The Gem worker and the Idaho labor herald. (Boise, Idaho) 1914-1917, 1916-09-28

Basic Grounds for Fight Wagsd by the Street
Car Employees

state and City. When the Morgan
interests arrogantly refused to ar
bitrate at the call Of the Public Ser
vice Commission, all the trades allied
in any way with the transportation
business of New York, declared
their purpose to stand with their
brothers of the Amalgamated. Back
OF this immediate demonstration of
labor's power and right was the ex-
plicit warning, that the whole trades
union movement of New York, en-
bracing nearly one million workers
would refuse by all means at their
command to permit the street rail-
way men to be bullied back into in
dustrial slavery.
The immense corporation, the In
terborough. that has precipitated the
strike in New York City and put
FIVE million people to inconvenience
and expenses. and in danger of fatal
accident has the meanest record for
financial corruption and imposition
upon the public which feeds it, Of
any public service corporation in the
whole United States. The public in
vestigation made this year by Leg
islative Committee of the State of
New York, proved that the INTERIOR
ough had given away millions of dol
lars of the public's money in the
form of bonuses to officials (some of
whom are causing this strike,) and
in all the other devious ways known
to immoral business. The record Of
public inquiry proved that the Inter-
borough had put over contract on
the City which secured to it a guar
antee of as good business in. any year,
as the corporation had had in the
past years of its existence. The in
Guiry showed that the public business
of rapid transit in city of six mill
lion people had been subordinated to
private greed of profit takers, who
had assumed practically no risk in de-
veloping transportation, and stood
only to make profits
"The wages paid to the men in
this service are less in the great ma
jority of cases than every impartial
authority declares is necessary for
decent living in the metropolis. The
hours of service violate every rule of
good social economy, OF health and
of personal welfare When the men,
subjected to those completely inhu-
man conditions, sought the right that
street railway workers in other cit
les of this country have sought and
acquired the marlborough brought
the lash down upon them with feroc-
ity only equal to the greed with which
it has from the beginning of its ex-
istance robbed the people. 1t imme-
diately demanded police protection
though the only violence even threat
ened was the violence which the cor
poration itself inflicted or threatened
by the employment OF strikebreakers,
which have justly been described as
the lowest form of. animal life.
Thousands of men. many Of them the
most vicious in the country, were
brought in by a notorious strike
breaking agency Several hundred of
the most decent of these strikebreak-
ers themselves struck from their hui
initiating employment. The night of
the employees to picket the cars and
shops of the Street Railways was de-
MED as an incident to a trick of build
ing wire cages around the front anil
rear ends of the cars, for no other
purpose than to deceive the general
public into the belief that the men
running the cars were in danger of
violence from the strikers and their
sympathizers.
The injury to the public perpetrat-
ed by the Street Railway corporations
has included the killing Of four pas
sengers, and the serious injury of l03
other passengers. These fatal acci-
dents were due to the employment
by the corporations OF incompetent
strikebreakers and green and wreck
less motormen AMI conductors. If
such homicidal acts had been perpe-
trated by the strikers, there could be
no question that they and their lead-
ers would have been indicted for
manslaughter But the powerful in
terests that assume to own or con-
troll the processes of law and orIer
seem to be completely immune from
(Continued 10 naoe fo,,rl