Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1922-11-29
BUSINESS men !. 4.
PASS, RESOLUTIONS E. Il I !
Meeting Agrees to Impartial Trade
and Censures City Ad-
mlnlStfatlOn

AS the final outcome of a speech!
before an assemblage of business
men of our city delivered by Supt.
John A. Frogner, head of the Will
mar Division Of the Great Northern
Railway Company Monday evening
of this week at the Masonic Temple
a set Of resolutions were passed de-
claring for impartial and indiscrim-
mating trade with all citizens of the
city and also censuring the present
city administration. The resolutions
which are given below were drawn
up by a committee of business and
professional men Of Willmar appoint
ed by Mr.. P. B. Hong, chairman of
the meeting. The resolutions were
adopted by practically a unanimous
vote, many present however not ex-
pressing themselves for or against
the matter.
Notice Of the meeting was circu-
lated by word about the city and a
large attendance of business and pro-
fessional men comfortably filled the
basement. The members Of the city
council and the Mayor of the city
were not present, as the regular meet
ing of the city council was in pro-
gress.
Mr.. P. B. Hong opened the meeting
stating the object Of said meeting to
be that of the attitude of the city of
Willmar to the Great Northern Rail-
way Company and what such atti-
tude should be. He then introduced
Mr.. Frogner as the representative of
the Great Northern.
Supt. Frogner gave a brief sketch
Of the union movement and the wag-
es the railroad unions and particu-
larly the shopcrafts had received dur
ing the war. These wages he de-
clared were unusually high. When
the Labor Board Of the United Sta
tes granted the railroads reduction
in wages Of the shopcrafts effective
July lst the shopcrafts went out, in
body, on strike. Mr.. Frogner then
. proceeded from d mass Of documents:
to quote the wages of the shopcrafts
prior to the strike asserting that the
men had no cause to strike and that
? their wages were fair and equitable.
=: The Importance of the Great Nor
:.thern Division to Willmar was dwelt
upon at some length by Supt. Frog
iner. He read statistics to show the
total payroll of the company per
month for the entire division and al
so the money paid to employees in
Willmar. On the basis of these large
sums paid to local employees and 9TH
er benefits which the city received
from the presence of this terminal,
Mr.. Frogner stated that the Great
Northern deserved fair and just
treatment from the city as a whole.
Narrowing this matter down he de-
clared that both the business men Of
Willmar, and the City Administration
especially, had not shown sense of
fairness, relative to the strike, strik-
ers,, replacement men and the railroad
corporation. These city elements had
not displayed deep appreciation for
what the Great Northern means to
the community. =
Mr.. F'rogner charged the business
men with having refused to sell their
goods to replacement men. This was
denied by many business men pres
ent. -, A few instances were cited and
brief discussion 'ensued. Those who
participated in this discussion were
Mr.. Leonard johnson, clothier, Hill
dar Hoaglund, clothier, and Martin
Blomquist, grocer. Mr.. Frogner ex-
planned how the company's "store''
was operated and why it had been
established. The daily business of
the company store averaged several
hundred dollars the speaker said. The
company was forced to establish this
store due to the attitude of some of
the merchants Of Willmar in refus-
ing to offer and sell their goods to re-
placement men. All this business, Mr..
Frogner declared, has been lost to
Willmar business men. This store
will be continued as long as the
business men maintain their un-
favorable attitude to the replacement
men,; 49,, -
Mr.. Frogner then declared that the
City Administration of Willmar also
had taken hostile attitude towards
the Great Northern. He alleged that
certain and frequent violations of
laws had been committed and were
countenanced by the present city and
county authorities. ~ ~ sG@|@*Ss, I,
For all these offenses Mr.. Frogne1
proceeded to prescribe the company's
answer and action. He called atten-
tion to the fate of Brainerd whose
Northern Pacific shops will be moved
to St. Cloud and also the Melrose
shops of the Great Northern also tc
be moved to st. Cloud. The same
catastrophe might also befall Win.
mar Mr.. Frogner intimated. st. CLOUD
business men, city administration and