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The Pullman Boycott, 
 
 A Complete History 
 
 of 
 
 The Great R. R. Strike. 
 
 By W. F. Burns. 
 
 1894: 
 THE McGILL PRINTING CO. 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
Copyrighted 1894 
 
 BY 
 
 W. F. BURNS. 
 
 J- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 I— The American Railway Union, - - - - 7 
 
 II— The Boycott, 15 
 
 III— First Day of the Strike, 26 
 
 IV— An Appeal from Debs, 32 
 
 V— The Federal Government Sides with the Man- 
 agers, - - - 40 
 
 VI— Troops at Blue Island, 51 
 
 VII— A Protest from Gov. Altgeld, - - - - 55 
 
 YIII— Incendiarism and Bloodshed, 66 
 
 IX— Slaughter of Citizens, 81 
 
 X— Business Men's Protest, 92 
 
 XI— Indictment of President Debs, .... 100 
 
 XII— A Protest by the Peoples Party, - . - - 108 
 
 XIII— An Offer of Settlement, 115 
 
 XIV— Debs in Jail, 124 
 
 XV— Blacklisting Begins, 139 
 
 XVI— Trial of Debs, 147 
 
 XVII — A Convention of the American Railway Union 
 
 Called to Take Action on the Strike, - - 159 
 
 XVIII— The Strike Lost, - - 167 
 
 XIX— The Commission, 176 
 
 XX— Altgeld Investigates Pullman, - - - - 288 
 
 XXI-Conclusion, 310 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 In presenting this work to the public, I beg leaye to say 
 that I lay no claim whatever to literary ability, and will ask 
 the reader to kindly overlook the crudeness of this my first 
 effort. 
 
 My line of work since boyhood has been confined princi- 
 pally to railway service; in short I am a switchman, and in 
 that branch of the serrice, have been frequently confronted 
 with the differences that arise between the management of 
 the various railroad corporations and their employees. 
 
 While I disclaim any credit for ability as a writer, by years 
 of experience and careful study of the condition of affairs as 
 they have in the past and do in the present exist, I profess 
 to be able to fairly present the facts of the Pullman strike. 
 This strike was a matter of unusual interest to me, not alone 
 because my indiridual interests were involved, but because the 
 independence of every man in America who earns his bread by 
 the sweat of his brow, was in the balance. 
 
 The right to organize for mutual protection was questioned, 
 nay more, the right to be heard, a right granted to the 
 greatest criminal in any part of the civilized world, w^as 
 refused by the power representing the capital of this country. 
 This power fortified by the Federal troops, by the mandate 
 of the Federal courts, instigated by the chief executive, the 
 president of the United States, the account of this strike as 
 presented to the public by the Associated Press, was George 
 M. Pullman's and the General Managers' side of the question, 
 distorted and colored to suit their purposes. 
 
VI THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 My aim in presenting this book, is to disabuse the minds of 
 the people as far as possible, from the misleading statements 
 given out by the General Managers' Association through 
 their mouth piece, the Associated Press. 
 
 To this end I have carefully collected facts from the best and 
 most reliable sources, aside from what personal knowledge I 
 had of this strike. 
 
 I obtained information from telegrams received in our 
 Central Committee ro»ms, from all parts of the country, also 
 from committees appointed to investigate the authenticity of 
 reports received from diiferent parts of the country where the 
 strike extended. 
 
 The general accounts I quote largely from the "Chicago 
 Times," a paper whose honorable and manly stand through- 
 out that great struggle, gained for it a world wide reputation 
 for honesty and fairness. 
 
 The accounts herein contained are truths pure and simple, 
 and upon these truths 1 base the merits of this book. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 W. F. Burns. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE AMERICAN RAILWAY UNION. 
 
 In order to give a clear conception of the 
 greatest strike in the history of railroad organ- 
 izations, it will be necessary to go back to the 
 birth of the American Railway Union. 
 
 This organization was instituted on the 17th 
 day of August, 1893, in the city of Chicago, and 
 owes its existence to its present leader Eugene 
 V. Debs. 
 
 Mr. Debs' connection with the Brotheihood 
 of Locomotive Firemen dates back to the early 
 seventies, and be the credit due to that organiz- 
 ation for introducing to the laboring people of 
 America, a leader who stands absolutely with- 
 out a peer in the labor world to-day, possessed 
 of the collective traits of some of the greatest 
 men of the past. 
 
 I know no better description of Debs than 
 that of Wm. C. Pomeroy in the Eight Hour 
 Herald, as follows: "I am sitting on the stage 
 of a great meeting of people, my eyes are closed 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 in dreamy reverie, I hear a voice whose reson- 
 ant tones are familiar to my ears, the voice, the 
 words bear me in imagination back to the days 
 of Rome, and Cains Crachus is proclaiming the 
 coming liberty of the people. The words of 
 flaming eloquence suddenly change into the rug- 
 ged tones of Cola di Rienzi, crying: 'Arouse, 
 ye Romans; arouse, ye slaves.' The words are 
 sweet to the ears, and stir my soul to extacy. 
 Soft, I am no longer in the Eternal City, but 
 wander among the hills and dales of Judea, and 
 the voice has changed again. This time 'tis the 
 compassionate tones of Him of Galilee, beseech- 
 ing to 'love je one another,' now swift chang- 
 ing in its mellifluous harmony, I hear Pandora 
 whisper 'the dawn approaches, take heart of 
 hope,' and Pometheus answers with the echoed 
 groans of the sufiering, sighing souls. The air 
 is now filled with stirring martial music, and 
 above its changing cadences pours forth in pas- 
 sionate appeal the stentor voice of Peter, the 
 Hermit, raising in the bosom of men, the lethergic 
 love of duty. Aye; on the German hilltops, pul- 
 pited he speaks, and Hermanic in deep-toned 
 thunder hurdles back, 'I come.' Now there is 
 a silence for a space, and the changing draperies 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 9 
 
 of imagination disclose a newer scene. I am in 
 the meeting of the Virginian Burgesses, and the 
 voice has taken on the tones of Patrick Henry, 
 It says: 'Eternal vigilance is the price of lib- 
 erty,' and, 'he who would be free himself must 
 strike the blow.' Now 'tis Thomas Jefferson 
 giving utterance to, ' we hold these truths to be 
 self evident that all men are born free and equal.' 
 And lo! even as the soft tones of the 'chosen 
 son' die into the distance, the voice of Andrew 
 Jackson hurls forth the edict 'each man and 
 every man in this country, by the eternal, must 
 and shall be free.' 
 
 "The echoing ages take up the dictum and it 
 becomes mingled with the tones of him who at 
 Gettysburg spoke the immortal flaming words: 
 'This nation, under God, shall have a new birth 
 of freedom, and the government of the people, by 
 the people and for the people, shall not perish 
 from the earth.' Scarce had the utterance of the 
 martyr ceased to fill the air when Lowell softly 
 says: 
 
 '"He's true to God, who's true to men, whenever 
 wrong is done. 
 
 To the humblest and the weakest of all the behold- 
 ing sun; 
 
lO THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 That wrong is also done to us, and they are slaves 
 most base, 
 
 Whose love of right is for themselves, and not for 
 all the race. ' 
 
 "My brain is puzzled. How comes it, I ask 
 myself, that these heroes dead and gone are near 
 me here to-day? 
 
 "What power permits them to quit their abid- 
 ing places within the crusty bosom of mother 
 earth, and visiting again the haunts of mortal 
 man, pour forth their immortal utterances ? My 
 rumaging mind takes on a newer consciousnes. 
 Reverie lifts her leaden hand from off my brow, 
 my eyes open and gaze upon a vast multitude 
 of people — men, women and children. Men are 
 standing on the seats and hurling their hats in 
 the air; women are weeping in joy and waving 
 handkerchiefs, all, all shout in clamorous accord. 
 Their eyes are riveted upon the stage, and upon 
 a man who is gracefully bowing acknowledge- 
 ment to the thunders of applause. I am near him, 
 I gaze in his face. 'Tis the face of Eugene V. 
 Debs." 
 
 To my mind the above beautiful compar- 
 isons are not overdrawn. 
 
 In 1874 he was admitted to the Brotherhood 
 of Locomotive Firemen, and in 1877 bis brother 
 
I^HE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 11 
 
 members of the local lodge, recognizing his sup- 
 erior ability, sent him to the Indianapolis con- 
 vention to represent them. The next year he was 
 a delegate to the Buffalo convention. Here he 
 was chosen associate editor of the Locomotive 
 Firemen's Magazine, and three years later he 
 was elected editor, and assumed full control. 
 
 In September, 1880, he was elected Grand 
 Secretary and Treasurer in Chicago, and to 
 prove the confidence placed in him by this organ- 
 ization, he was unanimously elected to that 
 office for thirteen consecutive years without a 
 dissenting vote, and at the last convention, held 
 in San Francisco, he was again nominated 
 after making a speech, courteously but firmly 
 declining, and was finally forced to refuse the 
 nomination before his declinature would be ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 When Mr. Debs assumed control of this 
 office, the Brotherhood was on the verge of dis- 
 ruption. 
 
 From this condition he, by his untiring de- 
 votion and wonderful executive abilities, elevated 
 the Brotherhood to one of the most powerful 
 organizations of the age, and thus it was through 
 the instrumentality of the Brotherhood of Loco- 
 
12 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 motive Firemen he was brought before the lab- 
 oring people. Some few years ago he saw that 
 class organization would not be successful, owing 
 to the petty jealousy existing between the different 
 orders, and that in every instance where one 
 organization had a grievance with a railroad 
 corporation, the management would use one or 
 all the others to crush the one having the griev- 
 ance. 
 
 In order to remedy this, he promulgated a 
 plan of federation whereby all the different or- 
 ganizations, engineers, firemen, conductors, train- 
 men and switchmen would stand as a unit in case 
 of a grievance. 
 
 This federation was accomplished, but owing 
 to the treachery of some of the chiefs, proved 
 unsatisfactory and was finally dissolved. 
 
 But this did not discourage Mr. Debs, on the 
 contrary, it made him more determined than 
 ever to save the employes from the grinding 
 power of railroad corporations, and to that end 
 heinstituted the American Railway Union, embrac- 
 ing all classes in the railway service from the track- 
 men to the engineers. This infant organization 
 that so recently became such a power, was by 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 13 
 
 no means the ojBfspring of a premature concep- 
 tion. President Debs deliberated long and well, 
 carefully considering all the points, and consci- 
 entiously weighing the advantages and disad- 
 vantages that would arise from the formation 
 of such a union, before taking active steps to 
 organize. 
 
 He finally decided that in the American Rail- 
 way Union were the only true principles of or- 
 ganization, and in conjunction with a few of his 
 associates, men true as steel, such men as 
 Howard, Rodgers, Bums and, Kelleher, this union 
 was founded. 
 
 The first strike that was authorized by the 
 American Railway Union was that on the Great 
 Northern Railway Line, against a sweeping re- 
 duction in wages in all departments on that 
 system. 
 
 This strike commenced on April 13, and after 
 a stubborn fight of eighteen days (where one of 
 the shrewdest and ablest railroad presidents in 
 the United States was met in his every strong- 
 hold and defeated by the grandest labor leader 
 in the world, the matchless Debs) the strike was 
 settled, and victory perched on the banner of the 
 American Railway Union. 
 
14 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Then it was that the true principles of this 
 organization were recognized by railroad em- 
 ployes, and applications for charters came pour- 
 ing in from all parts of the country. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE BOYCOTT. 
 
 The American Railway Union is in every sense 
 an American Institution, whose aims and objects 
 as previously stated are to protect and shield its 
 members from the grinding power of railroad 
 corporations. Its motto is unity: "One for all 
 and all for one." 
 
 The Pullman employes were admitted to this 
 organization and consequently entitled to the pro- 
 tection guaranteed to all members, therefore when 
 they walked out, after every honorable means to 
 avert a strike was exhausted, the American Rail- 
 way Union was in duty bound to sustain them. 
 
 The strike was ordered on the 11th day of 
 May, after an all night session by a committee 
 of forty-six members representing every depart- 
 ment in the Pullman works. When the word 
 was given four thousand employes responded 
 to the call, and this proved to be the beginning 
 of the most gigantic strike in the history of 
 organized labor, 
 
 16 
 
16 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 The wrongs of the Pullman people were not 
 generally known to the public, the cruel and 
 inhuman treatment they were subjected to, was 
 kept strictly from the public ears. 
 
 They were reduced to a condition of slavery 
 beneath that of the black slave of the South 
 prior to the civil war, for while the black slave 
 was clothed, housed and fed, the white slave of 
 Pullman was forced to work for wages entirely 
 inadequate to furnish a sufficient amount of food 
 to keep body and soul together. In this condi- 
 tion, on the verge of starvation, with all hope 
 of justice from the hands of George M. Pullman 
 gone, they revolted. Whether the grievance 
 of these men was a just one, or their resistence 
 to further encroachments on their rights was 
 right or wrong, after reading the report of the 
 committee appointed to investigate and report 
 to the American Railway Union Annual Conven- 
 tion, at that time in session in the city of 
 Chicago, it will be for the reader to decide. 
 
 The report, as condensed, in one of the Chicago 
 daily papers, copied and commented on by the 
 St. Paul Branch of the American Railway Union, 
 was as follows: 
 
 After showing by way of contrast, that 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 17 
 
 $30,000,000 worth of Pullman stock paid its 
 holders 9V2 per cent in dividends last year, the 
 report goes statistically into a comparison of 
 wages in the past year, with the wages received 
 by the Pullman employees when the strike was 
 inaugurated. A fair example of the general 
 reduction is given in a comparison in the price 
 of labor involved in the construction of a freight 
 car in 1888 and 1893. 
 
 Lot 1525. 
 
 Oct. 1888. 
 
 Nov. 1893. 
 
 Car carpenter 
 
 $13.00 
 
 $7.00 
 
 Truck builder 
 
 .90 
 
 .60 
 
 Truck labor 
 
 .31 
 
 .09 
 
 Hanging brakes 
 
 1.20 
 
 .65 
 
 Delivering, forging 
 
 and 
 
 
 casting 
 
 1.05 
 
 .35 
 
 Delivering lumber 
 
 .88 
 
 .21 
 
 Framing 
 
 .40 
 
 .12 
 
 Total $17.74 $9.02 
 
 Other comparisons in the same department 
 show that the wages or men employed in build- 
 ing freight cars, have been reduced 49, 57% and 
 47 per cent on contract work since 1888 and 
 89, and a long list of figures from the account 
 
 3 
 
18 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 of men in the upholstering department, show 
 that cuts have been made in the prices paid for 
 piece work during the last twelve months rang- 
 ing from SSVs to 50 per cent. The painters, 
 according to the figures given, have been cut 20 
 per cent since 1893 and were receiving, when the 
 strike went into effect, only 23 cents per hour, 
 while the union men employed by the boss 
 painters in Chicago were all busy under the scale, 
 whereby they are paid 35 cents per hour until 
 June 15th, and 32y2 cents during the summer 
 months. 
 
 The machinists, sheet iron and tin workers, 
 foundrymen and blacksmiths had all been re- 
 duced from 30 to 50 per cent during the last 
 year, and even heavier reductions, according to 
 the report, have been made in other departments. 
 Although wages had been previously reduced, 
 the grestest cut went into effect last fall in the 
 higher grades of labor. 
 
 The reduction then made was from 80 to 120 
 per cent and in the lower grades 30 per 
 cent. For example, the price paid for the 
 decorating finish on the outside of a Pullman 
 sleeper before the reduction, was $40.00, and 
 now it is $18.00. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 19 
 
 By working hard for ten hours a decorator 
 may earn $1.90. 
 
 This sweeping reduction included all classes, 
 and the laborers were compelled to work for 
 from 70 cents to $1.00 per day, all this in the 
 face of the fact that when a reduction was made 
 three years ago, the men were told that as long 
 as the shops stood there would never be another 
 cut in the wages of those who worked upon the 
 Pullman sleepers. 
 
 A committee of girls, from those who were 
 barely keeping body and soul together by work- 
 ing piece work for $2.50 and $3.00 per week, 
 asked the foreman for an increase to enable them 
 to live, and his answer was: If you cannot 
 live upon the pay you are getting, go out and 
 hustle for more. Why should we wonder that 
 houses of prostitution find no difficulty in pro- 
 curing inmates? 
 
 Think of young women having to board and 
 clothe themselves, and in many instances sup- 
 porting an invalid mother or young brothers 
 and sisters on such meager wages. 
 
 The cold blooded averice of the Pullman com- 
 pany is not even satisfied in requiring its em- 
 ployes to work for starvation wages, for in 
 
20 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 wh£.t he exacts from his tenant employes he is 
 even more grasping. 
 
 That model town of Pullman is owned by 
 the Pullman company and everj^thing about it 
 is made to pay toll to this grasping monopoly. 
 
 All employes must rent their houses from 
 this slave driving corporation. There is now in 
 the city of St. Paul a gentleman who formerly 
 worked in Pullman, and growing tired of pa^'ingso 
 much rent for such poor accomodations, moved 
 to the adjoining hamlet, and rented a better 
 house for $8.00 per month. He was at once in- 
 formed that if he wished to retain his situation 
 he would have to move back, and he did so. 
 The house was of the average kind and was 
 called a cottage, consisting of two rooms down 
 stairs, each 10x14 feet, and three rooms up stairs, 
 one of which, the front room, was 10x12 and 
 the two rear rooms each 8x10 feet, lighted front 
 and back, with no bath room or other conveni- 
 ence, and the whole, a j^art of a solid row or 
 block. For this abode there was exacted a 
 monthly rental of $17.00 although the cost 
 would not exceed $1,000. A four room flat 
 rents for $14.50 per month, and if you should 
 want one of these cheap cottages with inside 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 21 
 
 blinds for the front window, you must pay 50 
 cents per month for that much style. Some ten- 
 ants have paid 50 cents per month for this lux- 
 ury for more than thirteen years, which is pretty 
 good interest on the cost of those blinds. 
 
 About 100 acres of land is covered with 
 dwellings and the rent derived is about $500,000 
 annually, which is over 8 per cent per annum 
 on the investment. 
 
 In manj^ of these houses families are crowded 
 into attics in order to reduce expenses to enable 
 them to procure the necessaries of life. 
 
 Recently a new church was erected in Pull- 
 man, known as the Green church and parsonage, 
 for which is demanded a monthly rental of 
 $60.00 and for a good sized audience room, and 
 two smaller ones attached Mr. Pullman charges 
 the Methodist Episcopal society $500 per year. 
 These rents must be paid in advance and are 
 deducted from the wages of the men, and not- 
 withstanding that the wages have been reduced 
 no reductions have as yet been made in the rent. 
 
 The manner in which these men have been 
 bled in the matter of rent, is fully equaled in the 
 manner in which money for water and gas has 
 been extorted from them. When the town was 
 
22 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 built a contract was made with the Village of 
 Hyde Park, to furnish water at the rate of four 
 cents per thousand gallons, and incredible as it 
 may appear, this w^ater was furnished to the 
 Pullman tenants at ten cents per thousand gal- 
 lons. In other words he charged $3,000 per 
 month for the w^ater which cost him but $1,200. 
 This represents an annual profit on this one item 
 of $21,000. 
 
 Could cold blooded heartless averice go fur- 
 ther? Yes ; in the matter of gas which was man- 
 ufactured and furnished to the people by the 
 Pullman company itself, and although the cost 
 is but 33 cents per thousand cubic feet, the ten- 
 ants pay $2.25 per thousand while the same gas 
 is furnished the residents of Hyde Park for 75 
 cents per thousand. 
 
 This adds from three to four dollars per 
 month to living expenses in the average house at 
 Pullman. 
 
 Another source of income which is w^rung 
 from the unfortunate victim is for heat, for 
 which the company charges for six months in 
 the year $10.80 per month. 
 
 It might be well to state also, that no per- 
 son is allowed to keep a horse, unless the animal 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 23 
 
 is kept at the company stables for which $3.00 
 per week is charged. 
 
 Such were the conditions of affairs discovered 
 by the investigating committee in this model 
 town, nor was this all. Miss Curtis, a delegate 
 to the convention representing a ladies' lodge of 
 the American Railway Union at Pullman, and 
 whose father died in September, '93, was ob- 
 liged to work fourteen hours per day in order to 
 earn fifty cents at the same work for which she 
 received prior to the first reduction $2.25 per 
 day, and not satisfied with reducing her wages 
 to this starvation point, the company insisted 
 on the payment of a debt of $60.00 contracted 
 during her fathers illness. This is but a sample 
 of the devilish cruelties perpetrated on the em- 
 ployes by the Pullman Company to satisfy 
 their hellish greed for gold. 
 
 This corporation cannot plead poverty for 
 thus treating its employes, as its capital stock is 
 $30,000,000 and carries an enormous surplus of 
 $18,000,000 which is termed a reserve fund. 
 Mr. Pullman's personal wealth is estimated at 
 about $25,000,000. Quarterly dividends of not 
 less than two per cent have been paid regularly 
 
24 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 on the capital stock, and the stockholders re- 
 ceive every three months $600,000 as their share 
 of the earnings. It is to enable them to pay 
 this immense sum every three months, that the 
 wages of its employes have been reduced. Can 
 it be wondered that the American Railway 
 Union took the matter in hand and declared a 
 boycott on Pullman cars. When the report was 
 received every brother present was deeply moved, 
 and it was the unanimous sentiment of the con- 
 vention to declare a boycott, but before taking 
 action, apprised the various local unions of the 
 state of affairs then existing, and received the 
 sanction of the local bodies. They then decided 
 that if the Pullman Company would not sub- 
 mit the difficulty to arbitration on or before the 
 26th day of June, to cut off the Pullman cars 
 and refuse to handle them until the matter was 
 settled. This action was taken June 22, and de- 
 cided action held off until June 26, in hope that 
 committees appointed to wait on Mr. Pullman 
 would be successful in gaining some concessions 
 whereby a peaceable settlement could be arrived 
 at before resorting to the boycott, and, although 
 several committees were sent to the management 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 25 
 
 and every honorable means resorted to in order 
 to bring about an amicable settlement, it was of 
 no avail and there was nothing for the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union to do but enforce the boy- 
 cott. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIE ST DAY OF THE STRIKE. 
 
 The 26th day of June was awaited with 
 more than ordinary interest by the people of 
 Chicago on account of the proposed boycott. 
 
 The first train to leave Chicago handling 
 Pullman cars was the Chicago and Erie Buffalo 
 Express, and hundreds of men gathered to wit- 
 ness the departure at 2:55 P. M, 
 
 It started out on time with several Pull- 
 mans attached and several Pinkerton detectives 
 on board. This was owing to the fact that it 
 had been made up before the time set for 
 the boycott to go into effect, but drawbars 
 had been chained together and fastened with 
 padlocks as a safeguard against cutting out the 
 Pullman cars. Everyone was anxious to see if 
 the engineer would pull it out. All doubt was 
 soon set at rest however, as the engine backed 
 onto the train and started out on time as usual. 
 The crowd then waited to see if the next train, 
 the Limited Express, on the Grand Trunk, due 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 27 
 
 to leave at 3:10 p. m., would meet with the same 
 success, and after seeing this train also pull out 
 on time, the crowd dispersed. 
 
 The trains on the Monon Route, Santa Fe, 
 and Eastern Illinois also departed with their ac- 
 customed regularity and without interference, 
 and at 6.00 o'clock, as every train was running 
 on time, Mr. Pullman and the railway officials 
 were quite jubilant at what they considered a 
 complete failure of the American Railway Union 
 to perform the task it had undertaken. But in- 
 side of three hours they were doomed to disap- 
 pointment, for at that time not a wheel was 
 turning on the Illinois Central with the excep- 
 tion of express trains that had been started 
 before the strike was ordered. 
 
 The strikers might have stopped the Diamond 
 Special which leaves at 9:00 p. M., but through 
 consideration for the passengers who had already 
 purchased berth tickets, and adhering strictly to 
 the instructions of their leaders to do nothing 
 to discommode the travelers who in all probab- 
 ility^ were not acquainted with the existing state 
 of affairs, this train was allow^ed to proceed. 
 The strike that parah-zed the traffic of the entire 
 countr^^ w^as started in this manner. Early in 
 
28 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 the afternoon a committee of five switchmen, em- 
 plo^'ed on the Illinois Central, made their appear- 
 ance at the headquarters of the American Rail- 
 way Union in the Ashland block, to learn 
 authoritively the nature and purpose of the 
 order issued requiring them to refuse to switch 
 the cars of the Pullman Company, as the in- 
 structions received by them through Organizer 
 Meyers of the union, were not sufficiently defin- 
 ite, so they claimed, to warrant their resisting 
 the railroad company, and forfeiting their posi- 
 tions by such action. The switchmen, they said 
 were willing to help the Pullman strikers, but 
 they wished to know to a certainty what was 
 expected of them. The directors of the union 
 immediately held a conference with the dele- 
 gates the result of which was an order to strike 
 if the company insisted on them switching the 
 Pullman cars. Those who were not members of 
 the American Railway Union were guaranteed 
 equal protection if they joined the strike, and the 
 result was a complete tie up of the Illinois 
 Central R. R. 
 
 The Chicago Times, in an article next morn- 
 ing, said that for rapidity of conception and exe- 
 cution this strike which probably involves five 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 29 
 
 thousand men, beats anything of the kind on 
 record, and in the same article says : the efforts 
 to sidetrack the cars of the Pullman company 
 yesterday was carried on with strict conformity 
 to law and order. 
 
 With the exception of a crowd attracted out 
 of a curiosity to see what might happen, there 
 was nothing unusual about the depot, there was 
 no boisterous talking, no threats were made, 
 and the few squads of police officers sent there 
 to preserve order, had nothing to do. 
 
 Train No. 7, due to leave at 9 o'clock, haul- 
 ing two Pullman coaches filled with passengers, 
 did not leave on time there being a delay of 30 
 minutes before it finally pulled out of the depot. 
 After running within one hundred yards of 
 Grand Crossing it stopped, there being a crowd 
 of about five thousand people at this point of 
 whom there was not to exceed one hundred and 
 twentj'-five railroad men. The engineer refused 
 to start, and although Supt. Collins expostu- 
 lated with him it was of no avail, and any 
 further attempt to move the train was aband- 
 oned for the time being. 
 
 At 11:30 p. M. tower man Cable, who con- 
 trols the switches at Fourty- third street, left 
 
30 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 his post, and two south-bound suburban trains 
 were whistling for the switches. They were 
 soon joined by three north-bound trains, a freight 
 train, Michigan Central Fast Mail, and Illinois 
 Central Limited, and all were tied up until one 
 o'clock in the morning when the superintendent 
 of terminals threw the switches. The Chicago 
 Great Western, Baltimore & Ohio, Chicago and 
 Northern Pacific and Wisconsin Central were next 
 to fall in line and refuse to handle Pullfnan cars. 
 President Debs, after reviewing the situation, 
 asked the men as individuals to consider the 
 problem involved, saying, that if the Pullman 
 Company was right, then the strikers m-ist be 
 wrong, but if 3^ou feel assured that those men 
 are only striking to gain that which is every 
 man's right — living wages, then we ask 3'^our 
 moral support. There is but one hope for the 
 laborer. Labor must stand by labor. The cor- 
 porations have now forced a fight upon us by 
 combining to help the Pullman company; they 
 have forced us to combine and use the only 
 weapon which the workingman possesses, the 
 strike and the boycott. The railroads have 
 never done anything for labor that the latter 
 should hesitate to use these weapons. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 31 
 
 It is a battle between allied monopoly against 
 the rights of working people, it is a matter of 
 broad humanity. I want to see the switchmen, 
 the car inspectors and other employes w^ait 
 upon the officials in a manly way, and refuse to 
 handle these boycotted cars. 
 
 I want to appeal only to your reason, and 
 not to influence your passion, but I ask you to 
 take a manly stand in the aid of men, women 
 and children who have been ground down by the 
 iron heel of the oppressor. 
 
 I would rather be a manly pauper than an 
 unmanly millionaire. 
 
 I ask every man, as an individual to think 
 for himself and to do what he thinks to be 
 right. 
 
 President Debs appealed to the men to com- 
 mit no acts of violence but act in strict accord- 
 ance with the law. 
 
 The strike had now reached St. Paul, Omaha, 
 Denver, Trinidad, Cal.; Raton, N. M.; Cincinnati, 
 St. Louis and Duluth, and no intimidation, no 
 threats, no violence of any kind whatever was 
 resorted to. When the men were asked to 
 handle the Pullman cars, they simply stepped 
 down and out. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AN APPEAL FROM DEBS. 
 
 As the light of dawn proclaimed the birth of 
 a new day so the events that this day would 
 bring forth was the all absorbing thought and 
 theme of a great number of the American people. 
 
 All were anxious to learn the situation, 
 whether interested in the boycott or otherwise, 
 as by this time the whole western part of the 
 United States had begun to feel the heavy hand 
 of the American Railway Union boycott, and 
 every railroad from the Missouri to the Pacific 
 coast, from Manitoba to Mexico, and all centers 
 of importance in the West, Southwest and North" 
 west were tied up, because the American Railway 
 Union men, in the cause of humanity and right, 
 would not operate them with Pullman sleepers 
 attached, and the railroad managers, in the cause 
 of oppression, would not allow them to run 
 otherwise. 
 
 Thirteen roads centering in Chicago were now 
 completely tied up, the Santa Fe, Chicago & 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 33 
 
 Northern Pacific, Southern Pacific, Chicago & 
 Western Indiana, Pan Handle, Monon Route, 
 Chicago & Grand Trunk, Chicago & Erie, Illi- 
 nois Central, Baltimore & Ohio, Chicago & Great 
 Western, Wisconsin Central and Cincinnati 
 Southern, and the General Managers had begun 
 to realize the futility of carrying on the fight, 
 and if they had not received encouragement and 
 aid from outside sources, would have in all prob- 
 ability ended the strike at once by dropping the 
 Pullman cars. 
 
 As a prominent railroad man said when 
 asked about the strike situation : " It is my opin- 
 ion that the railroads will drop the fight just as 
 soon as the American Railwa^^ Union can demon- 
 strate the fact that Pullman cars can not be 
 hauled without a long and expensive fight with 
 their own employes. I know that this view oi 
 the case was taken by some of the managers at 
 a meeting to-day, and Mr. Pullman will be noti- 
 fied that he must make a settlement with his 
 men at once, otherwise the effected roads \vill 
 drop his cars and resume business." 
 
 The Union now felt confident of success. Pres- 
 ident Debs said : "We are sure to win as our cause 
 is just, there will be no disturbances as the men 
 
34 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 have orders that there must be no rioting and no 
 interference whatever with the roads, other than 
 to refuse to assist to operate them. 
 
 "Whatever the oflScials can do for themselves 
 with the few men at their command let them do ; 
 we propose to be fair and square in this fight, 
 and if within my power to prevent, not 
 one spike belonging to any road will be dam- 
 aged. " 
 
 And thus the second day of the great strike 
 came to an end. 
 
 June 28th added nine more roads to those 
 already tied up. 
 
 The Chicago & Northwestern; Chicago & 
 Alton; Union Pacific; Denver & Rio Grande; 
 Chicago & Eastern Illinois; Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne 
 & Chicago; Chicago, Milwaukee &: St. Paul; 
 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Stock 
 Yard Terminals, making in all twenty-two roads 
 out and twenty thousand men on strike in 
 the city of Chicago, and not one act of violence 
 committed that could be charged to a striker. 
 
 The Mobile & Ohio at this time succumbed to 
 the boycott and side-tracked its Pullman cars 
 promising not to haul them again until the strike 
 was settled. This rail road is a large corpora- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 35 
 
 tion, and its surrender to the American Railway- 
 Union was considered a great victory, and the 
 directors at once ordered the boycott raised as 
 far as this line was concerned. 
 
 Minneapolis and St. Paul was now beginning 
 to feel the effect of the boycott. 
 
 The Northern Pacific was the first in the 
 fight, and the same plan of action outHned at 
 Chicago was followed at these points when the 
 time came to make up passenger trains. The 
 switchmen refused to couple on the Pullman's 
 and were discharged. 
 
 The mediation committee at once took up 
 the matter with the manager, asking him to re- 
 instate the discharged men, which he refused to 
 do, and as a result the entire sj'stem from the 
 Pacific coast to Minneapolis and St. Paul was 
 called out. 
 
 This plan was adopted and carried out on 
 all the rail roads entering the Twin cities. 
 
 The boycott was no longer a fight in the 
 interest of the Pullman employes alone but had 
 resolved itself into a gigantic contest between 
 organized labor on the one side, and organized 
 capital on the other, and although up to this 
 time there had been no violence, no loud demon- 
 
36 THE PULMLAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 strations, no threats of any kind, the Illinois 
 Central demanded troops to protect their prop- 
 erty, and the militia was ordered out. On the 
 Pan Handle the Cincinnati Express had the cars 
 of Mr. Pullman detached, and the officials cried 
 "riot" and asked from Sheriff" Gilbert of Chic- 
 ago a posse to protect the U. S. mail. This was 
 furnished, and although the mail cars were not 
 molested in any way, the officials refused to 
 allow the mail to go forward without the Pull- 
 man sleepers attached. 
 
 Seven more railroads had now come under 
 the ban of the boycott making in all twenty- 
 nine at the close of the fourth day. 
 
 On June 29th President Debs issued the fol- 
 lowing appeal to railway employes of the 
 country. 
 
 "The struggle with the Pullman company has 
 developed into a contest between the producing 
 classes and the money power of the country. 
 
 "This is what Lincoln predicted at the close 
 of the civil war, and it was this reflection that 
 gave the great emancipator his gloomiest fore- 
 bodings. We stand upon the ground that the 
 workingmen are entitled to a just proportion of 
 the proceeds of their labor. This the Pullman 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 37 
 
 company denied them. Reductions have been 
 made from time to time until the employes 
 earned barely sufficient wages to live, not enough 
 to prevent them from sinking deeper and deeper 
 into Pullman's debt, thereby mortgaging their 
 bodies and souls, as well as their children's, to 
 that heartless corporation. 
 
