The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-15
AN APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC.
Address Issued by the Local American Rail.
way Union Last Night,

Address Issued by the Local American Rail-
way Union Last Night.
The following address to the public was
issued by the local American Railway
Union at its meeting last night
To the fdir-minded public of San Francfsco: A
little over year ago several thousand of our
members voluntarily gave up our means of
livelihood in a well-meant endeavor to assist
our fellow workmen in Pullman, ILL.,, who we're
being crushed under the exactions of the cruel
and heartless Pullman monopoly.
In doing so in the midst of the hard, dull
times, we willingly, to sustain true principle,
sacrificed the little all of ourselves and our
families.
In the great strike of year ago we kept our
tempers and preserved order in spite OF every
species OF aggravation the railroad could
devise. Our course was a great disappoint-
ment to the railroad, not in what we did, but
in what we failed to do.
The only way they could defeat us was to
turn the tide of public sentiment against us by
either our doing something to shock the public
or our being charged with so doing The
former we would not do, so the plan was laid
TO falsely charge us with something that might
result in our ruin.
The horrible "trestle wreck" was brought
into play. We were falsely charged with it, ns
the records of the courts show, and one of our
members, poor crazy man, was railroaded to
the gallows on per- ured testimony.
Besides all this we have been prosecuted
blacklisted, boycotted and prosecuted on false
Southern Pacific octopus was used to crush us
and to starve our families.
We have been good citizens; we have spent
our lives in honest labor, ana because we
dared assert our right and our manhood in the
interest of our down-trodden brother workmen
we are made the special objects of all the hate
and venom of the most powerful and at the
same time most cowardly institution on this
coast.
on top of all this the commanding officer of
the United States army here at San Francisco
a dc n nlapino ho ora of
the poor unfortunate men who died to enable
the great corporation to crush us a black
ghoulish libel charging us with murder
For shame that the representative of the
great Government of the United States should
stoop to thus intiict so cruel and outrageously
unjust stab into our backs while we are
struggling for our own and our families exist
ence.
Before our great God we know, and our op-
pressors know, we are guiltless of that fearful
crime, and we take this means of calling upon
every fair-minded citizen, every laboring man
ana every friend of labor to come to the Metro
politan Temple, Saturday night, hear us, and
if you believe us, join in one mighty and indig-
nant protest against the towards that stab
from behind and fear the light of day upon
their black deeds.
HARRY A. KNOX, Acting President.
w. w. CRAIG, Secretary.
Among the speakers expected to address
the Saturday night gathering are James
H. Barry, George w. Monteith, TAYLOR
Rodgers, NJ. McGlynn, president of the
Labor Council, and Rev. Joseph E. Scott.
Harry Knox said at the meeting of the
union last night that it would be shown at
wrecked, by whom it was wrecked and
why it was wrecked. ave have frequently
tried to do this in the courts" he ex-
planned, "but the authorities would never
let us have any opportunity. We will now
take the opportunity"