Arizona republican., 1899-07-31
STREET CAR STRIKES.

A minority of the men employed by
The Metropolitan street railway IN
New York quit work on Wednesday,
They did so against the advice and the
protests of Grand Master Workman
Parsons, who has been looking after
strike matters in Brooklyn. No soon-
er had the minority quit work because
the road would not comply with GER
tain demands which it may or may not
have been better the company should
grant, than that minority attempted 10
coerce and bulldOze the majority so
that men who did not want 70 join the
strike might be driven into doing SO.
The men who for good or bad reasons
had quit work were determined to con-
vert themselves into majority by
resort to violent measures. There
should he no public sympathy with
such attempts at minority rule
Yet no sooner had a few men struck.
while a greater number remained at
work, that there were immediate
''manifes tati0ns of popular sympathy
for the minority. They took the sub
stantial form of sticks and stones.
Women and children formed the outer
line Of the mobs which gathered, while
from behind the shelter of petticoats
men and boys threw stones at cars and
There was nasty rioting on one line
all day, AID although the New York
police are efficient when it comes to
dealing with mobs, they came off sec
ond best II some Of the frequent en-
counters with the lawless element
which was sympathizing with the
strikers.
Those so-caued symDathizers did
not know or care what the grievances
OF the strikers were. Whether real Or
imaginary 4 was all the same to them.
Ihey were simply spelling for a fight.
20 De earned on under the pretense of
defending the rights of labor" Every
hoodlum and plug-ugly in this and
every other city in the country has
peen educated into the belief .5ha5
whenever there is any disagreement
between a street railroad company and
It's employees he is at perfect liberty
TO let himself loose and CRAFTY slF MS
1aWIess instinctS-tO stone cars and
policemen and incidentally people IN
She crowds which gather to see the
fun Too often the strikers while
disownlng these auxiHaries. who
would knock down z walking deIeg9te
or q grand master in a minute if he
mad 10 cents in his pocket, are secret
" pleased that the worst element Of
society should come 20 their assist
ance.
It is time that these roughg who be-
Heve a street car strike is their oppor-
tunity should be taught lesson. There
have been occasions IN this and other
cities when genuine public sympathy
has been on thu side of the street rail |
road strikers and they have won their
cause. But that sympathy did not
manifest itself by wrecling cars.
w0unding passengers and maltreating
men who did not see fit to go on d
stILke. The hOOdlUms of New York /
and Brooklyn should be made TO IN
derstand that they have no business To |
meddle in a dispute between street car |
companies and their employees. to play |
at being the champions of labor for |
the purpose of bedeviling The police. If |
the criminal, lawles5 element is kept |
quiet during a strike the strikers |
themselves and respectable citizens !
who sympathize with them, will not |
cause much trouble
T. would be better if there were no |
strikes and if controversies between |
the companies and their. employees. II |
which the latter are often in the right, |
were settled by arbitration. That will |
come finally, though it viii be slow in |