Evening star., 1895-11-09
SPEECHES OF sYMPATHIZERs
Mass Meeting at Anacostia in Aid of the
Strikers.
Addresses by Well-KnOwn Labor
Leaders CitiDens Urged to
Boycott the Rond.

Boston, one or the principal omcerS OIL the
Knights of Labor. in a speech last night
at Masonic Hall, Anacostia, ''if the mem
bers of the societies of organized labor in
the District of Columbia, and the citizens
Of Anacostia do not come to the rescue of
the locked-out drivers Of the Anacostia
Railway Company" These remarks were
made at the mass meeting held to express
sympathy with the locked-out men.
Frde coaches were run from the cable
car terminus to the place Of meeting, and
large number of men and women took
advantage of them to visit Anacostia and
attend the meeting.
There was large crowd in the hall. The
appearance of Master Workman Lawrence
was the signal for much applause. Those
occupying seats on the platform beside Mr..
Lawrence were W. H. G: Simmons, master
workman of D. A., &C, K. of L. who pre-
sided; M. ]. Bishop of the executive board
K. of L., Boston; Rev. Alexander Kent,
pastor of the Peoples Church, Washing
Typographical Union; Samuel De Hedry of
the Journal of the Knights of Labor; Au-
gust Donath. Thomas Be Mcclure of the
executive board. X. of L., Brooklyn, NJ y;
Frank M. Dent, secretary of hallway As
sembly, and Paul T. Bowen.
The Speeches.
Mr.. Frank M. Dent, who first said that for
tHo past seven OF e1Snt lie
labored necessarily with President Girls
void to induce him to pay his men $3.50 per
Gay. but without success The rest of Mr.
Dents speech was devoted to an attempt to
prove that the road is able to pay the sum
asked, but that Mr.. Griswold will not per-
init the request to be granted He appealed
to the citizens Of Anacostia not to patronize
the cars of the Anacostia road. The locked
out drivers, said MIR. Dent, depend upon the
people of Anacostia and the labor associa-
tions of the District to help through the
present emergency.
Mr.. De Hedry of the Journal of the
Knights of Labor, who was introduced as a
resldent or Omaha, made speech attack
Ing the management of the road. He refer
red to some of the incidents in the long-con-
tirued fight between the Knights of Labor
ard the Brooklyn Heights Railroad Com
pany, which was recently settled, and pre-
dicted that the now locked-out men will
again be re-employed by the company.
Mr.. De Hedry argued that there were in
stances In which 1t was the duty of the mu-
n.cipahty to own the railroad and claimed
tnat the present was one Of those instances.
To bring this about was, he said, the busi-
ness Of the Knights of Labor, every assem-
eiy or which, he claimed, was organized to
demolish the corporation.
Mr.. DE Hedry predicted that the societies
OF organized labor will win victory in the
present instance, and that, having done so
tney Will take hold of the other corporate
bodies of the District and bring them to
terms also. In conclusion he urged that the
citizens OF AEacostia boycott the road.
The Whole Community Affected.
August Donath said the most unpleas-
ant feature about this fight was that men
have to band together to be able to work for
$l.jO for twelve hours. There was not, he
continued, business man in Washington .r
In Anacostia who is not affected by this
lockout. Low wages are not good for the
perpetuity Of republican institutions. If
matters progress for the next ten years as
they have for the last thirty there will, he
said, be more and more of a separation be-
tween capital and labor If there be no
change in this direction he feared that the
United States will become like ancient Rome
where the rich men controlled the state and
the poor people groveled In the dirt Every
body should, he said. get enough wages 10
enable him to live respectfully; to clotae
himself and family properly and to educate
his children.
Mr.. Donath urged that those who have In
terested themselves in the present trouble
put their heads together and when Congress
meets see II charter cannot he secured
for building competing line between st.
Elizabeth'S Asylum, and the navy yard ter
minus of the cable line, and compel each
company to have the tracks of its line con-
meet with that of the other. In conclusion,
Ma 1zS x HI ts fsey R
tinue to keep the coaches running for two
or three months, by which time he
thought the railway company would be
brought to terms.
Vice President Farrell of Columbia Typo
graphical Union said he had come to the
meeting to assure the locked-out men that
the members Of his union sympathized with
them, and will do all in their power to aid
them to win a victory.
Below the Striking Point.
Paul T. Bowen said that when wages are
cut below $3.50 per day 1t is best to strike,
tlov, orly fo,-
steal He claimed that the railway COM
pany earned more than enough to pay their
men sl.5a per day, but their policy was to
pay full interest on their bonded indebted
ness, which was, he said, wrong. In con-
clusion Mr.. Bowen announced that Ana
costa Is 1,5OO years behind the age.
Mr.. Edward Beckman of the Paper Hang
ers Union assured the locked-out men of
the support of his organization.
Brief speeches were made by NJ. ]. Bishop
and Thomas b. Mcclure.
Rev. DR.. Kent's remarks We're delivered
much more calmly than those of most of the
other speakers, and were devoted mainly to
Showing that in Canada and some cities in
Europe the experiment of having the mu-
nicipality own the street railroads had been
tried with great success.
In Defense of Mr.. Gri.vvold.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
1t might be well for the good people
drop Mr.. Griswold off the bridge" because
he does not manage the street railway sat
isfactorily, to reflect for a moment that
had it not been for Mr. Grisvold there
would have been no bridge from which to
throw him and no railroad to manage.
When Mr.. Griswold dawned on the dirty,
dried-up old borough of "Uniontown," full
of New England enterprise, courage and
persistence, his field looked about as hope
full for improvement as a sixteenth CEN
tury graveyard. Jackson City at this date,
SO far as material environment goes, IS a
chrysanthemum in comparison with
"Uniontown" at the advent of Harry Girls
void. He had great staying qualities and,
in spite of all prophecy to the contrary he
lived through the period of acclimation,
rescued his sisters little property from ut
ter loss, and began to hustle for a new
bridge This obtained, in the face of dis
couragement and against persuasion, he
built piece of railroad, acting as presi-
dent, secretary, treasurer, superintendent,
conductor, driver and stable boy. What
ever Anacostia has to recommend 1t as a
respectable and desirable suburb has been
won for it more largely by Mr. Griswold
than by any other ten men.
When Mr.. Griswoid says the road does
not pay it's expenses 1t is safe to wager