 "Up to this point the fight was between the 
 American Railway Union and the Pullman com- 
 pany. The American Railway Union resolved 
 that its members would refuse to handle Pull- 
 man cars and equipment. Then the railway cor- 
 porations through the General Manager's assoc- 
 iation, came to the rescue, and in a series of 
 whereases declared to the world that they would 
 go into partnership with Pullman, so to speak, 
 and stand by him in his devilish work of starv- 
 ing his employes to death. The American Railway 
 Union accepted his gauge of war, and thus the 
 contest is now on between the railway corpora- 
 tions arrayed solidly on the one hand, and the 
 labor forces upon the other. Every railroad em- 
 ploye of the country should take his stand 
 against the corporations in this fight, for if it 
 should be lost corporations will have despotic 
 sway and all employes will be reduced to a con- 
 
38 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 dition scarcely removed above chattle slavery; 
 but the fight will not be lost. The great princi- 
 ple of American manhood and independence is 
 involved. Corporate power, drunk with its own 
 excesses, has presumed to far upon the forbear- 
 ance of the American people, and, notwithstand- 
 ing a subsidized press (to which there are many 
 notable and noble exceptions), public sympathy 
 is with the striking employes, who are merely 
 contending for the right of their fellow toilers to 
 receive living wages for their work. 
 
 "I appeal to strikers everywhere to refrain 
 from any act of violence. Let there be no inter- 
 ference with the affairs of the companies involved 
 and above all let there be no act of depredation. 
 A man who will destroy property or violate law 
 is an enemy, not a friend to the cause of labor. 
 The great public is with us and we need only 
 to maintain a dignified, honest, straight forward 
 policy to achieve victory. Le it be understood 
 that this strike is not ordered by myself nor by 
 any other individual; nor is the strike inaugur- 
 ated anywhere except by consent and authority 
 from a majority of the employes themselves. 
 
 "Neither is this a fight simply of the American 
 Railway Union. The question of organization 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 39 
 
 ought not be raised, but every man who believes 
 in organized railroad labor should take his stand 
 on the side of labor, and its battles for his rights 
 and those of his fellowmen. I have faith in the 
 great body of railroad employes of the country 
 and am confident they will maintain an unbroken 
 front in spite of any opposition that may be 
 brought to bear against them. 
 
 "I am perfectly confident of success. We can- 
 not fail. 
 
 E. V. Debs. " 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SIDES WITH THE 
 MANAGERS. 
 
 The fifth day of the great stride showed no 
 cessation of hostilities, the entire North-western 
 and Southwestern portion of the United States 
 was practically at a standstill. Every road en- 
 tering Chicago was partially, if not completely 
 tied up, and the General Managers Association, 
 under the leadership of John M. Egan was at 
 sea. 
 
 They now realized that they had taken a 
 contract that it would be difficult to fulfill, and 
 without the co-operation of some greater power 
 they would be defeated. A lack of confidence in 
 their ability to subdue the strikers and compel 
 them to work, was well illustrated in a meeting 
 between Sir George Pullman and Vice-President 
 Harahan of the Illinois Central. W. M, Daley, 
 of New Orleans, was the only witness to the 
 meeting and his presence undoubtedly saved Sir 
 George from a masterly drubbing at the hands 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 41 
 
 of Mr. Harahan. Mr. Pullman entered the office 
 of Vice-President Harahan, and in the course of 
 time his conversation turned to the strike and 
 its effect on the Illinois Central. 
 
 This was the opening round. 
 
 It aroused all the ire in the portly form of 
 Mr. Harahan, and with blazing eyes he turned 
 on Sir George. 
 
 "You are not fit to govern men," he said; 
 "instead of visiting your own works, you have 
 a number of sujDcrintendents who furnish you 
 with reports, and when they are colored to suit 
 3^ou take them as facts, and a result is busi- 
 ness is embargoed, poverty stalks all over your 
 grounds, you are alone responsible for the pres- 
 ent condition of affairs on the railroads. Why 
 don't you go among your emploj-es and see 
 things for yourself? If you did there would be 
 no such trouble." Then followed a number of 
 epethets such as thick head, incompetent, over- 
 rated, and the official shook his fist under the 
 stubby nose of Sir George in a very threatening 
 manner. Mr. Pullman tried to speak, but the 
 Vice-President broke in on him again. "You 
 think you have a contract with this road that 
 you can rub it in on us, but you can't, never 
 
42 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 will we submit to it, the railroads are losing 
 $250,000 a day owing to your obs tinacy. You 
 are unfit to act as president of any company, 
 and if you were to visit your much boasted 
 town to-day, the chances are that you would be 
 dealt with severely. Why, you are nothing but 
 a figure head, you are not the actual president 
 of the company, for if you were you would know 
 something about it. You know nothing in re- 
 gard to the actual state of affairs." It did not 
 take long for the story to reach the different rail- 
 road centers about the city. 
 
 It came to the knowledge of the American 
 Railway Union that J. M. Egan and Manager 
 St. John of the Rock Island road had employed 
 two thousand men in Canada to fill the places 
 of the strikers, and steps were taken immediately 
 to stop their importation, but with what success 
 it was impossible to determine. 
 
 All this time the strike was spreading and 
 the membership of the American Railway Union 
 was increasing rapidly. The sensational reports 
 of rioting and bloodshed in various yards proved 
 upon investigation to be false, and bej^ond doubt 
 circulated by the General Managers and eagerly 
 seized by the subsidized press to win the sym- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 43 
 
 pathy of the public in the interest of the corpor- 
 ations. 
 
 The police when questioned positively denied 
 the stories saying there were no grounds for the 
 reports. 
 
 Marching orders were received at the head- 
 quarters of the Missouri U. S. troops, for the 
 15th infantry and though it was not known at 
 the time the orders were received from Washing- 
 ton, it was soon learned that they were to go 
 to Chicago and assist the General Managers to 
 run their trains. 
 
 At this time occured the tieup at Minnesota 
 Transfer, which was the most complete and 
 effectual blockade of any in the strike district. 
 The Minnesota Transfer represents nine different 
 roads. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; 
 Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha; Great 
 Northern ; Northern Pacific ; Minneapolis & St. 
 Louis ; Chicago Great Western ; Wisconsin Cen- 
 tral; Chicago, Burlington & Northern and Belt 
 Line Ry. 
 
 All freight through the Twin Cities handled 
 by these roads, is interchanged at this point. It 
 is situated midway between St. Paul and Min- 
 neapolis and employes from three hundred to 
 
44 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 five hundred men according to the volume of 
 business. This is a freight yard exclusively, and 
 therefore had nothing to do with the handling 
 of Pullman equipment, But this little techni- 
 cality did not prevent this body of men from 
 coming to the assistance of their brothers, and 
 as each road was brought under the ban of the 
 boycott they refused to handle cars or in any 
 way assist them to operate their line. 
 
 On the night of the 1st day of July, the 
 Milwaukee road now under boycott brought in 
 five cars of beer for delivery to the Great Northern. 
 
 The men including the yard master refused to 
 deliver the cars, and were sent home. A meet- 
 ting was called for the night of July 2nd, and a 
 committee apointed to wait upon the superinten- 
 dent, Mr. D. M. Sullivan, and ascertain if the 
 men were discharged. Mr. Sullivan answered in 
 the affirmative, and an unanimous vote to strike 
 was then taken, over three hundred men, the 
 entire force with three exceptions quit work, and 
 not a wheel was turned except by the superin- 
 tendent himself, for ten days. 
 
 The general Managers now got in their fine 
 work by utilizing the government. A Washing- 
 ton special to the Chicago Times says: 
 
THE PULLMAN ROYCOTT. 45 
 
 Our wretched administration is in the hands 
 of the railroads, there is no doubt about it, 
 Cleveland, Lamont, Olney and Bissel are at the 
 beck and call of the corporations, from the 
 White House down it has been determined to put 
 forth every effort even to Gattlin^ guns, to em- 
 ploy every arm of the government even to its 
 Supreme Judges to destroy this strike and the 
 laboring people concerned in it. The case is de- 
 cided against the strikers in advance, the wired 
 words of the General Managers are accepted as 
 settled facts ; what the}' ask for they will 
 get, what they suggest will be adopted 
 the workingmen are to be ground beneath the 
 heel of the military, and if necessar^^ to force 
 them into submission they are to be sabered, 
 bayoneted, shot down or taken prisoner's or 
 whatever is deemed sternly necessary to com- 
 pel them to submit to such terms as their monej- 
 crat owner sees fit to impose. 
 
 This is a railway administration. So 
 promptly loyal has Cleveland proven himself to 
 be that it is to be believed that should the com- 
 panies desire it, thej' could have the Executive 
 Mansion for a round house and the White House 
 grounds for switching purposes. 
 
46 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 The managers wired Olney to name Edwin 
 Walker, who is attorney for the Milwaukee road 
 as special solicitor for the government, to take 
 measures against the strikers as they had no 
 confidence in Milchrist. 
 
 He seemed weak, his term was soon to expire 
 and he seemed inclined to avoid harsh measures 
 ablest with the men. They wanted Walker, he was 
 the corporation attorney' in the country ; he had 
 been cradled by, and grown up at the knee of 
 corporations ; he was their body and soul in the 
 life and death struggle w^ith their employes. 
 
 They urged Olney to clothe Walker with the 
 special United States authority to better protect 
 them and overthrow the strike. By thus making 
 the railway attorney Walker solicitor for the 
 United States, the control of government power 
 could be placed in the hands of the corporations 
 to wield against the men. Walker was ap- 
 pointed by Olney and placed in control over 
 Milchrist in the affairs of the strike. Mr. Walker 
 was known personally by Olney, and Olney is 
 at the present time one of the counsles of the 
 Santa Fe and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, 
 and said to be a director of the latter road. He 
 has been for years intimate with Mr. Walker, 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 47 
 
 who, by the way, is a hot favorite of Fuller of 
 the supreme bench. There was, therefore a dozen 
 good reasons for this selection, which addressed 
 themselves to Mr. Olney, who is in this not as a 
 cabinet officer, but as a friend and director of 
 railway corporations, and he therefore precip- 
 itately granted the request of the general man- 
 agers. Bissel, also a railroad director, shows 
 Olney's anxiety to come to the back of the roads. 
 (The truth of the above correspondence could not 
 be denied). In this way the entire available force 
 of troops at Ft. Sheriden, including infantry, cav- 
 alry and artillery was ordered out by the Presi- 
 dent of the United States to assist the railroad 
 managers against the people. Such was the at- 
 titute of this government "of the people, by the 
 people, and for the people" against the people. 
 The railway managers having now secured the 
 federal ,troops, proceeds to issue injunctions re- 
 straining the strikers from using the power of 
 persuation on those men still in the service, to 
 induce them to quit. This order drawn up by 
 Judges Wood and Grosscup w^as a lengthy one, 
 and peculiarly in harmony with the corporation 
 interest. 
 
48 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 The Chicago Times, in an editorial says: In 
 this Federal injunction, which is in the main em- 
 inently just and equally unnecessary, appears a 
 claim in which certain persons named, and all 
 other persons whatsoever are ordered to refrain 
 from compelling or inducing, or attempting to 
 compel or induce, by threats, intimitation, force 
 or violence any of the employes of any of the 
 said railroads, to refuse or fail to perform any 
 of their duties, as employes of said railroads, in 
 connection with the inter-state business or com- 
 merce of such railroads, or the transportation of 
 passenger or property between or among the 
 states; or from compelling or inducing or at- 
 tempting to compel or induce by threads, intim- 
 idation, persuation, force or violence, any of the 
 employes of any of said railroads, who are em- 
 ployed by said railroads and engaged in its serv- 
 ice, in the conduct of interstate business or in 
 the operation of any of its trains carrying mail 
 of the United States or doing interstate business 
 or transportation of passengers or freight, bet- 
 ween and among the states, to leave the service of 
 such railroad. The Times emphatically does not 
 believe that any court whatever has a right to 
 order men to refrain from attempting by persu- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 49 
 
 ation to induce others to leave the employment 
 they are engaged in. There is a natural law that 
 in the end will prevail over the formal law 
 built up by lawyers and courts. If as Judge Gary 
 says, the law is common sense, this injunction will 
 not stand, for common sense will certainly pro- 
 nounce an orderly and respectful request to a 
 railroad employee to give up his position and join 
 the organized strikers, no crime. It is idle to 
 plead that a discreet and just court will only en- 
 force this injuction against actual law breakers, 
 for there is in it an opportunity for injustice and 
 oppression which makes it wholly bad. The in- 
 junction is becoming a menace to libert}^ it is a 
 w^eapon ever ready for the capitalist, and there 
 should be more careful federal legislation limiting 
 its use. 
 
 Certainly if the restraining order of Judges 
 Wood and Grosscup be good law there is no 
 sense in maintaining organized labor. Childlike 
 trust in the benevolence and fairness of the em- 
 ployer must be the workingman's future policy 
 if this injunction be made a precedent. 
 
 In the meantime the General Manager's as- 
 sociation and the subsidized press were endeavor- 
 ing to impress the public with the belief that the 
 
50 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 strikers were a lot of disorderly and riotous law 
 breakers of the worst description. To show how 
 much truth there was in these tales, I will give 
 the statement of Capt. J. Hartnett as made after 
 dispersing a mob. He said: There wasn't a 
 railroad man in the whole outfit, but a lot of 
 bums who thought they would have a lot of 
 sport at the expense of the railroads. But we 
 soon gave them a hustling, and I want to say 
 this for the strikers, and by that I mean the real 
 railroad men, they are orderly here and 
 as quiet as possible, I have had no dis- 
 turbance in any district that can be traced to 
 railroad men. It is well know than on occasions 
 like these every loafer turns loose and takes ad- 
 vantage of the strike to start a row, but the 
 genuine railroad men are too sensible to cause 
 any disturbance. ^ 
 
 This was true also of all other cities engaged 
 in the strike. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TROOPS AT BLUE ISLAND. 
 
 The Fourth of July dawned upon a scene 
 that would start the blood of the signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence leaping in flames of 
 fire through their veins, if they could but reap- 
 pear upon this land in the vigorous manhood of 
 their youth ; those heroes whose blood baptized 
 the battlefields of Yorktown and Bunker Hill for 
 the glorious cause of libert}^ and equal rights; 
 and behold the spectical of this day, they would 
 think that they had fought, bled and died in 
 vain, that victory after all was but defeat. 
 
 Military depotism reigned supreme. The 
 great masses of the liberty loving people who 
 were want to celebrate this National holiday of 
 Independence in a manner befitting the occasion, 
 began to think. Their thoughts took them back 
 to the da\"S of English tj-rann^', and the\^ ask 
 themselves, must this fight be fought again? 
 The thoughts were contagous, and when the 
 American people began to think, their thoughts 
 
 SI 
 
52 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 are dangerous. The battle must and will be 
 fought again, but not with the weapons of '76, 
 but with the weapon the old man can wield as 
 well as the young; the ballot. 
 
 Wholesale arrests followed the arrival of the 
 federal troops at Blue Island, free speech was 
 eliminated, any man who passed along, who 
 had the appearance of striker or sympathizer 
 was promptly arrested, and that too without 
 a warrant. The remark "that fellow is a scab," 
 was sufficient to send a man to the guard house. 
 A fireman was asked by his landlord, "where 
 have you been lately?" That was enough he 
 was placed with other shackled prisoners in 
 the guard house, but was released later on. In 
 the morning there was a parade, but the old 
 time patriotism was noticeably wanting, a fire- 
 man arrested for refusing to go to work, having 
 a depressing effect. Patriotic speeches were 
 prominent by their absence, and people began to 
 wonder what day was being celebrated. 
 
 The bloodcurdling lawlessness and rioting by 
 the strikers at Blue Island, as depicted by the 
 corporation press ; when simmered down to facts 
 proved to be as false as other similar reports 
 sent out by the plutocratic press. The so-called 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 63 
 
 rioting amounted to nothing more or less than 
 expression of thought, and I believe if the 
 General Managers, corporation courts, Cleve- 
 land & Co., could conceive and put into execu- 
 tion some plan whereby they could put a re- 
 straining order on the minds of the striker and 
 deny him the right to think, it would be done. 
 The gist of the rioting as I said before was 
 simply expression of thought. A man as he 
 watched a train pass by rem arked : ' ' There are 
 
 d d few Pullmans anyway." He w^as promptly 
 
 arrested. Another remarked that some fellow 
 was a scab, and was also taken in. This and 
 other like remarks were samples of the Blue 
 Island rioting at Chicago. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the federal troops, the 
 General Managers Association shifted the respons- 
 ibility from their own shoulders to those of Uncle 
 Sam, and the eager willingness that the represen- 
 tatives of the people exhibited to assist Sir Duke 
 Pullman and the railroad corporation to subju- 
 gate and reduce the working people to a condition 
 of serfdom, was sufficient evidence that the man- 
 agers knew what they were about. They felt se- 
 cure in the knowledge that their interest would be 
 well taken care of by the administration, and 
 
64 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 sought the mucli needed rest that these weary ses- 
 sions of plotting and scheming had earned for 
 them. 
 
CHAPTER Vll. 
 
 A PROTEST FROM GOV. ALTGELD. 
 
 It was plain to be seen that the presence of 
 U. S. troops in Chicago had a bad effect. The 
 people felt disposed to resent this uncalled for in- 
 terference of the President. His unwarranted and 
 illegal action in sending federal troops into the 
 state of Illinois uncalled for by the civil author- 
 ities (waving all question of courtesy), was a re- 
 flection on the efficiency of the civil authorities to 
 maintain order, and a direct insult to the intelli- 
 gence and loyalty to the citizens of the state. The 
 governor protested against this highhanded pro- 
 ceeding, and in no mild terms insisted that he 
 was amply able and willing to preserve order if 
 called upon to do so. 
 
 He assured the President that it was not 
 troops the railroads needed but men to run their 
 trains, and this was the exact truth, as the strik- 
 ers were not interfering with the running of trains 
 but refused to run them, and the companies could 
 not operate their roads without the aid of the men 
 who left the service. 
 
56 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 But they needed a shield to hide their helpless- 
 ness, and this they found in the federal troops, 
 therefore it requires but little reasoning to under- 
 stand the bad effect on the people, made by the 
 presence of United States troops, equipped for war 
 in time of peace. This ill feeling, mingled with 
 curiosity produced excitement. Excitement in- 
 vited the presence of the tough and lawless ele- 
 ment, which was exactly what the railroad mag- 
 nates where striving for, as the strikers had no in- 
 tention of interfering with their trains, and they 
 knew that it was necessary to incite rioting in 
 order to have an excuse for not operating their 
 roads. 
 
 Their devilish schemes succeeded only too 
 well. A mob composed of the tough and hood- 
 lum element congregated at the Rock Island yards 
 and from Nineteenth to Fortieth Street, over- 
 turned box cars and destroyed everything that 
 came in their way. The mob increased until not 
 less than ten thousand people participated in the 
 work of destruction, but be it said to the credit 
 of the impartial i^ress of that city, they announced 
 that no strikers had taken part in the lawlessness. 
 Mayor Hopkins, who went in person to the scene, 
 said that from what he had heard, and what he 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 57 
 
 could see for himself, that no railroad men were 
 implicated in the depredations, and business men 
 whose veracity could not be questioned corobor- 
 ated his statement. 
 
 This occurrance was much to be feared by the 
 strikers, as it was not the first time that such 
 means had been emploj^ed to turn public sentiment 
 from the side of the workingmen. 
 
 Realizing this the men did their utmost to pre- 
 vent it, and by threats and entreaties tried to per- 
 suade the mob to desist from the work of destruc- 
 tion, but were successful only for a short time. 
 One of the strikers remarked to an officer at the 
 time : " By Heavens ! this won't do, there is not a 
 striker in that crowd ; this is done to injure us, 
 and those fellows are not trying to stop it," 
 meaning the troops. 
 
 The strike had now reached Toledo, Cleve- 
 land and Buffalo, and was rapidly spreading east, 
 the entire country was in a- whirlpool of excite- 
 ment, and the strikers were jubilant. The general 
 managers with the combined forces of the federal 
 troops, state militia, and Cleveland and his cab- 
 inet could not operate the roads. One simple word 
 from the general managers to Pullman would 
 have been more effective in starting the trains 
 
58 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 than all tlie armies and courts in the United 
 States or all the scabs from Canada, but rather 
 than speak that one word, "arbitration," they 
 would bankrupt every system of railroads in the 
 country. 
 
 On July 5, President Cleveland received by 
 wire the following protest from Gov. Altgeld of 
 Illinois : 
 
 • ' Dear Sir : — I am advised that you have ordered 
 federal troops to go into service in the state of 
 Illinois. Surely the facts have not been correctly 
 presented to you in this case or you would not 
 have taken this step, for it is entirely unnecessary 
 and as it seems to me unjustifiable. Waving all 
 question of courtesy I will say that the state of 
 Illinois is not only able to take care of itself, but it 
 stands ready to-day to furnish the federal gov- 
 ernment any assistance it may need elsewhere. 
 
 "Our military force is ample and consists of as 
 good soldiers as can be found in the country. 
 They have been ordered promptly, whenever and 
 wherever they were needed. We have stationed 
 in Chicago alone three regiments of in- 
 fantry, one battery and one troop of cavalry, and 
 no better soldiers can be found. They have been 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 69 
 
 ready every moment to go on duty and have been 
 and are now eager to go into service. 
 
 "But they have not been ordered out because 
 nobody in Cook county, whether official or pri- 
 vate citizen, asked to have their assistance or 
 even intimated in anyway that their assistance 
 was desired or necessary. 
 
 "So far as I have been advised the local offi> 
 cials have been able to handle the situation, but 
 if any assistance were needed the state stood 
 ready to furnish 100 men for every one man re- 
 quired, and stood ready to do so at a moment's 
 notice. Notwithstanding these facts the federal 
 government has been applied to by men who had 
 political and selfish motives for wanting to ig- 
 nor the state government. 
 
 "We have just gone through a long coal strike 
 more extensive here than in any other state 
 because our soft coal fields are larger than that 
 of any other state. We have now had ten days 
 of the rail road strike, and we have promptly 
 furnished military aid wherever the local officials 
 needed it. In two instances the United States 
 marshall for the southern district of Illinois ap- 
 plied for assistence to enable him to enforce the 
 processes of the United States court and troops 
 
60 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 were promptly furnished him, and he was as- 
 sisted in every way he desired. The law has been 
 thoroughly executed and every man guilty of 
 violating it during the strike has been brought 
 to justice 
 
 "If the raarshall of the northern district of 
 Illinois or the authorities of Cook county needed 
 military assistance they had but to ask for it in 
 order to get it from the state. 
 
 "At present some of our railroads are para- 
 lyzed, not by reason of obstruction but because 
 they cannot get men to operate their trains. 
 For some reason they are anxious to keep this 
 fact from the public and for this purpose are 
 making an outcry about obstructions in order to 
 avert attention. Now, I will cite to you two 
 examples which illustrate the situation: Some 
 days ago I was advised that the business of one 
 of our railroads was obstructed at two rail- 
 road centers, that there was a condition border- 
 ing on anarchy there — and I was asked to fur- 
 nish protection so as to enable the employees of 
 the road to operate the trains. Troops were 
 promptly ordered to both points. Then it trans- 
 pired that the company had not sufficient men 
 on its line to operate one train. All the old hands 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 61 
 
 were orderly but refused to go. The company 
 had large shops in which worked a number of 
 men who did not belong to the railway union 
 and who could run an engine. They were ap- 
 pealed to to run the train but flatly refused to 
 do so. We were obliged to hunt up soldiers who 
 could run an engine and operate a train. 
 
 "Again two days ago appeals which were 
 almost frantic came from officials of another 
 road stating that at an important point on 
 their line trains were forcibly obstructed and 
 that there was a reign of anarchy at that place 
 and they asked for protection so that they could 
 move their trains. Troops were put on the 
 ground in a few hour's time, when the officer in 
 command telegraphed me that there was no 
 trouble and had been none at that point, but the 
 road seemed to have no men to run the trains 
 and the sheriff wired that he did not need troops, 
 but would himself move every train if the com- 
 pany would only furnish an engineer. The result 
 was that the troops were there over twelve hours 
 before a single train was moved although there 
 was no attempt at interferance by anyone. It 
 is true that in several instances a road made an 
 effort to work a few green men and a crowd 
 
62 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 standing around insulted them and tried to drive 
 tliem away, and in a few other instances they 
 cut off Pullman sleepers from trains. But all 
 these troubles were local in character and could 
 easily be handled by the state authorities. Illi- 
 nois has more railroad men than any state in 
 the Union, but as a rule they are orderly and 
 well behaved. This is shown by the fact that so 
 very little actual violence has been committed. 
 Only a very small per cent of these men have 
 been guilty of any infractions of the law. The 
 newspaper accounts have in many cases 
 been pure fabrications and in others wild exag- 
 gerations. 
 
 "I have gone thus into details to show 
 that it is not soldiers that the railroads need 
 so much as it is men to operate trains, and 
 that the conditions do not exist here which 
 bring the cause within the federal statutes, a 
 statute that was passed in 1881, and was in 
 reality a war measure. This statute authorizes 
 the use of federal troops in a state where ever it 
 is impracticable to enforce the laws of the 
 United States within such states by the ordinary 
 judicial proceedings. Such a condition does not 
 exist in the state of Illinois. There have been a 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 63 
 
 few local disturbances but nothing that seriously 
 interfered with the administration of justice or 
 that could not easily be controlled by the local 
 or state authorities for the federal troops can do 
 nothing that the state troops cannot do. 
 
 "I repeat that you have been imposed upon in 
 this matter, but even if by a forced construction 
 it were held that the condition here came within 
 the letter of the statute, then I submit that local 
 self government is a fundamental principle of our 
 constitution. Each community shall govern 
 itself so long as it can and is ready and able to 
 enforce the law, and it is in harmony with this 
 fundamental principle that the statute authoriz- 
 ing the president to send troops into states 
 must be construed. Especially is this so in mat- 
 ters relating to the exercise of the police power 
 and the preservation of law and order. To ab- 
 solutely ignore a local government in matters of 
 this kind, when the local government is ready to 
 furnish assistance needed and is amply able to 
 enforce the law, not only insults the people of 
 this state by imputing to them an inability to 
 govern themselves or an unwillingness to enforce 
 the law, but is in violation of a basic principle 
 of our institutions. 
 
64 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 " The question of federal supremacy is in no 
 way involved; no one disputes it for a moment 
 but under our constitution federal supremacy 
 and local self government must go hand in hand 
 and to ignore the latter is to do violence to the 
 constitution. 
 
 "As governor of the state of Illinois I protest 
 against this and ask the immediate withdrawal 
 of the federal troops from active duty in this 
 state. 
 
 "Should the situation at any time get so ser- 
 ious that we cannot control it with the state 
 troops we will promptly and freely ask for federal 
 assistance, but until such time I protest with all 
 due deference against this uncalled for reflection 
 upon our people and again ask the Immediate 
 withdrawal of the troops. I have the honor 
 to be, Yours respectfully 
 
 John P. Altgeld, 
 Governor of Illinois." 
 
 To the above communication President Cleve- 
 land answered as follows: 
 
 "To the Hon. John P. Altgeld, governor of 
 Illinois. Federal troops were sent to Chicago 
 in strict accordance with the constitutions and 
 laws of the United States upon the demand of 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 65 
 
 the post office department that obstructions of 
 the mails should be removed, and upon the rep- 
 resentations of the judicial officers of the United 
 States that process of law federal courts could 
 not be executed through the ordinary means, 
 and upon abundant proof that conspiracies ex- 
 isted against commerce between the states. To 
 meet these conditions, which are clearely within 
 the province of federal authority, the presence 
 of federal troops in Chicago was deemed not 
 only proper but necessary, and there has been 
 no intention of thereby interfering with the 
 plain duty of the local authorities to preserve 
 the peace of the city, 
 
 Grover Cleveland." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 INCENDIARISM AND BLOODSHED. 
 
 The 6th day of July was one long to be re- 
 membered, as the first act of incendiarism was 
 committed. A conflagration was started along 
 the tracks of the Pan Handle, Baltimore & 
 Ohio ; Chicago & Northern Pacific, and Belt Line 
 R, R., which terminated in the burning of whole 
 trains of cars, switch houses and tool houses 
 belonging to these companies. A splendid tower 
 house belonging to the Pan Handle was saved 
 through the supreme efforts of the strikers, who 
 tore away the burning sidewalks which connec- 
 ted the tool-house with the tower-house. This 
 fine structure was recently built and cost the 
 company $40,000. Upon the authority cf the 
 city police and firemen, I can state that the 
 fires were started by a crowd of young hood- 
 lums and toughs living in the vicinity, and the 
 strikers were in no way responsible for them. 
 
 There was only a small crowd of these young 
 toughs around the yards, they scattered in differ- 
 ent directions and simultaneously fire broke out 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 67 
 
 in different places. One boy was seen to set 
 fire to a bunch of waste, and throw it into the 
 empty cars as he ran, and the dry woodwork was 
 soon a mass of flames. Between eight hundred 
 and sixteen hundred cars were destroyed by this 
 conflagration and the loss aggregated over $200,- 
 000, besides three men killed outright and seven 
 wounded. 
 
 The peaceable and law abiding city of Chicago 
 was feeling the effects of a reign of terrer. Inno- 
 cent men, women and children were being shot 
 down or bayoneted by the tools of railroad corp- 
 orations in a most cold blooded and heartless 
 manner. According to the statements of eye wit- 
 nesses some 3^oung fellows under the age of sixteen 
 years, and therefore not strikers, threw stones at 
 the soldiers who at once began to shoot indis- 
 criminately into a crowd composed of men, 
 women and children who had no connection 
 whatever with the affair, then with fixed bayonets 
 charged upon the people, and those who were un- 
 fortunate enough to be caught were severely dealt 
 with. One old man, a Pole, who was standing in 
 in his own door yard, and seeing the people run 
 took fright and started into his house, was pur- 
 sued by a soldier who saw him run and stabbed 
 
68 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 in the back. The old man fell shrieking to the 
 ground, begging for mercy, when the brutal fiend 
 plunged the bayonet twice more into the helpless 
 form and left him in a dying condition. 
 
 One young lady was shot while standing on 
 the roof of her own house, and fell a corpse in her 
 brother's arm. 
 
 Still another victim was a man who was shot 
 while standing in the doorway of his home and a 
 rioter by the name of Burke w^as shot and 
 killed in the charge. 
 
 In an editorial the Chicago Times says : "Let 
 us examine the net results of the activity 
 of the troops on Saturda}^; results of 
 which the amateur soldier Brigadier General 
 Wheeler remarked : "I am glad that the troops 
 made a stand and that blood was shed." There 
 is some conflict in the reports of the day's carn- 
 age, but the salient facts seem to be these: 
 
 '•Three persons in all were shot dead, one of 
 these, an eighteen year old girl, was standing on a 
 distant house top watching the fray, when a bul- 
 let pierced her heart. Of course she was not a 
 striker nor was her continued life a menace to Am- 
 erican institutions. 
 
 "John Burke, identified by the police as a pro- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 fessional crook, was another victim and his pres- 
 ence in the mob adds evidence to the claim of the 
 Times that the rioting was the work of chronic 
 toughs and criminals and not of workingmen. 
 Joseph Warzouski, the third to fall before a mili- 
 tary bullet, was sitting smoking before his house 
 door when wantonly shot down by a regular. He 
 was not a striker, and not within one hundred 
 yards of railroad property when murdered. 
 
 " Of the wounded five were women, one of 
 whom looses an arm and another a leg. Six were 
 boys under nineteen years of age, and one was a 
 baby. 
 
 "The points which these facts demonstrate, is 
 that the rioting is not the work of members of the 
 American Railway Union, or in fact of working- 
 men of any organization, but the acts of toughs 
 and pluguglies and boisterous boys, with w^hom 
 this city like other large cities, abound. Though 
 the crowd looks large and dangerous, the actual 
 number of combatants is comparatively small, 
 and the clubs of the police instead of the bullets 
 and bayonets of the soldiers, would have been the 
 proper weapons to use. Then Chicago would not 
 have been disgraced by shedding the blood of 
 women and children and taking innocent lives." 
 
70 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 On July 6, Mr. Debs issued the following clear 
 and succinct statement of the causes and status of 
 the present condition of affairs : 
 
 "To the public: — So many misleading reports 
 have been given currency in reference to the great 
 railroad strike now in progress that I am 
 prompted, in the interest of justice and fair play, 
 to give the public an honest, impartial statement 
 of the issues involved and the facts as they actu- 
 ally exist. My purpose in this is to have the great 
 American public — the plain people — in every ave- 
 nue of life conversant with the situation as it 
 really is, that they who constitute the highest 
 tribunal we know, may pass judgment upon our 
 acts, condemn us if we are wrong, and uphold us 
 if we art right. 
 
 "First of all let it be said that the Pullman 
 employes who struck May 6th, last, did so 
 entirely of their own accord. 
 
 "Their action in so doing was spontaneous 
 and unammous. They simply revolted against 
 a series of deepseated wrongs of long standing, 
 and no power could stay them. It has been 
 charged, and the charge has been widely accep- 
 ted, that they were induced to strike by their 
 "leaders" and labor agitators; that if left alone 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 71 
 
 they would have remained at work. The charge 
 is whoU}^ untrue. 
 
 "The fact is that the officers of the American 
 Railway Union used all their influence to pacify 
 the employes and advised them repeatedly not 
 to strike, but to bear patiently their grievances 
 until a peaceable settlement could be effected. To 
 the truth of this statement the employes them- 
 selves will bear willing testimony. 
 
 "But the grievances of the employes, men and 
 women, had become so aggravated, so galling, 
 that patience deserted them, and they abandoned 
 their employment rather than to submit longer 
 to conditions against which their very souls 
 revolted. Whether they were right or not, let 
 only those judge who comprehend the condi- 
 tions under which these faithful employes toiled 
 and groaned. Let us avoid sentiment. The 
 bare facts will suffice, and they are haggard 
 enough to excite the sympathy of CA^ery good 
 citizen, rich or poor, employer or employed. 
 
 "The Pullman company, be it understood 
 owns the town of Pullman, owns the houses, 
 the homes of employes, controls the light and 
 water, and other necessaries of life, and wages 
 are so adjusted to living expends that in a 
 
72 THE PULLMAN BYYCOTT. 
 
 large majority of cases the employes are barely 
 able to support their families. . Proof overwhelm- 
 ing can be furnished. One instance will suffice. 
 At the time they struck the employes were in 
 arrears to the Pullman company $70,000 for 
 rent alone. Wages had been repeatedly reduced 
 but rent and other expenses had remained the 
 same. 
 
 "At this rate it would be a question of a 
 short time only until the employes would have 
 been hopelessly involved in debt, mortgaged 
 soul and body to the Pullman company. 
 
 "The employes from the beginning, have 
 been willing to arbitrate their differences with 
 the company. That is their position to-day. 
 The company arrogantly declares that there is 
 nothing to arbitrate. If this be true why not 
 allow a board of fair and impartial arbitrators 
 to determine the fact? 
 
