The Pullman boycott : $b A complete history of the great R. R. strikeBurns, W. F.
History
The Pullman boycott : $b A complete history of the great R. R. strike
Burns, W. F.
Pullman Strike, 1894
Mr. St. John: "What had the Rock Island to do with the Lake Shore?"
Commissioner Kernan: "Is it not true that the roads were united
sympathetically?"
Mr. St. John: "Let me ask you a question."
Commissioner Kernan: "No, I am not on the stand. I may be some day and
then you can question me."
Mr. St. John: "When a neighbor's house burns we all unite to fight the
blaze. When an assault is made on all the roads, they unite to resist
it."
When General Manager St. John resumed the witness stand, he had with him
one of the twenty-six sets of books mentioned by Mr. Howard, containing
the scale of wages and rules of employment of all classes of railway
employes on the roads represented in the General Managers' Association.
When questioned by Commissioner Kernan he admitted that a committee had
been appointed to formulate from these a schedule of what was a fair
rate of wages for all classes of employes and uniform rules of
employment. That committee reported, but the report was never acted on.
This committee was appointed under a resolution passed February 15,
1894. Its report was made in March, and if adopted would have affected
125,000 men at least. One or two roads, he admitted, might have reduced
wages about this time, but there was no agreement with the other roads
concerning it. It became known that Mr. Wright, chairman of the
commission, had an annual Pullman pass. He said concerning it that he
and Mr. Pullman had been personal friends for several years, and it was
to him as a personal friend that the pass was given several years ago
and had been renewed annually since. He deemed that it was for the
glowing reports of Pullman, made by Mr. Wright and others in 1884, for
he did not know Mr. Pullman then. He said that he had not used it since
the appointment of the commission.
Following Mr. St. John, John M. Eagan took the stand.
Mr. Eagan admitted that as the manager of the General Managers'
Association he was authorized to incur any expense to secure force to
crush the strike, but was not authorized to do anything to settle it
peaceably. Of his connection with the General Managers' Association he
said that he was requested to take charge of the association during the
strike.
Commissioner Worthington: "Did you have anything done in relation to the
appointment of deputy marshals?"
Mr. Eagan: "Each road appointed an official to select the men they
wanted to act as deputy marshalls and turned 'em over to me. I sent them
to Arnold to be sworn."
Commissioner Worthington: "Did those men serve as employes of the road
while acting as marshals?"
Mr. Eagan: "My judgment is that they were to take care of the interests
of the roads."
Commissioner Worthington: "Did they act in the double capacity as
marshals and as railroad employes? That is, would an engineer, for
instance, while wearing a star showing his authority, run an engine for
the road?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account