen, Engineers, Brakemen and
Switchmen.
Copyright.
New York, May 5.-TO anyone even
casually acquainted with the condition
of affairs among the railroad employees Of
the country, the present state of affairs is
one of profound interest This interest is
intensified as a result of the surprisingly
little attention generally paid as yet to
the development of the existing situation
"a situation which imparts to the
coming assemblage in the city of
New York of the trainmen and
railway employees of the United States,
Mexico and Canada, a significance seldom
acquired by any gathering. 1t is hardly
overstating the case to say that the de-
alterations of the delegates will directly
concern every man, woman and child in
America. Why this is so will be at
tempted to be shown in the account which
follows of the measures which are to re-
ceive the attention of these delegates, the
persons they represent and the grievances
which il is their purpose to call to the at
tentiou of congress.
The convention will begin its delibera-
ton on May q, and is to remain in session
three days at least. Already prepara-
tions are under way at the Lenox Lyceum
in New York The scene of the assem-
blages labors, TO prepare a fitting well
come for the men. The unions to be rep
resented, besides the employees of the re
spective roads, include the Order of Rail
way Conductors, mem bership 10000; the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers,
mem bership 81 600; the Brotherhood of
I npou,oriy-a ESrar1an upa bar
600; the Brotherhood of Railway Train
men, membership 10000; the Order of
Railway TelePraphers, membership -
coo the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Asso-
citation, membership 7,0e0. and special
delegates bearing credentials from the
leading roads of Mexico, Canada and the
western states. The repreSen tativeS will
thus reach a goodly number and what
they decide upon doing will, in the Ian
guage of A-A. Mcleod, have an important
bearing upon the railroad question on
this continent for a long time to come.
The chairman of the interstate COM
merce commission, William r. Morrison,
has long taken great interest in the
growth of this movement.
The convention will probably be called
TO order by Chief p. M, Arthur, who
comes from Cleveland at the head of one
of the leading delegations Of the confer
ence. After the election of permanent
officers, there will come an appointment of
committees having charge of grievances
bearing upon every aspect of the railway
labor problem This will be, indeed, the
real work of the assembly, and it is in
tended to have il done as guardedly as
possible, in view of the injuries alleged to
have been done to the cause of railway
hands through the premature disclosure
of their plans.
The records of their deliberations will
form indeed a moving tale and it is likely
that when the sensational charges to be
brought against some of the railway mag
mates of this country are formulated,
public feeling will receive a severe shock.
The story of the unspeakable degrade
tlons declared to have been visited upon
the trainmen by the officials of the west
ern roads in particular will seem in
credible when they are made known, aud
no secret is made of the fact that a con-
gressional investigating committee will
take charge of the matter when it is
finally brought up In congress. 1t is UNI
derstOod that Senator w. V. Allen will
have charge of the Senate end of the
trainmen's complaints and his well
known hostility to the al
legged oppressive features Of rail
way management lead the laborers
to expect no concealment of the ex-
tent of their wrongs-for wrongs they
call them. Indeed. it may be said that
the gathering this month will be little
else than public indictment of the rail
roads by their employees.
One of the difficulties connected with
the presentation of the facts in this case
is the fear expressed by the men of the
consequences to themselves of too free an
expression of their sentiments. Ever
since the combination of railway man
ayers formed by the Webbs Seward
and Fl. Walter, with the object of
crushing all forms of labor organi
cation on railways, 1t is declared that
even the suspicion of being union man
brings discharge in many cases. II.
Walter Webb is pronounced by the men
the arch enemy of railroad labor. Will
lam p. Daniels of Iowa, leader of the con-
ductors, conservative and trusted rep
resenta of the men, has formulated a
bill of particulars which reveals the pre-
! vailing conditions of the hands in a de-
! plorable light, and with F. p Sargent, of
/ Indiana, representing the firemen w. A.
| Simsrott, of Illinois, one of the prominent
/ officials of the Switchmens Union; Mar
! tin Whelan, of Kansas, leader Of the shop
men, has been, it is declared, the object
of the hostility of many railway magnates
throughout the country.
| One of the most conspicuous grievances,
| in fact, is In this result to influential
leaders among railway hands. No sooner
do they become effective in the work of
| ameliOrating grievances than they are
singled out for the enmity of the board of
directors, and proposed to ask congress
for a statute prohibiting the unauthorized
interference by officials of roads in the
affairs of unions The very existence of
such a need among the men is evidence,
it is pointed out, of tension that may
| result in open outbreak yet.
IL is needless to say that the railway
| systems most concerned in the delibera-
tions of the men are awaiting the action
they will take with anxiety. II would
seriously embarrass some properties, &C
cording TO posted authorities, if con-
gressional committees were to air their
4 condition upon the pretence of looking
into the wrongs of labor, and il is certain
that Washington will be the scene of
warm contests between the representa-
tives of the men ana of the roads.
The Union Pacific system will be one of
the centers of grievance. The picture of
degradation presented by some of the re-
/ ports to be presented by the delegates, al
most exceeds belief. Instances are to be
cited where whole crews have been sub
I jected to petty extortion and methods of
| docking wages introduced which bring
earnings down to an average barely sufi-
/ Gent to support life. 1t will be charged
that more than $4,000 has been taken
ha