 "At this point we appeal to the public as to 
 whether the position of the employes is entitled 
 to the sanction of the public conscience. If the 
 employes were to assume the position of the 
 Pullman company and defiantly declare they 
 had nothing to arbitrate, and arbitrarily de- 
 mand unconditional surrender as the only basis 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 73 
 
 of settlement they would merit the condemna- 
 tion of the public and it would certainly and 
 swiftly fall upon them with crushing severity. 
 Committee after committee waited upon the 
 officials of the Pullman company with the vain 
 hope of effecting a settlement. They were will- 
 ing to make concessions, to compromise in the 
 interest of peace. All their advances were re- 
 pelled. 
 
 "The company was, and is, unjdelding as 
 adamant.' Finally, June 12th, the delegates of 
 the American Railway Union, representing 425 
 local unions of railway employes located on the 
 principal lines of American railways, met in con- 
 vention at Chicago. The Pullman trouble had 
 been discussed at their local meetings. Many of 
 the delegates came instructed. The grievences of 
 the Pullman employes were taken under consid- 
 eration, and two separate committees were sent 
 to the officials. 
 
 "Not the slightest satisfaction could be ob- 
 tained. As a last resort the delegates by a 
 unanimous vote determined that unless the Pull- 
 man company would agree to do justice to 
 their employes within five days, the members 
 of the order would refuse to haul Pullman cars. 
 
1*4 T^HE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 This action be it remembered, was not taken 
 until tHe strike had been on six weeks, and every 
 conceivable effort to obtain redress had failed 
 because of the obstinacy of the company. 
 
 "Up to this time the trouble had been con- 
 fined to the Pullman company and its employes. 
 How, then, did the strike extend to the rail- 
 ways? Let the answer be given in accordance 
 with the facts. The day before the order of the 
 delegates declining to haul Pullman cars, went 
 into effect, the General Managers' association, 
 representing the principal Western railways, 
 met and passed a series of resolutions, declar- 
 ing in substance that they would uphold 
 the Pullman company in its fight upon the 
 employes, that they would haul Pullman 
 cars and that they would stand together 
 in crushing out the American Railway Union. 
 The resolutions in question were published 
 in the city papers and can be referred to 
 in substantiation of this averment. It will thus 
 be seen that the railway companies virtually 
 joined forces with the Pullman company, went 
 into partnership with them so to speak, to re- 
 duce and defeat their half starved employes. In 
 this way the trouble was extended from line to 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 75 
 
 line, and from s^^stem to system until a crisis 
 has been reached. The business of the country 
 is demoralized to an extent that defies exaggera- 
 tion. 
 
 "To say that the situation is alarming 
 is entireh^ within the bounds of prudent state- 
 ment. Every good citizen must view the out- 
 look with grave concern. 
 
 Something should, something must be done. 
 The American people are a peace-loving people— 
 they want neither anarchy or revolution. They 
 have faith in their institutions, they believe in law 
 and order, they believe in good government, but 
 they also believe in fair play. Once aroused they 
 will not tolerate arbitrary and dictatorial defi- 
 ance, even on the part of an alliance of rich and 
 powerful corporations. 
 
 What can be done to dispel the apprehension 
 that now prevails, and restore peace and confid- 
 ence? The American Railwa\' Union on whose 
 authorit\^ and in whose behalf this statement is 
 made, stands ready, has from the beginning stood 
 readv, to do anything in its power, provided it is 
 honorable'to end this trouble. 
 
 This, briefly stated, is the position the org- 
 anization occupies. It simply insists that the 
 
76 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Pullman Company shall meet its employes and do 
 them justice. We guarantee that the latter will 
 accept any reasonable proposition. 
 
 *' The company may act through its officials or 
 otherwise, and the employes through their chosen 
 representatives. Let them agree as far as they 
 can, and where they fail to agree, let the points in 
 dispute be subjected to arbitration. The question 
 of the recognition of the Americon Railway Union 
 or any other organisation is waived. We do not 
 ask, nor have we ever asked for a recognition as 
 an organization. We care nothing about that, 
 and so far as we are concerned it has no part in 
 the controversy. Let the officials deal with the 
 employes without reference to organizations. Let 
 the spirit of conciliation, mutual concession, and 
 compromise animate and govern both sides, and 
 there will be no trouble in reaching a settlement 
 that will be satisfactory to all concerned. 
 
 "This done let the railway companies agree to 
 restore all their employes to their situations w^ith- 
 out prejudice and the trouble will be ended. The 
 crisis will thus be averted, traffic will resume 
 and peace will reign. The railways are not re- 
 quired to recognize the American Railway Union. 
 This has never been asked nor is it asked now. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 77 
 
 "If there are those who discoYer in this state- 
 ment a 'weakening' on the part of the employes, 
 as has been so often charged when an exposition 
 of the true attitude of our order was attempted, 
 we have only to say that they are welcome to 
 such solace as such a perverted conclusion af- 
 fords them. We have been deliberately and mali- 
 ciously misrepresented, but we have borne it all 
 with an unwavering faith that the truth will 
 finally and powerfully prevail. We firmly believe 
 our cause is just, and while we hold that belief, 
 we will not recede. If we are w^rong we are 
 ready to to be convinced. We are open to rea- 
 son and to conviction, but we will not be 
 cowed or intimitated. Were we to sacrifice 
 the multiplied thousands of wageworkers who 
 have committed their interests to our hands 
 and yield to the pressure of corporate power, 
 we would be totally unworthy of American cit- 
 izenship. 
 
 "It may be asked what sense is their in svm- 
 pathetic strikes. Let the corporations answer. 
 
 "When one is assailed all go to the rescue. 
 They stand together; they support each other 
 with men, money and equipments. Labor, in 
 unifying its forces, simply follows their example. 
 
78 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 The corporations established a precedent. If 
 the proceeding is vicious and indefensible let 
 them first abolish it. 
 
 "In this contest labor will stand by labor. 
 Other organizations of workingmen have them- 
 selves felt the oppressive hand of corporate cap- 
 ital. They will not be called out, but will go 
 out. And the spectacle of Mr. Pullman, fanned 
 by the breezes of the seashore while his em- 
 ployes are starving, is not calculated to prevent 
 their fellow wageworkers from going to their 
 rescue by their only means at their command. 
 
 "A few words io reference to myself, although 
 ordinarily I pay no attention to misrepresent- 
 ation or vituperation, may not be out of place, 
 not because of myself personally, but on account 
 of the cause I have the honor to in part repre- 
 sent, which may suffer if silence is maintained 
 while it is assailed with falsehood and malig- 
 nant detraction. I shirk no responsibility, 
 neither do I want credit to which I am not en- 
 titled. This strike was not 'ordered' by myself nor 
 by any other individual. I have never ' ordered ' 
 nor 'called' anybody out. Under the rules of 
 the American Railway Union members can only 
 strike when a majority of the members so decide. 
 
* ' THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 79 
 
 "The votes of the delegates in this instance 
 was unanimous, and where ever men have struck 
 the J did so of their own accord. I have simply 
 served the notice after the men themselves had 
 determined to go out. 
 
 "This is the extent of my authority and 
 I have never exceeded it. My alleged author- 
 ity to 'call' or 'order' out has been made the 
 pretext on which to assail me with every slander 
 that malignity could conceive. So far as I am 
 personally concerned, detraction cannot harm me, 
 nor does it matter if it could. I do not amount 
 to more than the humblest member of our order 
 — perhaps not as much. Fate or fortune has as- 
 signed me a duty, and, no matter how trying 
 the ordeal or severe the penalties I propose to 
 perform it. The reflection that an honest man 
 has nothing to fear sustains and comforts me in 
 every hour of trial. 
 
 " In closing let me repeat that we stand ready 
 to do our part toward averting the impending 
 crisis. We have no false pride to stand in the 
 way of a statement. We do not want official 
 recognition. All we ask is fair play for the men 
 who have chosen us to represent them. 
 
 "If the corporations refuse to yield aud stub'- 
 
80 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 bornly maintain that there is 'nothing to arbi- 
 trate, ' the responsibility of what may ensue will 
 be upon their heads, and they cannot escape its 
 penalties. 
 
 Eugene Y. Debs." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SLAUGHTER OF CITIZENS. 
 
 The situation at Hammond, Ind., would 
 compare favorably with Chicago in so far as 
 the wanton shooting of innocent citizens was con- 
 cerned. The town had become infested with a 
 gang of toughs from Chicago, who overturned 
 a number of box cars and blocked the passage 
 of trains. About noon of July 8th, the U. S. 
 troops arrived, and their appearance attracted 
 large crowds of citizens on the streets, in the 
 vicinity of the railroad tracks. The troops who 
 were ensconsed in passenger cars were being 
 hauled up and down the track, when a gang of 
 toughs attempted to overturn a Pullman coach. 
 The soldiers, who could easily have left the 
 coaches and placed the lawbreakers under arrest 
 opened fire, but strange to say these sharpshoot- 
 ers, under instructions to shoot to kill, did not 
 wound even one of the lawless rioters. Not so, 
 however, with the citizens who were walking 
 along the street and had no connection what- 
 
 6 81 
 
82 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 ever with the mob. Charles Fleischer, who lived 
 near with his wife and five children, walked 
 down the street in search of his little son, when 
 without a moment's warning he fell to the 
 ground a corpse pierced with a law and order 
 bullet. This man had no connection whatever 
 with the riot nor even with the strike. 
 
 Miss Flemming, of Chicago, who was visit- 
 ing friends in Hammond was on the street 
 when the shooting occured and was seri- 
 ously injured by a shot in the knee. Wm. 
 Campbell, Victor Dizuttner and an unknown 
 man were also shot and seriously injured by the 
 regulars without the slightest provocation. 
 
 These people had no connection with the 
 rioters, were citizens of Hammond, and not on 
 railroad property. 
 
 Bullets crashed through frame walls, and I 
 was told by a man whose head was grazed by a 
 bullet while in his room, that nothing short of 
 a miracle saved many persons from being shot 
 down in their own dwellings. 
 
 Mayor Reily whose anger knew no bounds, 
 after the killing rushed to the telegraph office 
 and wired Governor Matthews, asking if mar- 
 tial law had been proclaimed. I should like to 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 83 
 
 know, he said, by what authority the U. S. 
 troops come to our city and shoot down our 
 citizens without the slightest warning. 
 
 Immediately after the fatal occurance, A. 
 Shields and Dr. F. E. Bell, representing the citi- 
 zens of Hammond, wired Governor Matthews 
 the following message : " Federal troops shooting 
 down citizens promisciously and without pro- 
 vocation. Cannot something be done to protect 
 citizens? Act quickly." 
 
 The governor replied that he had sent 
 troops to restore order, enforce law, and pro- 
 tect lives of law abiding citizens. Lawlessness 
 and rioting must be suppressed. Citizens obey- 
 ing law had nothing to fear. 
 
 Was ever military despotism more thoroughly 
 demonstrated ? What further proof was neces- 
 sary than the reply of the chief executive of the 
 state, to the citizens, that they were at the 
 mere}'- of, and subject to the arrogant brutality of 
 military despotism. The governor in his reply said: 
 "Citizens obeying law have nothing to fear, that 
 lawlessness must be surpressed. " According to 
 that we can only arrive at one conclusion ; that 
 the persons overturning cars and destroying 
 property were obeying the law, as they were 
 
84 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 not shot down nor were they arrested, but on 
 the other hand peaceable citizens who were in no 
 way connected with the rioting, were shot and 
 maimed by the troops. 
 
 The people were beginning to regard the 
 law with suspicion, they no longer felt that 
 sense of security, the implicit confidence, they 
 were wont to place in the constitution. The 
 law of to-day, if the interests of the railroad 
 corporations so required, would be reversed to- 
 morrow. Under those circumstances could it be 
 wondered that the people were beginning to 
 lose the respect that had been accorded the 
 law, and to which it was entitled ? Could it be 
 wondered that they became restless and exhibited 
 signs of revolting [^against such damnable brut- 
 ality, and the indignities to which they were 
 subjected under the guise of the law? 
 
 Cleveland was now beginning to fear, that 
 in his eagerness to assist the railroads in crush- 
 ing the strikers he had overreached himself and 
 the wonton murder of citizens, he feared, might 
 have a damaging effect on his future political 
 plans. His uneasiness was quite apparent, while 
 on the other hand his co-conspirator, Olney, was 
 in a happy state of mind. He claimed to be 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 85 
 
 able with the anti-trust bill, to break up every 
 labor union in America. 
 
 The general managers, finding out that the 
 city would not be held responsible for the loss 
 of and damage to railroad property, were now 
 in favor of removing the troops from the citj-- of 
 Chicago — but knowing the effect of such action 
 after making an appeal for their assistance— did 
 not ask for their removal. 
 
 The situation throughout the country had 
 not materially changed, and the prospects for a 
 final victory for the strikers looked very favor- 
 ably. 
 
 General Miles circulated a story that ninety 
 per cent of the citizens of Chicago were in sym- 
 pathy wath the Pullman company and the rail- 
 roads. 
 
 The railway" managers took advantage of 
 this report and spread and distorted it in order 
 to discourage the strikers. 
 
 Now for facts : The trades unions of Chicago 
 alone represent 750,000 people, adding to this 
 the membership of the railway unions you have 
 a total of 900,000 or ninety per cent of the 
 citizens, who were in direct sympathy with the 
 strikers. And it was not confined to mem- 
 
86 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 bers of Unions alone; such men as Bishop 
 Fallaws, Rev. Dr. Henson, Prof. E. W. 
 Bennis, Rev. G. P. Brushingham, Rev. W. H. Car- 
 vardine, Mayor Hopkins and hosts of other men 
 prominent in the affairs of the city endorsed the 
 men and denounced the railroad corporations. 
 
 Resolutions by the score were passed by 
 business men, by the Typographical Unions and 
 other organizations endorsing the American Rail- 
 way Union, and denouncing Pullman and the 
 railroads, also condemning the action of Grover 
 Cleveland in upholding the corporations against 
 the workingmen. 
 
 Resolutions were passed requesting all sym- 
 pathizers to wear a white ribbon, the badge 
 adopted by the American Railway Union, and 
 the sea of white ribbons to be seen in Chicago 
 would not bear out the statement of Gen. 
 Miles. 
 
 The labor unions now signified their willing- 
 ness to strike in support of the movement if 
 called upon by the American Railway Union. 
 
 Grover Cleveland at this time issued a pro- 
 clamation w^hich-^to all intents and purposes — 
 declared martial law in the city of Chicago. 
 This was what Gen Miles desired, as it virtu- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 87 
 
 ally gave him full power to rule with despotic 
 sway over the citizens and civil authorities. 
 
 The following protest was wired the Presi- 
 dent of the United States by President Debs, of 
 the American Railway Union and Grand Master 
 Sovereign of the Knights of Labor. 
 
 "To the Hon. Grover Cleveland, President of 
 the United States, Executive Mansion, Washing- 
 ton, D. C. 
 
 "Dear Sir: — Through along period of depres- 
 sion, enforced idleness and low wages, resulting 
 in wide spread poverty, and in many cases act- 
 ual starvation, the working people have been 
 patient, patriotic and law abiding, and not until 
 the iron heel of corporate tyranny was applied 
 with the intention to subjugate the working 
 people to the will of arrogant monopolies, did 
 they make any effort to stay their oppressors. 
 
 "The Pullman strike was not declared until 
 the employes of the Pullman company were 
 driven to the verge of starvation, their entreat- 
 ies spurned with contempt, and their grievances 
 denied a hearing. No refusal to handle Pullman 
 cars was declared by any railway emploj'e un- 
 til all propositions looking towards arbitration 
 and conciliation were rejected by the Pullman 
 
88 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 company. Notwithstanding the truths set forth 
 above were known to the public and the na- 
 tional authorities, you have seen fit under guise of 
 protecting the mails and federal property to in- 
 voke the services of the United States armj^ 
 whose very presence is used to coerce and intim- 
 idate peaceable working people into a humiliat- 
 ing obedience to the will of their oppressors. 
 
 "By your acts, insofar as you have supplanted 
 civil and state authorities with the federal mili- 
 tary power, the spirit of unrest and distrust has 
 so far been augmented that a deep seated con- 
 viction is fast becoming prevalent that this gov- 
 ernment is soon to become a military despotism. 
 The transmission of the United States mails is 
 not interupted by the striking employes of any 
 railway company, but by the railway companies 
 themselves, who refused to haul the mail on 
 trains to which Pullman cars were not attached. 
 If it is a criminal interference wnth the United 
 States mails for the employes of a railway com- 
 pany to detach from a mail train a Pullman 
 palace car, contrary to the will of the company 
 then it holds true that it is the same criminal in- 
 terference whenever a Pullman palace car is de- 
 tached from a mail train in accordance with the 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 89 
 
 will of a railroad company while said mail train 
 is in transit. The line of criminalty in such a 
 case should not be drawn at the willingness or 
 unwillingness of railway employes, but at the 
 act itself, and inasmuch as it has been the com- 
 mon practice of railway corporations to attach 
 and detach from mail trains Pullman palace 
 cars at will while said trains are in transit and 
 carrying the mails of the United States, it would 
 seem an act of discrimation against the employes 
 of the railwaj' corporations to declare such acts 
 unlawful interference with the transmission of 
 the mails when done by employes with or with- 
 out the consent of their employers. 
 
 "In view of these facts we look upon the far- 
 fetched decision of Attorney General Olney, the 
 sweeping un-American injunctions against rail- 
 way employes, and the movements of the regular 
 army as employing the powers of the general 
 government for the support and protection of 
 the railway corporations in their determination 
 to degrade and oppress their employes. 
 
 "The present railway strike was precipitated 
 by the uneasy desire of the railway corporations 
 to destroy the organizations of their employes 
 and make the working people more subservent 
 
90 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 to the will of their employers; and as all 
 students of government agree that free institu- 
 tions depend for their perpetuity upon the free- 
 dom and prosperity of the common people, it 
 would seem more in consonance with the spirit 
 of democratic government if federal authority 
 was exercised in deference of the rights of the 
 toiling masses to life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness. But on the contrary there is not an 
 instance on record where in any conflict between 
 corporations and the people the strong arm of 
 the military power has been employed to pro- 
 tect the working people and the industrial 
 masses from the ravage and persecution of cor- 
 porate greed. But the measure of character has 
 been in the line of declaring the corporations 
 always good and in the right, and the working 
 people always bad and in the wrong. 
 
 "Now, sir, we pledge to you the power of our 
 respective organizations, individually and collec- 
 tively, for the maintenance of peace and good 
 order and the preservation of life and property, 
 and will aid in the arrest and punishment of all 
 violators of the civil and criminal laws of the 
 state or nation. In the present contest between 
 labor and railway corporations we shall use 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 91 
 
 every peaceable and honorable means at our 
 command consistent with the law and our con- 
 stitutional rights, to secure for the working 
 people just compensation for labor done and re- 
 spectable consideration in accordance with the 
 inherent rights of all men and the spirit of repub- 
 lican government. In doing so we appeal to all 
 the liberty loving people of the nation to aid 
 and support us in this most just and righteous 
 cause. 
 
 By Eugene V. Debs, 
 "Order of Knights of Labor, President. 
 
 By J, R. Sovereign, 
 
 Grand Master Workman." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 BUSINESS men's PROTEST. 
 
 The town of Danville, 111,, was now visited 
 by martial law with the result that two women 
 were killed and two men fatally wounded. A 
 non-union brakeman fired three shots into a 
 crowd that was jeering him, whereupon some 
 one in the crowd returned the fire hitting him 
 in the neck. The militia then opened fire, killing 
 a Mrs. Glennon who was standing in her own 
 yard and Miss James seated at the organ in her 
 own house. This was the effect of federal 
 troops in Danville, and so it was in every town 
 and city where Grover's minions were stationed. 
 The damnable outrages perpetrated on the peo- 
 ple of the commonweal by the federal troops 
 under the guize of law and order was goading 
 the citizens to a state of open rebellion. The 
 business men of Chicago fearing a general out- 
 break determined on sending a committee to the 
 Pullman company with a view to reaching a 
 settlement whereby this dire calamity would be 
 
 92 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 93 
 
 averted. A committee was formed composed of 
 representative business men, members of the 
 city council, and members of the various trades 
 of the city. The committee met with no suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Mr. Wicks, who represented the Pullman 
 company, informed them that the company had 
 nothing to arbitrate and wished to see no com- 
 mittee. The proposition they wished to submit 
 to Mr. Wickes as the representative of the Pull- 
 man company was this : That Mr. Pullman had 
 said there was nothing to arbitrate while the 
 men contented that there was. Let the Pull- 
 man company appoint two men and the circuit 
 court two men. Let these four select a fifth, it 
 necessary, to determine if there was anything to 
 arbitrate and in case there was, that would 
 take care of itself later. If not, the strike would 
 end just as soon as the decision was reached. 
 Surely this proposition was fair and manty but 
 speaking for the Pullman company Mr. Wickes 
 flatly refused to entertain it for an instant. 
 Alderman McGillen, who acted as sjDokesman, 
 then made an eloquent plea for the Pullman 
 company to take steps, which he considered 
 would go far toward settling the strike. He 
 
94 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 said: "Mr. Wickes we received a request from 
 the trades-unions — their representatives v^ho 
 are now here you have already met — to see if 
 some means to settle this strike peaceably could 
 not be found. 
 
 "It has been demonstrated that your com- 
 pany had no subject for arbitration, that the 
 request of the employes for arbitration could 
 not be acceeded to?" 
 
 Mr. Wickes: "Yes, sir." 
 
 Aid. McGillen: "We are here to suggest that 
 it might be possible to obviate all differences 
 between the company and the men — strikers, 
 ex-employes, or whatever you wish to call them. 
 We would suggest a committee to ascertain 
 whether there is any matter needing arbitration 
 as you are a quasi public. " 
 
 Mr. Wickes, interupting: "Do you come as 
 representatives of the city instructed by the 
 mayor? We have nothing to arbitrate, the 
 Pullman company cannot recede from its posi- 
 tion. " 
 
 Aid. O'Brien : " There must be some trouble ? " 
 
 Mr. Wickes: "Our men made complaint, we 
 promised to investigate, but before we had time 
 to do so they struck, " 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 95 
 
 ■ Aid. O'Brien: "But that will not settle the 
 matter. " 
 
 Mr. Wickes: "Unfortunately not." 
 
 Aid. McGillen: "We suggest that this com- 
 mittee be made up of representative men, the 
 best men in Chicago, men who occupy positions 
 of honor. " 
 
 Here attorney John S. Runnell appeared and 
 w^as closeted with Mr. Wickes for a quarter ol 
 an hour. 
 
 On his return to the room Mr. Wickes said 
 that neither the Pullman company or the rail- 
 way manager's association created the situation 
 of to-day. When our men went out w^e told 
 them that we could not do the work at the scale 
 of wages we were paying. W^e had contracts to fill 
 then, some of them we let out and some we re- 
 tained. No men can arbitrate this, you, as busi- 
 ness men W'Ould let no man say how that busi- 
 ness should be conducted. 
 
 Aid. McGillen then said: "You require pro- 
 tection from us. You call on the police, on the 
 county, on the state, and on the nation for pro- 
 tection. Y''our only valued assets are the pat- 
 ents which the nation gives you in recognition 
 of the genius which built the Pullman car. 
 
96 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Remove that asset and you are ruined. You 
 utterly ignor our request. It is not dishonor- 
 able .men we ask to investigate your affairs. 
 Think of the sickness, starvation, want, disaster 
 and bloodshed which is coming if the strike as- 
 sumes larger proportions. The climax is fast 
 approaching and who will be to blame. I am 
 hear for the common weal, and I hope and beg 
 of you not to refuse." 
 
 Mr. Wickes: "There is a principle involved. 
 Every business should have the right to dictate 
 to its own labor, we will brook no interference, 
 national, state, county or municipal. " 
 
 Aid. McGillen: "Compulsory arbitration is 
 not a law but it will be if this strike does not 
 stop." 
 
 Mr. Wickes : "We have nothing to arbitrate." 
 
 Aid. Warreinner: "We are not asking for 
 arbitration we want a committee appointed to 
 see if there is need of it. Will you consent to 
 that?" 
 
 Mr. Wickes: "No." 
 
 Aid. McGillen: "In the name of humanity 
 let me beseech you to reconsider your negation." 
 
 Mr. Wickes: "Gentlemen, the Pullman com- 
 pany has nothing to arbitrate we want to see 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 97 
 
 no committee, the Pullman company cannot 
 recede from its position. This is final." 
 
 When the committee met again at 4:30 to make 
 its final report, it was completely discouraged. 
 Mr. Elderkin stated the proposition that had 
 been made to the Pullman company and its 
 direct refusal. The alderman begged the labor 
 representatives not to strike and cause wide- 
 spread sufiering. 
 
 The general manager's and Pullman's posi- 
 tion was so clearly defined that it would be im- 
 possible for the public to fail to see it in any 
 but its true light. 
 
 The companies were losing millions of dol- 
 lars but the general managers had determined if 
 necessary to bankrupt every s^-stem in the United 
 States in order to crush labor organizations out 
 of existence. The Pullman matter was some- 
 thing of the past with them they w^ere after the 
 labor organizations, and they were after them 
 with a vengence. 
 
 The government was backing them. The 
 attorney general of the United states, — a cor- 
 poration attomc}^ as well, — had pledged himself 
 to disrupt every labor organization in the 
 country. President Cleveland another railroad 
 
98 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 attorney had encouraged and abetted them to 
 the same end. 
 
 With the subsidized press, the bankers unions, 
 tbe moneycrat manufacturers and the federal 
 courts arrayed against them, what in the name 
 of justice could they expect ? 
 
 Surely the martyred president and savior of 
 mankind, the immortal Lincoln, must have anti- 
 cipated the present deplorable condition when in 
 his message to the second session of the thirty- 
 seventh congress, — to be found in the appendix 
 to the Congressional Globe of the thirty-seventh 
 congress, second section, page 4 — when he said: 
 "Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a pos- 
 sible refuge from the power of the people. In my 
 present position I could scarcely be justified were 
 I to omit raising a warning voice against this 
 approach of returning despotism. It is not 
 needed nor fitting here that a general argument 
 should be made in favor of popular institutions, 
 but there is one point with its connections not 
 so hackneyed as most others to which I ask a 
 brief attention. It is the effort to place capital 
 on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in 
 the structure of government. It is assumed 
 that labor is available only in connection with 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 99 
 
 capital, that nobody labors unless somebody 
 else owning capital somehow by the use of it 
 induces him to labor. * * * Labor is 
 prior to and independant of capital. Capital is 
 only the fruit of labor and could never have 
 existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is 
 the superior of capital and deserves much the 
 higher consideration. * * * No men 
 living are more worthy to be trusted than those 
 who toil up from poverty; none less inclined to 
 take or touch aught which they have not earned. 
 Let them beware of surrendering a political 
 power which they already possess and which, 
 if surrendered, will surely be used to close the 
 door of advancement against such as they, and 
 to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them 
 till all of liberty shall be lost." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 INDICTMENT OF PRESIDENT DEBS. 
 
 The railroad managers and federal courts 
 were leaving no stone unturned to secure the in- 
 dictment and incarceration of Eugene V. Debs. 
 If successful, it was their intention to dispose of 
 all the officers and directors of the American 
 Railway Union in the same manner. 
 
 Attorney General Olney, acting for the rail- 
 roads, was hatching a scheme to incarcerate the 
 officers of the union and refuse them bail. At- 
 torneys Walker and Milchrist were ready to 
 prove that Debs ordered the boycott, that he con- 
 spired against the lives and liberty of the people, 
 that he conspired to overthro^v the government, in 
 short, they were ready to prove anything that 
 would further the ends of the corporations which 
 they represented. 
 
 These diabolical plotters never doubted for 
 one instant that the officers of the American 
 Railway Union were innocent of the charges pre- 
 ferred against them. They knew very well that 
 
 100 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOT'T. lOl 
 
 they (the officers) had no authority to order a 
 boycott or strike, and that it was ordered by a 
 majority vote of the men employed on each sj'S- 
 tem. They also knew that from the inaugura- 
 tion of the strike, not one word or act of Eugene 
 V, Debs could be construed into an offense and 
 make him amenable to the law. 
 
 That he counciled moderation and appealed 
 to the men to refrain from acts of violence from 
 the start, was a w-ell known fact. This was 
 very clear to them, but the powerful magnetism 
 of his presence in restraining the men from acts 
 of violence w^ould also have a tendency to keep 
 their ranks firm and intact. This was also 
 known to them and they must device some 
 scheme to shackle him or get him out of the way. 
 With consummate skill they proceeded with the 
 avowed effort to accomplish this end. 
 
 At 3:00 p. M,, July 10, the special grand jury 
 summoned by Judges Wood and Grosscup set 
 the machinery of federal law in motion, and after 
 one hour and seven minutes — most of which time 
 was occupied in waiting for advice from the 
 Western Union Telegraph Co., in New York, to 
 its manager in Chicago — returned indictments 
 against E. V. Debs, G. W. Howard, L. W. Rogers 
 
102 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 and Sylvester Kelleher. No sooner were the four 
 officers of the American Railway Union indicted 
 than they were arrested and the private papers 
 as well as the documents of the union were 
 seized. 
 
 The four men were admitted to bail and the 
 joint bond of $10,000 was signed by J. W. Fitz- 
 gerald and Wm. Skakel. 
 
 The special grand jurors selected by the court 
 for the express purpose of indicting the officers 
 of the American Railway Union were well chosen. 
 An elaborate charge from his honor, the judge, a 
 pretense of examining a lone witness, just a 
 farcial formality, and Debs, Howard, Rogers 
 and Kelleher were indicted Th^se men were 
 virtually indicted before the grand jury went 
 into session, this is a fact that defies contra- 
 diction, Z. E. Holbrook, one of the jurors, was 
 a man who two years ago went to Home- 
 stead, Pa., at the request of H. C. Frick, man- 
 ager of the Carnegie Company, and after obtain- 
 ing a supply of alleged facts from Mr. Frick, re- 
 turned to Chicago and made a speech before the 
 Sunset Club, in which he charged the Homestead 
 strikers with being conspirators, anarchists and 
 murderers, and he denounced and abused in no 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 103 
 
 measured terms all labor unions and S3'mpathiz- 
 ers. So bitterly did he attack labor that be was 
 roundly hissed by members of his own club. 
 
 The city directory sets him down as a cap- 
 italist, and he is known throughout the city as 
 a bitter enemy to labor unions. Such is the 
 character of one of the men who was chosen to 
 indict Eugene V. Debs. Was ever court of justice 
 so utterly debauched? 
 
 What has become of our boasted liberty? 
 Are we freemen ? No ! in the burning words of 
 Rienzi, the Roman, we are slaves, the bright sun 
 rises to its course and sets on a race of slaves. 
 Slaves, not such as conqueror led to crimson 
 glory and undying fame, but base, ignoble slaves, 
 slaves to a horde of petty tyrants, feudal des- 
 pots. 
 
 The same conditions that eminated these im- 
 mortal utterances from the ancient Roman is ab- 
 solutely the condition of the working people of 
 America to-day. 
 
 The federal courts had now accomplished 
 a master stroke ; they had indicted the president 
 of the American Railwaj^ Union for conspiracy. 
 When the wires flashed the news to the var- 
 ious local unions throughout the country, the 
 
104 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 excitement was intense. The illegal proceeding 
 was condemned by every good citizen, regardless 
 of vocation or station in life. Millions of men in 
 every branch of labor threatened to strike, but 
 were held in check by the assurance of their 
 leaders that all would be well in the end. 
 
 Mr. Debs, fearing the bad effect his arrest 
 would have on the working people, sent out the 
 following appeal for order: 
 
 "To all striking employes and sympathizers: 
 "In view of the serious.'phases which the strike 
 has assumed, I deem it my duty to again ad- 
 monish you to not only refrain from acts of 
 violence but to aid in every way in your power 
 to maintain law and order. We have everything 
 to lose and nothing to gain by participating, 
 even by our presence in demonstrative gather- 
 ings. Almost universal unrest prevails. Men are 
 excitable and inflamable. The distance from 
 anger to vengeance is not great. Every pre- 
 caution against still further aggrivating condi- 
 tions should be taken. In this supreme hour let 
 workingmen show themselves to be orderly 
 and law abiding by freely co-operating with the 
 authorities in surpressing turbulence and pre- 
 serving the peace. Our position is secure and 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 105 
 
 the people are with us. We have made every ef- 
 fort that reason and justice could suggest to ob- 
 tain redress for our grievances. 
 
 "Our advances have been repelled. The re- 
 sponsibility for the grave situation that confronts 
 the country is not with us. The indications now 
 are that the stoppage of work will become gen- 
 eral. This in itself will be a calamity, but if 
 order be maintained it may yet prove to be a 
 blessing to the country. I appeal to every work- 
 ingman to entirely keep away from places where 
 trouble would be likely to occur. What, under nor- 
 mal conditions, would probably be a peacable gath- 
 ering may now become a demonstrative mob. All 
 good citizens deprecate the loss of life and the 
 destruction of property. Grave as these com- 
 plications are, our civilization is far enough ad- 
 vanced to find and apply a remedy without re- 
 sort to violence. We are merely contenting for 
 justice for our fellow workingmen, who have 
 been reduced to want by a power that now de- 
 fies public opinion. Strong in the faith that our 
 position is correct, that our grievances are just, 
 we can afibrd to await the final verdict, with 
 patience. The great public may be slow to act, 
 but in the fullness of time it will act. Then the 
 
106 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 wrong, wherever found will be rebuked and 
 cloven down, and the right will be enthroned. 
 However serious the situation may become, let 
 it not be intensified by lawlessness or violence. 
 
 Eugene Y. Debs." 
 
 If there is anything tending to conspiracy, 
 any anarchistic sentiment in the above appeal 
 then it is certain that Debs was guilty as indicted, 
 but if there is not, then the railroad managers and 
 federal court were guilty of a greater conspiracy 
 and should be dealt with accordingly. In all the 
 appeals, instructions or advice given verbally or 
 otherwise by E. Y. Debs, not a solitary one was 
 of a more inflamatory nature than this, and 
 yet this man was accused of this serious crime. 
 
 The Chicago Times in an editorial on the in- 
 dictment of Debs says in part: " We can perhaps 
 leave to the lawyers who are so eager to indict 
 Mr. Debs, determination of the legal position of 
 this rebel Wickes, declaring that his tottering 
 corporation will brook no interference national, 
 state, county, or municipal. The times has 
 learned many things of late showing the power 
 of coporations over the national government but 
 we still cling to the belief that Uncle Sam is big- 
 ger than Duke George, and if either the national, 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTl^. 107 
 
 state, county or municipal government determ- 
 ines to interfere with the affairs of the Pullman 
 corporation, Mr. Wickes will have to brook it or 
 take refuge iu Canada with his titled chiefs, em- 
 bezzlers, boodlers, forgers and other harpies of 
 societ}^, who from time to time have fled 
 thither." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A PROTEST BY THE PEOPLES PARTY. 
 
