The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-10-30
NEVER LOST A STRIKE.
Clarence O.. Pratt, Who Beat the
Philadelphia Traction Trust.
SECRET OF HIS SUCCESS.
Organizer Of the Street Railway Union
Plans His Campaigns In Advance.
Opposed 70 Strikes Except a. . last

Organizer OF the street Railway Union
Plans His Campaigns In Advance.
Opposed to Strikes Except ~ . Last
Resort.
The following pen picture of Clarence
o. Pratt. national organizer Of the
Street Hallway Employees union. is
reprinted from the New York Evening
friendly 10 organized labor:
Well. gentlemen" he said In a
cracked, hoarse tone, Il guess you can
say the strike is over"
He paused to peer at the sheet a
youth was hammering on a typewriter
Yes" he resumed slowly: these
gentlemen and myself'-he waved in
clusively toward the conductors and
motormen around him-"have decided
to appoint 4 committee of seven with
a view to determining whether or not
the terms proposed by Mayor Rey-
burn can't be made the basis Of q last.
ing agreement"
That was the way Clarence o. Pratt
announced that in one week he had
whipped the Philadelphia Rapid Tran
sit company. a traction trust which
absolutely dominates the third largest
city in the country and the members
Of the Republican municipal ring. per
haps the most strongly intrenched
machine" that has been evolved by
our political system. Pratt made the
announcement in a perfectly matter
Of fact way.
But he had not finished. He straight
ened up with a jerk.
''There is n thing l want to say.
though" he added. I'VE shall not call
off the strike until We are certain that
the men will get everything they nav
a right to expect from the company.
This is the mems strike. 1t ends when
they want it to. not before. II they
don't like the terms the company will
have to meet new demands or fight"
Probably few Of Phladelphia's popu-
lation had ever heard of Pratt before
he came. Even to the car men b ma
tionai organizer Of tine International
Amalgamsted Union of Street Railway
Employees of America was a name.
Yet when the news began to percolate
through the barns that Pratt Is com
ing" the men lost a good deal Of their
preliminary nervousness. Just why
they regained confidence few Of them
could have explained, save that in
some mysterious way it was rumored
that this man Pratt is a winner"
The minute Pratt arrived In Phila-
delphia he made his presence felt. To
the keenly observant the hand Of a
veteran diplomat and a skilled general
could be trace in every move. A man
from New York with considerable ex-
perience in strikes dropped into town
several days after the strike began.
He was ignorant Of the situation, did
not even know b m of b re-
spective leaders. Some one told him
about a move the men had taken the
day before.
Say" he exclaimed. "that sounds
like Clarence Pratt. Is he here"
AS a matter of fact. there isn't any
thing at all savoring Of magic about
Pratt's campaigns. He wins because
he moves according to carefully
thought out plans. Every step he
takes is mapped for him by legal coun-
sci of the union. 1t vas his personal
influence. ~however-an influence gained
in the course of a couple Of weeks
that enabled him to hold the trolley
meM together. Despite the fact that
Mayor Reyburn had publicly branded
the strikers leader as ar agitator Of
doubtful moral worth and trust, Pratt
discovered a liking in even most Of
his enemies. In this particular he was
In ctpikin0 contrast Vvffh tho Qvor0 90
arrogant labor leader.
This man. who used to ring up fares
on a Cleveland street a carries his
power as though he had been used to
1t always. There is nothing the least
bit cultured about him. Of course. His
comrades would be apt to resent 1T II
there were. But he is a man above
his fellows. His lean. deep creased
FAC catches your attention at once.
He dresses neatly. He is always clean
shaver. no matter how late he has
been up the night before. Strike
nights he didn't sleep at all; he merely
took q nap from about 5 o'clock un-
til O..
Pratt is paid SC a day for expenses
and salary. and he is on the 60 con-
SAAAilS liz a u >ouhtAy
north and south. east and west. from
the Golden Gate to Philadelphia and
from Chicago to Nashville. How he
does it successfully on his meager
wage is a problem in economics that
only he himself can explain. Strike
making is his profession. Whenever a
call comes from some city where
street car men think they are op-
pressed Pratt is sent to Investigate
the situation. He says that he never
advises a strike unless he has been
convinced that it is the only solution
and that the condition of the men war
rants such a desperate move.
The way he handled his " fol-
lowers vas typical of the way he ham
died hts opponents. He used eason
when that would do any good; other
times he just struck as hard as he
could. For one thing. he saw to it that
the strike was conducted upon strictly
modern. up to date lines.
He proved to be a dangerous man
to attack carelessly. When his enc
mics accused him Of having taken
bribes he proved pretty conclusively
that ON of them had attempted to
| h.;An hs- uo ol-o~e boA a eoeorrn