The sun., 1899-07-14
STRIKE MAKING AS AN ART.
IN BROOKLYN BIZ VAIL
s1REEr AND THE NEHSPAPERS.
,iur md Drummcd-Cp Grieyances-
presidcnt Rossiter Sayp There VIII he
\, strike. and Tackles Albert johnson
g., Advising with Nassau Employees.

,,r Advising with Nassau Employees.
The wnrl u creating trouble on the Brook
,r, porid Transit system. OF providing griev-
onors for the men, stirring up rows between
%, or,cIal. and all classes OF the en-
,',yor. AMI raising hOdes generally so
,h,. - strike may be brought about
,,I ,be stock " the company be depressed In
Van .,re,t goes mcrrily on. Such work on
,,,,,r o,c,s ous has usually hern intrusted to
49,. ,g .,gtor- exclusively. This time. how
,,. rain newspapers have been called in.
,,,L,rs ,y.ll, the idea OF making quicker Job
oitt ,,-,
vilrrobnh.y interest SuN readers to know
..-,b,v the ,1b has been worked so far as
:, I'M, gone The first move was made at
meeting yt the Central Labor Union
i, ,b,s clty ON a Sunday about three weeks
,,o Prior to that time and for some
yn,rs There hal not been even suggestion OF
,r,ul la among the men on any OF the railroads
IN etner Manhattan or Brooklyn There
bad heen no talk since the big strike
IN Brook'y when the men were de-
ta,,cd The trolley men and cable men
we're all Of them satisfied they had good jobs.
w.i,h the ordinary hours OF work and the ordi-
uarv nay for that class OF work.
N,h.s maetinG ~ the Central Labor Union a
man who Is not identified walked up to the ia
lie occupied hv the reporters and handed over
CANA tvpewrittcn stuff. The substance Of this
s,uT WIS that the motormen and conductors
.rrloyed on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit
roilrosd had organized and were going to get
una set OF grievances and present them to the
officials Of the road. What grievances the
men had were not stated, and there was
10 other tangible Information in the copy.
The stun closed with the statement that II was
bor.d and believed that the company would
sec the ,nstre OF the demands and would
grant them without the necessity Of a strike
arising
II was the las, sentence that held the joker
the word strike. The reporters for the news
rapers that care more for sensational state
,Dents than thev do for facts took this state
mcnt and printed it without investigation.
without knowing who made 1t and without an
iota Of knowledge as to whether II was
true or false 4 great many people who ride on
Brooklyn trolley cars will remem Der that when
they saw this item IN the newspapers they
asked the conductors on the cars on
which thev rode II there was going To
be strike and the answer invariably
was: What about" Those OF them who
pressed the men further were told that there
was no trouble. and even il there was the men
would be fools 10 strike, because they were not
organized. A Sun reporter who made in
Quires at the time of a great number OF
the men was told time after time
that the railroad employees OF Brook
yn had had their stomachs full Of
strike four years before and they didn't want
any more: further. that the men were not
members ot labor organizations. and didn't
want to be members. The Monday fol-
lowing this Sunday the reporters for the
newspapers who were working the game Of
the men who were putting up the money to
bring about the row got the same information
that the regular passengers who made in
Quiries got. But that was not what they
printed They could find no grievances. The
most frequent grievance preceding n strike
IN any railroad is that tho President OF the
road has refused to see the employees when
they come TO complain. This is invara-
ty grievance usually heading the list.
In lieu of grievance from the men
The newspapers who were working the
game fell back on this. Thev said that tho
men had been unable to even see the President
o' the road and tell him their troubles. 1t was
more or leSs safe assertion to make in this
tdSe Tor The PRESIDENT Of the Brooklyn
anil Transit had for some little. time
ne' n in Europe and had only Just got home
tr. nr same an Nt"t"m"n' was mad" fer two or three
.sS read ,Gey sad $w"llI; ~ I ha"%P't heard
Il went STcHt u.s. 9SS 9SSt HS Hny6ody T8o;
who knows tn" men who work on street rail-
,".ds ,o.%, vii 50" that that was bound TO be the
!"'ult ~ the publication OF d statement that
,Tii,n% aTf Tond not listen to grievances that that
i,CrGs"d statement had ever tried to see
the President of the company, or, had ever had
GG Syaa to 7G.nm any it'll trouble that
nih"rlntendcnts. That made no difference.
lhs I,, President hal refused to see some
nnwrtttrn ru" that the Pres sident must never
r"'nse to see anybody in the, employ OF his
railroad From saving We'll see about 1t "
s,"n y, other and there was real grievance
a, sn,Da once r, 1t was tn" tirst trump in the
,ha, the story that he had ever refused TO see
tshynony roun"c'cd with the road and to listen
No. o,,I any grievance was lie; When the men
m"ata iSnchIs ms ana their immediate superors. the
nSrec'nrs, suggested that the best, wav to
rr1,e rnt ,oo II was 70 try i. some, Of the. men
,SSce,al Ihen with open H "a arms ms and talked with
mem fortwo hours. At the end OF two hours
deni sT men wb were satisfied and so was the Presi-
out out oyer the different lines for the sole pur;
.sG sssIrS o. Wstrhing the w3rking OF things and
70 improve conditions which were limited
5nd l@r the he men who, were putting up the money
bigger lrumr than they had played. The
bsfft bbsft move was to convince the men that they
Fau grievances. and to do this they en-.
ho{eH employees OF the newspapers who were
H"'Eihg the game These reporters. II
htoWni have worked industriously with
ne men Instances are known whore they have
o ornh informed hy groups of men whom they
H,nIoarhed that there was no trouble and they
inn,,""s..irGU'I With the men and pointed out tht
,,mnNIlCe 81 having to work 40 successfully
~ ,Erse men have been convinced that they
Ha3m Hrevhuue.
for me ~, Nassau line was the favorito, line
~ ms work for this rcason. WheT
r. rne strike on the Brooklyn Heights
tt"u tto"u occurred and rioting and violence ensueC
Su,n al extent that it was necessary tC
~, b, mWH- me militia TO preserve the peace
~ ihLT0Rl company naturally determined 10
rr. ~. ttSttl ol the rioters who were the ringlead
tH,ih 'he strike. These men were discharged
tI.rme me company, and care has been taken tina
sn"uId not again be employed. Most q
WIT men wcr" employed by the Nassau inc
Ia tinpn " was then an independent line. Whel
rns!Io ranst bought the Nassau line the
t,Jknt WIN It these former rioters and dis
ti.ris' II was ensy to make these mel
tOs"N" tOn" mat tho Rapid Transit road woul
R.,bmnat,Er t,Er them as soon as 1t identified then
VIII" ~" torn.er rioters and disturbcrs. and thar
inc ,nc rNIluyers OF the men who are work
~" ,," gam" 10 bring about strike have done
MAJ IN statement Of fact IL will be see
IHrfII I strike should occur on the BrOokly
n"u.. nr,. transit system II will be the work OF tn
rIaviraiHrS and men in Wall street who ar
'ThnR III" game.