 The newsboys of Chicago now decided to join 
 the boycott by dropping the papers unfavorable 
 to the American Railway Union, and after a 
 noisy session in which parlimentary rules were 
 freely discussed, and several amusing antics were 
 indulged in, they voted to boycott the Tribune, 
 Herald, Mail, Inter-Ocean, Post and Journal. 
 When the Times w^as mentioned, they yelled 
 themselves hoarse, and declared that it was the 
 only paper they would sell. Hill, the circulator 
 of the Post, caused the arrest of five of the little 
 fellows and they wejje locked up. 
 
 L. W. Rogers, editor of the Raihvaj^ Times, 
 the official organ of the American Railway 
 Union finally succeeded in getting the attention 
 of the boys and informed them that the union 
 could not accept any sacrifice from the new^sboys 
 of Chicago. He assured them that the men w^ere 
 strong enough to do their own boycotting and 
 requested them to continue the sale of the papers. 
 
 108 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 109 
 
 He said : '* We do not want to take one red cent 
 out of your earnings, if things were as they 
 should be, you lads would be at school in the 
 day time and in comfortable homes at night in- 
 stead of selling papers on the street." 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Roger's remarks 
 they all sped away to the Times office, where 
 cheer after cheer was given for the peoples paper. 
 Notwithstanding the remarks of Mr. Rogers, the 
 Times, Record, Dispatch and News were the only 
 papers to be had on the streets. 
 
 The Knights of Labor and Trades Unions as 
 well as business men's unions were holding meetings 
 all over the country, denouncing the action of 
 Cleveland and the courts and endorsing the Am- 
 merican Railway Union in its manly fight for 
 rights. The strike situation had not changed to 
 any great extent with the exception of pas- 
 senger service. Passenger trains were beginning 
 to run with more regularity, but the freight busi- 
 ness w^as to all practical purposes dead. The 
 men whom the companies had succeeded in get- 
 ting so far to fill the places of strikers were green 
 men, entirely unused to that kind of work, and 
 incompetent men who had previously been dis- 
 charged for drunkeness and other causes. The 
 
110 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 j'-ard service was a failure, and as an illustration 
 — to show the kind of men the different roads 
 had secured to make up trains — I was passing 
 a certain yard and stopped to watch a 
 switching crew, and carefully noted how 
 they performed their work. An engine with 
 one car backed up to couple unto some cars 
 on a lumber track. Two of the would-be 
 switchmen with a long stick were holding up 
 the link, one men on either side of the coupling, 
 but just as the link was about to enter the 
 drawbar one of them jumped away, at the same 
 time stumbling over a pile of lumber, and the 
 way that fellow scrambled about in his frantic 
 endeaver to get out of the way, would lead a 
 person to believe he had fallen upon a hornet's 
 nest. 
 
 After several such attempts they finally suc- 
 ceeded in making the coupling. This is the kind 
 of men with which the company proposed to 
 fill the places of the strikers. 
 
 The Grand Trunk engineers, who up to this 
 time had refused to work with other than brother- 
 hood firemen decided to work with scabs, and 
 their decision was hailed with delight by the of- 
 ficials. They said that the strike was now 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. Ill 
 
 settled and they could rim their trains without 
 difficulty. 
 
 The engineers and firemen on the Chicago & 
 Alton road also decided to stand by the com- 
 pany. The firemen, switchmen and other em- 
 ployes of the Grand Trunk called a meet- 
 ing, and after denouncing the action of the en- 
 gineers, voted to stand by the American Railway 
 Union to the end. 
 
 One amusing incident that occured about this 
 time, w^as the refusal of the Washington National 
 Guards to ride on a train that was run by 
 scabs. The entire company of sixty men refused 
 to ride on a Northern Pacific train for this 
 reason, and they were promptly placed under 
 arrest, put into box cars and taken to Sprague. 
 
 General Master Workman Sovereign had at 
 this time an order drawn up for a general walk 
 out of members of the Knights of Labor, but it 
 was withdrawn after a consultation with other 
 labor leaders. Many comments were made by 
 newspapers throughout the country on this 
 order, of which a copy was furnished the papers 
 under the impression that it would go into effect 
 at once. 
 
 People who had remained passive up to this 
 
112 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 time were now aroused to the gravity of the 
 situation. The pending crisis was near at hand, 
 and a general uprisal of the laboring people to 
 assert their rights was imminent. The tyran- 
 ical and dogged persistency of plutocratic capital 
 to dominate over the laboring classes with utter 
 disregard for their constitutional rights, was 
 nothing more or less than an open declaration 
 of despotic supremacy, and the outcome was 
 looked forward to with the gravest appre- 
 hension. 
 
 The following communication addressed to 
 the chairman of the National Committee of the 
 Peoples Party was sent to Washington, D. C. 
 
 "To the Hon. H. E. Taubeneck, chairman 
 National Committee, Peoples Party: 
 
 "Through the gloom of civil war the enemies 
 of human liberty laid the foundation upon which 
 the giant monopolies of to-day have been built. 
 On public lands, with public funds they built the 
 railroads which they now use to plunder the 
 producers of this nation, and with the wealth 
 and power thus obtained they now usurp the 
 power and functions of government to reduce 
 the people of this country to a condition of serf- 
 dom. The workmen in the cities, the miners in 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 113 
 
 their isolated communities, and the railroad men 
 throughout the land have risen in manful pro- 
 test against a threatened military government of 
 the railroads and their associate monopolies. 
 
 "In this hour of need the duty of the Peoples 
 Party is clear and plain. 
 
 "Quick as the lightning's flash will bear the 
 message, must go forth that the Peoples Party 
 recognize the gravity of the situation, and by 
 common impulse alligns itself to the side of the < 
 toiler in the shop and mine, and on the 
 railroads ; their battle is our battle, because it is 
 a struggle for liberty and the right to exist — a 
 peaceable contest on the part of toil against the 
 combined armies of greed and force. 
 
 "The farmer knows the means best calculated 
 to help his brother in this conflict. The rail- 
 roads intend to run their trains under military 
 guard and expect American citizen to patronize 
 public means of traffic, operated under military 
 despotism. The Peoples Party of Cook county, 
 in common with organized labor demand im- 
 mediate arbitration, and urges immediate action 
 on the part of our national committee to the 
 end that all organizations in sympathy with 
 
114. THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 labor be united in common cause against a com- 
 mon enemy. 
 
 "Signed: T. O'Brien, Chairman, 
 I. H. Hawley, Sec'y. 
 H. S. Taylor, 
 Henry Vincent, 
 John Bagley, 
 D. M. Fielwiler, 
 John Schwartz, 
 C. G. Dixon, 
 J. P. Grimes, 
 
 Committee." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AN OFFER OF SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Senator Pfeffer, of Kansas, arraigned congress 
 for its defence of monopolies, and its stand 
 against the people. Senator Kyle, of Dakota, 
 also charged congress with being in collusion 
 with the railroads, but Senator Davis, of Minne- 
 sota, on the other hand, denounced Debs and the 
 strikers. He said the strike grew from a strike 
 to a boycott, from boycott to riot, from riot to 
 insurrection, that the acts, if committed on the 
 high seas, w^ould be piracy and punishable by 
 death. He spoke of the injustice being done the 
 farmers of the United States, and how they were 
 effected by the strike in Chicago. He urged that 
 it was time some action should be taken to put 
 down the rising tide of anarchy. He held that 
 a nuisance should be abated and that Debs was 
 a nuisance. 
 
 Senator Gordon, of Georgia, and Senator 
 Daniels, of Virginia, followed in the same kind of 
 demagogery as Davis. 
 
116 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 A great meeting was held in Dubuque, and 
 prominent among the speakers was County At- 
 torney Mathews who insisted on obedience to 
 law, but denounced Judge Grosscup for issuing 
 an injunction which denied the constitutional 
 right of free speech and trial by Jury. 
 
 Mayor Hopkins, of Chicago, Mayor Pingree, 
 of Detroit, Michigan, and Erskine M. Phelps 
 conferred with Mr. Wicks, and Mrs. Brown and 
 Runnell of the Pullman Company at the re- 
 quest of some fifty mayors, representing about 
 one-third of the population of the United States 
 —and urged arbitration as a means of settling 
 the strike. The efforts of these gentlemen were 
 in vain. The imperious Pullman company 
 through its representative, though not saying so 
 in as many words, intimated that the com- 
 pany would not establish a precedent whereby 
 workmen could interfere in its business. Mayor 
 Pingree, of Detroit, corresponded with almost 
 every mayor of the larger cities of the United 
 States, and received answers favorable to arb- 
 itration from all with one exception, that of 
 Mayor Gilroy, of New York City, whose answer 
 to the telegram of Mayor Pingree was an em- 
 phatic no. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 117 
 
 The wildest excitement now prevailed at 
 Sacramento. The United States troops com- 
 manded by Col. Graham and consisting of in- 
 fantry, cavalry, artillery, and gatling and 
 Hotchkiss guns, presented a most war like 
 aspect. The strikers on learning of this movement 
 on the part of (the government armed themselves, 
 and it was feared that a desperate conflict would 
 take place. 
 
 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in 
 this district called upon Supt. Filmore of the 
 Southern Pacific and stated that they were ready 
 to resume work at once. This weakened the 
 cause of the strikers to some extent and caused 
 a smile of satisfaction on the faces of the rail- 
 road managers. 
 
 After much persuasion due to the untiring 
 efforts of Congressman McGann, President Cleve- 
 land consented to appoint a committee of three 
 to investigate the strike, under section 6 of the 
 arbitration act, prepared some years ago under 
 the eyes of Powderly, McGuire and Hays of the 
 Knights of Labor, offered by Representative 
 Quail, of St. Louis, and made a law on Oct. 1, 
 1888. This determination on the part of Cleve- 
 land was received with satisfaction throughout 
 
118 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 the country. This was just what the American 
 Railway Union wanted. This was what the 
 Trades and Labor Unions of the United 
 States had appealed for, and what the business 
 men and city representatives had so long de- 
 manded, begged and entreated of the Pullman 
 company, but without avail. 
 
 It looked at this time as if an investigation 
 would be forced on Duke Pullman, and the people 
 were looking forward to a speedy settlement of 
 the trouble. The American Railway Union, hav- 
 ing no fear of the final decision of the investi- 
 gating committee, and viewing the vast amount 
 of destruction of property, loss of life and ex- 
 treme hardship to which the people were sub- 
 jected on account of the strike— decided to take 
 the necessary steps to call off the strike, they 
 drew up the following proposition which was 
 given to ]Mr. Hopkins, mayor of Chicago, to 
 present to the general managers. 
 
 "To the Railway Managers: 
 
 "Gentlemen :— The existing trouble growing 
 out of the Pullman strike having assumed con- 
 tinental proportions, and there being no indi- 
 cations of relief from the wide spread business 
 demoralization and distress, incident thereto, the 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 119 
 
 railway employes, through the board of direct- 
 ors of the American Railway Union respectfully 
 make the following proposition as a basis of 
 settlement : 
 
 "They agree to return to work in a body at 
 once, provided they shall be restored to their 
 former positions without prejudice, except incases, 
 if any there be, where they have been convicted 
 of crime. This proposition looking to an imme- 
 diate settlement of the existing strike on all 
 lines of railway is inspired by a purpose to sub- 
 serve public good. The strike, small and com- 
 paratively unimportant in its inception, has ex- 
 tented in every direction until now it involves 
 or threatens not only every public interest, but 
 the peace, security and prosperity of our com- 
 mon country. The contest has waged fiercely, it 
 has extented far beyond the limits of interest 
 originally involved, and has laid hold of a vast 
 number of industries and enterprises in nowise 
 responsible for the difference and disagreements 
 that led to the trouble. 
 
 "Factory, mill, mine and shop have been 
 silenced. Widespread demoralization has sway. 
 The interests of multiplied thousands of people 
 "are suffering, and the common welfare is seriously 
 
120 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 menaced, The public peace and tranquility are 
 imperiled, and grave apprehension for the future 
 prevails. This being true, and the statement 
 will not be controverted, we conceive it to be our 
 duty as citizens and as men, to make extraordi- 
 nary efforts to end the existing strife and ap- 
 proaching calamaties whose shadows are even 
 now upon us. If ended now, the contest, how- 
 ever serious in some respects, will not have been 
 in vain. 
 
 "Sacrifices have been made, but they will 
 have their compensations. Indeed, if lessons shall 
 be taught by experience, the troubles now so 
 widely deplored will prove a blessing of inestim- 
 able value in the years to come. The difference 
 that led up to the present complications need not 
 now be discussed, every consideration of duty 
 and patriotism demands that a remedy for ex- 
 isting troubles be found and applied. The em- 
 ployes purpose to do their part by meeting their 
 employers half way. Let it be stated that they 
 do not impose any condition of settlement ex- 
 cept that they be returned to their former posi- 
 tions; they do not ask recognition of their org- 
 anization or any organization. 
 
 " Believing this proposition to be fair, reason- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOPCOTT. 121 
 
 able and just it is respectfully submitted with 
 the belief that its acceptance will result in the 
 prompt resumption of traffic, the revival of in- 
 dustry, and the restoration of peace and order. 
 ** Respectfully, 
 
 E. V. Debs, Pres. 
 
 G. W. Howard, V. Pres. 
 
 S. Kelliher, Secy. 
 
 American Railway Union." 
 
 The propisition was rejected and spurned by 
 the General Managers Association. 
 
 Is there a man so utterly lost to the sense of 
 justice, that would conscientiously dispute the 
 manly fairness of this communication ? 
 
 The object of the general managers was too 
 apparent, their position was clearly defined. 
 Their determination to wipe out of existence all 
 railroad organizations was as fixed and un- 
 moveable as the Rock of Gibralter and why 
 should they recede from their position? 
 
 The federal courts and federal government 
 (owned and controlled by the corporations) de- 
 cided that the constitutional rights of free speech 
 and trial by jury, equal rights to all and special 
 privileges to none, was a farce. In their narrow 
 money-loving minds there could be no rights for 
 
122 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 honest labor, and determined there should be no 
 rights for a workingman. After this decision of 
 the general managers the American Railway 
 Union could do nothing but fight out the battle 
 to the bitter end. 
 
 Eugene Y. Debs, — representing a body of 
 honest toilers with no other motive than to 
 obtain for them living wages, his heart overflow- 
 ing with generous impulses and humane kind- 
 ness, his noble nature revolting against the 
 tyranical oppression of his fellow man by the 
 soulless corporations, a man who loves his 
 country with patriotic devotion, — for these 
 reasons and no other, was indicted and arrested 
 on the charge of criminal conspiracy, 'while John 
 M. Egan— representing the General Managers 
 Association, a giant monopoly and powerful 
 money grasping trust, built on the peoples land 
 and with the peoples money, a combination 
 foreign to American institutions, usurping the 
 functions of the government with avowed intent 
 and purpose to take away the rights of organ- 
 ization from the working man and reduce him 
 to a condition of absolute slavery, — was allowed 
 to continue his nefarious work without inter- 
 uption. Surely this partial, one-sided distribu- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 123 
 
 tion of justice, openly and defiantly administered, 
 deserves the severest condemnation of every 
 loyal American citizen. 
 
 The Pullman boycott had now ceased to be 
 the point at issue in the strike. It was novsr the 
 life or death of railroad organizations. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 DEBS IN JAIL. 
 
 The strike situation still looked very bright 
 for the men. 
 
 At St. Paul and Minneapolis the business of 
 the railroads, with the exception of the Soo Line, 
 St. Paul & Duluth and the Great Northern, was 
 practically at a standstill. 
 
 On the St. Paul & Duluth the men as a 
 whole refused to strike, a few firemen and switch- 
 men left their positions at the call but did not 
 seriously effect the operation of trains. This was 
 also true of the Soo Line. The Great Northern 
 so far was not implicated as they used no Pull- 
 man cars and positively refused boycotted 
 freight, that is, freight offered by railroads whose 
 employes were on a strike. The Minnesota 
 Transfer, which was the key to the coast lines, 
 was completely blocked, and this condition was 
 duplicated in almost every railroad center 
 throughout the country, 
 
 134 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 125 
 
 Encouraging telegrams were being received 
 from all points contradicting the reports circula- 
 ted by a subsidized press that everything was 
 running as usual. So far the men in the Twin 
 Cities were conducting themselves in such an 
 orderly manner that even the press could not 
 rake up one charge against them. They strictly 
 adhered to the advice of President Debs to keep 
 out of saloons and away from railroad property. 
 The only action taken by the strikers was to 
 induce other men by moral persuation not to 
 take their places and assist the managers to 
 operate the roads. 
 
 For this Charles J. Luth was foully murdered 
 by one Leonard, chief clerk in the office of James 
 McCabe, superintendent of the C, St. P., M. & 
 0. Ry. 
 
 On the evening of July 14, Leonard, in com- 
 pany with Bert Nash, also an employe of the 
 same railroad, brought a lot of non-union men to 
 a boarding place in St. Paul, known as the Min- 
 nesota Home. Luth followed them into the 
 house and requested the proprietress of the Home 
 not to board them as they were in the city to 
 take the place of strikers, and while ex- 
 plaining the situation, became involved in an al- 
 
126 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 tercation with Nash. Leonard interfered and was 
 told by Luth that he was little better than a 
 scab, whereupon Leonard drew a revolver and 
 fired five times, all of the shots taking effect in 
 the body of Luth. Two of the shots were fired 
 after Luth had fallen to the floor. 
 
 These facts were given by an eye witness 
 who afterwards took the revolver from 
 Leonard. 
 
 This dastardly, cold blooded murder worked 
 the strikers into a frenzy of excitement, and had 
 it not been for a herculean effort on the part of 
 older and cooler heads, a lynching would surely 
 have occurred. 
 
 This foul deed was absolutely unwarranted 
 as Luth was unarmed and alone, and if he had 
 harmed or threatened to harm any one, an ofii- 
 cer could have been called and he would have 
 been promptly arrested. 
 
 Luth left a wife and two small children to 
 mourn his loss and grieve over his tragic end. 
 
 The funeral procession that followed the re- 
 mains to the grave headed by the Knights of 
 Pythias and Foresters, was the largest ever seen 
 in St. Paul. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 127 
 
 President Debs felt confident of victory. Ad- 
 dressing a meeting at Ulrich Hall, he said : 
 
 "We have just finished reading 160 telegrams 
 in not one of which there is any sign of weaken- 
 ing." He dwelled on the action of the general 
 managers refusing to entertain the proposition 
 made to them, and the necessity of the men re- 
 maining loyal to one another. " The law seems to 
 be against us as it is read by some, but if the 
 law makes it a crime to advise you men against 
 the encroachments of capital, by all the Gods 
 united I will rot in jail." Referring to the atti- 
 tude of other railroad organizations, he said: 
 "Men in such positions as myself and Mr. How- 
 ard cannot afford to be on good terms with 
 general managers. If we are we cannot be your 
 friends. It is true, however, that certain officers 
 of certain other organizations ride on annual 
 passes and spend months on fishing excursions 
 at the expense of the railroad managers, but it 
 comes out of your wages in the end." 
 
 Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive 
 Engineers present, informed the officers of the 
 American Railway Union that Chief Arthur had 
 issued orders for men to work with scabs, 
 and that he was supplying scabs to take the 
 
128 IHE PTILI.MAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 places of men on strike. In other words, he 
 was running an employment agency for the bene- 
 fit of the railroads. 
 
 The general managers defeat on the fifth 
 day of the strike was beyond all question of a 
 doubt. They had summoned to their support 
 the federal government with the result previously 
 mentioned, but the government aid was not suf- 
 ficient to operate their roads. They must have 
 a number of the old men to educate and aid the 
 scabs in the performance of their duties. At this 
 critical time the services of their faithful allies 
 were badly wanted. In this, their time of need 
 they knew that those men who had feted, dined 
 and wined at their expense would prove faithful 
 to them and traiters to the orders they repre- 
 sented. 
 
 The damnable spirit of treachery that 
 evoked Benedict Arnold to betray his country 
 predominated in the hearts of these double-dyed 
 scoundrels. They were not only ready and wil- 
 ling but feverishly anxious to assist the corpor- 
 ations to enslave the men that they were oath- 
 bound as well as duty bound to protect. Grand 
 Chief Arthur, representing the engineers, who had 
 grown old in the service of the corpo- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 129 
 
 rations, and whose wealth was estimated at 
 half a million dollars, in direct violation of the 
 constitution of his order, ordered his men to 
 work with scab firemen. Not only this, he or- 
 dered all those who were on strike to return at once 
 to their engines and in case of their refusal he 
 would supply men to take their places. This 
 was also true of Grand Chief Sargent of the 
 Firemen and Wilkinson of the Trainmen. Clark 
 of the Conductors, and Barrett of the Switchmen 
 advised their men to return to work as the^^ had 
 no grievance. But only a part of these men 
 would be taken back by the companies, and what 
 under the sun did these chiefs intent to do with 
 the others? Positively nothing. But the result 
 was exactly what they intended it should be, and 
 the men were applying to the companies— in lots 
 of ten and twenty in the different cities — for their 
 positions. 
 
 The dark deeds of treachery were now rife 
 in many places especially in the Twin Cities. At 
 this point the blocade, which was on since 
 the strike began, and which was the ke}^ to the 
 situation in the Northwest was raised. 
 
 The Great Northern was the only line in opera- 
 tion to the coast, and under instructions from J. 
 
130 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 J. Hill, the president, refused to accept any freight 
 from roads included in the boycott. The men 
 were instructed to decline even to throw a switch 
 or assist in any manner any road on strike, as 
 the Great Northern company did not wish to be 
 drawn into the difficulty. In fact the men on 
 this line were, almost to a man, members of the 
 American Railway Union, and could not even if 
 asked to do any act that might prove a detri- 
 ment to their brothers. At this time there hap- 
 pened to be sixty car loads of twine in St. Paul, 
 a greater portion of which was at Minnesota 
 Transfer. This freight was consigned to points 
 on the Great Northern Line and a committee 
 headed by Harry Gray, chairman of the gen- 
 eral board of mediation of the American Rail- 
 way Union on that system, appeared at the 
 rooms of the central strike committee and asked 
 permission to switch out the twine, giving as an 
 excuse that the farmers were in need of it. 
 
 This permission the committee was loth to 
 grant as any move toward raising this blockade 
 in the Twin Cities might prove detrimental to 
 their cause, and further action on the matter 
 was deferred until it would be submitted to the 
 different unions interested. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 131 
 
 That night at a meeting held at Plummer 
 Post Hall in Minneapolis, the American Railway 
 Union headquarters, a committee of farmers, 
 from the peoples party convention in session 
 there at that time, were admitted. 
 
 When appraised of the nature of the trouble 
 they stated that they had contracts with the 
 twine companies to deliver their twine and on 
 failure to do so the farmers would suffer no loss. 
 They further stated that the farmers would bind 
 their grain b}^ hand before they would ask the 
 men to do an\^thing detrimental to the success 
 of the strike. This settled it as far as the twine 
 was concerned. However, the next da}-, the offi- 
 cials of the Great Northern took an engine and 
 switched the twine out themselves without any 
 objection being made by the men who stood by 
 while the work was being done. 
 
 This was the beginning only. 
 
 The next move was a positive assurance of 
 treachery. 
 
 The Burlington road had about thirty cars 
 of water pipe for the Great Northern, and this 
 same man Gray again waited on the central 
 committee for permission to move the freight, 
 saying, that he had the assurance of the com- 
 
132 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 pany tliat no more concessions would be asked. 
 His requst was promptly refused. Later a com- 
 mittee of switchmen called on the central com- 
 mittee for instructions and were told not to move 
 the freight under any conditions. 
 
 They left apparently satisfied, but never-the- 
 less the cars were moved; no one seemed to know 
 how but it became apparent to the strikers that 
 a traitor was in their ranks, and took immediate 
 steps to ferret him out, and have the embargo once 
 more placed on business at this point. 
 
 Gray of St. Paul, and Foster of St. Cloud, 
 were openly accused of being the traitors to the 
 cause, although others were thought to be impli- 
 cated. Charges were preferred against Gray in 
 the Union, but nothing ever came of it. Every 
 concievable means was used to again cause a 
 blockade at this point but to no avail. 
 
 The switchmen promised to refuse to handle 
 boycotted freight if the road would support 
 them in case of discharge, which they well knew 
 was inevitable. It would be simply a sacrifice to 
 strike in the yards of St. Paul and Minneapolis 
 without the support of the whole system, 
 although after a canvas of the road, when it was 
 found that the majority of the men voted against 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 133 
 
 a strike, the switchmen of these cities sent word 
 that they were ready to ask for their time and 
 quit the service of the company if the Union so 
 desired. This proposition the strikers would not 
 accept, not caring to sacrifice a few loyal switch- 
 men whose places could be easily filled if the rest 
 of the employes remained at work. 
 
 This result was wired to Chicago, and Direc- 
 tor Goodwin was sent out to see what could be 
 done. His efforts were fruitless. The road was 
 again canvassed with the same result, and Good- 
 win returning to Chicago, Mr. Burns, another 
 director of the Union, was sent to take his place, 
 but with no better success. 
 
 They positively refused to strike. The trait- 
 ors with the price of their treachery in their 
 pockets had been there first and accomplished 
 their purpose. 
 
 The damnable traitors responsible for the 
 raising of the blockade were also responsible for 
 the suffering and untold misery of the noble men 
 whose sympathetic hearts went out to their 
 brothers in Pullman, and who without money 
 were obliged to leave their homes (in many 
 cases onlv partly paid for) and seek employment 
 elsewhere in order to provide for their families. 
 
134 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 The switchmen in the employ of the Mil- 
 waukee road at Minneapolis, now — fearing that 
 the treachery of the men on the Great Northern 
 Line would lose the strike in the Northwest — 
 applied for their positions, and all who were 
 wanted were taken back. The men who were em- 
 ployed by the Omaha Railway at East St. Paul, 
 took the same course, but all others declared their 
 intention of standing out until the American Rail- 
 way Union called oft' the strike. 
 
 Disasters seemed to follow one another in 
 rapid succession at this time. In many places the 
 weak-kneed men were appljang for work and cir- 
 culating false stories to induce others to do the 
 same. The news went flashing over the wires that 
 Debs, Howard, Rogers and Kelliher were in jail. 
 But this news did not have the depressing effect on 
 the men that was expected, in fact it only caused 
 a feeling of indignation and the strikers were now 
 more determined than ever to stand up for their 
 rights and fight out the battle with renewed 
 energy. 
 
 In making this statement I do not refer to the 
 poltroons who were continually raising the cry : 
 We are lost, but I refer to the noble men who 
 spoke from their manly hearts, and with words of 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 135 
 
 no uncertain sound declared their intention to go 
 down to defeat if need be with those grand, noble, 
 generous hearted men, who signified their willing- 
 ness to rot in jail, or even mount the scaffold in 
 defence of the just and righteous cause they had 
 wrapped their lives in. 
 
 Could it be charged that they were actuated 
 by selfish motives in the cause in which they had 
 enlisted ? No ! A thousand times no ! If Eugene V. 
 Debs could be induced to turn his magnificent exe- 
 cutive abilities over to the railroads instead of the 
 the poor enslaved workingmen, these corporations 
 would place him upon the highest pinacle of pluto- 
 cratic fame, and no one can dispute George W. 
 Howard's title to being a workingman's friend, 
 for by his actions on more than one occasion he 
 has proven himself to be a friend indeed, and 
 actions speak louder than words. 
 
 Yes; the four officers of the American Railway 
 Union were in jail. United States Attorney Mil- 
 christ appeared before Judge Seaman in the 
 United States district court on the morning, of 
 July 17, and on behalf of the government filed in- 
 formation presented by George R. Peck, who 
 represented the general managers and receivers of 
 the Santa Fe system. 
 
136 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 In response to the prayer of tlie district at- 
 torney, Judge Seaman issued writs of attachment 
 for the appearance of Debs, Howard, Rogers and 
 Kelliher, directing them to be present at the after- 
 noon session of the court and show causes why 
 they should not be punished for contempt in con- 
 tinuing to disregard the injunction of the court. 
 W. W. Erwin, of St. Paul, W. A. Shoemaker and 
 S. S. Gregory, of Chicago, were retained to defend 
 the men on behalf of the American Railway Union. 
 The voluminous information made up of tele- 
 grams, copies of injunctions, etc., was read by At- 
 torney Milchrist, after which the court ruled that 
 two seperate attachments be issued and seperate 
 records be kept. 
 
 Mr. Gregory stated that he failed to see why 
 the government should interfere to protect prop- 
 erty rights of railroads, and this called forth a 
 retort from Mr. Walker that Uncle Sam was seek- 
 ing to protect only the intestate commerce and 
 the mails and not the railroad property. 
 
 The information embodied almost everything 
 pertaining to the strike, and over an hour was 
 consumed in its reading. Telegrams sent out to 
 strike leaders by President Debs were submitted 
 but contained no startling facts. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 137 
 
 One of these addressed to H. E. Sarion, 
 Garrett, Ind., read as follows: "Have all classes 
 of employes withdrawn from service at once." 
 Another to Charles Fink, Oakland, Cal., says: 
 "Commit no violence." Mr. Debs communica- 
 tion to the railway managers suggesting a set- 
 tlement of the strike was incorporated in the in- 
 formation as was also the question of Chicago 
 public health in the matter of removing dead 
 animals from the city. Several newspaper inter- 
 views and a cop}^ of the original injunction is- 
 sued by Judges Wood and Grosscup was also 
 contained therein, and after Peck of the Santa 
 Fe had sought to bolster up the information 
 with an argument, Mr. Gregory urged that the 
 defendants had not been charged with violence, 
 and declared that it was his belief that the tes- 
 timony should be taken by a master. Mr. 
 Walker opposed this in favor of a hearing in 
 open court and was sustained. This led up to a 
 a long legal wrangle participated in by both 
 sides, .and a firey speech by Mr. Irwin of the 
 defence, in which he denied the jurisdiction of the 
 court, and hinted at monarchy and dictatorial 
 methods. Mr. Walker pressed his motion that 
 the defendents be placed under bonds to appear 
 
138 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 before the court and Judge Seaman fixed the bail 
 in each case at $3,000. Mr. Debs, declining a 
 score of offers from prominent men to furnish 
 the necessary security, decided to go to jail. In 
 reply to a question Mr. Debs said: "This is the 
 first time in my life that I have been incarcer- 
 ated in a jail, but with us it is a matter of 
 principle. We have had many offers of bail but 
 have refused them all. The poor striker if arrested 
 would be thrown into jail and we are certainly 
 no better than he, we will eat regularly, prison 
 fare, and expect to be treated as any other pris- 
 oners would be." 
 
 Their trial was set for the following Mon- 
 day. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BLACKLISTING BEGINS. 
 
 The strike situation was now in the bal- 
 ance. The managers and their faithful allies the 
 press, had given it out that the strike was off. 
 One fact that could not be denied, was that P. 
 M. Arthur, of the General Managers Association, 
 —though still representing the engineers— was 
 doing great work for the companies, as the 
 engineers were returning to work pretty gener- 
 ally throughout the country. Sargent of the 
 firemen was also playing his cards well, but not 
 meeting with the same success as the "grand old 
 chief." Wilkenson of the trainmen was sending 
 out his orders and ultimatums, thick and fast 
 and his men were now fast returning to their old 
 positions. 
 
 It was now a question of whether the men 
 would prove loyal to themselves and their best 
 interests, or loyal to the companies who were 
 putting forth their best efforts to trample them 
 to earth, and it is a painful fact that many of 
 
140 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 them were so blinded to their own interests, 
 — through their craven cowardice — that they 
 returned to work, and, to what will be in the 
 near future beyond a question of a doubt, longer 
 hours, less wages, and the complete anihilation 
 of all semblence of rights. 
 
 The strike was fast resolving itself into a 
 switchmen's fight against the railroads. The yards 
 were in the worst immaginable shape, and the 
 engines were sadly in need of repairs. Shopmen, 
 freight handlers, trackmen, and car-repairers 
 were still out. Ofiice men were now back at 
 work with the exception of a few. The majority 
 of the strikers were still loyal to the cause and 
 the American Railway Union was sure of win- 
 ning. The Knights of Labor did not respond to 
 the call of Grand Master Workman Sovereign as 
 generally as was expected, and the Federation 
 of Labor had decided not to strike at present, 
 perhaps this may be accounted for by the reports 
 given out by the general managers that the 
 strike was off and trains running as usual. 
 
 The United States troops in the pay of the 
 government were still doing service for the rail- 
 road corporations. 
 
 Authenticated reports— given out by the 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 141 
 
 striking committees— from different parts of the 
 country would not seem to bear out the state- 
 ments of the general managers. 
 
 These committees had reports in regards to 
 the operation of the roads, as complete as the of- 
 ficials of the roads themselves. They were 
 thoroughl}^ posted on the number of cars moved 
 each day by each company, the number and char- 
 acter of switch crews at work and the number of 
 strikers who had gone back to work. In short, 
 everything that had a bearing on the result. This 
 was part of the duties imposed upon them and 
 they were faithfully carried out. 
 
 Thirteen Pan Handle switchmen brought to 
 Chicago from Pittsburg through misrepresent- 
 ation, when informed, of the true state of affairs, 
 refused to go to work, and demanded transport- 
 ation back to Pittsburg. They were given or- 
 ders for the necessary transportation, but on pre- 
 sentation the companies refused to honor them. 
 This was also true in the case of half a dozen men 
 brought in by the Ft. Wayne road. 
 
 The scabs on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, 
 through ignorance and incompetency burned up 
 five engines and wrecked as many more. One 
 splendid new engine was blown up twenty miles 
 
142 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 from Terre Haute, while en route to Chicago. 
 Yard service was of the worst possible kind. 
 
 The Illinois Central was doing no freight busi- 
 ness to speak of, in fact the condition of this road 
 was still worse than the Chicago & Eastern 
 Illinois. 
 
 The Northwestern shops at Fortieth street, 
 employing over 2300 men, were idle, only about 
 twelve men signifying their willingness to work. 
 The Galena division of this road, while making 
 quite a bluff at handling freight, was not accomp- 
 lishing very much, as it took them two days to 
 unload a stock train. 
 
 The Milwaukee road was doing better, having 
 at work fifteen engines days and fourteen nights, 
 but being manned mostly by green and incomp- 
 etent men, were not making great headway. In 
 all some 350 cars were gotten out and about 300 
 received in one day which is very small business 
 for this line. 
 
