The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-11-09
ORGANIZATION LEGAL
Attorney General 0lney on the
Reading Controversy,
RECEIVERS ATTITUDE UNTBNABLE

Employees of the Company Shall Desert |
the brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. |
Unoreanized Labor Powerless.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. o. The contro- |
versy between the receivers of the Read |
ing Railroad company and such of its en-
ployes who belong to the Brotherhood of
Railroad Trainmen has prompted an ex-
preston of opinion from Attorney General
Olney in the form of a letter to Judge
Dallas, of the United States circuit court,
before whom the case is pending
The difficulty between the two organi2a-
| tions reached a crisis on Aug. 10 last when
| General Superintendent Sweigard sum
moned before him eleven employees and
notified them that they should abandon
| the brotherhood as a condition of retain
| ing their places with the railroad company
| Vigorous protests were made against this
| alternative, and the brotherhood urged the
receivers to Withdraw it, but in answer the
receivers on Sept II, wrote;
"The policy of this company Is well
| known to be that it will not consent that
persons in its service shall owe allegiance
to other organizations which may make
claims upon them which are Incompatible
with their duties to their employers. This
position was taken advisedly, and we have
no intention OF departing from it."
| Attorney General Olney's letter Is an
| exhaustive discussion of the questions
presented and he reviews the various
problems. and the consistent solutions to
be applied, in every aspect. In substance
he holds that labor unorganized is practi-
cally powerless; that in combinations such
as this lies the only safeguard of the work
ingman in his dealings with organized
capital, and that his right to belong to
such "a union, beneficial in intent and pur-
poses, is legal right which he cannot be
deprived of.
Attorney General Olney's letter is in
part as follows
"The petitioners are members of the
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Some
of them have been members for seven or
eight years-have each year paid annual
dues and assessments which now amount
to considerable sums of money-and by
continuing their membership will, in
case of death or permanent disability be
come entitled by themselves or their rep
resentatives to large pecuniary payments
from the funds of the brotherhood On the
other hand by ceasing to be members,
they lose all benefit from the assessments
and dues already paid and forfeit all claim
upon the brotherhood treasury.
"The constitution and rules of the
brotherhood and Of the subordinate lodges
are before the court as part of the petition.
No controversy or antagonism has ever
arisen or existed between the Reading
railroad and the brotherhood or any of its
lodges, or between the Reading railroad
and any members of the brotherhood as
such members. If, as is claimed, the
Reading railroad has for some years
adopted the rule that it would not have in
its service any member of a labor organi-
zation, it is "A rule which has not been uni
formly nor invariably acted upon.
1.-The Reading railroad being now in the
hands of receivers, the receivers and all the
employees of the company are officers o.
the court. The court, therefore, and NOT
the company, is the employer of all the
3persons engaged in the operation of the
road The present policy Of the court
and not the past policy of the company
is the material thing to be considered. And
hence the precise question is: VIII the
court now lay down the rule that mem
bers of the Brotherhood of Trainmcn shall
i because they are such members, be dis
charged from the service of the road?
I "Tna court, it is admitted, ought no
and cannot lay down any such rule on the
groln that either the purposes and oh
jects Of brotherhood or the means b!
o. which they are to be attained, are show
IS to be illegal"
Speaking of the aims and purposes o
the brotherhood the attorney general says
d "Certainly the objects must be regarded
as laudable in the highest degree and a
~ deserving the appreciation and support o
every good citizen They are indeed praC
o | 1,a Xubi ph
ing people are expressly authorized to in
corporate themselves by act Of congress-
the statutory description of such object
- being for the purpose of aiding its men
bers to become more skillful and e1licier
workers, the promotion of their genera
.. intelligence, the elevation of their chara
w ter the regulation of their wages and the
(, hours an conditions of labor, the prote
y 4 ton of their individual rights, B." etc
81 Speaking of strike he says; "It is III
necessary to elaborate the proposition thu
a strike is not necessarily unlawful sinC
" it is emphatically sustained by the receI
a decision of the circuit court Of appeals
IA the Farmers Loan and Trust company V
Northern Pacific Railroad company, jui
. decided in Chicago"
lU should be remembered that d
IS, risks of strike are not obyiated by e.
ys Guiding the members of the brotherhot
o, from the receivers service. Men deemin
p themselves Hggrieved and seeking relief ,
redress, though not associated in an
way or for any general purposes, ma
-. easily unite for the single purpose of
IA | strike. In that view the brotherhood col
p stitution and rules may well be regardI
~, as operating in restraint of strikes
lB '"lhe best service is not to be expectt
~, from employees who smart under sen
m' of Injustice and are in a chronic state
N, discomfort Yet such is the inevitab
condition of employees whose right to O
=, ganize for mutual protection and benel
al is attacked and whose opportunity tolab
M conditioned upon the sacrifice of that rigl
,s ~ They cannot help noting that organic
al capital is not so restricted"
nd "
Election Row Ends i'm Murder.