The Newtown bee., 1894-07-13
Editorial Ink Drops.
THE GREAT STRIKE.

caRo, during the last Few days, the heau- quarters of the great railroad strike. The interest in this matter Ia we'll nigh | as the principles involved touch the very foundations of our gov ernments stability. The farmer in the hay field, has shared with his brother in the stock exchange, in the desire to get the latest word from the seat of war, and 1t has plainly shown that when the couu- try's honor or safety is at stake, all spir- 1t of partisanship is lost sight of in the genuine love of country.
 Chicago has been the center of distur- bance, but by centering there a force of some 10000 regular troops, state militia, deputy marshals and police the mob spir- 1t let loose by the outbreak has been held firmly in check, and without revolution in Chicago there will be no revolution anywhere else. The Presidents procla- nation of sunday night seems to have had salutary effect. It showed that the government was in earnest in its de- termination to maintain order, and that the rioters took their lives in their hands when they ventured out. And the riot CTS appear to have understood 1t.
 The issue as it stands today is not be- tween oppressed workingmen and tyran- nical corporations. The Springfield Re- publican strikes the nail square on the head when it outlines the situation as to "whether the whole cause of industrious and peaceful life throughout the country Is to be interrupted until MT Pullman consents to arbitrate the question of wages with his former employees. A de- mand 80 made ought to be resisted by the whole power of government and of the people. No matter If MT Pullman is ten times meaner than he Is charged with be- ing. No matter If at an earlier stage it would have been wise and right for him to call in arbitrators. However that may be, when 1t Is virtually said that unless this private quarrel is brought to a special kind of settlement, the railroads shall be blocked and the factory wheels stopped and the forges go out and coal and meat and ice be shut out and produc- tion cease and industrial and social life be kalted,-tO yield to such a threat would be suicidal. Arbitration by con- sent may be medicine, but arbitration under menace is poison."
 The government is not forcing any body to work. If Knights of Labor, or any other class of workingmen, want to quit work to show their sympathy with the Pullman laborers, they have the priv ilege. But the government should not and will not allow men who are willing to run the railroad trains, to be prevent ed from so doing. The above quoted journal goes on to say: "Violent inter- ference with legitimate industry and its defenders must be put down. If shot and steel are necessary, shot and steel will be used. And the people behind the government are clear in mind and reso- lute in purpose. They are in no mood for rsplitting,-the house is on fire, and 1t is no time for questions of etiquette between fire commissioner and chief en- gineer. Law is sacred, even it's forms are important, but when law must be in- terpreted in hurry the people are more disposed to trust the legal soundness of President Cleveland than of President Debs."
 What is going to be the outcome of all this agitation as affecting the manage ment of the railroad? A leading Western railroad official makes this significant statement: "The government will go in to the railway business. The interstate commerce commission, which now stands between the transportation companies and their customers in regulating rates. will ultimately take on similar relation between them and their employees and regulate wages and hours of work. A gang of engineers oI switchmen who are not satisfied with their pay will complain to the commission for an adjustment of wages, just as dissatisfied shippers now seek their interference in matters of rates.n When the federal government assumed regulative control of the roads in the interest of the shippers and the public in 1887, it became only a mat ter of time when it would also extend it's control to the body of railway employees and stand between them and their em. ployers in the adjustment of all grievan- ces and disputes in regard to wages and hours of employment. The frequent in terruptions to traffic from labor traubles since then make 1t inevitable and desira- ble that the government shall quicken It's pace in the direction indicated.
 The government has taken wise
 
 course in the arrest of Debs and other la bor leaders, and Uncle Sam is danger. ous man to monkey with, as they maJ