 The Wabash had only one engine at work 
 nights, and this was guarded by a company of 
 troops and about twenty deputy police. They 
 succeeded in breaking down two posts, one at 
 Polk street and another at Taylor street station, 
 causing a damage of some $300 which was all ac- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 143 
 
 complished in one night. The Chicago and Blue 
 Island were now working two engines (this com- 
 pany generally worked ten), manned by scabs, one 
 of whom was a nigger. 
 
 A committee man from the Grand Trunk re- 
 ported that only three men had returned to 
 work. 
 
 He said a, personal friend of mine, a business 
 man from Yalpraiso, and whom I know, is in touch 
 with the Grand Trunk, informed me that a Grand 
 Trunk official had said in his presence that his 
 company could not do business unless they made 
 some kind of a settlement with the switchmen. 
 
 Through John Downey and Miles Barrett, of 
 the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association, a meet- 
 ing of switchmen was called in a hall at Eden to 
 induce the switchmen to return to work. This 
 meeting was "packed" in order to secure a major- 
 ity vote in favor of returning but the scheme did 
 not work. 
 
 All the officials on the Pan Handle admitted 
 that they could do nothing without the assistance 
 of the old men. They had a few "stake" men 
 whom they were paying $5.00 per day, but not 
 enough to do any business. 
 
 At Union Stock Yards all switchmen and as- 
 
144 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT, 
 
 sistant yard masters were out, and at the yard of 
 the Street Stable Car Co. out of 300 men only 
 three were at work. 
 
 All men at the Burton Stock Car Co., the 
 Canada Cattle Car Co. and the American Life 
 Stock Co.'s yards were out, and refused to work 
 under police protection. At Armour's car 
 shops only nine men returned out of sixty who 
 went on strike, and at Swifts only five out of 
 forty-two. The yard track-men were all out, as 
 were also the Illinois Central switchmen and the 
 Rock Island machinists and boiler makers. 
 
 This was the condition of the strike in 
 Chicago and the same existed in all parts of the 
 strike district. Messages were received from 
 many points saying that only those men who were 
 subservient to the orders of their chiefs had re- 
 turned to work, and from some points came the 
 news that the strike had gained strength owing 
 to the arrest of President Debs. 
 
 The enemies of the American Railway Union 
 had now began a systematic course— as dark 
 and devilish as it was designing — of poisening 
 the public mind against Debs, who was, so to 
 speak, a gagged prisoner and unable to defend 
 himself. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 145 
 
 Such reports as: Mrs. Highenbotham was 
 dying in Montana and Mr. Highenbotham ap- 
 pealed to Mr. Debs to allow her to be brought 
 home by special train and see her friends, and Mr. 
 Debs' brutal answer that not a wheel would 
 turn. 
 
 Whole columns of such falsehoods were pub- 
 lished and circulated broadcast throughout the 
 land, but not one word was written of the gener- 
 ous acts of this noble hearted man. When he 
 was seen to pause in the most trying moment of 
 his life to listen to the tale of distress and suffering 
 related by a poor widow woman, and going 
 down into his pocket, hand her a five dollar bill, 
 all he had with him, this great and just pubhc 
 press was silent. 
 
 Then the blacklisting of ex-employes began, 
 the Missouri Pacific taking the initiatory- step. 
 The following certificate given to a yard clerk will 
 speak for itself. 
 
 "This is to certify that has been em- 
 ployed in the capacity of yard clerk of the 
 Missouri Pacific system from April, 1893 to 
 June, 1894, at which time it was necessary to 
 lay him off on account of a strike in the yards. 
 He applied for work on July 18th, but in the 
 
146 THE PTJLLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 meantime it was learned that he was a member 
 of the American Railway Union and was in sym- 
 pathy with the strike movement, so we could 
 not re-employ him. His work and conduct up to 
 the time of the strike was perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 J. S. Jones, 
 
 Terminal Supt." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TRIAL OF DEBS. 
 
 On the 23d day of July, the day set for the 
 trial of the officers of the American Railway 
 Union, — Debs, Howard, Rodgers and Kelliher w^ere 
 on hand to answer to the charge of contempt. 
 
 The court room was densely packed, when 
 Judges Wood of Indianapolis and Grosscup of 
 Chicago entered and Judge Wood raised a serious 
 objection to the crowded condition, saying that 
 only those finding seats should be allowed to 
 remain, — lawyers, and possibly reporters. 
 
 After signing and swearing to the answers, 
 the defendants filed in at 11:40 and Judge Wood 
 asked if the Santa Fe road was represented. 
 Attorney Miller stepped forward and was asked 
 if both proceedings could not be heard at the 
 same time. Judge Wood favored this to save 
 time, and it was finally agreed that if the Santa 
 Fe cases be heard later the government testimony 
 on this bearing be admitted. Attorney Gregory 
 thereupon submitted the answers to the informa- 
 
148 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 tion filed before Judge Seaman in the contempt 
 proceedings, and suggested that the trial for which 
 the defendents had given bail be immediate and 
 have precedence over the contempt proceedings. 
 Judge Woods said that the court could decide upon 
 a motion for delay, much more intelligently could 
 they have the government information and the 
 ansveers filed by the defendants. Attorney 
 Milchrist then read the court the information. 
 
 As Attorney Gregory had previously moved 
 that the information be dismissed and the defen- 
 dents discharged on their sworn answers. Attor- 
 ney Erwin followed by reading the answers. 
 
 At the conclusion of the reading he said that 
 the defendents had made and filed a motion to 
 quash, holding that the information ^vas not 
 sufficient. The^^ now asked that the defendents 
 be discharged, and also that the district attorney 
 and government counsel to elect whether they 
 should proceed under the indictment or under the 
 contempt cases. No man could be tried twice 
 for the same offense. Judge Wood said that the 
 counsel for the government could proceed with 
 either case. Attorney Walker elected to go ahead 
 with the contempt proceedings. 
 
 Attorney Gregory in the opening made an 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 149 
 
 eloquent appeal for a trial by jury instead of a 
 criminal proceeding in a contempt case, as he held 
 the present proceeding to be. He cited a number 
 of authorities in support of his j^osition. He 
 argued that it was the rule that there could be no 
 appeal from the decision of a federal court in a 
 contempt case, and that consequently, where the 
 question of a crime was involved, a sentence from 
 the court would practically be a conviction on the 
 original criminal charge without a trial by jury 
 which is guaranteed by the constitution. 
 
 Mr. Gregory then took up the question of the 
 motion to dismiss the bill on the grounds that 
 the information did not set out in specific forms 
 any violation of the specifications in the injunc- 
 tion granted by the United States court. 
 
 He held that the men had a right to combine, 
 choose leaders to advise, and quit work if they 
 wished to do so and persuade others to quit 
 work, that the injunctions did not prohibit them 
 from doing so. Judge Wood asked if he considered 
 that the defendents had a right to ask men to 
 tumble goods out of cars that were ready for 
 transportation. Mr, Gregory repHed that he did 
 not consider that the^^ had any such right, and 
 claimed that there was nowhere in the informa- 
 
150 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 tion a distinct allegation that the defendants had 
 counselled violence or infractions of the orders in 
 the injunction. While he was willing to admit 
 that violence had been done during the present 
 strike, nothing was charged in the information 
 that the violence was due to the acts of the 
 defendents. 
 
 Attorney Walker for the government followed. 
 He held that the defendants had no right to go into 
 other states and persuade men to quit work for 
 the purpose of paralyzing railroads, and that the 
 issuance of these orders was a wailful and vicious 
 violation of the order of the court. 
 
 Mr. Walker said the telegrams were the 
 strongest evidence in the hands of the state to 
 show that this had been done. He spoke for 
 three quarters of an hour and directed his re- 
 marks more to the general charge against the 
 defendents for violation of the injunction, than to 
 the legal points raised by Mr. Gregory. 
 
 It will be remembered that the answers filed 
 by the attorneys for the defense, was a complete 
 denial of the charges. 
 
 After hearing all the arguments, Judges Wood 
 and Grosscup decided that the contempt proceed- 
 ings against Mr. Debs and the others, were in the 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. ISl 
 
 nature of proceedings in equity, and therefore the 
 defendants could not be discharged on their denial 
 of the charges under oath, 
 
 Mr. Walker gave as an excuse for wanting 
 the case heard at once, that the defendants were 
 liable to continue calling out the men unless they 
 were restrained from so doing by the court. 
 
 ''Then," said Mr. Gregory, "you wish the 
 court to practically call the strike off." 
 
 Mr. Walker smiled and said that such an 
 order would suit him all right. 
 
 Judge Wood then added that it was within 
 the bounds of the injunction called, for him to 
 insist that the strike be declared off. 
 
 Attorney Greeting, reviewing the information, 
 raised the insufficiency of the allegations, he also 
 raised the question of the bearing of the statutes 
 under which the defendants were enjoined. 
 
 The following are the sections of acts under 
 which the United States courts issued injunctions 
 restraining the American Railway Union, its 
 officers or agents, from interfering in any way 
 with the interstate traffic on railroads. 
 
 "Section 1. Every contract combination in 
 the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in 
 restraint of trade or commerce among- the several 
 
152 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 states or witli foreign nations, is hereby declared 
 to be illegal. Every person wbo sball make any 
 such contract or engage in any such combination 
 or conspiracy, shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
 demeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be pun- 
 ished by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by im- 
 prisonment not exceeding one year, or by both ; 
 said punishments at the discretion of the court. 
 
 "Section 2. Any person who shall monopo- 
 lize or attempt to monopolize or combine or con- 
 spire with any other person or persons to 
 monopolize, any part of the trade or com- 
 merce among the several states or foreign 
 powers shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor 
 and upon conviction thereof shall be punished 
 etc. 
 
 "Section 3. Every contract combination in 
 form of trust or otherwise or conspiracy in re- 
 straint of commerce or trade in anj^ territory of 
 the United States or of the District of Columbia, 
 or in restraint of trade or commerce between any 
 such territory and another, or between any 
 such territory or territories and any state or 
 states or the District of Columbia or with foreign 
 nations, or between the District of Columbia and 
 any other state or states or foreign nations, is here- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 153 
 
 by declared illegal. Every person who shall make 
 any such contract or engage in any such combina- 
 tion or conspiracy shall be declared guilty of a 
 misdemeanor and punished as in the case of 
 Sections 1 and 2. 
 
 "Section 8. The word person or persons 
 wherever used shall be deemed to include corpora- 
 tions and associations existing under, or authori- 
 zed by, the laws of either the United States, the 
 laws of any of the territories, the laws of any 
 state or the laws of any foreign country." 
 
 "This law was never intended to cover the 
 case of these defendants," said Mr. Greeting. "It 
 is clearly directed at the trusts and combinations 
 which conspire to rob such people as the defen- 
 dants. It seems to me that the district attorney 
 would have been acting more within the spirit of 
 the law if he had charged the railroads and the 
 Pullman Palace Car Co., with conspiracy to mon- 
 opolize interstate commerce, as it is a well known 
 fact that the railroads have contracted with 
 Pullman to hatd none but his cars." 
 
 A sickly smile spread over the features of the 
 railroad attorneys present. It was evident that 
 the words of Mr. Greeting sunk deeper than some 
 of them would care to acknowledge. 
 
164 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 District Attorney Milchrist argued that tlie 
 court had perfect jurisdiction in these cases, he 
 held that the government derived revenue from 
 postal service and interstate commerce. It had 
 suffered in a pecuniary way hence the bill of infor- 
 mation filed, had a proper place in court. 
 
 In regard to the information and answers, 
 Mr. Milchrist said: "Either the counsel for the 
 government deserved to be disbarred for willful 
 misconduct for filing it, or the defendants in their 
 sworn answer embodying a sweeping denial of the 
 charge in the information had been guilty of rank 
 perjury." 
 
 Attorney Erwin then proceeded, prefacing his 
 remarks with the statement that this was a court 
 of equity. When these defendants denied under 
 oath before the court, the allegations made in the 
 bill, equity shut its doors. There was a remedy 
 at law. The men could be punished for perjury in 
 swearing falsely in their answers. No court of 
 equity could hear such a case. Mr. Erwin held 
 that the information was filed in equity and that 
 the answer filed by the defendants was final and 
 the remedy then was at law in a charge of per- 
 jury. 
 
 "Is it any indication of the power of a 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCO'fT. 155 
 
 court,'* interupted Judge Wood, "to hold a man 
 convicted on a charge of perjurj^? " 
 
 Attorney Erwin said that the perjury charge 
 could purge the defendants in the case of con- 
 tempt. 
 
 "You say in your answer," said Judge Wood, 
 "that the defendants deny ordering strikes be- 
 cause it was not in their power to do so. Is it 
 not enough to deny-that you ordered the men out 
 without going further and denying that you 
 advised them in this matter." 
 
 "We say," answered Mr. Erwin " that every 
 strike was voted, or by a majority of the Ameri- 
 can Raihvay Union men upon each road upon 
 which there had been a strike. The defendants 
 deny the power to order or coerce the members 
 of the American Railway Union." 
 
 When questioned as to the answers denying 
 the telegrams Mr. Erwin said the denials were 
 sweeping. They had covered every point and 
 purged themselves of any desire to disregard the 
 orders of the court and the proceedings should be 
 dismissed. He said: "Had Special Counsel 
 Walker who set before the grand jury made his 
 charges more specific, and not sought to pre- 
 judice the minds of the court by holding his 
 
156 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 averments for the attachment proceedings, and 
 making them in vague and declamatory charges." 
 
 Judge Wood said if the defendants had asked 
 for more specific charges he thought the court 
 would have granted it. 
 
 Attorney Erwin here remarked that they 
 would prefer to make a motion to quash, which 
 Judge Wood announced could not be done in this 
 case unless the bill was wholly defective. 
 
 Mr. Erwin said that Attorney Walker had 
 draw the bill up hastily, and it was signed only 
 by himself and the district attorney, who verified 
 it merely by belief. He urged that the court 
 should not aid the information by continuing the 
 consideration of the imperfectly drawn and inade- 
 quate bill. The court should not be a detective to 
 ferret out the alleged truths of certain charges the 
 evidence of which should have been collected by 
 the government officers before a rule against the 
 defendants was issued. 
 
 Mr. Bancroft for the Santa Fe followed Mr. 
 Erwin. He vigorously defended the information 
 filed, and proceeded to color the telegrams ad- 
 mitted by the defendants, to suit the purposes of 
 the government. 
 
 After a legal tilt between the counsel on both 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 157 
 
 sides, Judge Wood overruled the motion of defend- 
 ant's counsel to quash the information, and post- 
 poned the case until September 5. 
 
 In conclusion he said that from what he had 
 heard, he thought it necessary for the court to 
 have its hand on the matter. It was evident, he 
 said, that the defense intended to attempt to put 
 forward a quantity of irrelevant matter as to the 
 allegations regarding a combination on the part 
 of the railroads. He said that while it was irreve- 
 lant he would he«ir it as a matter of curiosity 
 and for public disclosure. 
 
 The above synopsis of the jjroceedings of the 
 trial, will give a fair idea of the course the govern- 
 ment—on behalf of the railroads — persued in con- 
 ducting the prosecution of the officers of the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union. 
 
 After a conference with their counsel— al- 
 though opposed to it on principle— the officers of 
 the American Railway Union decided to give 
 bail. 
 
 This decision was due to the fact that matters 
 of an important nature demanded their imme- 
 diate attention. They were placed under $7,000 
 bonds each, signed by Wm. Skakel and Wm. Fitz- 
 
168 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 gerald, these gentlemen qualifying to the extent of 
 $50,000 and $250,000 respectively. 
 
 For the time being the officers of the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union were free men. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN RAILWAY UNION 
 CALLED TO TAKE ACTION ON THE STRIKE. 
 
 In an editorial on the trial, headed : The 
 Press against Justice, the Chicago Times had this 
 to say : " When it became evident that the rights 
 and actions of E. V. Debs and his associates in 
 the American Railway Union strike were to be 
 reviewed in court this paper said editorially: 
 "The Times appeals to its contemporaries and to 
 the people to join with it in avoiding all clamor 
 which may in the least degree influence the 
 findings of the court or bring its proceedings into 
 contempt." It appears that the appeal fell upon 
 deaf ears. 
 
 ''Such papers as the Tribune and the Evening 
 Journal seized upon the very first utterance of Mr. 
 Debs' counsel as an opportunity for insidious 
 effort to prejudice the court and the people 
 against the cause of the labor leaders. 
 
 "Two of the editorials and two of what it 
 
160 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 calls editorialettes were necessary to the Tribune 
 yesterday in order to give its advice to the prose- 
 cuting lawyers and the court proper expression. 
 The other organs of plutocracy though less lavish 
 of editorial space, emploj^ed their news columns 
 to the same end. The first strike of the allied 
 newspapers is to pronunce the opening plea of the 
 counsel for the defense, Mr. Erwin, in effect an as- 
 sertion of the gospel of anarchy. 
 
 ''Overworked as it is by the biggotted press the 
 word anarchy still serves as a more or less affec- 
 tive bogyman to frighten timid and ill-informed 
 people, but no one who will read the reports of 
 Mr. Erwin's address will find any anarchistic 
 doctrines lurking therein. 
 
 " He charged that Pullman and the railroad 
 managers had conspired together against the in- 
 terest of workingmen, that the manner of the 
 conspiracy made resort to the law hopeless, that 
 lawmakers could not or would not act, and under 
 these conditions the men were justified in com- 
 bining, resisting and refusing to work longer for 
 Mr. Pullman or the roads allied with him. 
 
 "The Times is unable to discern the savory of 
 anarchy in that. It is in effect only a declaration 
 that when employes combine to resist them, 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 161 
 
 neither by direct statement or by inuendoes did 
 the attorney suggest or excuse violence or the de- 
 struction of property. He erred, the Times 
 thinks, in describing Pullman's course of precedure 
 as illegal, for unhappily, law as it stands, pro- 
 tects Pullman in his most despotic and oppressive 
 acts. If Pullman's course had been illegal, action 
 at law instead of a strike and boycott would have 
 been the remedy for it, but with the exception of 
 this over-statement which may have been due to 
 inadvertence, Mr. Erwin said nothing that men 
 of fair and judicial minds can denounce as false, 
 and nothing at all incendiary. The clamor of the 
 conspiracy is raised to defeat justice." 
 
 After the release of the officers a meeting was 
 called at the Revere House, of the directors of the 
 American Railway Union. They concluded to 
 call a convention of the delegates from the differ- 
 ent local unions, to meet in Chicago, August 
 2d, and take some action on the strike. Each 
 local union was notified of this action and 
 instructed to send a delegate with full power to 
 act. 
 
 After this meeting of the officers, they at once 
 repaired to Ulrich Hall, where an enormous crowd 
 greeted Mr. Debs with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
162 THH PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Debs,— after bein^ introduced by the 
 chariman of the meeting, Mr. Adams, — was given 
 three cheers with such a vim that the building 
 fairly shook. He then advanced to the platform 
 and said: "I see you have changed your quar- 
 ters since I saw you before, and I am glad to say 
 we have changed ours also. 
 
 "When Judge Wood delivered his ruling 
 yesterday he declared it to be illegal for men to 
 combine and strike. 
 
 "If that is the law, labor organizations had 
 better disband at once. If we have no right to 
 strike, no right to combine, no right to exercise 
 the functions which are delegated to us, then we 
 might as well give up and acknowledge that we 
 are slaves. 
 
 " If that is the law we have no right to resist 
 or defend ourselves against the injustice of em- 
 ployers. 
 
 "No matter how much has been said about the 
 stars and stripes and the freedom of the working- 
 man, if that is the final tribunal, corporate capi- 
 tal has the right to suck the life blood from the 
 toiler who must make no sign. But I am not 
 prepared to believe that this is in harmony with 
 the constitution. If this is the constition, then 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 163 
 
 our libertj' Is gone. Mr. Erwin sounded the 
 slogan yesterday when he declared that there is a 
 higher power than the courts, a power greater 
 than the aggregated combinations of capital and 
 railroads. That is the inherent rights of work- 
 ingmen to strike at the polls. 
 
 "What we want then, is to rid ourselves of 
 the old party shackles. 
 
 "We want to change the constitution so that 
 even federal judges will be elected by the people. 
 Then no judge will render a decision defying all 
 law and justice. It is wonderful how sensitive 
 the machinery of justice is, to any complaint di- 
 rected against the workingman. 
 
 "But how is it when corporations combine? 
 Is it of record that any officials of any one of 
 them has ever been in prison for violating the 
 law? 
 
 "It is a notorious fact that the Santa Fe has 
 robbed the people of $7,000,000 in the face of the 
 iuter-state commerce law. Why not bring these 
 colossal scoundrels to justice too? They say we 
 must obey the law. I say we are law-abiding, 
 and I defy any man to show a single instance 
 where the heads of the labor organization have 
 advocated violence. If the authorities want the 
 
164 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 law respected let them enforce it against the rich 
 and poor alike. 
 
 "In July, 1892, when the switchmen struck, 
 the soldiers were called out to suppress them. 
 Deputy marshalls set fire to a lot of box cars in 
 Buffalo, N. Y., and this furnished the railroads an 
 excuse to call on the government for soldiers. 
 The railroads are still violating the eight hour 
 law for which the men struck. They arrested the 
 switchmen while the corporations are still 
 allowed to trample the law under foot. 
 
 "Is not that enough to bring disrespect of the 
 law ? As it is now, the whole thing is a roaring 
 farce. Has anybody ever heard of soldiers being 
 called out to guard the rights of workingmen ? 
 Whatever else I have suffered myself, I have not 
 lost the right of free speech. If Judge Wood ex- 
 pounds the law I would rather rot in jail than be 
 an alleged freeman. There it no man in the 
 country who can directly charge me with violat- 
 ing the law of this country. Did any one of you 
 ever hear me advocate violence? (A mighty no 
 went up in response.) On the other hand did any- 
 one here ever hear me counsel the men to be frank 
 and straight forward, and honest and law-abid- 
 ing in all they did ? " 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 165 
 
 The audience shouted yes to this and President 
 Debs continued : 
 
 " Before we get through with this trial it will 
 be shown that the real conspirators are the rail- 
 road managers. Then if I go to the penitentiary 
 Mr. Egan will have the destinction of accompany- 
 ing me. We will produce the proof that the real 
 purpose of the General Managers Association was 
 to reduce wages, and that until we stopped them 
 on the Great Northern, they were going around 
 the circle with that end in view. 
 
 "When it comes to striking at the polls we 
 know the people will be with us, it will be a con- 
 test against the money power by which this 
 country has been absolutely ruled for so many 
 years. Havemeyer goes into the United States 
 Senate and dictates what the duty on sugar shall 
 be, and all the people combined can't stop him. 
 Let a poor man go to Washington to protest and 
 he is arrested for treading on the grass. 
 
 "I am a populist and favor wiping out both 
 old parties, so they will never come into power 
 again. I have been a democrat all my life and I 
 am ashamed to admit it. I want everyone of you 
 to go to the polls and vote the peoples' ticket." 
 
 At the conclusioti of his address, Mr. Deb.9 
 
166 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 announced his intention of going to his home for 
 a few days. 
 
 On hearing this, the members of the American 
 Railway Union determined to escort him to the 
 depot, and, although they had but two hours to 
 make arrangements, a procession a couple of miles 
 in length was formed. 
 
 On arrival at his home in Terre Haute, Presi- 
 dent Debs was tendered a great reception. Thou- 
 sands of his fellow citizens in all stations of life 
 welcomed him with outstretched arms. Early in 
 the evening the Naylor Opera House was packed 
 to completion, and hundreds of people were denied 
 admission owing to the dense throng of people 
 who wished to do honor to this great leader. 
 When President Debs appeared upon the stage he 
 was greeted by a roar of applause tha.t shook the 
 building to its very foundation. His eloquent 
 address on the strike situation and the causes that 
 led up to it, was received with thunders of ap- 
 plause. 
 
 This was the man whom the corporate courts 
 had indicted for criminal conspiracy. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE STIKE LOST. 
 
 Through the machination of the general man- 
 agers, the courts and the press and the Benedict 
 Arnolds of labor, the cause of the railroad corp- 
 orations was beginning to triumph. Discouraged 
 and disheartened by the treachery in their own 
 ranks, a great many strikers had lost confidence 
 in the success of their undertaking and were now 
 silently awaiting the result of the convention 
 called at Chicago. This was made known on the 
 return of the delegates. 
 
 The action taken was to decide by a majority 
 vote of each system whether the strike would con- 
 tinue in force or be declared off. 
 
 After thoroughly discussing the matter, it was 
 decided to call off the strike owing to the fact that 
 they were forced to fight against overwhelming 
 odds and rank treachery, and the men were in- 
 structed to make application for their positions 
 at once, in view of getting as many as possible re- 
 instated. 
 
168 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 This action was taken on all roads witli the 
 exception of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois, the 
 Santa Fe and the Northern Pacific. 
 
 Very few of the men were successful in securing 
 positions, for instance at Minnesota Transfer the 
 switchmen waited on the superintendent in a 
 body (all who were still in the city) and made ap- 
 plications to be reinstated. 
 
 Mr. Dudgeon the superintendent, who, by the 
 way, was appointed during the strike to fill the 
 vacancy made by the resignation of Mr. Sullivan, 
 informed the men that he had more applications 
 already than would fill all vacancies for the next 
 two years. He said: "I will not mislead you 
 boys for one minute, not one of you will be taken 
 back." 
 
 I was not present at this interview, but being 
 informed that Mr. Hastings, president of the com- 
 pany, had signified his willingness to hear us, we 
 consulted together and decided to call on him at 
 his office. 
 
 John F. Keenan and myself were appointed as 
 a committee to confer with him, and, after intro- 
 ducing ourselves, stated our mission. 
 
 He received us in a gentlemanly manner, said 
 that he was always ready to listen to the switch- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 169 
 
 men, as he had been a switchmen himself at one time, 
 and while he assured us that he knew we had not in- 
 terfered with the company property during the 
 strike and conducted ourselves in a creditable 
 manner, he could do nothing for us. He also said 
 that he had more respect for us than he had for 
 those who were hanging on the fence, but he had 
 nothing to do with the employes of the Minne- 
 sota Transfer, as he had left that matter entirely in 
 the hands of the superintendent. We told him that 
 we were informed that Mr. Dudgeon would take 
 some of the men back if the president of the com- 
 pany w^as satisfied. 
 
 "Whatever arrangements you boys make with 
 Mr. Dudgeon will be satisfactory to me," 
 answered Mr. Hastings. 
 
 He then referred us to Mr. Dudgeon who was 
 present and w^ho then said that he had already 
 given us our answer which was final. He said 
 that he had promised steady work to the men he 
 had already employed if they proved themselves 
 competent, and as they were doing the work satis- 
 factorily, he would not consider any more appli- 
 cations. 
 
 This statement regarding the w^ork we knew 
 to be a bluff, as it w^ould take an old switchman, if 
 
170 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 unacquainted with this yard, at least three months 
 under the most favorable circumstances to learn, if 
 unaided, enough to enable him to give efficient ser- 
 vice, as the yard is very complicated. And again 
 in contradiction of this statement it is known that 
 freight was refused from different roads for four 
 days at a time to enable them to get the yard in 
 shape, and after the freight of twenty-four hours 
 was received, the same operation would be neces- 
 sary, although they had the services of competent 
 switchmen from the Omaha and other railroads. 
 
 So speaking for the Minnesota Transfer the 
 general managers were winners so to speak, in 
 the game of freeze out waged against the switch- 
 men. The men in all other departments were 
 taken back with but few exceptions, but it was 
 now a settled fact that the switchmen must look 
 elsewhere for employment. The officials were 
 credited with saying that they would perma- 
 nently close the transfer, rather than reinstate a 
 single switchman. 
 
 It would be nothing more than justice at this 
 time to say that the former superintendent, Mr. 
 D. M. Sullivan, had resigned his position during 
 the strike for the reason that the management 
 would not allow him to take back the old men. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 171 
 
 Mr. Sullivan contended that it would be impos- 
 sible to operate the yard without the assist ence of 
 a goodly portion of the old employes. 
 
 In a newspaper article he denied that his 
 resignation was handed in on that account, but 
 it is nevertheless credited by those who know 
 him well, and by the employes themselves. 
 
 We then applied at all the yards in the Twin 
 Cities but with like result, and although not told 
 in so many words, we were given to understand 
 that we were blacklisted, and this was the case 
 not only with us, but with men all over the 
 country. 
 
 The Soo Line had now put in force an iron- 
 clad agreement that all employes were obliged to 
 sign if they wished to remain in the service of the 
 company. This debarred the men from belonging 
 to any labor organization for five years. Another 
 rule put in force at this time was that engineers 
 would hire their own firemen. This would ap- 
 pear to be a blow at the Brotherhood of Loco- 
 motive Firemen. 
 
 The railroad corporations exulting in their 
 victory, determined to boj'cott every striker and 
 sympathizer throughout the country, as far as it 
 \vas in their power. 
 
172 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 The weapon, that it was made a criminal . 
 offense for a striker to use, and for which the 
 officers of the American Railway Union were 
 sent to jail, was now in the hands of the railroad 
 corporations to use at will. 
 
 What was decided by the courts unlawful 
 in the hands of the American Railway Union 
 ■was legal in the hands of the General Man- 
 agers Association. This the federal judges 
 made no effort to investigate. Judge Wood 
 said regarding the charge of a combination on 
 the part of the railroads, that while it was 
 irrelevant he would hear it as a matter of 
 curiosity. 
 
 Expressions like this emanating from a judge 
 of the United States court, immediately following 
 his ruling against the strikers, are too plain to be 
 misunderstood. While he might condecend to 
 hear the charges against the general managers, 
 it is very evident that a motion to quash any pro- 
 ceeding against the corporation would be granted. 
 The greatest pressure of evidence brought to 
 bear by the American Railway Union against this 
 illegal combination would have no weight with 
 the judge, therefore it could not be wondered 
 that when the General Managers Association 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 173 
 
 started a systematic course of bycotting the 
 American Railway Union by blacklisting its mem- 
 bers, there was no action taken to prosecute 
 them. 
 
 The Union Pacific, now in the hands of the 
 government, not only discharged every striker 
 and sympathizer but blacklisted them also. 
 
 This is a sample of justice. Some of the men 
 had worked for the company for twenty years, 
 and the onl}^ charge against them was that of 
 being members of the American Railway Union 
 and struck in sympathy with the starving Pull- 
 man employes. 
 
 Their system of blacklisting is so perfect that 
 every avenue of escape is closed against an 
 employe. 
 
 They have what is known as the blacklist 
 book. The names of the strikers are entered in 
 the book of which a copy is held by all railroads. 
 When a man makes application his name is 
 taken and the book is then consulted. If his name 
 is registered he is told that no more men are 
 wanted, if not, he is told to call the next day, by 
 which time, if he is a striker, it is known, and he 
 will have to travel. 
 
 An assumed name will do no good, as he will 
 
174 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 be asked to give reference signed by his last em- 
 ployer, so you will see very plainly tbat the strik- 
 ers lot is not a bed of roses. 
 
 President Debs has been accused of being re- 
 sponsible for this condition of affairs. There 
 is absolutely no truth in that accusation, as 
 in the first place it was directly against his 
 wishes and advice that the Pullman employes 
 struck, and only after a personal investigation of 
 the case — and realizing that the causes which led 
 to it would admit of no denial that the men were 
 justified in their action— did he approve of it. 
 
 The boycott that followed the Pullman strike, 
 as has been previously stated, was not ordered by 
 Mr. Debs. He did not have the power to order 
 it, therefore he could not be held responsible for the 
 result. 
 
 The men who were the victims of this unfor- 
 tunate boycott, were themselves responsible for 
 its beginning, as by an almost unanimous vote 
 they ordered it. Perhaps they may have acted 
 hastily, it has been stated many times that this 
 was the case, but when the brutal inhuman treat- 
 ment of the Pullman employes came to light 
 through the investigation of the delegates to the 
 convention, they would be less than human if they 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 175 
 
 had refused to come to the assistance of these men 
 who were being ground down by a merciless corpo- 
 ration. 
 
 After reading the facts brought to light by the 
 witnesses before the strike commission appointed 
 by President Cleveland, and also Gov. Altgeld's 
 personal investigation I do not believe that any 
 one with a spark of humanity in his heart will 
 condemn them for their actions. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 The commission appointed by President Cleve- 
 land to investigate the strike began its work Aug. 
 15, at 10 o'clock in Judge Grosscup's court room. 
 Most of those present were members of the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union. Prof. Bemis, of the Chicago 
 University, was in attendance. Neither the Pull- 
 man Company or the railroad companies were re- 
 presented. The witnesses examined were Geo. W. 
 Howard, vice-president of the American Railway 
 Union, and James R. Sovereign, grand master 
 workman of the Knights of Labor. Acting with 
 the commission were B.J. Hastings, of Utica, 
 N. Y., and Deputy United States Marshall Bartlett. 
 Chairman Wright announced that they were in 
 session pursuant to the President's call which the 
 clerk read. This document directed an inquiry into 
 the causes and the conditions of the controversy 
 between the Illinois Central and the Rock Island 
 roads and their employes. After the reading 
 chairman Wright made the following statement : 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 177 
 
 "By the act recited in the commission of the 
 President that has just been read, this commission 
 is directed to examine into the causes, contro> 
 versies and difficulties existing between the roads 
 named and their employes at the time the com- 
 mission of the President was issued. The board is 
 constituted as a temporary body for this purpose 
 and not for the purpose of arbitrating the diffi- 
 culties that existed. It is practically a court of in- 
 quiry aud its proceedings will be in accordance 
 with the usages of such courts. It will proceed 
 first to hear all witnesses in behalf of the employes 
 and then those of the corporations named. All 
 such witnesses are requested to hand their names 
 to the clerk. Under the law parties may be re- 
 presented by counsel or appear in person as they 
 see fit, and examine and cross-examine the wit- 
 nesses. After all the witnesses have given their 
 testimony the commission will then consider ar- 
 guments or suggestions to be made upon the 
 questions before it. All suggestions and argu- 
 ments presented in writing will be filed and con- 
 sidered by the commission, but the question as to 
 how far the commission will listen to parties who 
 desire to be heard orally will depend upon the 
 time left to the disposal of the commission and 
 
178 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 will be determined after the testimony is con- 
 cluded. By the act creating it this commission 
 possesses all the power and authority of the 
 United States Commissioners appointed by the 
 Circuit Courts of the United States. The hours 
 of sitting will be from 10:00 a. m. to 4:00 p. m. 
 Parties and their counsel and witnesses attending 
 will find seats within the rail." 
 
