St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-09
wORKINGMEN DELIBERATE.

While everybody who has seen the
manifold disasters that necessarily
follow a strike, even when it may be
justified, is glad that the business in
terests of the Northwest have been
saved from the tremendous demorali-
cation that was threatened by an
other disagreement between rail-
roads and their employees, the most
satisfactory feature of the whole sit
uation seems to US to be the delib-
crate refusal of the men at differ
ent points to order strike. What
ever may be the strength or weak
ness of the A. R.. U. in this section,
it has many local associations; and
It's I0embers, if acting in accord
and III determination, could un-
1oubtet Y make it difficult to operate
a road we're they all to go out to-
gether. They appear to have deter
mined very generally that this is not
the time, and that sufficient reasons
are wanting for ordering a strike.
The vote taken in the lodge at Breck-
enridge, in which there were four
teen in favor of striking to forty-two
against, is an illustration.
We believe that the spirit which
this shows among railroad employees
is even more important than the dl-
rect act itself. The great trouble
with strike movements in the past
has been that they were conducted
With too little deliberation and at
the instigation of a few men. In
deed, to take vote on the question
of striking has been almost equiva-
lent to ordering a strike itself. Mem
bers of the organizations have been
partly won over by the heated argu-
ments of the striking element, and
have been Influenced PARTLY by the
odium that would attach to them if
they opposed a move which was rep
resented to be a just retaliation for
injuries suffered. So it has hap
pened over and over again that large
bodies of employees have gone out on
strike when a majority of the indi-
viduals concerned would undoubtedly
have kept steadily at their work if
they could have consulted their pri-
vate interests, and acted on their in
dividual judgments without fear and
without reproach. The great losses
which the laboring men have suffered
from striking in the past have taught
them the lesson that this weapon,
though legitimate in itself and nee
essary to be used as a last resource,
is one that should not be taken up
lightly.
A strike is a declaration of war.
Before it is entered upon the cost
should be counted carefully. If work.
ingmen know that they have griev-
ances, if they have used all other
methods to secure redress and failed,
and if they believe that those griev-
ances will remain or become intoler-
able, they may properly and wisely
determine that 1t is better to settle
the issue by a present struggle rath-
er than to suffer indefinitely from ills
uncomfortable. But if, looking the sit
uation over, they are convinced that
a strike will do them more harm than
good, that the condition of the labor
market is such as to make their sue
cess practically impossible, that the
best result/@yhich they can hope is
ito infiict injury upon the employer,
at the cost of throwing themselves
out of work and bringing their fam
lilies face to face with starvation.
the sensible course for them is not
to make their condition worse than
it is, but to look for other means for
improving it.
They have in the past weighed
the arguments for and against
striking with too little delib-
Grafton. 1t cannot be denied that
the strike has been too popular.