Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-04-24

& q q 4 q IS E. u 8 IS ||
/ b Souf 361 d ~ - lpul1
l1ke 1ktk1e spnoe hi youf xallieb1o pap6f
|ou rood c1tixonship - presented to your
city ~ Judge Jackson. Of parkershurs.
It - remarkable that in q city the size
Of wheeling, with its mayor and chief Of
police and his officers under him that a
corporation of combined capital such as
the Wheeling Street Railway should have
to submit to such treatment as it is re-
ceiv:ng at the hands of its citizens and
mayor and chief of police and his staff.
But since said company have completely
ignored their previous agreements with
their employees and since all peaceabIe
means of adjustment have proven waste
Of time and words, and when the business
men of our city have been insulted by a
refusal to have hearing from said COM
pany, and said company not satisfied with
the Mayor and Chiefs action N the mat
ter, have taken upon themselves to call
in outside help when there had not as yet
been any violence or destruction of prop
erty demanding the aid of outside help,
and further no mail had nor has now been
INSTRUCTED in its transportation, know
of no other means than that the railway
company do as they are doing. for sooner
or later they will see that said citizens,
Mayor and Chief, were here first and have
come to stay, and that there is no law
prohibiting the organizing OF communistic
Clubs las the worthy Judge terms it)
properly speaking, organized labor, any
more than there is a law prohibiting or
ganized capital. Organized labor is to
create unity of wages; to uphold a
standard days labor for a standard days
wages, which IS the working mans pro-
duct
Again. we would say with one voice
that our worthy Mayor, Chief and staff
have fully complied with the laws gov
erning all corporations. and the trans
portation Of T. S. malls, inasmuch as they
patrol the street railroad line, do. not al
low the gathering of mobs or the destruc-
ton of said comgany's property within
the limits of our city.
If the company, with its detachment of
deputies and injunction, think to make the
citizens of Wheeling and suburbs ride on
their cars they will surely be put to a far
greater expense than they have so far.
Now as for the dropping back into the
days of coaches, omn.cuses and four
wheeled trucks, the worthy Judge need
not loose any sleep on that score, for
electric transportation, like our good Cit
liens. has come to stay, and Wheeling
is long and broad enough for more than
one line, and traffic demands that such
shall be the case and that in the not far
distant future. Then, if the new Wheeling
company choose to let the grass grow over
their rails, that is their business, but no
fears need ever be harbored that such VIII
ever occur.
In regard to the employees of said COM
pany staying in the back ground and not
fighting their own bait es, t is just as wei
to state here that they are and have been
doing all in their power to create a speedy
settlement of the difficulty by keeping
quiet and at all times ready to help the
city officials in the performance of their
duties, even going so far as to remove OBJ
structions and replace dera.led cars; if
that is not fighting their own battles, what
will we call it?
In regard to strikes we, as community
of working men, are well aware of the eff
fects of them, and far be it from any
body of law abiding citizens, organized or
not, to declare a strike until all other
means of adjustment have proven a
failure. That capital and labor should go
hand in hand is the underlying principle
of all organized labor, and hope the day
is not far off when it will be recognized
as such. When capital shall come to
know that labor can be governed under
the code of an organiza ton far better
than it can individually, then shall one
deal with the other in the spirit of fair
ness that the worthy Judge speaks Of
Organized labor has at all times been
ready and willing to meet capital half
way, and give full value for value re-
ceived, and as for the parable of the
grocerymen, l would say that it is not
such an easy thing for every individual to
quit his position and go elsewhere, if he
is not wholly satisfied with the terms for
him, and l think and hope the Judge will
side with us that is is often uncaaed for
if that spirit of fairness is held aloft by
both parties. Will acknowledge with the
worthy Judge that this company can get
men elsewhere to operate their cars, but
just so long as the sympathy of this COM
munity, which is just as law abiding as
any in all this broad land, is with the en-
ployes of this company, or in fact any
company where men are oppressed, it will
hardly pay them to do so, from the fact
that we are not afraid of our citizens and
do not need deputies to guard and protect
US N our daily travels, and that the public
will not patronize this company under
such management
Here the Judge mentions the sympathy
of the press with the employees, stating
that no community can decide between
employer and employe If it can NOT who
then can say? The Judge seems to be
aware that the business men as well as
the public at large is in sympathy with
the enpioye,< and If it is not this pubic
that is filing the Golfers of the street
railway company, who then? Why should
not they be able to make fair and lust
decision? But no, they were refused an
audience from the company's manage
ment, stating thatit was useless TO waste
further time and words, which looks as
though they did not care whether the
road was operated or not
n,>fI til