 Vice President Howard was the first witness 
 sworn. In answer to questions as to his age, 
 residence and occupation, Mr. Howard replied 
 that he was 46 years old, resided in Chicago, and 
 was vice president of the American Railway 
 Union. For nearly 30 years he had been iden- 
 tified with the railroad service filling positions 
 from trackman to general superintendent. He 
 had been a member of the Yard Masters' Associa- 
 tion, the B. of L. E. and 0. R. C. By request of 
 Mr. Wright he gave the following connection of 
 the American Railway Union with the strike. 
 
 "We began organizing the Pullman employes 
 in March of this year. Early in May they struck. 
 The strike was voted by themselves not by the 
 American Railway Union, indeed we advised 
 against the strike. 
 
 ** Immediately after the strike was called I 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. " 179 
 
 accompanied a committee of forty-three repre- 
 senting every branch of the Pullman service to a 
 conference with Mr. Wickes at Pullman. Mr. 
 Pullman refused to arbitrate but promised to 
 give their grievances immediate attention if they 
 would return to work. I inquired of Mr. Wickes 
 if there would be any prejudice against the mem- 
 bers of the committee and was assured by him 
 that there would not be. After receiving this 
 assurance from Mr. Wickes, I advised the men to 
 go back to their work, which they did. Next day 
 three of the committee were discharged, not on 
 order or with the knowledge of Mr. Wickes or 
 Mr. Pullman, but by some under boss in the 
 shops. This so incensed the rest of the employes 
 who considered it a breach of promise that they 
 unanimously struck again. 
 
 "June 12, the convention of the American 
 Railway Union met in Chicago. The Pullman 
 strikers were represented by seven or eight dele- 
 gates. The situation at Pullman received con- 
 sideration. A joint committee representing the 
 convention and the Pullman strikers was ap- 
 pointed to wait on the Pullman company. The 
 committee was informed that the Pullman 
 company would confer with only its employes, 
 
180 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 consequently this body was discharged and a 
 committee consisting of Pullman employes 
 appointed. The action of the Pullman company 
 was reported to the American Railway Union 
 convention whereupon each delegate wired his 
 local union for instructions. The result of this 
 was that the members of the American Railway 
 Union all over the country voted to discontinue 
 handling Pullman cars if at the end of five days 
 from that date the Pullman company refused to 
 arbitrate with its employes. 
 
 * ' In this connection I wish to say that Mr. 
 Pullman stated to the committee of forty-three, 
 in my hearing, that his employes at that time 
 owed him $70,000 for rent and that he had not 
 pushed them for payment which fact clearly 
 shows that his men were not making enough to 
 pay rent." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "That was the boycott order, 
 was it?" 
 
 Mr. Howard: "I do not use the word boy- 
 cott. The action taken was simply that members 
 of the American Railway Union would not 
 handle Pullman cars. 
 
 "Two days before the limit of five days — the 
 dates I do not now recall— but I will furnish 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 181 
 
 them— the General Managers' Association took 
 action declaring that they would share the ex- 
 pense ot whipping the American Railway Union. 
 
 "Pullman would not arbitrate and first the 
 men on one road then on another refused to 
 handle Pullman cars. They did not decline to 
 handle other cars, but switchmen, you under- 
 stand, would not attach Pullmans to trains. 
 Engineers, conductors, firemen and trainmen 
 would not take out trains which Pullman cars 
 were attached to. There was no attempt to in- 
 terfere with the mails but on the contrary every 
 effort in our power was made to help the roads 
 carry them. The companies held the mails in 
 their determination to attach Pullman cars to 
 trains. 
 
 " Of my personal knowledge I know of a road 
 that abandoned a mail train to take out an ex- 
 cursion train, not having crews to take out both. 
 In another instance I know of a mail train going 
 out on the order of the railway oflScials after the 
 Pullmans had been cut off by the employes. 
 Things went on in this way for several days. No 
 violence was committed by the employes and the 
 police were in full control of the situation to 
 prevent violence from outsiders. 
 
182 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 "The first pistol was drawn by one Miller, 
 an employe of the Tribune at Blue Island, wholly 
 without cause, and after the troops were on the 
 ground. The violence that was afterward com- 
 mitted was not as was believed by members of 
 the American Railway Union but by out- 
 siders — some acting in passion, because they 
 saw in the presence of the soldiers an 
 instrument of tyranny. Others in a spirit of 
 mischief and love of destruction and others 
 still — hired by the General Managers in 
 order to create public sentiment against us. 
 Yesterday I gave the mayor of Chicago the name 
 of a man who claimed, while under the influence 
 of liquor to have received $400 for burning cars. 
 The Committee of safety, at Springfield, sent us 
 the names of three men who quarreled about the 
 division of $500 received for burning cars. $200 
 of which was paid in advance by John M. Eagan, 
 of the General Managers' Association." 
 
 Regarding the motives actuating the organiza- 
 tion of the American Railway Union Mr. Howard 
 denied that it was to destroy the old organiza- 
 tions but because they no longer fulfilled the 
 necessities of the situation. If the old brother- 
 hoods could get together amicably there would be 
 
The PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 183 
 
 no need of the American Railway Union, but 
 they never can. There are two many causes for 
 jealousy, for instance: There are 10,000 locomo- 
 tive engineers who are not in the B. of L. E. but 
 are members of the B. of L. F. In case of a 
 grievance the engineers are divided and are repre- 
 sented by two organizations. The Brotherhood of 
 Trainmen contains men who have been pro- 
 moted to conductors causing a friction between 
 these two orders. 
 
 Mr. Wright: "Then the sole purpose of the 
 American Railway Union in taking the action 
 it did was to oppose the Pullman company and 
 it was not actuated by any desire to injure the 
 other railway organizations ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "That is it exactly. After 
 the action taken by the General Managers' Assoc- 
 iation we had to act as we did or lie down." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "Did the officers of the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union advise the men on roads 
 other than those using Pullmans to go on 
 strike?" 
 
 Mr, Howard: "The men on all roads repre- 
 sented by the General Managers' Association were 
 advised to go out on strike." 
 
 Mr. Kernan: "Was this order extented to 
 
184 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 roads not using Pullman cars or ^ivliicli were not 
 represented in the General Managers' Associ- 
 ation ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "No, sir." 
 
 Mr. Kernan : "Were tliere any such road ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Yes. General Manager Clark, 
 of the Mobile Sc Ohio, sent us word that his road 
 would drop the Pullman service if the men would 
 continue at work. We advised the men to return 
 to work under those conditions, but the men at 
 St. Louis argued that such action would weaken 
 their cause and refused to take our advice in the 
 matter." 
 
 Mr. Worthingford : "How did you advise all 
 other organizations to go on a sympathetic 
 strike?" 
 
 Mr. Howard: "We did not ad^^se nor even 
 request other organizations to declare a strike. 
 We invited the heads of all labor organizations to 
 come here and aid us by their advice or in any 
 way they saw fit to help us. I think Mr. 
 Debs sent the invitation. When the representa- 
 tives of the other labor organizations met here, we 
 went before the body and explained the entire situ- 
 ation. They asked Mr. Debs what he wished 
 them to do. He replied that he did not ask any- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 185 
 
 thing of them but left it to their best judgment 
 and conscience to take such measures as would 
 help bring the trouble to an end. Mr. Debs read a 
 communication \Yhich he had prepared to present 
 to the general managers, and asked the represen- 
 tatives at the conference if they would act as a 
 board of arbitration or assume the role of peace- 
 makers. President Gompers of the American Fed- 
 eration of Labor, seemed afraid that such action 
 would involve the other organizations in some 
 way and hesitated to accept our request to take 
 the communication to the general managers. We 
 then concluded to ask Mayor Hopkins to present 
 our communication. The mayor willingly granted 
 our request." 
 
 Mr. Kernan: "Was any written record kept 
 of that conference of the heads of the labor organ- 
 izations which was held at the Briggs House? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "I do not know." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "What records have 
 you of the proceedings of your convention as to 
 who invited the heads of other labor organiz- 
 ations to meet here in conference, and what they 
 were expected to do ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard : "I think it was decided at the 
 convention of the American Railway Union, which 
 
i86 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 met here June 12, to extent such an invitation. I 
 know it was talked over then." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: " Then the American 
 Railway Union did not advise a sympathetic 
 strike of all organizations." 
 
 Mr. Howard: *'No, sir. Mr. Debs left that 
 question to the judgment and conscience of the 
 men themselves." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Was the action of 
 the convention of June 12 a strike ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard : "Well, it was called a strike." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "Was the com- 
 munication you referred to presented to the gen- 
 eral managers? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Yes, sir, and returned with- 
 out an answer further than a statement that the 
 General Managers' Association had no business to 
 transact with the American Railway Union or its 
 representatives." 
 
 Mr. Kernan : " It is charged that your organ- 
 ization, like others, encouraged its members to 
 persistently interfere with and prevent unorgan- 
 ized labor from taking positions given up by their 
 striking members. Is that charge true ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard : "It cannot be shown in one in- 
 stance that anything of the kind has been done." 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. l87 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "You won't go so 
 far as to say that no interference of the sort 
 alluded to has ever been engaged in ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: " Certainly not. I mean that 
 such .interference was not authorized or counte- 
 nanced by the vmion." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Did you take any 
 steps to prevent such interference? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "We have taken the ground 
 that when we go out on strike not to interfere 
 with any of the new men the companies may 
 employ." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "You do coun- 
 tenance advice to such men not to take the places 
 of strikers? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Oh, yes. We claim the right 
 to ask new men not to take our places." 
 
 Mr. Kernan: " Is it not a fact that such in- 
 terviews usuall}^ result in violence? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "No. I think the rule is to 
 the contrar3\ We go no further than to request 
 the men to quit work and to commit no 
 violence." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "Is there any punish- 
 ment for violation of that rule? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "No. No organization has 
 
188 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 any power to punish a member for violation of 
 such rule except by expulsion. We leave the 
 punishment of such cases to the civil authorities." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Don't you think 
 some steps should be taken by labor unions to 
 punish their members who violate the rules in 
 that respect? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Yes, sir, I do, and we started 
 out to do so here during the strike but the trouble 
 assumed such vast proportions that .it was im- 
 possible to do anything in that direction. In the 
 case of the Great Northern strike we appointed 
 committees to guard the company's property, 
 and the men were instructed to shoot anj^one 
 found in the act of destroying same." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "What, as a rule has 
 been your experience in strikes where violence was 
 restored to? " 
 
 Mr, Howard: "The men have always been 
 defeated." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Then a resort to 
 violence is rather detrimental to the cause of the 
 strikers?" 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Decidedly so. We want pub- 
 lic opinion with us in a strike." 
 
 Commissioner Kernon : "Do vou know of 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 189 
 
 any organization that disciplines its members for 
 restoring to violence? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "None, excepting the Ameri- 
 can Railway Union. Our argument is that the 
 onl}'- weapons labor has to fight its battles with 
 are the strike and the boycott. There is some 
 talk about the ballot but some questions cannot 
 be settled by the ballot. Only the array of labor 
 in one solid phalanx will give it the power 
 that will make strikes unnecessary." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Does not history 
 show that on account of jealousies in your own 
 ranks a complete organization of labor cannot 
 be effected ? ' ' 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Yes, That is history up to 
 the present, but the workingman is doing more 
 thinking to-day than ever before." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "You regard such a 
 strike as would be possible under the conditions 
 3^ou outline as a desirable thing for organized 
 labor?" 
 
 Mr. Howard: "No, sir. If emploA-ers would 
 be a little more considerate of their men there 
 would soon be no labor organizations in ex- 
 istence." 
 
190 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Commissioner Keman: "You do not say 
 that all grievances are just, do you? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "No. Many of them are 
 fiivilous." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: " It is charged that 
 there is a minority in all labor organizations who 
 are practically enslaved by the will of the 
 majority and that a man for that reason loses 
 his independence when he joins a union ? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Well, I think the reverse is 
 the rule. The hot heads and agitators in the 
 labor movement are in the minority; the quiet, 
 thinking men are always in the majority. It 
 often happens that the man who is really most 
 anxious to strike assumes an air of indifference 
 or positive objection to such a move. He is 
 merely waiting for a good excuse to stop and let 
 the blame lie with some one else. He wants some 
 one to order him to quit work so he can say to 
 the superintendent that he is afraid to remain at 
 work for fear of personal violence," 
 
 Commissioner Keman : "Was any other mo- 
 tive behind the strike other than to force a settle- 
 ment with Mr. Pullman? " 
 
 Mr. Howard: "No." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "Was there any ob- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 191 
 
 ject in breaking the older unions so that the 
 American Railway Union might profit thereby? " 
 
 Mr. Howard : "While the increase in member- 
 ship in the American Railway Union meant a de- 
 crease in the strength of the older organizations 
 it was not the object of the strike to break down 
 the older unions." 
 
 In answer to a question by Commissioner 
 Kernan as to what he would suggest to prevent 
 railroad strikes in the future, Mr. Howard replied 
 that the government ownership and control of 
 railroads was the only practical solution of the 
 question. He argued that about one third of the 
 railroads of the country are practically under con- 
 trol of the government, and thought the balance 
 could easily be taken. He claimed the Santa Fe 
 was from two to four months behind in payment 
 of wages; that it would seem only fair that 
 the government should see that the men were paid. 
 The government had gone to the extent of forcing 
 the employes of that and other roads to work 
 whether they wished to or not and he thought 
 the other step might as well be taken at once. 
 
 Mr. Sovereign, grand master workman of the 
 Knights of Labor, was the next witness. He testi- 
 fied that he was a member of the American Rail- 
 
192 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 way Union. Said the only official connection the 
 Knights of Labor had with the strike was the 
 adoption of a resolution that they would not 
 ride in Pullman cars. He also stated that a gen- 
 eral tie-up of all the industries in the country to 
 force public sentiment on Pullman and bring to 
 bear on the Pullman company.the greatest possible 
 pressure was contemplated, but it was found the 
 tie-up could not be made sufficiently general to 
 bring about the desired results, so it was not at- 
 tempted. 
 
 Commissioner Keman: "Then you do not 
 consider the American Railway Union responsible 
 for the rioting that occurred ? " 
 
 Mr. Sovereign : "No, sir. In fact I do not 
 think there -was any rioting." 
 
 Commissioner Keman: "Do you consider 
 burning cars a species of rioting?" 
 
 Mr. Sovereign: "Not when it was done byU. 
 S. marshalls. 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Was it so done?" 
 
 Mr. Sovereign: "I read reports in Mayor 
 Hopkins' office to-day to that effect— reports that 
 seem conclusive on that point. Moreover I don't 
 think there was as much rioting as is generally 
 believed. I came from Des Moines on what was 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 193 
 
 supposed to be the last train to Chicago. We ar- 
 rived without incident at Blue Island on July 6. 
 There the train was side tracked and we were told 
 by the officials that it could go no further because 
 of the mobs between there and the city. I saw a 
 west bound mail train on another track and was 
 told it had been there for twenty-six hours and 
 could not proceed on account of the mob and vio- 
 lence beyond, though it would go on the very same 
 track on which we had just arrived. I bought a 
 ticket from Blue Island to Chicago on the Wis- 
 consin Central. After coming a short distance the 
 train stopped and the conductor told us we could 
 go no further on account of mobs ahead of us. I 
 picked up my grip with the intention of walking 
 to the city, but the conductor cautioned me against 
 risking my life. However I walked in, was not 
 molested, saw no disorder and did not see more 
 then ten men at any one place." 
 
 Mr. Keman inquired what views the Knights 
 of Labor held about letting non-union men take 
 the places of strikers. 
 
 Mr. Sovereign: "That depends on circum- 
 stances. In the case of mine owners, for instance, 
 who have sold houses to their employes who have 
 partly paid for same, the unjust discharge of these 
 
194 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 men means a forfeiture to the mine owners of all 
 money paid on the property. We hold that we 
 must by all honorable means prevent others from 
 taking their places." 
 
 Commissioner Keman : " But suppose honor- 
 able means are not effective? " 
 
 Mr. Sovereign: "Well, if it's necessary to 
 prevent them from passing a given line we clasp 
 hands and keep them out." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "Yau do not assault 
 t.hem.^" 
 
 Mr. Sovereign : ' ' No. If they break through 
 they assault us." 
 
 Mr. Sovereign did not think that strikes or 
 compulsary arbitration was the remedy for labor 
 troubles. He believed that the government own- 
 ership of railroads would settle the trouble for em- 
 ployes. He also believed the employes of corpo- 
 rotions had an equity in their positions and for 
 unjust discharge should have a remedy in a court 
 of equity. 
 
 Mr. Keman: "Why cannot the contract be- 
 tween employer and employe provide for all you 
 want the law to cover? " 
 
 Mr. Sovereign : " Because labor is always de- 
 pendent, always has been at least and is forced by 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT, 195 
 
 the duress of circumstances to accept employment 
 without insisting on protecting conditions." 
 
 George W. Lovejoy was the next witness to 
 take the stand. In answer to a question by Com- 
 missioner Wright, he said: "I am familiar with 
 the history of the strike on the Rock Island road. 
 Beside the order passed by the convention to re- 
 fuse to handle Pullman cars, the men at La Salle 
 had a special grievance that consisted of unjust 
 treatment of the members of the American Rail- 
 wa}^ Union which had a local lodge at that point. 
 I for one was dismissed without any cause being 
 assigned. Complaint was made to Supt. Dunlap 
 and an explanation asked as to why the men were 
 discharged. He refused to consider the grievance 
 submitted to him so the men concluded to 
 strike." 
 
 Commissioner Wright : ' ' Was the grievance 
 submitted in writing? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "It was. I have not a copy, 
 but think I can get one from the local union." 
 
 Commissioner Wright : "What part did your 
 local union take in the Pullman strike?" 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy : "It decided to sustain it." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Was there any violence 
 at La Salle?" 
 
196 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "No, sir. None whatever." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : '* Have any of the old 
 men been taken back ? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "No, sir. And never wilL" 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "Is it on account of the 
 strike that they cannot get back ? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "I suppose it is." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "How general was 
 the strike at La Salle ? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejo}^: "It extended to every branch 
 of the service. Switchmen, firemen, engineers, 
 conductors, brakemen, telegraph operators, 
 clerks, round-housemen and trackmen." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "Now tell us about 
 the cause that led to your discharge as you under- 
 stand it? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "Six months previous to the 
 convention of the American Railway Union 
 which met in Chicago, June 12, I had an under- 
 standing with the superintendent that I would 
 get a leave of absence and was to put a man in 
 my place while absent. When I got ready to 
 come to Chicago, I sent a note asking for such 
 leave of absence and transportation. The trans- 
 portation was sent me, but no answer to my note 
 was given. When I came to Chicago I called at 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. l97 
 
 the office of the superintendent to have an under- 
 standing about my leave and he told me that a 
 written notice was not necessary. Whenever I 
 wanted to go anywhere all I had to do was to 
 put a good man in mj place and go. The Tues- 
 day following the opening of the convention the 
 assistant superintendent went to La Salle and 
 put another man in my place permanently. No 
 reason has ever been given me why such action 
 was taken." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Mr. Lovejoy, I 
 suppose you have give the subjects of labor 
 troubles and strikes some study. I wish to ask 
 if you can suggest any solution of these troubles." 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "Yes, sir, I have and I con- 
 sider the only way to solve the question is for the 
 government to own the railroads." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "What is your rea- 
 son? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "I think the employes would 
 receive better treatment and be better satisfied. 
 I think they would get the same kind of treat- 
 ment as the postal emploj-es and would be no 
 strikes under these conditions." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "W^hat do you think 
 of arbitration as a remedy? " 
 
198 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy : "I have never seen arbitration 
 tried to any great extent and while I believe in 
 the principle I am not prepared to say that I am 
 in favor of compulsory arbitration. 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "If the government 
 owned the railroads how would you avoid the 
 changes incident to a change in administration? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "I consider that railroad em- 
 ployes would be in practically the same position 
 as postal clerks. They would be under civil ser- 
 vice rules to the extent of being pensioned after a 
 term of years of faithful service." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "Would it not cause 
 jealousy among other branches of workingmen 
 if such a system should be adopted toward rail- 
 road men? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "I do not think so. I am not 
 jealous of postal clerks." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "What would you 
 suggest as the next best thing if government 
 ownership proved impracticable? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "That the government keep 
 hands off altogether; let the roads and their 
 men fight out their troubles free from outside 
 interference. It is the knowledge that the govern- 
 ment can be called to their aid that makes many 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 199 
 
 of the railroad officials so arbitrary with their 
 men." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Don't you think 
 that disputes ought to be settled by some other 
 method than open warfare? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejby: "There would be none if the 
 authorities would keep away. The employes 
 would settle their grievances by arbitration." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "What would you think 
 of a law providing that upon application of a 
 certain number of employes the railroads should 
 be compelled to come before a board of arbitra- 
 tion and make answer to the grievances of the 
 men or vice versa before a strike could be declared? 
 I mean by that a law which would compel a 
 hearing of disputes by a constituted tribunal even 
 though that tribunal had not the power to force 
 a decision in the matter? " 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy : "I would be in favor of such a 
 court and believe that the railroad men would 
 abide by its decision voluntarily if they had some 
 choice in the selection of the arbitrators." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Is it not one of the 
 greatest troubles the railroad men have to con- 
 tent with that they cannot get a hearing of their 
 grievances?" 
 
200 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: "Yes, sir. It is. And if the 
 men could always be sure of getting a fair and im- 
 partial hearing I do not believe there would be 
 any strikes. As a rule the men are opposed to 
 strikes and resort to them only when every means 
 of settling grievances has failed." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "Is it not true that 
 strikes usually end disastrously to the men ?" 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy: " Strikes often fail to accomp- 
 lish the particular end in view, but I believe on the 
 whole their tendency is toward a betterment of 
 the conditions of the men. The strike we have 
 just passed through has demonstrated to the 
 working people of this country that they must get 
 together as one solid body before they can win. 
 They have found out that when they undertake 
 to assert their rights they have no friends but 
 themselves. The press, the judiciary, the minis- 
 ters and office holders are all against them." 
 
 Secretary Kelliher of the American Railway 
 Union was next to testify. He promised to 
 furnish the commissioners with certified copies of 
 any of the proceedings of the convention, and the 
 correspondence which occurred during the strike. 
 In answer to questions by the commissioners 
 he considered government ownership of railways 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 201 
 
 the only solution to strikes. While he favored 
 arbitration, he did. not think compulsary arbi- 
 tration would be satisfactory to the men. 
 
 Thomas J. Heathcoat, a resident of Pullman, 
 and one of the strikers, was the next witness ex- 
 amined. He testified to the condition of Pullman 
 prior to and at the time of the strike and gave a 
 full account of the strike and the causes that 
 brought it about. He gaxe in detail the scale of 
 wages paid prior to June, '93, and the constant 
 reductions since. 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat, in answer to Commissioner 
 Keman asking him to explain the mode adopted 
 by the Pullman Company in cutting wages for 
 piece work, said : 
 
 "Take, for instance, that desk behind which 
 you sit. Suppose it were given to me to make. I 
 figured that I could do the work for $20.00, and 
 took it at that price. As a good mechanic 1 could 
 make $4.00 per daj' at it. For the next one the 
 foreman would allow me $18.00. Being anxious 
 to make good wages, and being a good mechanic, 
 I would use extra efiort and still make $4.00 per 
 day. The next one the foreman would allow me 
 only $16.00 for. Yet, by extraordinary effort I 
 could still make $4.00 daily. The next one the 
 
202 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 foreman would allow me $12.00 for, and with my 
 utmost endeavors I could make only $3.00 per 
 day. As a good mechanic I would refuse to take 
 any more at that price and the work would be 
 given to an inferior workman who could make 
 only $1.25 per day. This is the way the Pull- 
 man Company has worked its piece work system." 
 
 Commissioner Wright : Did the cuts in other 
 departments average as much as in yours? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "They averaged the same 
 though they were not alike. The new men in the 
 freight car department suffered more than we 
 did and there were others in some of the depart- 
 ments that were making pretty good wages at 
 the time of the strike." 
 
 Commissioner Wright : "You have spoken of 
 asking the company for a reduction in rent. 
 What rent do you pay, and what did you get 
 for it?" 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "Up to the beginning of 
 the strike I paid $17 a month rent and 71 cents 
 per month for water. Gas I did not use. Could 
 not afford it. The company charged $2.25 per 
 1,000 feet. My house had five rooms, cellar and 
 back yard." 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 203 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "What would simi- 
 lar houses rent for elsewhere ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "I know of eight and nine 
 room cottages with front and back yards, in 
 every waj^ more desirable than the house I live in, 
 that can be rented for $8.00 and $9.00 per 
 month." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "What, in 
 your opinion, would it cost to build houses such 
 as you live in? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : "I should like to take the 
 contract for building them at $600 apiece." 
 
 Commissioner Keman: "What other ac- 
 comodations do j'-ou get for the rent you pay, 
 say in the way of paved streets ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "There are cheap wooden 
 sidewalks in front of the house and the company 
 keeps a force of men on the street picking up 
 paper and hauling away garbage. That's all I 
 know." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Have you applied 
 to the Pullman company for work since the 
 strike?" 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "No, sir. I understand 
 that I am blacklisted. They have a blacklist, you 
 know. I have one in my pocket now." 
 
201. THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Commissioner Wright : "Will you let me see 
 it?" 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : "Yes, sir. Here it is." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Have you any 
 objection to telling us where you got this ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "Yes, sir. I got it from a 
 friend of one of the clerks in the Pullman office 
 and I would not like to tell the name of either, as 
 it would cost the clerk his position." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Have you any 
 other evidence of the existence of a blacklist ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "Yes, sir. One of the men 
 who applied to Mr. Childs at the Rock Island 
 shops for work. He was asked his name and the 
 same being found on one of their lists he was told 
 that he was a Pullman striker, consequently 
 could not get work. I understand the Pullman 
 company's blacklist was sent to all the railroads 
 so that others besides myself can never get \vork 
 in the railroad shop again." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Do labor unions 
 ever blacklist non-union men ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "The American Railway 
 Union does not. That is the only labor union I 
 ever belonged to. 
 
 Commissioner Wright : "What was the feel- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 205 
 
 ing of the employes toward Mr. Pullman previous 
 to the strike? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "As a rule I think the em- 
 emploj^es had a high regard for Mr. Pullman until 
 Harry Middleton took charge two and a half 
 years ago. He is not a practical car builder. He 
 wastes material for which we are charged . He 
 displaces men who have earned their positions by 
 good work and promotes his favorites. He makes 
 arbitrary and tyranical shop rules which deprive 
 us of part of our pay. For instance, suppose a 
 car carpenter be given a lot of cars, the work to 
 be finished in a certain time. Within a day of the 
 time limit it is seen that there is still six days 
 work for one man. He will put on five extra men, 
 regardless whether that many can work to ad- 
 vantage, and pay them by the hour charging the 
 same to the man who took the job as piece 
 work." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : " Is not time enough 
 allowed to finish the work so that such instances 
 would be due to the neglect of the man who took 
 the job?" 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : "No, sir. It is not, except 
 in rare cases. It is misjudgment on the part of 
 the manager, Mr. Middleton, as I said before, who 
 
206 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 is not a practical car builder. As an instance of a 
 waste of material — There was a set of car sashes, 
 made of mahogany. Care was not taken to see 
 that the mahogany picked out was all of the 
 same color. Instead of picking out those of the 
 set that were alike in color and completing the set 
 with new ones and using the off color ones in an- 
 other set with wood picked out to match, Middle- 
 ton had the whole set smashed and charged the 
 men with the cost of the material and refused to 
 pay them for their time when it was not their 
 fault at all." 
 
 Mr. Wright : " Referring now to the commit- 
 tee appointed to wait on Mr. Pullman— tell us 
 what you said and what was said to you." 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "We asked Mr. Wickes and 
 Mr. Pullman to adjust our wages so that we 
 could support our families. We wanted either the 
 wages of June, 1893, or a reduction in rent and 
 some increase in wages. Mr. Pullman said he could 
 not reduce rents as he was making only 3^ or 2^ 
 per cent., I don't know which now, on his invest- 
 ment. He said he could not increase wages be- 
 cause he was losing money on his contract work. 
 But he did not say what was a fact that nine 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 207 
 
 tenths of the work that had been done since the 
 cut began was Pullman and not contract work." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "What do mean by 
 Pullman work? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : Work on cars owned and 
 operated by the Pullman Company and not work 
 on cars sold to railroads. One result of this was 
 that the company was getting work from us for 
 $1.90 for which it paid the railroads when they 
 did this work $2.50 and $2.70. Two days after 
 he told us the company was losing money on its 
 contract work, a quarterly divident of 2 per cent, 
 was declared. 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "That might have 
 been paid from accumulations and not from earn- 
 ings." 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : "Mr. Pullman did not make 
 any such explanation to us when we spoke to him 
 afterward. If he had, perhaps we would not have 
 felt so badly about it. But it did seem hard that 
 when men were working and not getting enough 
 from the company to buy enough to eat that it 
 should pay out $600,000.00 in dividends." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Were there those 
 not getting enough to eat ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : "I have seen men faint by 
 
208 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 the side of cars on which they were working 
 because they had not had enough to eat. After 
 the cuts, while working as hard as I could to earn 
 enough to support my family, have been obliged 
 to sit down in the middle of the forenoon to rest 
 because I had not had enough food to enable me 
 to do such hard work and there were hundreds 
 worse off than I. If rents had been reduced I 
 believe there would have been no strike. We 
 wanted to submit the question of rent and wages 
 to a board of arbitration, v^e to choose one, the 
 Pullman company one, and the two a third. We 
 would have abided by any decision the arbitra- 
 tors made." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Did not Mr. Pull- 
 man offer to let you look over the company's 
 books to convince you that what he said was 
 true?" 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: ''Yes. But what would we 
 know about them ? Besides, we did not believe 
 that the books would show the real facts. I have 
 been told that there is only one accountant in the 
 city who understands the companj^ s books and 
 we did not have money enough to buy bread let 
 alone to hire an accountant. I have seen men 
 crying at the paymaster's window when their 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 209 
 
 pay checks for two weeks would be eight cents 
 or 35 cents, or one dollar or two dollars over 
 their rent and the company expected them to 
 support their families on that 'till next pay day. 
 You see the men got two pay checks, one for 
 just the amount of rent owed and the other for 
 the balance of their two weeks pay. The rent 
 checks they are expected to indorse and turn over 
 at once to the town agent in payment of rent. 
 The law will not allow the company to deduct 
 the rent from the pay and retain it, but the check 
 must be turned over just the same for you can- 
 not cash it unless you can persuade the agent that 
 you cannot possibly live unless you are allowed 
 to retain it. Then perhaps you will be allowed to 
 retain a part or all of it. I have been insulted by 
 the clerks in the agent's office because I told them 
 I could not get along without the money for my 
 rent check. Yet such was the case for there was 
 one time when my pay after the rent was de- 
 ducted left only eight cents a day for each mem- 
 ber of my family to live on until the next pay 
 day." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "Are the Pullman em- 
 ployes required to live in Pullman? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "Yes, sir. As long as there 
 
210 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 are any houses in Pullman vacant the men must 
 live there; unless they own houses somewhere 
 else or are favorites of the shop bosses. In fact 
 during last winter I knew of people who owned 
 houses in Roseland leaving them unrented and 
 moving to Pullman so they could get work. 
 When you apply for work you are required to 
 make application if you are a man of family." 
 
 Mr, Worthington: "Are their any lots in 
 Pullman bought and sold so that you could form 
 an idea of the value, for instance, of the lot on 
 which the house you live in stands ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : "No, sir. No lots are sold 
 but I know of a house and lot over in Roseland 
 on the boulevard near One hundred and eleventh 
 street which were bought two years ago for 
 $2,500 and can be rented for $12 a month. The 
 house is better than the one I live in, is bigger and 
 in a good location while mine is on a back street 
 and I would not pay more than $1,000 for the 
 house and lot." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "If your house could be 
 built for $600 and only yields 3^^ per cent the lot 
 must be worth more than $5,000. Is it ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "No, sir. It is not, but 
 there are some frame houses in Pullman which thq 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 211 
 
 company charges eight dollars a month for that 
 could be built for $100." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "It was said at the beginning 
 of this strike that the Pullman people owed 
 $70,000 for rent. How far back did that accu- 
 mulation begin ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "I should say about Nov. 1, 
 1893." 
 
 Mr. Wright : "Tell us if you know what the 
 cuts in wages were in departments other than 
 your own." 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "The freight car builders 
 suffered more than others, but the commission can 
 find out best by having some one from each de- 
 partment come before it." 
 
 Commissioner Keman : " Don't the people of 
 Pullman know that we want to hear from every 
 one that can throw any light on this subject ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : "Yes, sir. They understand 
 it but there are lots of them who have not mone^' 
 to get down here." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "TeU us if you can what was 
 the average pay of the employes, say in April 
 last?" 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat: "On a lot of elevated cars 
 on which I worked I made 16 cents per hour, on 
 
212 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 one car and 15 cents per hour on another, but 
 there were men working along side of me who 
 made only four and five cents per hour. I 
 would say that in January, February and 
 March the mechanic's pay averaged $1.50 
 and the laborers pay $1.30 per day. Some 
 times the laborers' checks were bigger than the 
 mechanics." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "Have you any sug- 
 gestion of a remedy for labor troubles ? " 
 
 Mr. Heathcoat : " Yes, sir. The ownership of 
 railroads and banks by the government would do 
 it. I never heard of a strike in the post-ofiice 
 department or the navy yard." 
 
 Miss Curtis next took the stand. She was an 
 employe of Pullman and president of the Girls 
 Union of the American Railway Union at Pull- 
 man. Beginning her testimony she said: "In 
 June, 1893, the wages in my department were 
 22^2 cents per hour, $2.25 a day. In April, 1894, 
 they were 70 to 80 cents a day. There were two 
 cuts in one wreck in November and another in 
 January. In April the best wages any of us could 
 make was eighty cents a day, while some could 
 not make more than from 40 to 50 cents a day. 
 Last June they could make at least $1,50 per day." 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT*. 213 
 
 Commissioner Wright : "Do you pay rent ? ' ' 
 
 Miss Curtis: "Not now. My father worked 
 for the Pullman company thirteen j^ears, during 
 which time he paid rent. He died last September 
 and as there was some expense connected with 
 his sickness he owed $60 back rent. Then I went 
 to work in the repair shop and boarded out. The 
 company made me pay $3 per week on account 
 of the back rent. I still owed $15 on the day of 
 the strike and owe it yet. Some weeks I did not 
 earn enough to pay my board and rent too and 
 then I paid only part of the $3. 
 
 Commissioner Wright : "Were you on any of 
 the committees that waited on Mr. Pullman and 
 Mr. Wickes?" 
 
