STRIKES. STRIKES IN MISSOURI DURING THE YEAR. In conformity with your special instructions, I have carefully made personal examination into the causes, etc., of the various strikes of wage workers within this State during the year 1885, and when possible have attempted to effect settlements of existing difficulties by means of arbitration. A condensed history of these strikes may prove interesting. STRIKE OF MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILWAY EMPLOYES. March 9th, 1885, the shopmen in the employment of the Missouri Pacific Railway system in Missouri, Kansas and Texas, stopped work, their grievance being based upon repeated reduction of wages and shortening of time in the shops of said lines, bringing the wages of the employes below those received for the same work on other lines in Kansas and Missouri. In this strike the men were thoroughly and systematically organized, and every movement was ordered and controlled by an executive committee appointed by the strikers. A settlement was finally effected through a conference by official representatives of the States of Kansas and Missouri, and the managers of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company, and an agreement was reached, whereby the wages paid prior to September 1st, 1884, were restored, and one and one-half time allowed for extra or overwork, and the promise made that from that date no reduction in pay nor discharge from work would be made unless thirty days' notice of such act should be given. This proposition was at once accepted, and the strike ended. At the date of this report, the agreement entered into, has been faithfully carried out and perfect harmony prevails. At the conclusion of the strike which at one time threatened the peace of three great States, I had the honor to make the special report which is here reproduced. REPORT. OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF LABOR STATISTICS AND INSPECTION, HON. JOHN S. MARMADUKE, Governor, Jefferson City, Mo.: DEAR SIR:-In conformity with your request I have carefully examined into the causes, etc., of the late strike of railroad employes by personal observation and investigation, both at Sedalia and St. Louis, and while I am not at present prepared to make such recommendations as I may hereafter desire to make, from facts connected therewith, I lay before you the following as a partial report, reserving further explanations and recommendations for the next annual report of this Bureau, hoping then to be more fully prepared to present reasons and arguments bearing on the subject. The strike of the shop-men in the employment of the Missouri Pacific railroad system in Missouri, Kansas and Texas, commencing on Monday, March 9, 1885, was not an impulsive outburst of dissatisfied -employes, but it was an action decided upon after full deliberation and consideration of every point. The grievances of the employes were based upon repeated reduction of wages and shortening of time in the shops of said Missouri Pacific railroad and leased lines operated by it, bringing the wages of the employes below the wages paid by other lines in this State and in Kansas and Texas. The feeling of dissatisfaction was intensified by the publication of the financial statement of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company at the last annual meeting of its directory, showing a large earning for the road, but neglecting to show the deficiency in the earnings of its leased and other lines operated by it; and when, on March 9, a notice was posted in the shops that another reduction would take place, dating from March 1, the employes determined to quit. This has been, so far as is known, the first strike that has ever been made where the "strikers" were thoroughly and systematically organized, and the control and management of it remained in the hands of the organization. Every movement was directed by the executive committee, and a perfect police system maintained, under which the property of the Railroad Company and private individuals was fully protected. As this strike was novel in its features, and different from all strikes heretofore, so was also its settlement, it being the first time in the history of strikes that a settlement was made by arbitration by the official representatives of two great States. By this intervention the employes secured more than they possibly could have secured had they attempted to adjust the difficulties with the officers of the railroads themselves; and they also secured a stronger position in the opinion of the public than any strikers have ever secured before; while the railroad officials, on the other hand, became convinced that arbitration was better than resistance. The cheerfulness of the railroad officials in complying with the suggestions made by the representatives of Missouri and Kansas for a basis of adjustment, and especially the concession made by Capt. R. S. Hays, First Vice President of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, guaranteeing hereafter to give thirty days' notice of every reduction in wages, I predict, will do more to satisfy the laborers and prevent a recurrence of strikes than any additional agreement that could have been made. The action of the wage-workers in this last strike fully demonstrates that socialism or communism, as known in Europe, will never take solid hold nor succeed in America. While a feeling of that kind was showing itself cccasionally, the overpowering influence of conservatism was determined to preserve law and order; and it is my full belief that hereafter, should another great strike occur, any outcropping of socialism or communism would at once end the strike, as the feeling of the wage workers is entirely on the side of law and order, many them being themselves capitalists on a small scale, who, by hard work and frugal living, have secured comfortable homes for their families. This class fully appreciate the great fact that the education of the masses is the most secure method of protecting them from encroachments of capital. At the same time I find that representatives of capital are also fully awake to the fact that if the employes are reasonably educated so they may the more readily understand the full import of any question brought before them, much easier adjustment of difficulties could be made. Education of the laboring classes, conservative action by the laborers, and justice granted by capital will, to a great extent, prevent recurrence of labor troubles. In attempting to carry out your instructions to effect a just and peaceable adjustment of the difficulties, if possible, I am only too happy to say that the prudent, temperate and conservative co operation of Adjutant General Jamison was of invaluable assistance, and contributed greatly to the successful termination of the unpleasant affair. I would be remiss in my obligations did I not also acknowledge the very valuable services of Attorney-General Boone, whose legal knowledge, as cheerfully rendered as it was freely invoked, assisted materially in the interpretation of legal questions. And likewise of Railroad Commissioners Harding, Pratt and Downing, whose practical experience in railroad affairs, generously given, was of immeasurable advantage. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, OSCAR KOCHTITZKY, Commissioner of Labor Statistics and Inspection. THE STRIKE ON THE WABASH RAILWAY SYSTEM. The ill feeling resulting from the strike of the shopmen of the Missouri Pacific railway lines, which strike was also participated in by those on the Wabash lines, had been continuously fostered among the shopmen on the latter lines, and a feeling of resentment appeared to continue among them, even after the satisfactory settlement of the strike on the Southwest system. At the time of the Missouri Pacific strike the Wabash lines were in the hands of the United States court, and while the managers of the lines quietly acquiesced in the results of the settlement of said strike,. they did not take an active part in it. Some of the strikers on the Wabash lines had been arrested and convicted of assaults and intimidations, and reports had been circulated that some discharges had been made by the railway officials because the discharged men were members of a labor organization. The company finally closed its shops at various places, thereby instituting a "lock-out." After a short time new men were employed and the shops again opened. The representatives of the labor organization, known as the Knights of Labor, now asserted that the management of the Wabash lines was trying to rid the roads of all men known to belong to said organization, and the controversity was diverted from a demand for employment to a question of recognition by the company of said order. The General Manager of the road at various times asserted that it was not true that any discrimination against men because of their affiliation with that or any other order had been made, and that he cared nothing about what organization, if any, the men working for his road belonged to; and that all he demanded from the employes was that they should do the work as he desired it to be done. Notwithstanding his assurances, the agitation of the subject continued. |
