The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-09-02
BROTHERHOODS TO RUN
MILK TRAINS INTO ALL CITIES
Will Not Allow the Children of the
Congested Cities to Suffer for
This Great Necessity
palm Beach Post. J

L. HI. Wilson, conductor on the
Atlantic Coast Line, has been in the
city this week. He is one of the
striking Brotherhoods, and talked
freely of the action which these or
foundations have taken He favors
the strike because of various reas-
ons, and said:
1--WE know that the railroads are
making a great deal Of money ON
their original investments, and the
fact that their published accounts of
the dividends declared do not show
these profits is merely because the
roads do not care to have them
shown. 1t is true that within the
past twenty years the wages which
many of the higher classes receive
have been doubled-but it must be
understood that the cost of living
has increased and, more than that,
the men are hauling in many cases
five times the amount of fright then
hauled-and with the same-sized
crews.
If the men are doing this, and we
! know they are for the records show
it, who is making the profit if it is
not the railroads? We are not ask !.
ing much of the roads-and the ex-
cess wages which the roads tell
about are not as great in the course
nf year as they would have the
people believe. In fact, if the roads
will do it, it will be possible to speed
up the schedules and bring the trains
in within the eight hours we de-
mand.
There will be certain trains run
by the Brotherhoods during the
strike. We shall see that every milk
train into all the cities shall run as
usual, for we realize what break
in the milk-service would mean 70
the children-and we still have a
heart. We shall also carry all the
supplies the government may send
to the border-and everything in
that line for the army We will not
carry anything for private individ-
uals, however, under any considera-
ton
"The strikers each and everyone
of them are under pledge as soon as
the strike is called to go quietly to
their homes. They will not hang
about their usual railway quarters
for none of them will take any steps
to prevent running trains. If the
people want to ride on trains run
by scabsN it will be up to them. We
lshall make no effort to stop them
not to hinder the train service III
any way.
1--WE shall not, however, run any
mail trains. The roads have a con-
tract to carry the mails-and it will
be up to them>to see that the service
! is delivered. We shall not carry arv
, provisions OF anything of the sort
/ except as I said the milk that may
be needed in the cities. We believe
that we are right in the demands we
are making-and we shall win out
il the long run. The people will de-
mand it-and they will find that the
safety of the travelling public will
require that trains be run by union
men and not by scabs. :"
Mr.. Wilson is a very interesting
talker, and has railway matters
down to a fine point He feels con-
tident that the Brotherhoods will III
timately win their points-and is
confident that none of the strikers
Twill do violence. What their "sym-
pathizers" may do, however. he is
; not so confident-for it is that ele-
ment which is the great drawback tc
any movement of this sort.