The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-07-17
BEGAN as AN ENGINE WIPER
Chief Arthur Rose from the Very
Bottom of the Ladder

Inc BrOlnerhOOd OF Locomotive Eng1-
neers has been perhaps the most sue
! cessful of American trade unions and
much Of its power is due to the leader
ship Of +. NJ. Arthur its chief who was
called the greatest man whom a CEN
tury OF labor agitation had developed
from the ranks Of toll. The brotherhood
was ten years old when in 1873 Arthur
was elected its chief The first decade
OF the orders existence had been Il
formative period devoted more to the
task of organization and obtaining re-
cruits than to battles for recognition or
a scale of wages. In 1867 the beneficiary
feature of the Brotherhood was intro
duced and the general impression of the
public at the time was that the assO-
citation was more of a lodge and an in
surance order than a labor union. It
seemed strange in late years, when the
name of Arthur became synonymous
with cOnservat tism and the conduct of a
labor union without strikes that a the
time he was elected to the post of
chief he was the candidate of the war
party in the Brotherhood; that for the
first ten years of his leadership he was
almost constantly engaged in leading
| his men through enc bitter strike after
another; that his name was execra ted
as radical and a demagOgue and the
was considered one of the most danger
Gus men with whom frightened capital
had to contend for the protection of its
rights to control its own property.
Arthur's early life did not differ ma
terially from that of the average man
who leaves his country village still a
boy to begin railrOading. His career up
to the point where he became prominent
in the councils of the Brotherhood had
nothing strange or romantic about it.
He was a wiper in a roundhouse
cleaning engines which other men
brought in: he was a fireman; he was
an engineer. But his associates of the
early days say that as a wiper Chief
Arthur knew enough to be a fireman.
and that as fireman he usually knew
more about the engine than the man
who sat on the right side of the cab
with his hand on the lever, and that as
an engineer he was consulted by the
master mechanic about points on which
that official was in doubt. If he had
not been diverted from the actual work
of railroading by his work for the
union he would undoubtedly have fin
isheG his career at the head of some
great railway system.
Although Arthur held his position as
chief of the order for three decades
and was a man of such power ana in
ffuence in the brotherhood that he was
said to be- to all intents and purposes
the brotherhood he was not with
a storm. Again and again as the elect
ion approached it was rumored that n
determined fight would be made on the
old chief, but when the time came t.,
call the roll of the convention the op-
position seemed to melt into thin air
and unanimous election gave to the
veteran leader the endorsement his
successes deserved.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive En-
gineers has often been spoken of as
the aristocratic labor union and Ar
thur as the aristocratic labor leader
He lived in a splendid mansion or,
Cleveland's most fashionable street.
Euclid avenue. and among his neigh
bors were the men who owned
railroads for which his men worked
His wife is an acknowledged leader O.
ClpNelgnd'G I,
society in which Senator Fanna's
daughters moved and wherein the wo-
men of the Rockefeller family worked
as hard to win their places as the head
of the family worked to make his
fortune.
The daughter of the Arthurs Is a
recognized belle in Cleveland
Early In his career as a labor leader
Arthur conducted five strikes in six
m.nths in his order with such reIent-
less energy that he never had another
night. At that time one of the newspa-
tally:
His threats are those Of a public
enemy and he must be careful or he
will be treated as such''
l me threats" which gave this news
paper hysteria were the ultimatums that
arthur then in the prime Of life served
on the corpora tiOns to the effect that if
! tney did not give his engineers their
deserts in wages and fair treatment he
would tie up the traffic on their lines
so tight that they would not be able to
operate a handcar. Nowadays this is
no surprising thing to expect from
young labor leader but the people of
three decades ago We're startled by it.
Although Arthur in later life was
Identified with the conservative party in
MS brotherhood he always unhesitat-
ingly took the stand that the only
means by which a labor union can avoid
strikes Is to show its perfect readiness
and ability to strike and strike success
Iuily when threatened. Nevertheless
TINS determined man was the same one
who said:
Remember always that the burden
OF strike falls on the women and chill
dren Our first duty is to them; con-
suit them