 Miss Curtis: "Yes, sir. I represented the girls on 
 that committee. We wanted our wages raised as the 
 men did theirs. Mr. Wickes said it was impos- 
 sible to raise wages as they were losing money on 
 their contracts and it was utterly impossible to 
 reduce rents. An appointment was made to meet 
 Mr. Pullman on another day. When we saw him 
 he said the same that Mr. Wickes told us." 
 
 Commissioner Keman: "What work was 
 done in your department ? " 
 
 Miss Curtis: "We made the silk, satin and 
 
214 The pullman boycott. 
 
 velvet drapmgs ; the carpets, tapestries and mat- 
 tresses for the sleeping coaches, the linen for the 
 dining cars, sewed the fringe on cushions and all 
 that sort of things." 
 
 Theodore Rhode was the next to testify. He 
 said: "Four years ago I had a good job. Then 
 they wanted me to do a kind of work that no one 
 else could made a living at. Four or five of us 
 were to work together. I was to have charge of 
 the work and we were to divide whatever we 
 made. I said I would try it, but if I didu't like it 
 wanted my old job back. This was agreed to. 
 When I became satisfied that I could make noth- 
 ing at the new work I asked for my old place, but 
 they would not give it to me and told me 
 that if I didn't like what I was doing I could quit 
 working for the company. After a while we got 
 so we could make from $2.60 to $2.85 for 10% 
 hours work. Then the cuts came, and work for 
 which we had received $9.00 paid only $4.25. It 
 was impossible to make $1.25 per day, and we 
 were told by the foreman to quit if not satisfied. 
 I paid $15.00 a month for rent and 71 cents for 
 water. I could rent as good a house in Kensing- 
 ton or Roseland for $7.00 a month. On the day 
 of the strike I owed $2.50 for rent. Have not 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 215 
 
 paid it since, although the collector has been 
 around two or three times lately. Low wages 
 and high rents are not all the trouble. It is the 
 abuse. They talk to men as they would to dogs. 
 They are constantly experimenting with new ma- 
 terials. If it don't prove satisfactory we get no 
 pay for our work. Take English varnish, for 
 instance. The atmosphere must be just right or it 
 won't work. Oftentimes, owing to a dampness 
 in the air, we were obliged to do our work over 
 two or three times for which we get no extra pay. 
 In April my wages every two weeks were from 
 $12.00 to $15.00. I understand they pay the 
 men who took ourplaces from $2.50 to $3.00 and 
 $3.00 to $5.00 per day. I have not applied for 
 work again." 
 
 R. W. Combes. For 30 years a car carpenter 
 and for 10 years employed at Pullman, was next 
 called before the commission. 
 
 "A year ago," he said, "wages in his depart- 
 ment was $2.25 at piece work, and 17^2 cents per 
 hour. In March, piece work was cut so that they 
 could not make more tiian 68 cents a day." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "How much w^ould 
 you have gotten at the rate of wages in force in 
 March or April ? " 
 
216 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Combes: "We did not built the same 
 kind of cars in 1894, but had we, we would not 
 have received anything for them. In February I 
 had $3.50 to support my wife and two children 
 after paying rent. Had the men received fair 
 treatment there would have been no strike. John 
 Pearson, superintendent of the freight car depart- 
 ment, is the whole cause of the strike. He is 
 abusive and tyrannical. I was inspector in April 
 and Pearson told me if the men did not do what 
 I told them to take a club and knock their damned 
 heads off. That's the kind of a man he is. I have 
 not applied for work. Middleton told me I never 
 could work there again." 
 
 H. F. Griswold, a switchman, testified that 
 he had last been employed by the C. M. & St. P. 
 Ry.— that he lost his position through the strike 
 — had tried to get work within the last few 
 weeks on the Penn. R. R., at Pittsburg, Altona 
 and Columbus and at each of these places had 
 been shown a blacklist with his name on it as a 
 member of the American Railway Union. 
 
 Several other witnesses testified as to being 
 blacklisted on account of being in the strike. 
 
 Charles Naylor, a fireman on the Ft. Wayne 
 road up to the time of the strike, was next ex- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTlv '217 
 
 ammed. In answer to questions as to what he 
 thought of arbitration he said: "From my 
 knowledge of railroad men I do not believe they 
 would have much confidence in arbitrators elected 
 in the same way public officials are. My idea is 
 that they should be appointed when their services 
 are required and a new set of arbitrators selected 
 for each case. The board should be composed of 
 one man selected by the employes one by the 
 roads, and a third by these two." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: "That is the law 
 now." 
 
 Mr. Naylor: " Yes, but it is not enforced. It 
 seems to me that if Mr. Cleveland had followed 
 in the line of action pursued by Mr. Gladstone, 
 during the coal miners' strike in England, there 
 would have been no trouble here. If he had told 
 the railroads when thev called on him for troops 
 that they must submit to arbitration or they 
 would get no support from the government, the 
 men w^ould have thought a good deal more of his 
 honesty and fairness, but when they see the 
 whole power of the government thrown on the 
 side of the railroads they lose confidence in the 
 iustice of the government." 
 
 Commissioner Wright: " There was no law 
 
218 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 under which the president could have told the 
 roads to arbitrate the trouble with their men." 
 
 Mr. Naylor: "From all that I can learn 
 there was as much law for him to do so as for 
 him to send troops here without the request of 
 the governor of the state." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "In your suggestion of a 
 board of arbitrators there would be but one of 
 them unprejudiced?" 
 
 Mr. Naylor: "I think such a board would 
 always be able to effect a compromise between 
 the parties. I have acted in the capacity of 
 arbitrator between the company and the men in 
 adjusting grievances and have always found that 
 a spirit of compromise was met in a like spirit 
 and that is the principle, after all, upon which such 
 questions must be settled. 
 
 Vice President Howard of the American 
 Railway Union, was recalled to make an explana- 
 tion regarding some testimony which Mr. Heath- 
 coat had given the day before. He said: "Mr. 
 Heathcoat told you that Mr. Pullman had prom- 
 ised to allow a committee to examine his books, 
 to prove the correctness of his statements to the 
 effect that his company was losing money on its 
 contracts. The next day, Wallace Rice, a repor- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 219 
 
 ter on the Herald, called on Air. Pullman and 
 asked him if he would allow an expert to examine 
 his books on behalf of the union: Mr. Pullman 
 replied that what he meant by allowing an ex- 
 amination of his books was that he would have 
 his own book-keeper prepare a statement to be 
 submitted to the committee. He said he never 
 had any idea of allowing the committee to 
 actually examine his books. Mr. Howard then 
 asked if he might make a statement of a couple 
 of matters of importance to the employes. The 
 commissioners looked doubtful about this, but 
 finally Mr. Wright said he might go ahead if the 
 matter had anything to do with the subject under 
 consideration. 
 
 Mr. Howard then said : "The United States 
 government is blacklisting 3,000 employes of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad now." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "We have no authority to go 
 into that question." 
 
 Mr. Howard : " And the other matter is that 
 all the other roads are making a threat against 
 the M. K. & T. to boycott its business if the road 
 persists in making a certain rate to Washington.' 
 
 Mr. Wright : " Has that anything to do with 
 the American Railway Union ? " 
 
220 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Howard: "Yes, sir. If the government 
 allows the railroads to violate the laws it ought 
 to keep hands off in disputes between the roads 
 and the men." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Cawardine was called and related 
 what he knew about the matter. Mr. Cawardine 
 is pastor of the M. E. church in Pullman. His 
 testimony was directed chiefly to the exorbitant 
 rents. In answer to Mr. Wright, saying that he 
 had been charged with being an anarchist, and a 
 socialist, Mr. Cawardine said : "I have considered 
 the charge so contemptible in the bitterness and 
 prejudice of its origin as to be beneath answer. 
 That I, an American born citizen and the son of a 
 soldier who died for his country, should be charged 
 withbeinganarchist,seems to me incomprehensible. 
 It is simply an evidence of what has been made 
 very apparent that a good many people are vio- 
 lently prejudiced against working men and will 
 not listen to what may be said on their side or 
 read what may be written. I find this feeling even 
 among many of my brethren in the ministry. I 
 regret it too, because the labor problem can only 
 be solved by a consideration of it from all sides." 
 
 Andrew W. Pearson, a real estate agent who 
 formerly worked in Pullman, was called on the 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 221 
 
 stand and in answer to a question put by Mr. 
 Wright, said: 
 
 " Houses which rent for $17.00 in Pullman, 
 can be rented in Kensington and Roseland for 
 $10.00. Pullman houses which rent for $25.00 
 can be rented elsewhere for $15.00, and $10.00 
 Pullman houses for $5.00. In Grand Crossing, a 
 manufacturing town, $8.00 a month will rent a 
 five-room brick cottage. The rents I am giving 
 now are the present rents. There has been a 
 decline since two years ago everywhere but in 
 Pullman." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "How much higher 
 are rents in Pullman than elsewhere? " 
 
 Mr. Pearson: "I should say fully one- 
 third." 
 
 Frank P. McDonald, a locomotive engineer 
 and author of the Great scab route circular, 
 testified that he was a member of the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union and a delegate to their con- 
 vention. He said he was opposed to the strike, 
 but voted for it as it was the unanimous senti- 
 ment of his local union. His reason for opposing 
 it was because he did not think the union was 
 strong enough to win. 
 
 President Debs, of the American Railway 
 
222 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Union, was the next important witness to testify. 
 Mr. Debs outlined the trouble from its inception 
 down to the special convention in Chicago on 
 Aug. 2. In answer to questions by Commissioner 
 Wright, Mr. Debs said he was 38 years old a resi- 
 dent of Terry Haute, Ind., and had been president 
 of the American Railway Union since June 20, 
 1893. He was a practical railroad man, had been 
 employed four and a half years in the capacity of 
 locomotive fireman and was at present editor of 
 the Fireman's Magazine. Mr. Wright told him 
 to go ahead and give a history of the late strike 
 so far as he knew from his own experience. 
 
 Mr. Debs said: "In the early part of May, 
 while at home in Indiana, I received a telegram 
 from Mr. Howard notifying me of the probability 
 of a strike at the Pullman shops, the employes 
 of which were members of our union. I author- 
 ized Mr. Howard to take full charge of the mat- 
 ter, but to do all in his power to prevent a strike. 
 My reason for this was that the American Rail- 
 way Union had just been involved in a strike on 
 the Great Northern railway. At a meeting of the 
 general officers of the union we had discussed the 
 possibility of other strikes arising on ac- 
 count of the victory the union had won on 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 223 
 
 the Great Northern railway, and we decided 
 that it would be good policy to be very cautious 
 in encouraging the men to go into strikes when- 
 ever there was a possibility of avoiding them 
 May 11th, I heard that the Pullman employes 
 had struck. A few days after, I came here and 
 made a personal investigation of the trouble. 
 After a trip to St. Paul I again went down there 
 and the result of my investigation was that the 
 conditions at Pullman justified the men in the 
 course they had taken. I found that wages and 
 expenses were so adjusted that everj^ dollar the 
 men made found its way back to Pullman coffers. 
 The men were not only not getting enough wages tp 
 live on but were getting deeper and deeper in debt 
 every day. They had not money enough as a 
 rule to get away. There seemed to be no escape 
 for them. Wages had been reduced, but expenses 
 remained the same. After I had satisfied myself 
 of the truth of the men's statements regarding 
 their conditions, I made up my mind to do every 
 thing possible in law and justice to right the 
 wrongs of our members who had gone out on 
 strike. We first tried to get the company to 
 arbitrate. We were confident that any fair and 
 impartial board would decide in favor of the 
 
224 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 employes. The company, however, refused every 
 proposition of that sort saying that it had 
 nothing to arbitrate. I then suggested that the 
 Pullman company select two men to act with 
 two judges of the circuit court and a fifth person 
 whom they should select to act as a board to in- 
 vestigate the question whether there was any- 
 thing to arbitrate. This proposition was re- 
 fused. 
 
 "June 12, delegates representing 425 local 
 unions of the American Railway Union met here 
 in the first quadrennial convention of the organ- 
 ization. The Pullman question came up for 
 consideration before the convention sitting as 
 a committee of the whole to hear reports 
 etc. I wish to say in this connection that 
 all of our deliberations were held with 
 open doors, except one executive session at which 
 the question of finances was considered, in w^hich 
 we felt the general public had no interest, but at 
 all the other meetings the entire press of the city 
 was represented. I mention this in refutation of 
 the statements which have been made as to the 
 American Railway Union forming a conspiracy 
 against the railroads and committing offenses 
 against the United States, If a conspiracy were 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 225 
 
 intended it seems improbable that we should have 
 sat with open doors. The first steps taken to- 
 ward securing a settlement of the trouble, was 
 the appointment of a committee composed partly 
 of Pullman employes and in part of other dele- 
 gates present, with authority to call on Mr. 
 Wickes to find out if anything could be done 
 toward effecting a settlement of the strike." 
 
 Here Mr. Debs related how Mr. Wickes refused 
 to confer with a committee composed of an}' but 
 his former emplo^^es, and finally refused to confer 
 with them, stating that he had nothing to arbi- 
 trate. 
 
 He then continued: "The matter was then 
 referred to a special committee with authority to 
 act in the matter. This committee reported 
 that if the Pullman Company refused to concede 
 anj'thing after five days time to consider the ques- 
 tion, it was the sense of the convenion that the 
 members of the union would refuse to handle Pull- 
 man cars. Under the constitution of the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union the majority rules in all ques- 
 tions under consideration. No strike can be de- 
 clared except by a majority of the men involved. 
 In order to conform to this rule, the delegates 
 were instructed to communicate by wire with 
 
226 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 their respective unions to ascertain the sentiment 
 of the members on the question before the conven- 
 tion. After reports had been received from all the 
 local unions, the convention by a unanimous vote 
 decided to adopt the report of the special com- 
 mittee. 
 
 "Since the railroad employes have been criti- 
 cised for engaging in a sympathetic strike, I wish 
 to make some statement regarding the general 
 situation. In many instances they had local 
 grievances themselves, and besides, there w^as this 
 general condition which aggravated the whole 
 situation. 
 
 " In the spring of 1893, just before the open- 
 ing of the World's Fair, the general managers of 
 the various roads centering in Chicago, were very 
 apprehensive lest there should be a general strike 
 among all classes of railroad employes for an in- 
 crease of wages. The officers of the organizations 
 appealed to the men not to strike, arguing that it 
 was their patriotic duty to bear with patience their 
 grievances until the fair was over. The result was> 
 there was no strike anywhere. The men all worked 
 in harmony throughout the country. Some of the 
 managers promised, by implication at least, that 
 therewould be an increase of wages to reward the 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 227 
 
 patriotic action of their men. Instead of doing as 
 they promised, the general managers during this 
 time equipped their organization to protect their 
 mutual interests." 
 
 Mr. Debs then read an article from a Chicago 
 paper which told how the general managers had 
 formed an air tight association which would be 
 able to deal wath any strikes that might arise in 
 the future, and suggested that the association 
 rather courted than feared trouble with employes 
 of the railroads. 
 
 Continuing, Mr. Debs said: "Shortly after 
 the new association had completed its organiza- 
 tion it became apparent what course it intended 
 to pursue. About Sept. 1, the Louisville & Nash- 
 ville road made a sweeping reduction of 10 per 
 cent in the pay of all its employes — the section 
 men getting 67y2 cents a day under this reduction. 
 Then in succession followed the East Tennessee, 
 Virginia & Georgia, the Richmond & Danville, the 
 Mobile & Ohio, Nashville & Chatanooga, Big 
 Four, New York & New England, New York, New 
 Haven & Hartford, Wabash, Union Pacific, North- 
 ern Pacific, Monon, Great Northern and the Great 
 Western was just on the point of declaring a re- 
 duction when the strike was declared, 
 
228 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 "It was significant that no two roads de- 
 clared a reduction at the same time, and in most 
 instances the reductions began with the unorgan- 
 ized and poorest paid men in the service. The 
 men viewed these reductions with apprehension 
 and unrest. This was particularly the case after 
 Judge Caldwell had declared upon investigation 
 that the cut on the Union Pacific was unwarrant- 
 able. In two cases the reductions annulled and 
 the original pay of the men restored. On the 
 Union Pacific — on the order of Judge Caldwell 
 and on the Great Northern through the efforts of 
 the American Railway Union. In the later case 
 the matter was decided by a board of arbitration, 
 composed of leading capitalists ^nd business men 
 of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 
 
 "These conditions confronted the American 
 Railway Union, when its delegates met here in 
 convention. The employes felt that other systems 
 in sound financial conditions had taken advant- 
 age of the unfortunate condition of the country to 
 reduce wages. The men had lost confidence in 
 in their old unions which had failed utterly to 
 protect them against these reductions and they 
 came in the hope that the American Railway 
 Union would take some steps to resist them and 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 229 
 
 protect its members against the rapacity of the 
 railroad companies. This was the reason they 
 were ripe to take up the cause of the Pullman 
 strikers. They were wrought up to a point 
 where they were willing to jeopardize their posi- 
 tions to protect both themselves and the Pullman 
 employes. The primary purpose was to cut off 
 Pullman's revenues by cutting off his cars and 
 thereby force him to a settlement." 
 
 Mr. Wright: " I understand you to say you 
 advised against the Pullman strike. Why did you 
 do so?" 
 
 Mr. Debs: "We had just gone through a strike 
 on the Great Northern and I did not think it ad- 
 visable to go into another at that time." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "What would have been the 
 action of the convention if there had been no strike 
 at Pullman? Did not that strike force the 
 issue ? ' ' 
 
 Mr. Debs: "There would have been no 
 trouble with the railroads, I think, but for the 
 Pullman strike. That and the depressed condition 
 of the country aggravated the situation so as to 
 bring about a general strike." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "Was the general strike preci- 
 pitated by the Pullman troubles?" 
 
230 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Debs : " Yes sir, it was." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "Was a notice of the action of 
 the convention served on the dififerent com- 
 panies?" 
 
 Mr. Debs: "Not by the convention. That 
 matter was left to the men on the various systems. 
 From the action of the managers toward the Am- 
 erican Railway Union generally, the matter of 
 serving a formal notice of our action on them was 
 not looked upon as necessary, as we were very sure 
 it would be ignored." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "Was notice served on the Illi- 
 nois Central and Rock Island roads? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "I think so, but am not sure." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Did they have notice 
 through the press ? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "Yes, sir." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "Do you know the date on 
 which the general managers adopted their resolu- 
 tion to resist the strike ? " 
 
 Mr. Debs : "I think it was June 24, four days 
 after our action. It was currently reported at 
 that time, though I have no written or other evi- 
 dence of the fact that the general managers resolved 
 among themselves to exterminate the union." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "If the American Railway 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 231 
 
 Union had had its own way in regard to its 
 policy would a general strike have been post- 
 poned?" 
 
 Mr. Debs: **Yes, sir. The conditions were 
 not altogether propitious and we were fully 
 aware of the fact." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "What was the number of 
 your membership at that time? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: ''About 150,000." 
 
 Mr. Wright: "Did you consider that strong 
 enough for a general strike? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "Yes, sir. But it was not a 
 question of membership altogether. There were 
 other reasons." Mr, Debs said there was one 
 other point to which he wished to call the atten- 
 tion of the commission. One great reason the 
 men had in resisting a reduction of wages was 
 the fact that the companies never restored them 
 voluntarily. The tendency had therefore been 
 for the employes to get closer together to resist 
 the combined efforts of the managers. That w^as 
 the principle, he said, which had inspired the idea 
 of the American Railway Union. Then resuming 
 the history of the strike Mr. Debs said : 
 
 "Pursuant to the order of the convention, 
 which was practically the order of 150,000 men 
 
232 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 composing the American Railway Union, the 
 members refused to handle Pullman cars. It has 
 been claimed that the president of the union was 
 a self appointed leader who had ordered the 
 strike, etc. In this connection I wish to say that 
 while such is not the case, when the report came 
 in I gave it my approval as president. I do not 
 wish to avoid any of the responsibility. If I had 
 had the authority I would have ordered it under 
 the same circumstances. June 26, the men began 
 to refuse to haul Pullman cars. They had been 
 advised not to handle the cars on any system 
 where they could not get the sanction of a suffi- 
 cient number of men to make such a refusal 
 effective. The officers of the union opened head- 
 quarters at Uhlics Hall and as committees came 
 in from various roads and made their reports 
 they were advised how to act, and above all else 
 to avoid trouble and violence and to maintain 
 order. We advised them of their right to quit in 
 a body and told them their rights ended there, 
 and that the railroad companies had a right to 
 hire new men and their right began there." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "What steps if any 
 did you take to prevent violence ? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "When we saw there was to be 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 233 
 
 trouble we issued an appeal to the men not to 
 commit any acts of violence. Fourteen years of 
 experience taught me that violence was the worst 
 thing that could happen for any strike." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "How about the 
 telegrams sent by you? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "None of them were inflama- 
 tory." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "How about that 
 'save your money and buy a gun ' telegram ? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "I can explain that telegram 
 very easily. Among those who w^ere employed at 
 headquarters to take charge of our correspon- 
 dence and telegraphing was a young man named 
 Benedict. He had authority to sig-n my name to 
 telegrams in answer to questions, etc. The tele- 
 gram w^as sent to a man whom Mr. Benedict had 
 worked under as a telegraph operator in Mon- 
 tana. The allusion to the gun was a playful ex- 
 pression which they had been accustomed to use 
 in joking each other, and w^as understood in that 
 w-ay by the man who received the telegram . I 
 have his letter in explanation of the matter which 
 I will be glad to turn over to the commissioners. 
 I never saw many of the telegrams sent out and 
 did not see the one you refer to. The employes, 
 
234 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 obedient to the order of the convention, began 
 as I have said, to refuse to handle cars. The 
 refusal usually came from the switchmen who 
 refused to make up trains with the Pullman 
 equipment. As they refused they were discharged 
 — when the others would quit. 
 
 "July 1st. After five days of strike the gen- 
 eral managers were completely defeated and their 
 immediate resources exhausted. Up to that time 
 there had been no signs of violence anywhere. 
 Our men were intact and confident. Then the 
 intervention of the courts was called into play. 
 
 "July 2d. I was served with a sweeping in- 
 junction restraining me from sending out tele- 
 grams or issuing .orders having the effect of per- 
 suading the men to quit work. This injunction 
 was issued wherever the trouble existed. The 
 result was to reduce our influence to nothing. 
 This was the point from which the strike was 
 conducted by telegrams and otherwis. Then a 
 special grand jury was called to inquire into my 
 conduct with the result that I was indicted with 
 other officials of the union and Avarrants issued 
 for our arrest. We were held under a joint bond 
 of $10,000. Then followed an attachment is- 
 sued for contempt of the injunction of July 2d, 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 235 
 
 and our incarceration in the county jail. As soon 
 as our men found we were under arrest they quit. 
 The U. S. courts ended the strike, not the 
 soldiers." Mr. Debs told of the seizure of his 
 mail and personal effects. He said he merely cited 
 the fact to show to what extent the U. S. authori- 
 ties were willing to go to defeat the strikers. He 
 also commented on Gen. Miles who was reported 
 to have gone directly to the General Managers 
 head-quarters on his arrival with the U. S. troops. 
 He said Gen. Miles was quoted next day as hav- 
 ing said he had broken the back bone of the strike. 
 Mr. Debs thought Gen. Miles had mistaken his 
 mission which was to preserve order and not to 
 help the railroads run their trains. He said : 
 
 "I think Gen. Miles was vulgarly out of place, 
 both wdien he went to the General Managers and 
 when he made the remark credited to him." He 
 said he thought if the General Managers were 
 compelled to bring into court copies of their tele- 
 grams sent to the attorney general as the 
 American Railway Union had done he could sub- 
 stantiate the charge that it was the object to 
 annihilate the American Railway Union. 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Did I understand you 
 this morning to charge the General Managers 
 
236 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Association with the responsibility of the 
 strike?" 
 
 Mr. Debs: "Not in that broad and general 
 way. The American Railway Union ordered the 
 strike and is responsible for it, but there were 
 aggravating circumstances which ought to go in 
 mitigation under any view of the situation. But 
 the attitude taken by the General Managers' 
 Association, their expressed determination to 
 crush the American Railway Union, in that re- 
 spect and in refusing to arbitrate they were re- 
 sponsible. We felt if they could combine we could 
 and each was culpable." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "You believe in enforcing 
 the law, do you not, and in the proper authori- 
 ties using sufficient force to do it, do you not ? " 
 
 Mr. Debs : "Most certainly I do." 
 
 Mr. "Worthington: "You have doubtless 
 given considerable thought to the matter. How 
 do you think strikes can be avoided? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: " There are two ways. First. By 
 submitting to reduction in wages and other griev- 
 ances as the old organizations have done for 
 years. When the general manager determines to 
 reduce wages he proposes a cut of 20 per cent 
 when he only intends to make a 10 per cent re- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 237 
 
 'duction. Then there is a conference when they 
 finally agree on 10 per cent. This avoides strikes 
 but it reduces wages. The second way is a unifi- 
 cation of all, or practically all the railroad men of 
 the country in a prudently managed organization. 
 That would prevent strikes on railroads, for even 
 if the railroads could unite to beat such an organ- 
 ization, it would be expensive." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "Do you believe that such 
 an organization would be so strong as to com- 
 pel the adoption of all reasonable demands? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "We did believe it, or the American 
 Railway Union would never have been organ- 
 ized. We see now that it cannot because all the 
 organized forces of society and of the government 
 are arrayed against it. When a stike inconven- 
 iences no one, no one is particularly interested in 
 it and it gradually dwindles down to the little end 
 of nothing. But when a strike does inconvenience 
 the public, as railroad strikes must of necessity do, 
 the organized forces of society and the govern- 
 ment, a practically impregnable force, and prop- 
 erly so, is arraj^ed against it. Take, for instance, 
 the Ann Arbor strike. It inconvenienced the pub- 
 lic and immediately the roads applied to the 
 courts, and Judge Taft issued an injunction 
 
238 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 against the men. The first of the injunctions that 
 have been so much questioned both by lawyers 
 and laborers." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "Is it justifiable to incom- 
 mode the public as such strikes do ? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "It depends on circumstances. I 
 believe v^ith Admiral Porter, that a pin is worth 
 fighting for if a principle is involved. To resist 
 degredation is justifiable no matter what the re- 
 sult. If there were no resistance, things would be, 
 if possible, worse than they are and without 
 resistance degredation is inevitable. If the rail- 
 roads treated their men fairly there would be no 
 labor organizations. Every organization of rail- 
 road men is traceable to oppression. The Broth- 
 erhood of Locomotive Engineers was born of 
 the tyranny of the Michigan Central road. I 
 have that from the lips of Air. Robinson, the 
 founder of that organization. The first meetings 
 were held in secret because the men would have 
 been discharged if the management knew they 
 were organizing. Everywhere organization orig- 
 inated from similar causes. No legislation can re- 
 concile railroad employers and employes while 
 human nature is in it. Confidence has been de- 
 stroyed. The men have been so treated that they 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 239 
 
 have grown suspicious, and when general man- 
 agers, who are themselves emploj-es, order a re- 
 duction of wages on instructions from those 
 above them, that it is necessary because of hard 
 times or slack business, the men are not at all as- 
 sured that such are the reasons. Thej may ac- 
 cept the reduction, but they are not satisfied. In 
 many instances the general managers obey orders 
 to reduce wages with regret for they are humane 
 men, many of them. Soon after the Great North- 
 ern strike, the president of a railroad told me that 
 I now had the opportunity to make myself a 
 most enviable reputation, both among railroad 
 employers and employes by advising the men 
 themselves to propose a reduction of say 10 per 
 cent in their wages during these dull times, thus 
 putting the road under obligation to increase 
 wages when business impro ved. I said to him, only 
 a few months ago j-our road was doing a phenomi- 
 nally heavy business. Did 3^ou propose an increase 
 of even 5 per cent in jour employes wages because 
 you were making money? Everytime a decrease 
 in wages has been prevented or an increase secured, 
 it has been the result of weeks of labor and plead- 
 ing and the expenditures of thousands of dollars 
 hj the men. Every schedule ever adopted is evi- 
 
240 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 dence of that. Now that the strike is practically 
 over the usual persecutions will be indulged in 
 against those who took part in it. Some people 
 are felicitating themselves that the strike has been 
 suppressed, but the safety valve has been screwed 
 down, that's all. The men are no more satisfied 
 than they were. Some of them will get back their 
 old positions; others will get work on other 
 roads ; still others will find work elsewhere, while 
 some will be forced to remain idle for a long 
 time. None of them are satisfied with the con- 
 ditions and sooner or later strikes will break out 
 again, I fear. You might as well try to stop 
 Niagara with a feather as crush the spirit of org- 
 anization." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "If it should be 
 shown that government ownership of railroads 
 resulted in poorer service and more expensive 
 management, do you think it would be a good 
 thing?" 
 
 Mr. Debs: "Government ownership of rail- 
 roads is decidedly better than railroad ownership 
 of government. The time is coming when there 
 must be government ownership of railroads. 
 Strikes cannot be averted otherwise." 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 241 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "Will govern- 
 ment supervision answer the purpose? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "I don't think so." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Will arbitration ans- 
 wer?" 
 
 Mr. Debs: "I fear not. No good can come 
 from compulsory arbitration, that is a contra- 
 dicture of terms, even if some means of enforcing 
 the decree could be devised. Those against whom 
 the decree was rendered would not be satisfied. 
 The basis must be friendship and confidence." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "Admitting 
 that there is some contradiction in the term com- 
 pulsory arbitration, it expresses what we mean 
 though compulsory attempts at concilliation 
 would express it better. Would it be of no avail 
 in any case? " 
 
 Mr. Debs: "It would undoubtedly in many 
 cases where trouble is local and the conditions 
 homogeneous, so that all of them could be con- 
 sidered as for instance in the Pullman troubles. 
 It could be put in force if there w^as a trial by 
 jury or something of that sort, as other courts 
 are constituted, but in interstate matters on rail- 
 roads extending over thousands of miles where 
 conditions vary, no decree could be made to fit 
 
 16 
 
242 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 the case. It is easy to compass local matters but 
 not wide spread matters because the conditions 
 are not homogeneous. It would be impossible 
 to force the decree." 
 
 **MR. debs' testimony." 
 An extract from the Chicago Times. 
 
 People who read an Editorial from the 
 Chicago Times of Eugene Y. Debs before the strike 
 commission, as printed in the Times yesterday, 
 cannot, if they be fairminded, fail to be convinced 
 of the justice of the cause in which he is working 
 and of the sincerity and ability of the man himself. 
 
 "In a struggle for the rights of humanity in- 
 dividuals are nothing, He will be but a poor 
 champion of the cause of the people who will 
 pause to eulogize certain champions when he 
 should be fighting for principles. But when a 
 leader like Debs is attacked, as he has been 
 attacked, and all the agencies and all the influence 
 of capitalism are set in motion to 'make an ex- 
 ample of him' — i. e., to so persecute him that no 
 other man will be willing to encounter like danger 
 in the wageworkers' cause — then must every 
 spokesman of the working classes speak out in 
 defense of the leader so attacked. 
 
 *'The slanders that have been directed against 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 243 
 
 Debs during this struggle simply baffled recountal 
 because of their number. He has been called 
 crazy, drunken, revolutionary, criminal, incom- 
 petent. Newspapers have at once declared his 
 conduct of the strike impotent and denounced 
 him for having made it so effective. Labor has 
 been entreated to throw him over as a puerile 
 leader and capital has been warned that he is a 
 dangerous man because of his surpassing ability. 
 'Anything to beat Debs' has been the one policy 
 which has animated the organs of capital for the 
 last four months. 
 
 "Well, Debs is beaten — in a certain sense. His 
 effort in behalf of the Pullman strikers has failed 
 and the very journals which most strenuously 
 opposed his work are now printing the story of 
 the dreadful destitution bred of the Pullman 
 despotism which Debs did his best to break down. 
 
 "It is too late now to fight over again the 
 issues of the American Railway Union strike and 
 bo^'cott. Debs and his associates now stand in 
 the shadow of the penitentiary for trying to 
 avert by entirely proper and lawful means the 
 conditions which now engage the attention of the 
 governor of the state, and which must awaken 
 the sympathy of all humane people. The privi- 
 
244 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 leged corporations flocked to the aid of the Pull- 
 man concern — no on conversant with the facts in 
 the case can gainsay that. The railroads stood 
 by Pullman; every morning newspaper in 
 Chicago except the Times stood by the railroads ; 
 the government joined in with the combination. 
 Mr. Debs' testimony is to the effect that govern- 
 tal action, by hastily issued injunctions, killed the 
 strike — a statement which everybody cognizant 
 of the course of that movement will indorse. 
 
 "There has been much evidence adduced before 
 the investigation commission, but none so exact 
 or none more clear than that of Mr. Debs. His 
 explanation of the causes of the strike and boy- 
 cott is perspicuous and logical, his outline of the 
 causes of its failure coherent and convincing, his 
 suggestion of means for avoiding its recurrence 
 absolutely right. He sees, as all clear-sighted and 
 fair-minded men must see, that under the private 
 ownership of railroads there is no possibility of 
 justice for railroad employes. The public interest 
 in the smooth and uninterrupted course of traffic 
 over the roads enables the managers to call upon 
 public opinion and even upon state forces to aid 
 them against the employes in any serious contro- 
 versy. The government ownership of railroads 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 245 
 
 is indeed, as Mr. Debs has said, the one effective 
 remedy for strikes among railroad hands. Asked 
 for a solution of the general railroad problem, he 
 suggested the co-operative commonwealth — a 
 solution, doubtless, but one so difficult of ac- 
 complishment as to seem almost, if not quite, 
 Utopian, Mr. Debs might have proceeded logi- 
 cally from his declaration for government owner- 
 ship of railroads to government ownership and 
 management of all other industries which tend 
 naturally and inevitably to become monopolies. 
 This accomplished, the repeal of all laws giving 
 private persons the benefit of artificial law-created 
 monopolies would follow. Then the abolition of 
 all taxes upon industry. Finally, the throwing 
 open to all men on equal conditions of all natural 
 opportunities so that every man starting in life 
 should have, so far as human power could accom- 
 plish it, an e-qual chance with every other man. 
 Under such an organization and with such laws 
 the co-operative commonwealth which Mr. Debs 
 suggests would probably prove unnecessary. 
 Competition, which is essential to the progress of 
 civilization, would still continue, but it would be 
 free competition, not the calm triumph of man 
 plus monopoly over the man without it." 
 
