The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-03-25
News, from
t. the North
George C. FindIey Writes The
Labor World of Conditions in
Alaska. :. .. .'-.:
w J HEN + came to this far north
NV land I thought had gone

iVX 7 HEN L came to this far north
NV land I thought had gone
beyond the sphere of the labor agi-
tator, and, henceforth, only at long
distance would hear of strikes, boy
colts and soulless corporations. Such,
however, is not the case, and while
my "swear OFF, ! has been strong
enough, coupled with attending cir
cumstances, to keep me from reassum-
ing the role Of labor agitator myself,
still my interest has been strongly
aroused; for there has been much
"labor' excitement since my return
from the interior, right here in Skag-
way. Corporations and industrial war
are inseparable. .-!* '...s + =:S-s
{ The railroad building through White
Pass is the source of present disturb
ances, its methods being the same as
familiar to students of modern in
dustrialism everywhere in the civil
lied world. 5't' TN" ,~'.@ 49,
First, came an attempt by the com
pany through its ally, the Brackett
toll road, to, suppress the Independent
packers. The. Brackett wagon road
has franchise; but the packers had a
prior road. The former is mostly
hocus pocus, except the toll gates and
the toll collectors. The packers re-
built their trail so as to avoid the
4 wagon roads rSght-of-way whereon
possible, but the canyon in places be-
ing narrow and its walls precipitous,
there were places where they neces-
.sarily could not avoid the toll roads
tright-of-way; and to kill off competi-
tors, whereon the toll road infringed
upon or crossed the packers road,
toll-gates were erected and tribute de-
|manded in the name of the law. 4,
+. The packers are the, pioneers Of the
country, and they came as near
possessing the independent spirit Of
the pa triotf Of '76 ,asean be found any an.
where under the stars and stripes.
They tore down the gates; were arr
rested, released by just Judge on
their own recognizance and finally the
cases against them, on the toll roads
own showing, were thrown out of the
local court. :.- ~, l.
Here, this chapter, for the present,
ends, with an attempt being now un-
der. way by the corporations inter
ested, because they cannot control
him by either bribes or intimidation,
to have Judge Sehlbrede of the local
court, removed. The future will tell
with what success.
The second chapter begins with an
attempt to cut the wages Of the 900
employees of the Yukon & White Pass
railroad from 35 to 80 cents per hour.
The men were hired under contract
at the former price through agencies
on the Sound. The conditions under
which. the work is performed are prob
ably the most severe that men engaged
ir that kind of labor were ever called
upon to endure. Through these win
ter months there is almost constant
blizzard sweeping the pass in it's
higher attitudes with it's icy. blasts.
If a few days of soft weather inter-
venes, then snow slides become immi-
nent and the men in camp or at work
are in constant danger Of death.
Ofhe,. conditions tended to develop
dissatisfaction. .Foremen were en-
ployed who were incompetent or had
no regard for the lives of their subor-
dinates; accidents were numerous,
and worse than that, were ;afeGuently
treated with a heartlessness that
would hardly have been tolerated in
the darkest ages. e..
I was Informed. by an employe over
a month ago that in the construction
of less than fifteen miles of road bed
the lives of 3s men had already been
sacrificed. The number since has been
largely increased. Little definite in
formation, however, can be obtained,
as the company's agents vigilantly
hush up all information about such ac-
cidents, and keep them, as far as pos
sible, out of the papers. And the men
being unorganized until the strike oc-
Cured, no records whatever exist.
In one case two men were buried un-
der a rock slide. At first the company
tried to get the men to volunteer to
dig, out the remains, and even offered
a small reward for their recovery. It
became evident, however, that such
recovery would be attended with some
little expense, whereupon the company
gave it. out that the missing ones were
not under the slide at al, !, but had just
quit and gone to Atlin. Men who