The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-07-21
EARLY STRIKES
LABOR TROUBLES IN THE COUNTRY
MANY YEARS AGO.
The First Strike Ever Recorded In America.
Dissatisfaction ut Reduced Liquor Allow
ance-A Strike For Shorter Mours-Trou-
bic Over Rule Forbiddinr Smoking.

Dissatisfaction Mt Reduced LIQUOR Allow
ance-A Strike For Shorter IIours-Trou-
bic Over n Rule Forbitiding Smoking.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, July 19.-Tho first re.
corded American strike was entered
upon i'll this city i'll 1741-153 years
ago-by journoymcn bakers. 1t was u
strike for wages, but just how small
was tho weekly or monthly stipend re-
ceivcd and despised by the brcadmakers
IS not known to this chroniclcr; neither
is the amount demanded. Tho 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 if
not formally refused by their employers,
they walked out in Il body. This action
aroused great indignation, and tho lead
ers were arrested and tried OH tho charge
OF having entered into conspiracy
against the king"
1t was more than u half century after
that tho second recorded strike was
made. Tho staid city of Philadelphia
was the scene of this "labor trouble, E"
and the dissatisfied element was COM
posed of tho Fine" shoe makers. They
wanted higher wages, walked out and
had to walk i'll again for their pains, for
their employers said they could not, and
certainly they did not, acccde to tho
mons demands.
After two years the men, whose dis
satisfaction was only smoldoring, not
qucnchcd, tried it again and won The
next year, or i'll 1897, the employers,
who wcrc much chagrined over having
given i'll to their workmen, announced
that the wages must DO put down to tho
old figures again. This did not suit
little bit, and then came Philadelphia's
second and Che republics third strike.
This was settled by n compromise, but
whether there was also arbitration is
not stated. 1t should be noted that the
action of the men in leaving work was
not termed strike" i'll those early
days. They were said to have turned
out -
Tho magic wires that tick the news
to every city i'll the land wero not then
strung, of course and so intelligence of
the Philadelphia "turnouts" was slow
i'll its diffusion. But in time it was duly
spread abroad, and great was the ex-
cltement it cngendered among working
men. 1t was no doubt the victories won
by tho Philadelphia shocmakers that
brought about the exciting turnOuts of
scamen i'll New York that marked the
year 1903 These We're accompanied by
decidedly riotous manifestations, the
first that had ever been known, because
of differences concerning wages, Oh the
western hemisphere Just how the mat
ter terminated in the contest between
the shipowners and the seamen I have
not been able to discover, but it seems
probable that tho men won for it is
stated that in 1905 the PHILADELPHIA
shocmakers, encouraged in their turn
by the results of tho turnouts in New
York, inaugurated still further move
ment for better pay.
This was the longest struggle between
capital and labor that had so far
occurred i'll the now world 1t lasted
full seven weeks and terminated at last
in crushing defeat for tho men. Their
ringleaders, moreover, We're arrested,
u iNN anu COllNlCtCNl III lIiNlIlH entered
into Il conspiracy to raise their wages -
The records of the trials of the shoe
makers are preserved in tho library of
the United States supreme court ut
Washington and possess curious inter
est not only as contributing to the his
tory of the ''labor 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, master CONFERENCE.-The APP
pears that that was the title of an en-
ploying shoemaker early III the present
century-that he had lost over $500 an-
nually because of "turnouts" ordered
by the ,Journrymcn' association. Re
cordcr Moses Levy, who heard the cases,
fined the men IS each, with costs. His
official action reminds ono forcibly of
the English statute in force during the
reign of Edward III, providing for the
filming of tenants who "conspired to
lower their rents. F"
Labor unions III Philadelphia were
very slow to recover from tho effects of
the paralyzing fines imposed by Record
CT Levy, and there were no more turn
outs i'll the City OF Brotherly Love for
many years. In New York, however,
there We're more strikes in 1909, and
again it was the shocmakers who were
uneasy. Nearly 200 mon, the largest
number yet, engaged in that turnout.
The term strike" seems to have been
first used i'll that year. 1t was applied,
however, only to stoppage Of work by
the men i'll one shop A general volup-
tary vacation was still spoken of as a
turnout. The mon III this case were vic
torious Many strikes, nearly all of
shnnmalserS and fnAy Of 1nuch Congo