The Dickinson press., 1894-08-25
DEBS AS A WITNESS.
TEsTITIEs BEFORE THE ARDITRA.
TION COMMISSION.

Leader of the Recent Railway Strike
Gives His Version of That Great
Event-Snys 1t WINS Caused by
the Pullman Strike.
Chicago, Aug. 2l.-By far the largest
audience which has yet been in attend
ance upon the strike commissions scs-
sions was present today, attracted by
the appearance ais Il witness OF prcsl-
dent l.. V. Dcbs, Of the a. Il. U. The
court room where the commissioners
sit WAS crowded from che bench 10 the
doorways. President Dcbs took the
witness chair.
Now, tell lis in your own way, Mr..
Debs," said Commissioner Wright,
what you know Of the Pullman strike
and its results"
Leaning forward in his seat the tall
leader OF the great strike began in Il
low, clear voice, q recital, which grad
ually became more earnest and forcible
us he proceeded, until it developed into
almost all Grafton. He told of having
received word that Il strike in Pullman
was imminent and OF his coming to
Chicago to investigate
Il found" he said. that the mcl,
were working for the Pullman company
ut wages upon which they could not
live. found that salaries had been
cut time aud again until skilled mo
Chanics were working their lives away
for wages no sufficient for Il day labor
er. That the town of Pullman with its
shops, its houses and its stores was 50
sclemcd that every penny the working
man made found its way back into the
c,.Inplnv's Golfers. In fact l found the
workingmcn Of Pullman in Il pitiable
condition and determined would do
all in my power as president of the "A.
Il. u. to III PROVE the condition Of these
men. The strike followed, ordered by
the men themselves. Then came the
boycott. ordered by the duly elected
delegates to our convention and then
followed the railroad strikes, ordered
by the various local unions, each of
which had grievances of its own"
Mr.. DebS then told of the strike, his
account differing but little from that
of the other A. II. U. officials who had
preceded him On the witness stand.
Would the railroad strikes occurred
if there had been 10 Pullman troublc:"
asked Commissioner Wright.
NO. the Pullman strike was the,
prime cause. We decided to stop Pull
mans cars and shut off his income,
thus forcing him to ;,rbitrate. But the
railroad men had grievances of their
own. The general managers associa-
avowcd intention Of giving assistance
To the railroads in labor troubles. The
evident aim was to drive organized la-
u! l,",: existence. No sooner had this
association been formed than systcnlat-
i: rcductid MS Of rail"",d wages all over
the country began. ! lie cuts were made
on one road at 81 time. and in one de-
partmcnt ut a time. but the systematic
regularity with Which they appeared
was sufficiently significant The men
were ready to strike, and felt they had
cause. But the trouble would not have
come whcr. it did had ii not bsen for
the Pullman matter Tho time was ull-
propitious, BUSH css was depressed and
money was scarce. l did not order the
strike. l had not the power; the men
did it themselves. But l do not wish
to shrink any responsibility, and am
willing to say that heartily commend.
ed, conc,rrcd III and approved of the
action taken by the men. AS to vio-
lcncc, ! always condemned 1t. have
written and spoken against 1t, bcliev-
ing and knowing that Il strike cannot
be won by violence. As to kilograms
sent from Cur office counsclling vi0-
lencc, l know Of 10 such epistlcs.
What about the 'buy-a-gun' telc.
gram" asked Commissioner Herman.
THAT is easily explained. The tclc-
gram was ST mt by private secretary
to a friend i'll Butte, and was merely a
playful expression. 1t was sent as such
and was So understood"
Mr.. Dcbs then said that within five
days after the strike was declared the
union had the railroads beaten.
'"rllcy Were lmralyzcd," he said, "but
Just at that time injnnctions were sOwn
broadcast ard shortly afterward the
officers Of the A. II. u. were arrested
for contempt Of court That beat us
1t wasn't the railroads or the army,
but the POWER Of the United States
courts that beat us. About that time
Il thing occurred which desire to
mention. Gen. Miles came to Chicago,
called OH the general managers assOci:l-
tion, and the next day was quoted in an
interview as say ing that lie had broken
the hackbcI.c Of the strike. Now, con-
slder that call of Gen. Miles as vulgarly
cut of place. He had no more right to
consult with the general managers as
sociatioD than he had to consult with
the men OF our union. l might say,
too, that it seems strange that all Of
nu letters and kilograms were made
public property while not line of the
railroad co":tsrt ndcrcc was published.
IL it had beer. l think we could prove
that the general managers. at one of
their secret meetings, declared they
would stamp the A. Il. U. out of ex-
iSff ut.n -