The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-07-24

Especial Cores pondence.l
NEW YoRK. July is. The first re-
corded American strike was entered
upon in this city III 1741-I53 years
ago-by journeymen bakers. Ir was q
strike for wages. but just how small
was tho weekly or monthly stipend re-
ceived and despised by the breadmakers
is not known to this chronicler: neither
is the amount demanded The whole
affair. from start to finish. was conduct
ed very much as are strikes Of these
modern days. The men made their de-
mand formally 1t being promptly il
not formally refused by their employers.
they walked out in a body. This action
aroused great indi gnation, and the lead
ers were arrested and tried on the charge
of having entered into CONSPIRACY
against the king
Tt was more than a half century after
that the second recorded strike was
made The staid city Of Philadelphia
was the scene Of this Tabor trouble. -
and the dissatisfied element was COM
posed of the ''fine'' shoe makers. They
wanted higher wages, walked out and
had to walk in again for their pains. for
their employers said they could not. and
mems demands
After two years the men. whose dis
satisfaction was only s-aoldering. not
quenched, tried il again and won. The
next year. or in 1897. the employers.
who were much chagrined over having
given in to their workmen. announced
that the wages must be put down tc the
old figures again. This did not suit
little bit, and then came Philadelphia
second and the republics third strike
This was settled by a compromise. but
whether there was also arbitration is
not stated. It should be noted that the
action Of the men in leaving work was
not termed a strike in those early
days They were said to have turned
out =
The magic wires that tick the news
to every city IN the land were not then
strung. Of course, and SO intelligence Of
the Philadelphia .sturnOuts' was slow
in its diffusion. But in time it was duly
spread abroad. and great was the ex-
element it engcndercd among working
men 1t was 10 doubt the victories won
by the Philadelphia shcemakers that
brought about the exciting turnOuts Of
seamen in New York that marked the
year 1903 These We're accompanied by
decidedly riotous manifestations, the
of differences concerning wages. on the
western hemisphere. just how the mat
ter terminated in the contest between
the shipovners and the sea1nen j have
not been able to discover, but it seems
probable that the men won, for it is
stated that in 1905 he Philadelphia
shoenakers, encouraged in their turn
by the results Of tho turnouts IN New
York inaugurated 4 still further move
ment for better pay
This was the longest struggle between
s'capital' and labor that had so far
occurred in the new world. 1t lasted
full seven weeks and terminated at last
in crushing defeat for the men. Their
ringleaders, moreover, were arrested,
tried and convicted of having entered
into a conspiracy to raise their wages. -
The records of the trials of the shoe
makers are preserved in the library OF
the United States supreme court at
Washington and possess curious inter
est not only as contributing to the his
tory Of the Tabor movement, - but be-
cause Of the side lights incidentally
shed on the life and manners Of those
days 1t was testified by Mr. John Bed
ford, a master cordwainer 1t APP
pears that that was the title of an en-
ploying shoemaker early in the present /
nually because Of .'tuTnouts'' ordered
by the Journeymen's association. Re
corder Moses Levy, who heard the cases,
fined the men IS each, with costs His
official action reminds one forcibly Of
the English statute in force during the
reign Of Edward III. providing for the
fning of tenants who s'conspired to
lower their rents. -
Labor unions in Philadelphia were
very slow to recover from the effects Of
the paralyzing fines imposed by Record
er Levy, and there were no more turn
outs in the City Of Brotherly Love for
many years In New York, however,
there were more strikes IN 1909, and
again it was the shoenakers who We're
uneasy Nearly goo men, the largest
number yet. engaged in that turnout.
The term strike seems to have been
first used in that year 1t was applied,
however, only to a stOppage of work by
the men in one shop A general vOlun-
tary vacation was still spoken Of as
turnout. The men in this case were vic
torious Many strikes, nearly all of
shoemakers and few Of much conse-
quence, were ordered in different places
during the year Immediately following
The most important Of all occurred in
Pittsburg, town that. by the way, has
acquired a considerable reputation be-
cause Of its great strikes of later years.
The first strike for shorter hours came
in 1880, when the carpenters and ma
sons of Boston wanted to establish a 10
hour day, but could not succeed In
1882 Boston's labor unions got 50 strong
that the employers pledged themselves
not to employ union men. 1t came to