Evening star., 1896-10-26
THE SILLY CRY OF COERCION
A Railroad Man, Well Known Here, Exposes
Its Fallacy.
Testimonial to the Good Sense and
Manhood Of the Great Army
of Opern tfvea.

Announcement was recently made in The
Star that Mr.. Charles Hine, formerly OF
this city. who resigned from the army to
enter the rarks of the railroad men, had
been elected president of a large sound
money club. formed among his associates
at Anderson, Ind. where Mr.. Hine is now
serving as yardmaster of the Big -Four
road. One of his friends in this city hay-
ing read of the alleged coercion on the
part of the railway officials TO force their
subordinates into these sound money Or
ganizations. and Of the predictions freely
made by democratic managers that fully
~ per cent of the members of the clubs,
while wearing Mckinley buttons, would
secretly vote for Bryan wrote to MIR. Hire
and asked for information on the SUBJ
ject Nr. Hines reply, received a day or so
ago, was thought to be of so much interest
TO the readers of The Star at this tune
that 1t was furnished for publication,
follows:
Office of Yardmaster
Anderson. Ind, October D. 1886.
My Dear l.: Your very kind letter ask
ing about the alleged coercion OF railway
employees into supporting Mckinley and
Hobart has been duly received.
You will remember that when were
studying ancient history In our first year
at the Washington High School alb
ing the archaeological researches of Dr.
Schliemann. One very striking sentence
was: Men are prone to mistake coinci-
dence for cau;es." 1t is a coincidence that
in the present campaign railway employees
are found on the same side with their en-
ployers. That decent respect for the opin-
ion of mar kind. enjoined by the Declara-
tion of Independence. has impelled railway
men to state very forcibly that the causes
for this cooperation are due to no coin
cidence Of employment. That the railways
of the country are eXerting an enormous
influence in favor of sound money is fact
too patent to be denied. That they are
resorting to bulldozing tactics TO coerce
their men Is fancy too impossible 10 be
believed.
Early in the campaign the railway Off
Gals of the country, with practical unanim-
ity, announced their support of sound
money. The struggle is a vital one to rail-
roads, and accustomed to energetic action,
they have put forth telling efforts to secure
the support of their own men. Campaign
literature has been distributed speakers
have been secured, free trains have been
run. demonstrations have been held. the
moral effect of all which has been tre-
mendous. Coercion, however has not been
attempted. Away back in the days of
horse railroads, if not before, il was wise
ly said: Amy one can lead a horse to
ter. but the whole world can't make him
drink" Inheriting knowledge from for
nier generation, the astute railway mana
ger of today does not let the use of steam
that sagacious animal. the horse He
knows that the whole road can, perhaps.
drive man into parade, but under the
Australian ballot law, no power on earth
can control his vote. Ante-election decla-
rations are very enthusing, but il takes
votes to elect candidates and vindicate
PRINCIPLES.
Evaporation Causes the Cry.
The railway men of the country number
nearly 1,O0,OU. To see from a. to ~ Der
cent of them supporting Mckinley and
sound money is naturally exasperating to
the opposition. Hence the cry of coercion
has arisen. 1t is repeatedly charged that
railway men must vote directed or be
discharged. You notice frequent press dis
patches that at such a point some road is
coercing its men. i have taken the trouble
to run down some of these stories. notably
the one in which the scene of the drama
vas located in Indianapolis with the Big
Four railway as the heavy villain Diiyent
inquiry has failed TO elicit the names of
any men who have been coerced. Like the
chills and fever in a new country, they are
always in next town which is never
reached.
1t is good thing to bring matters home
TO people. and show just how assertions
which are absurd their face become
plausible when wired to distant points
Night before last one of my most trusted
yard conductors ran a nail i'm his foot
which has coerced him into wearing the
before
since his contact with free iron This man
has been conscientious advocate of free
silver. His absence from duty was noted
by an ever-vig.lant opposition. and today,
on tne authority of a public official, IL WAS
openly and seriously asserted that MS poli-
tics had cost him his Job
One of the few free silver men in The
yard was questioned about This alleged
martyr TO principle, and requested his in
tervlewe- to inform the aforesaid public
official that the latter was a liar. and. i
regret TO say. he qualified the epithet with
mat big, big ID which the cap:ain Of The
months / have discharged two men for
cause. Both were gold bugs, and on., of
the men employed in their stead is for free
silver. When this is mentioned our on
ponents reply: ''Oh. yes. it's all right here.
but they say over the Dan and Ber-
sheeba road it is just awful" There is
something so fascinating In believing that
| the fancied strong are depressing the in-
aginary weak that IL is hard to root out
the mistaken idea of coercion Nv posi-
ton brings me into confidential relations
with various officials of our own and other
roads, and If any were pursuing a different
course from that outlined above / would
certainly know it. 1 give il as my honest
opinion that no coercion is being practiced
So much for the charge OF coercion. You
will he Interested TO know just how and
why the railroad men think as they do
There is no better barometer of business
| than railroad traffic. When times are hard
the effects. The number of section men, of
shop hands and of clerks is at once reduced
| Fewer trains and engine crews are need
| ed, and those in service have fewer trims
| to their credit when the pay cad makes its
monthly rounds. The railroad man keeps
a rough tab on all branches of business
He knows how much grain is moving, how
many factories are running, and what ar
ticles of luxury are being dispensed with.
Exposed to constant danger, where mo
ments carelessness means death. train ID
| to think and to act quickly under unexpect-
| ed conditions, the railroad man arrives st
speedy and definite conclusions uncloudad
by sophistry or by cant. You will hear old
conductors and brakemen say: Il have al
ways been democrat. but I'm going TO
vote for Mckinley and gold, for / cant
stand these hard times. and l want my
money just as good that the bondholders
get for Interest"
A Prediction.
The claim has been made that the rail-
| road mems sound money demonstrations
are not true tests of strength. Had you
| seen the hearty, genuine enthusiasm of the
! ten thousand railroad men in line at In
dianapolis last week you would have
dismissed any such idea from YOUR mind.