The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-17
pebs and Sovereign.

The feeling of hostility to Debs and
[ Sovereign among the members Of the rail-
way union and the Knights Of Labor is
already beginning TO crop out, and be-
fore many days it is probable that they
will be bitterly denounced by the men
( who are now without work IN conse-
{ quence of obedience TO their orders. In
deed, the knights Of Labor in Chicago
who laid down their tools at the com
( mand Of Sovereign, and who
have lost their places, are already
den0uneing him in the bitterest
| terms. The workers in the great
packing houses particularly, have an
nounced their purpose to quit the Knights
Of Labor organization and to form union
of their own. with men at the head of it
who have sufficient judgment to do what
should be done in an emergency. There
are thousands of railway union men who
feel they have much more of a grievance
against Debs than they ever had against
Pullman or the associated managers of
the railways. They had work at
wages that afforded them a good
living. They were not complain
ing of their wages. They were
complaining of nothing and were very
themselves out of work and with no i'm
mediate prospect of getting anything to
do
AS they see the situation now they find
very little in Debs' conduct to praise, and
a great deal to condemn. 1t looks very
much as if the boycott on the Pullman
cars and the subsequent strike were or
dered by Debs to increase his popu-
larity and power. His object
in the very beginning was
to absorb all the railway labor unions
into one great union, of which he intend
ed to be the leader. He first tried his
power on the Great Northern road which
parallels the Northern Pacific, and he
easily won victory because that road
couldn't afford to have a strike at the
time. Flushed with victory, and feeling
himself strong enough to dictate to nearly
all the railroads in the country, he de-
termiued to make such show of his
power as would alarm the roads and
make them come to his terms.
The railway men had no grievance, how
ever, and so he seized upon the trouble
between the Pullman company and its
employees, a trouble with which the rail
way union had nothing whatever to do,
the Pullman employees not being connected
with the railroads. Debs evidently
thought that by forcing the Pullman com
pany to make terms with its employees he
would gain such prestige that he would
be in position to dictate whatever terms
he pleased to the railways.
He failed mainly because the national
government announced that interference
with the mails and interstate commerce
would not be permitted. Debs had not
taken into consideration the fact that the
government might be a factor in the
trouble, and when it did interfere he
saw at once the hoplessness of his under
taking.
1t is said that Debs has made COM
Portable fortune out of the men who made
him their leader. 1t is doubtful if he will
make anything more out of them. They
have had enough of him. Those who
have no prospect of getting the places
they deserted at his command may shout
lOr -hlh dWnlS lOuSeI, Du1 tney
will not do so because they
have confidence in his leadership,
bJft because they can do nothing else at
present. In their hearts they have no
kindly feeling for him, and it is not i'm
probable that at no very distant day they
will get rid of him. 1t looks very much
as if Sovereign will meet with similar
treatment from the Knights of Labor
The reaction has set in and both Debs and
Sovereign are likely to feel the weight of
the displeasure of the men they have led
| to idleness and suffering