246 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Following President Debs' testimony the mat- 
 ter of rioting was taken up by tbe commissioners. 
 Chief Duputy U. S. Marshall John C. Donnelly, 
 testified that there were between 1,400 and 1,500 
 deputies sworn in, armed and paid by the govern- 
 ment, concerning whose character and fitness 
 practically no inquiries were made, and that there 
 were between 3,000 and 4,000 men sworn in as 
 deputies at the request of the railroads, armed 
 and paid by them, and that no inquiries concern- 
 ing their characters were made at all. That this 
 army of 3,000 or 4,000 armed men clothed with 
 the authority of the United States was not at 
 all under the control of the U. S. marshall and 
 was not responsible and reported to no one unless 
 to the chiefs of detectives of the several roads. 
 Most of the reports of drunkeness and violence 
 of deputies were from among those hired by the 
 railroads. 
 
 Malcolm McDonald, a reporter for the Record, 
 was next to testify. In answer to questions by 
 the commissioners he said, he thought as a rule 
 the turbulent element was not composed of rail- 
 road men. He spoke to some of the American 
 Railway Union men about upsetting cars and 
 they denied having had any hand in it. He also 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 247 
 
 said that the conduct of the U. S. marshalls had 
 not been such as to prevent trouble and they 
 seemed to be hunting opportunities to get into 
 conflict with the men. 
 
 M. L. Wickman, pastor of the Swedish Meth- 
 odist Church, testified that many members of his 
 church who worked for the Pullman Company, 
 had to be taken care of during the fall and winter 
 of 1893 and 1894. He told of one man who had 
 his hand injured by a piece of flying steel. After a 
 great deal of expense at the hospital he finally re- 
 covered the partial use of his hand and was taken 
 back to work at reduced pay. Mr. Wickman took the 
 case before Manager Brown, and that officer con- 
 fronted him with a written statement by the in- 
 jured man to the effect that the accident was one 
 for which the company was in no way responsible. 
 It was subsequently proved that the man's signa- 
 ture to the paper was forged. 
 
 Ray Baker, a reporter for the Record, said 
 he was at Hammond during the rioting there 
 and thought the rioters were not railroad men. 
 
 H. J. Cleveland, a reporter for the Herald, 
 testified that he was to work along the Rock 
 Island and Lake Shore tracks where considerable 
 rioting occured between July 4 and 15. From an 
 
248 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 extensive acquaintance among railroad men, lie 
 felt sure that there were few, if any railroad men 
 among the rioters. Criticising the deputy mar- 
 shals, Mr. Cleveland said that he saw many acts 
 on their part which were calculated to cause 
 trouble unnecessary, and thought, as a rule, 
 they were men not fit to be in authority. He 
 characterized the whole lot as a contemptible set 
 of men. The men who were doing the rioting, 
 had the appearance of those who had never done 
 an honest day's work in their lives. 
 
 N. D. Hutton, reporter for the Tribune, was 
 the next witness called. He said that he was 
 at Blue Island and about the stock yards dis- 
 trict. Thought some of the rioting was done by 
 railroad men, but could not say so from personal 
 knowledge of the fact. 
 
 Mr. Miller, a reporter for the Tribune was 
 next examined. He testified that he was sworn 
 in as a deputy marshall and detailed to go to 
 Blue Island. After relating his experience as to 
 rioting. Commissioner Kernan asked him if he 
 had an extensive acquaintance among railroad 
 men. 
 
 Mr. Miller: "In the course of my work I 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 249 
 
 have learned to know a great many of them by 
 sight at least," 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Did you see anyone 
 whom you know to be a railroad man engaged 
 in violence or encouraging others who were so 
 engaged?" 
 
 Mr. Miller: " Never, except once. That was 
 when a meat train had been cut in two and 
 switches were being turned. He was not doing 
 any of it but the general tenor of his talk was 
 in the nature of advice to what was being done. 
 Most of the trouble was caused by hoodlums 
 and toughs. In my reports I characterized them 
 as hoodlums. Many were boys." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "What was your ob- 
 servation as to the sobriety or otherwise of the 
 strikers at the meetings ? ' ' 
 
 Mr. Miller: "I scarcely remember of seeing 
 one under the influence of liquor. Sobriety was 
 the rule and drunkeness the exception." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Did the speakers* 
 at the meetings advice against violence or did 
 they encourage it ? " 
 
 Mr. Miller: They advised against it." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : * ' Did you think them 
 sincere in this advice or was it simply a cloak." 
 
250 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Miller: "I believed them sincere partic- 
 ularly the brainier men." 
 
 Victor M. Harding, a reporter for the Times, 
 was the next witness, he testified to being pres- 
 ent during the rioting on the Rock Island road, 
 and saw boys throwing burning waste into cars 
 within a hundred yards of a cavalry camp." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Did you ever see 
 anyone you knew to be a railroad man engaged 
 in any violence?" 
 
 Mr. Harding: "I never did. The stock yards 
 furnish the most glaring examples of the false 
 and exaggerated reports of riot and disorder made 
 by the newspapers. This district has been for 
 years made to bear the burden of the crimes 
 committed in this part of the city. There was 
 comparatively little disorder at the stock yards 
 during the strike, but the newspaper reports con- 
 tained accounts of fights, shooting affrays and 
 riots almost every night. Capt. O'Neil, of the 
 stock yards police told me that the reporters 
 and the militia were both responsible for this. 
 Volleys of shot fired by the soldiers or militia were 
 to be heard every day and night, which on invest- 
 igation proved to have no cause other than a 
 desire to create excitement. The militia men, he 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 251 
 
 said, were in the habit of firing merely for the 
 sake of making a sensation. A crowd would 
 naturally gather, reporters would flock around 
 and then there would be something to tell and 
 brag about. I know this is so from talk with 
 the men themselves. They intimated that they 
 were getting tired of doing nothing and were 
 desirous of creating some excitement. One night 
 Caft. O'Neil said he heard a volley of shots, 
 went to the spot and found that the shooting 
 had been done b\' a lot of sentries. They said 
 they had fired at a Polak — the common 
 name for a Pole — who was seen crawling under 
 a car. The soldiers claimed it was dark, the man 
 was at a distance and was not hit. Yet they 
 knew he was a Polak. Equally absurd stories 
 in explanation of shooting were given the police 
 captain on other occasions." 
 
 Assistant Fire Marshall John Fitzgerald tes- 
 tified that he had been on duty at all fires of 
 any importance and had witnessed many acts 
 of incendiarism. In all instances he stated that 
 these acts had been committed by boys or youths 
 belonging to the hoodlum element. He said the 
 eldest could not have been over nineteen years 
 old. The fire department had never been ob- 
 
252 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 structed in any way in reaching fires. On one 
 occasion railroad men, whom he knew to be 
 strikers, aided in placing an engine in position, 
 though he had never solicited aid of any kind 
 during the period when the fires were most num- 
 erous. 
 
 The Pullman side was now taken up by the 
 commissioners. 
 
 Prank W. Glover was the first witness. He 
 decribed himself as a real estate dealer who 
 owned a sub-division in Kensington, besides acre 
 property there, owned and sold houses and lots, 
 and had tenants. In reply to Commissioner 
 Worthington as to what he knew of the rents 
 in Pullman, Kensington, Roseland and other sim- 
 ilar suburbs, how they would compare, Mr. 
 Glover said: "I should say a six-room house in 
 Pullman for $17.00 is better than one of my six- 
 room houses in Kensington which rents for $10.00 
 to $12.00. The Pullman houses are connected 
 with sewers. The land on which they stand is 
 better drained and from what I should judge from 
 outside appearances they have more of what are 
 called modern conveniences. My houses have no 
 sewer connections, the land is low, and in spring 
 and fall is liable to have water on it ; besides I 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 253 
 
 understand the Pullman Compan}' keeps their 
 houses in repair, while I do not." 
 
 Paul E. Heams, stationer and newsdealer at 
 Pullman, was the next witness. In his opinion 
 there w^ould have been less suffering if some of the 
 men had let beer and whiskey alone. 
 
 L. H. Johnson, a hardware and furniture 
 dealer, testified next. He expressed the belief that 
 the Pullman employes were as thrifty, economi- 
 cal and temperate a class of j^eople as others of a 
 similar class. 
 
 Wm. R. McKay, a reporter for the Mail, was 
 next heard. He said that he had been detailed to 
 look after the American Railway Union head- 
 quarters and the meetings at Uhlic's Hall. The 
 speeches at all these meetings were against vio- 
 I'^nce and in favor of observing the law as the 
 only means of winning the strike. 
 
 B. H. Atwell, a reporter for the Daily News, 
 was the next witness. He testified that he was 
 at Blue Island during the trouble. He said the 
 deputy marshalls had drawn revolvers without 
 any reason. Most of the men who made trouble 
 there were not railroad men. Railroad officials 
 had said to him that the strikers were not mak- 
 ing the trouble. At the stock yards also, such 
 
254 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 violence as was done was not bj railroad strikers 
 but by toughs. 
 
 The next witness called was Alex Lungren, a 
 wood-carver. In answer to Commissioner Ker- 
 nan's question if foremen had absolute power 
 over the men in their departments, Mr- Lungren 
 replied that he did not know. 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Are the working- 
 men compelled to obey the orders given by the 
 foremen?" 
 
 Mr. Lungren: "Yes. They must obey 
 orders?" 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Is there any appeal 
 from these orders ? " 
 
 Mr. Lungren: "No." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Then there is no 
 way of getting the matter to the officials or sup- 
 erintendent ? " 
 
 Mr. Lungren: "No." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Then there is no 
 system of obtaining a hearing from the officials 
 concerning any grievence? " 
 
 Mr. Lungren: "No there is no system and it 
 is very difficult to see any of the officials to obtain 
 redress." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan : "What were the con- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 255 
 
 ditions of your re-employment with the com- 
 pany?" 
 
 Mr. Lungren: "I had to leave the American 
 Railway Union." 
 
 Commissioner Keman: "Were you obliged 
 to sign any contract relating to your member- 
 ship in any labor organization? " 
 
 Mr. Lungren: "Yes. There was a written 
 contract which I signed. It stated that I would 
 have nothing to do with the American Railway 
 Union." Mr. Lungren also testified that he did 
 not vote to strike. He did not attend the meet- 
 ings; said he quit work in accordance with the 
 notice posted by the company that the works 
 would be closed down. 
 
 Dr. John W. McLean was the next witness. 
 He said he had been a practicing physician since 
 1863, and had been in the employ of the Pull- 
 man company since 1894. He thought the strike 
 had been brought about by the general depression 
 in business throughout the country. Did not 
 think the rents exorbitant in Pullman. Said he 
 attended the Pullman employes who were in- 
 jured, free of charge. When asked by Commis- 
 sioner Kernan if he thought intemperance one 
 cause of the Pullman strike, he said : 
 
256 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 "Yes, I think all labor troubles are directly 
 due to this cause." 
 
 General Manager E. St. Jolin of the Rock 
 Island road was the next witness examined. His 
 testimony, which would fill several pages, was in 
 brief a general contradiction of all evidence offered 
 by the reporters, and American Railway Union 
 witnesses. He charged the rioting to the strikers. 
 He was opposed to the government ownership of 
 railroads and also thought arbitration impractic- 
 able. He admitted that a greater reduction of 
 wages was liable to follow unless the present de- 
 pressed condition of business was soon remedied. 
 Regarding the losses incurred by his road on ac- 
 count of the strike he said it was his impression 
 that they would be somewhere between $800,- 
 000 and $1,000,000. When the question of com- 
 munications from the officers of the American 
 Railway Union came up Commissioner Keman 
 asked why the General Managers Association de- 
 clined to receive it. 
 
 Mr. St. John: "Because we considered such 
 an organization unworthy of consideration." 
 
 Commissioner Kernan: "Were you determ- 
 ined not to recognize any union? " 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 257 
 
 Mr. St. John : "Not exactly, but the American 
 Railway Union least of all." 
 
 Commissioner Keman : "Were not the roads 
 united sympathetically? Now what had the 
 Lake Shore road to do with the Rock Island 
 road?" 
 
 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 Keman: "No, I am not on the 
 stand. I may be some day and then you can ques- 
 tion me." 
 
 Mr. St. John: "When a neighbor's house 
 bums we all unite to fight the blaze. When an as- 
 sault 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, con- 
 taining the scale of wages and rules of employ- 
 ment of all classes of railw^ay employes on the 
 roads represented in the General Managers' Associ- 
 ation. When questioned by Commissioner Keman 
 he admitted that a committee had been appointed 
 
258 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 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 ad- 
 mitted, 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 Pull- 
 man 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 author-^ 
 ized to Incur any expense to secure force to crush 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 259 
 
 the strike, but was not authorized to do anything 
 to settle it peaceably. Of his connection with the 
 General Managers' Association he said thathewas 
 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 offi- 
 cial to select the men they wanted to act as dep- 
 uty marsh alls 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 rail- 
 road employes ? That is, would an engineer, for 
 instance, while wearing a star showing his author- 
 ity, run an engine for the road ? " 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "I believe they did that. They 
 were sworn in as deputy marshals to give them a 
 chance to protect themselves." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "By whom 
 
260 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 were the deputy marshals to be paid or by whom 
 will they be paid?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "Each road is supposed to pay 
 its own men." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington : * What do you 
 know of any efforts made by the officers of the 
 American Railway Union or the city officials to 
 settle the strike amicably? " 
 
 Mr. Egan: "A party named McGillen, Alder- 
 man McGillen, I think, told me that Howard 
 and Debs wanted a conference with me about 
 settling the strike. I told him I had no authority 
 to confer with them." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "Did you not 
 have authority to talk with them and find out 
 what they wanted or could do, without making 
 any agreement with them? " 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "Not with those parties — I did 
 not think I had. A few days later I found the mayor 
 and Mr. McGillen in the office of the General Man- 
 agers' Association. They said they had come with a 
 letter from Debs, Howard and Kelliher. I told the 
 mayor he ought not to make a messenger boy of 
 himself for these parties of the American Railway 
 Union. Later I was given the document to give 
 to the mayor. He was at Kensington, so I left it 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 261 
 
 with the chief of police, and wrote a letter telling 
 him I could not receive the letter he had 
 brought." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington : "Were any 
 other overtures of settlement made to you?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan : " That's all I know of any over- 
 tures." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "Was there 
 anything insulting or offensive in the language of 
 the letter the mayor brought you that made you 
 refuse to receive it ? " 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "The letter was published that 
 evening and next morning and speaks for itself." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington : "I am asking 
 you how you regarded it. Did you consider that 
 there was anything insulting or offensive in the 
 letter?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan: '^. considered that any parties 
 that had fought railroads as they had and been 
 beaten as I believe they have been had lots of 
 cheek to dictate the terms of their surrender." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "You do not 
 answer my question. Were there not soldiers, U. 
 S. marshals, deputy sheriffs and policemen engaged 
 in guarding the railroads, and were you not hind- 
 ered in the operation of the roads ? " 
 
262 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Egan: "Yes." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington : "Now was not 
 the letter courteously composed and looking to a 
 settlement of the difficulty? " 
 
 Mr. Eagan : We didn't need a settlement — we 
 had 'em already." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "The soldiers, 
 marshals, sheriffs and police remained on duty 
 sometime after that — didn't they?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "Yes, we needed the soldiers to 
 protect our property." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington : " If a settlement 
 could have been reached at that time between the 
 railroads and the strikers, couldn't the soldiers 
 and marshals have been dismissed. They wouldn't 
 have been needed after an amicable settlement 
 had been reached, would they ? " 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "It was their intention not to 
 recognize the American Railway Union." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington : "Then it is true 
 is it that the reason this communication was not 
 received was not because it was not courteously 
 worded or because it was discourteous or insult- 
 ing but because the General Managers would not 
 recognize the American Railway Union? " 
 
 Mr. Eagan : "Well, that's as I understood it." 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 263 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: ''What would 
 have been out of the way in your talking with 
 Debs and Howard when they asked a conference 
 with you?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan : "I didn't have any authority to 
 talk to them." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "Then your 
 authority extended to this. You had authority 
 to contract at the expense of the railroad for all 
 the force necessary to crush the strike but had no 
 authority to settle it by peaceful means? " 
 
 Mr. Eagan, "Well, yes. I suppose so." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "When you 
 rebuked the mayor did jou think it derogatory 
 to bear a respectful message looking to a peace- 
 ful settlement of the difficulty?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "I believed the American Rail- 
 way Union was whipped at that time." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington: "It was then 
 the condition and not the character of the men 
 that signed the document that made you refuse 
 to receive it?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan : "We believed we had the strike 
 won." 
 
 Commissioner Worthington : "Did you ever 
 
264 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 try to use anything but force to settle the diffi- 
 culty?" 
 
 Mr. Eagan: "None, except to the different 
 parties that came to see me, men that I knew 
 personally had quit work. I told them to go 
 back to work." In regard to violence Mr. 
 Eagan knew nothing about it personally, but 
 assumed that the strikers did it. 
 
 Superintendent Dunlap, of the Rock Island, 
 was asked if he recognized any of the ex- 
 employes among the rioters, and said that he 
 did not know many of the men but was sure 
 that they were present. He was also asked by 
 Mr. Wright if he knew one John T. Norton to 
 which he answered no. 
 
 Superintendent of Police, Michael Brennan, 
 was next examined. He testified that but a 
 small per cent of the rioting was done by strikers. 
 
 John T. Norton, a locomotive engineer, was 
 next called to the stand and testified that he was 
 employed on the Illinois Central road prior to 
 the strike, and had since obtained a position on 
 the Calumet & Blue Island. 
 
 This line uses the Rock Island track to Joliet. 
 He said that he passed an examination on 
 the C. & B. I. and also on the Rock Island. He 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT, 265 
 
 had made one trip when informed that the Rock 
 Island road had barred him and would not 
 allow him to run over any part of their line. He 
 consulted a lawyer and was told to see Superin- 
 tendent Dunlap. He called on him in company 
 with a friend named Fraser. He asked Mr. Dun- 
 lap if he was barred off the Rock Island, who 
 said yes, and he then saw that he was black- 
 listed. 
 
 Mr. Kernan : "Do you call that evidence of a 
 blacklist?" 
 
 Mr. Norton: "I do. After getting a letter 
 from Superintendent Conlin I was ban-ed out by 
 Superintendent Dunlap who has just sworn he 
 did not know me." 
 
 Mr. Kernan : " Can you produce Mr. Fraser. 
 We w^ould like to hear his testimony? " 
 
 Mr. Norton: "I will." 
 
 Mr. Kernan: "Were you concerned in any 
 violence during the strike? " 
 
 Mr. Norton: "No," 
 
 Mr. Kernan: "Are you an officer of the 
 American Railway Union ? " 
 
 Mr, Norton: "Yes. I am president of local 
 union No. 193." 
 
 Mr. Gompers of the American Federation of 
 
266 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Labor was next examined but refused to be 
 sworn. Mr. Gompers went into the labor ques- 
 tion in a general way. In reference to strikes, he 
 said that so long as the present industrial and 
 commercial systems last, so long will strikes 
 continue. 
 
 George M. Pullman, president of the Pullman 
 company, was now before the commissioners. He 
 submitted a lenghty statement in relation to the 
 town of Pullman, and under examination he 
 told of the increase of the Palace Car company 
 from $1,000,000 to $36,000,000 and the accumu- 
 lation of a cash surplus of $25,000,000. When 
 questioned concerning the grievance of the em- 
 ployes, he was not so well posted. When asked 
 by Mr. wright if it was the practice of the com- 
 pany to reduce wages from time to time, he 
 said: 
 
 "lam not familiar with the details of the 
 manufacturing department and must refer you to 
 the second vice-president." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Did you ever express 
 any unwillingness to arbitrate? " 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "I did express unwillingness 
 and refer you to my published statements. I was 
 aware of the losses of the company in paying the 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 267 
 
 wages it did when contract prices were so low, 
 and I knew it was impossible for the company to 
 pay a higher scale. It was a question whether 
 the shops should be closed, or secure work at a 
 low figure. It was the principle involved in 
 letting a third party determine how the company 
 should transact its business." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "But you paid the usual 
 dividend of eight per cent last year? " 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "Yes. But the profit during 
 the World's Fair helped out the amount." 
 
 Mr, Worthington: "Now don't j'ou think 
 that the Pullman corporation which paid a 
 dividend of $2,800,000 for the year just ended 
 should have borne with the employes and shared 
 its profits to some extent ? " 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "I don't see why we should 
 take the money from the stockholders to pay a 
 set of men higher wages because the manufac- 
 turing business paid well, to pay this money to 
 men working at Pullman when the employes at 
 Ludlow, Wilmington and St. Louis had no com- 
 plaint to make. The efforts of the American 
 Railway Union to call a strike there was a 
 failure." 
 
268 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Wortliington : "Has the Pullman Com- 
 pany ever voluntarily raised wages ? " 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "No; but it always has paid 
 fair wages." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Now, Mr. Pullman, 
 when you see the present unrest of labor, and the 
 possible consequences, what objection had you to 
 distributing a portion of the profits or increasing 
 wages a little?" 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "The reason is embodied in my 
 statement, it is a matter of opinion, and then 
 there is the principle involved. It is impossible 
 under the circumstances." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Impossible, what is im- 
 possible? Could not arbitration determine the 
 principle involved?" 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "As president of the company 
 I do not care to give any other." 
 
 Mr. Worthington then introduced a lease used 
 between the company and its tenants. This pro- 
 vided that the tenants should make all repairs to 
 plumbing, water pipes, gas, etc., and to surrender 
 premises in good repair. When such repairs were 
 made by the company, the amount was deducted 
 from their salaries, 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 269 
 
 Mr. Worthington : " Now, the company does 
 not make anj^ repairs, does it ? " 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "The company repairs the 
 roofs or outside of the houses, I am not familiar 
 with the details." 
 
 Mr. Worthington : " But by the lease the ten- 
 ants are bound to make all the repairs, it is stip- 
 ulated that the tenant shall repay the company 
 for all repairs made." 
 
 Air. Pullman: "I will have to refer you to 
 some official of the company." (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "The rent is deducted 
 monthly, is it not ? " 
 
 Mr. Pullman: ' ' I am unable myself to identify- 
 that lease you handed me." 
 
 Mr. Pullman concluded with the statement 
 that the company declined to employ any member 
 of the American Railway Union. 
 
 Mr. Worthington again asked if the company 
 could not afford to pay an increased scale of wages 
 and this Mr. Pullman refused. 
 
 Mr. Kernan: " When the general cut in sal- 
 aries was made, was your salary reduced ? " 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "No." (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Kernan : " That of officials, superintend- 
 ents or foremen?" 
 
270 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Pullman: "No." 
 
 Mr. Wickes then took the stand. His evi- 
 dence—which in main was documentary — em- 
 braced every detail of the strike. He admitted 
 having promised members of the grievance com- 
 mittee that they would not be discharged, and 
 said the agreement had not been broken by him. 
 From statistics presented by Mr. Wickes, he 
 claimed that the average rate of wages paid for 
 the year ending in April, 1893, was $2.63 per day 
 and for the same succeeding period $2.03, which 
 fact, he said, disproved of statements made by 
 strikers. 
 
 In the case of Miss Jennie Curtis the books 
 showed that her father had owed but $17.00 
 at the time of his death, which sum had never 
 been repaid the company. 
 
 Blacklisting, he said, had never been practiced 
 by the Pullman Company, although the foreman 
 kept a list of discharged men. He also said that 
 the company had been losing $500 per month 
 by furnishing water. He said that the men 
 were advised by Mr. Howard not to strike. 
 
 Referring to rent and wages, he did not con- 
 sider that there was any connection between 
 them. He said: "We paid the market price for 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 271 
 
 labor and we asked the market price for houses." 
 He contended that wages were regulated by the 
 law of supply and demand. We go into the 
 market to buy labor, as we go into the market 
 to buy other things. If a manufacturer by 
 reason of improved machinery, of special facil- 
 ities, or greater ability in securing supplies or 
 disposing of products, or by more effective hand- 
 hng of men, should be making larger profits than 
 his competitors and should increase wages, he 
 would deprive himself of all the benefits of these 
 advantages which are his and to which his em- 
 ployes do not contribute, and would make no 
 more than the manufacturer who conducted his 
 business in a shiftless manner or without ability, 
 energy or enterprise. 
 
 Mr. Wickes concluded his testimony, and In- 
 spector Nicholas Hunt was called. 
 
 He testified that from June 27th, or the time 
 his force was first called to protect railroad 
 property at various points, up to July 3d, there 
 had been no serious difficulty. When asked by 
 Mr. Worthington if he had seen raiload men 
 take part in the destruction of property. He 
 replied ; 
 
272 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 "I have not seen one railroad man inter- 
 fere in any "\;vaj." 
 
 A. J. Sullivan, general manager of tlie Illinois 
 Central, was next to testify. 
 
 He went into details concerning the trouble 
 on his road. He was certain that the acts of 
 violence were committed by the strikers although 
 he did not witness it personally. 
 
 H. R. Saunders, general yard-master for the 
 Rock Island, testified for the company in relation 
 to the way the strike was ordered on the Rock 
 Island. He charged that Mr. Howard, vic-presi- 
 dent of the American Railway Union, with using 
 abusive and violent language. Epethets applied 
 to Pullman and the expression, "if scabs take 
 your places kill them with a coupling pin," was 
 declared to have been used. 
 
 W. D. Fuller, agent for the Rock Island 
 road at Blue Island, testified that he was pres- 
 ent, and thought Mr. Howard's speech was 
 very violent, he applied epethets to Pullman, 
 thought he ought to be hanged, and that he 
 ( Howard ) would like to head a crowd to 
 do it. 
 
 L. A. Camp, a yardmaster for the Rock 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 273 
 
 Island, was also at the meeting and heard no 
 violent language used. 
 
 G. D. Cruelly also a yardmaster for the same 
 road, thought the strike at Blue Island was due 
 to Air. Howard and Mr. Debs. Mr. Howard in 
 particular and Mr. Debs incidentally. Mr. How 
 ard was violent and abusive in his language- 
 The witness is a member of the Order of Rail- 
 way conductors but not of the American Rail- 
 way Union. 
 
 Fred Baumbach testified to hearing both 
 Debs and Howard speak, but did not remember 
 of hearing either one of them using violent 
 language. 
 
 Otto Moriling, a taylor, testified to being 
 present. He did not hear any violent language 
 used except that Mr. Howard applied an epithet 
 to Pullman, 
 
 James Simmons also heard Howard speak, 
 but did not hear him counsel violence. 
 
 Alexander Quasso said he was present when 
 Howard spoke but heard no violence counseled 
 except some reference by Mr. Howard to the 
 justice of hanging Pullman. 
 
 Vice President Howard now took the stand 
 
274 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 and testified regarding his speech at Blue Island. 
 He said: 
 
 "I want to begin by saying that among rail- 
 road men particularly trainmen, it has been a 
 constant habit and practice and has been for 
 years, to use a certain class of expressions which 
 literally are very offensive in the lightest and 
 most ordinary way, and without meaning any- 
 thing in particular about them . Every old railroad 
 man can bear me out in this. A railroad man 
 will address his best friend with a most offensive 
 epithet uttered in a most cordial way and in- 
 tended to express cordiality, so that the term I 
 applied to Pullman, has among railroad men a 
 technical meaning, very broad it is true and ex- 
 pressing according to the circumstances very 
 different sentiments. But its use is so common 
 and I may say usual, that it has altogether 
 lost the meaning it has, among others than rail- 
 road men. 
 
 "I was telling them the condition of things 
 at Pullman. I told them of incidents that have 
 been testified to before this commission. I was 
 trying to array them against Pullman. I used 
 the language of railroad men and I applied tq 
 Mr. Pullman the epithet I am charged witl^ 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 275 
 
 using. But I used it in the railroad sense. I 
 said he ought to be hung, that is another rail- 
 road expression. 
 
 *'I did not say that I would like to take 
 part in the hanging or lead a part\^ to hang him. 
 As to the coupling pin expression, what I said 
 at Blue Island, I have said at hundreds of other 
 places, it was this I told them, it was often said 
 that capital would always defeat labor. I denied 
 this. I said that capital could only whip labor 
 when it could divide it, and make labor defeat 
 itself. That in the last few years a wave of re- 
 ligious intolerence had swept over this country, 
 and the representatives of the railroads had 
 taken advantage of it as a means of dividing 
 labor. I gave instances where some emissary of 
 the railroads would come in, and going to the 
 protestant members, instill distrust in their minds 
 of the Roman Catholic members, and then going 
 to the Roman Catholics anl creating distrust 
 of the Protestants. I urged them not to allow 
 themselves to be divided in the labor movement 
 by questions of religious differences, and I said 
 that if any of those sleuths, and I may have said 
 sleuths of hell, come into this movement to ar- 
 ray you against each other in a question of re- 
 
276 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 ligion, 1 hope some one will have the nerve to hit 
 him on the head with a round end coupling pin 
 and send him to his last long sleep. 
 
 "I said nothing about injuring men who came 
 to take their places. I told them if they struck, 
 to put on their good clothes and keep away from 
 the railroad property. If the railroads could get 
 men to run their roads, let them, but if the men 
 stood together, were united, the roads couldn't 
 get men and would have to yield. 
 
 "Far from advising violence, I have always 
 advised against it. I have some questions I 
 would like the commission to put to the general 
 managers, either here, or in Washington. They 
 are these : 
 
 "1st. Were not the general managers whip- 
 ped on July 5, before there had been any violence 
 to array public opinion against the strikers, and 
 before the troops were here and by their presence 
 provoked violence? 
 
 "2d. Did your company have a contract 
 with the government to carry the mails? 
 
 "3d. Was the contract dependent upon your 
 ability to carry Pullmans? 
 
 "4th. Did your contract with the Pullman 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 277 
 
 Company require you to refuse to transport mail 
 if you left the Pullmans off? 
 
 **5th. Did the strikers interfere to prevent 
 carrying of the mails if you left the Pullmans 
 off? 
 
 "6th. Could you not have carried mails, if 
 you did not insist in hauling Pullmans ? 
 
 "7th. Was your contract with the govern- 
 ment less binding on you than your contract 
 with the Pullman Company, or was either de- 
 pendent on the other?" 
 
 Mr. Kernan had no objection to the questions 
 being put to the general managers, but did not 
 think, under the circumstances, the commission 
 could prolong its sitting in order to ask them. 
 
 Mayor John P. Hopkins \vas then called 
 and cordially shook hands with the commis- 
 sioners before taking the witness chair. His ex- 
 amination was conducted by Judge Worthington 
 as follows: 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "As mayor of the city 
 and the actual head of the police department, 
 please state the general conduct of the police force 
 during the strike and the conditions attenting 
 the strike." 
 
 Mr. Hopkins : " The evening of June 25, Mr. 
 
278 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTf . 
 
 EUswortli, who claimed to represent the difiei'- 
 ent railroads, called on me and said he under- 
 stood a boycott was to be enforced on all roads 
 hauling Pullman cars. He said he understood I 
 was going to Sprinfield that night and wished 
 me to give instructions to the chief of police and 
 arrange for the protection of the roads. So far 
 as I know, the police did all the work required 
 of them, and I have ample assurance of that fact 
 from railway officials. 
 
 "This condition existed until July 5. That 
 morning Mr. Wright of the Rock Island called at 
 my office and claimed that riotous mobs were in- 
 terfering with the operation of trains, overturn- 
 ing cars, etc. I went with him to the office of 
 Mr. Cable of the Rock Island road, where we dis- 
 cussed the matter. Mr. Cable said he thought 
 the police were not doing their duty, but from 
 the information I had received, I was confident 
 that such was not the case. I then suggested 
 that Mr. Cable go with me to the scene of the 
 alleged trouble, but he said that he did not 
 think it safe to do so. I proposed the same plan 
 to Mr. Wright, but he made the same objection. 
 I then saw the corporation counsel and sug- 
 gested the same plan, which he accepted. A 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 279 
 
 switch engine was secured and we went. A 
 crowd of probably 3,000 or 3,500 persons, 
 mostly women and children, had assembled at 
 that point. On the tracks at Thirty-seventh 
 street four trains were standing, and just north 
 of them an empty freight car was lying across 
 the tracks. Half an hour after we arrived, a 
 wrecking crew, accompanied by young Newell, 
 Attorney Wright, and other officials came up, 
 and they started to take the car off the track. 
 On going down we had found the tracks entirely 
 unobstructed, but on going back found ten or 
 fifteen overturned cars. I thought the police did 
 all the}' could to prevent such an occurrence. I 
 stayed about two hours, when I came back 
 and issued the proclamation to the people which 
 was published. I also instructed the chief of 
 police to suspend all officers who had been 
 stationed at the crossings where the cars were 
 overturned. 
 
 ' ' That night I wired the governor at Spring- 
 field, that the militia, which had been preparing 
 to go into camp there, had better be retained 
 in the city, as it might be advisable to call out 
 the troops within twenty-four hours. The same 
 night about 10:30, I was at the Hyde Park 
 
280 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 police station when I heard that the "Diamond 
 Special" had been stopped at Kensington and 
 that large crowds had congregated there. In- 
 spector Hunt sent re-inforcements to that point, 
 and when I retired ever3rthing seemed quiet. 
 Friday morning, July 6, which was the first time 
 the railroads had intimated that the protection 
 afforded them was inadequate, I heard from 
 Kensington that there was trouble in the Rock 
 Island and Chicago & Eastern Illinois roads. I 
 then called on the governor for five regiments of 
 the state militia. Saturday, at 3:30 p. m., some 
 trouble occurred at Forty-seventh and Loomis 
 streets, where a mob had collected. The state 
 troops fired and killed one man, two others dy- 
 ing afterward. There was no trouble after that, 
 so far as I know." 
 
 Mayor Hopkins then read a number of com- 
 munications from railway officials expressing 
 satisfaction in regard to the perfect protection 
 afforded by the police during the strike. Among 
 these were letters from President Marvin Hugh- 
 itt of the North-western, General Superintendent 
 Sullivan of the Illinois Central, President Thomas 
 of the Chicago & "Western Indiana, and others. 
 Several officers who were deemed worthy of pro- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 281 
 
 motion for their good services at critical times 
 were mentioned in a letter from a Santa Fe offi- 
 cial. The mayor then continued his testimony 
 as follows: 
 
 "So far as the management of the police was 
 concerned I think it was excellent. I wish to 
 state that the Blue Island police are governed by 
 the officials of that town. The word police has 
 been referred to indiscriminateh^ in the testimony, 
 leaving the impression that Blue Island was under 
 the jurisdiction of the city. 
 
 ** There was very little resistance to the po- 
 lice. The strikers treated me all right, and the 
 crowds seemed good-natured. There was some 
 resistence to the police, I believe, on the night of 
 July 7, at Ashland avenue and the Northwestern 
 tracks. The police fired and killed a woman on 
 the roof of a house in the neighborhood." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "How manj^ were killed 
 in all or who have since died in consequence of 
 injuries received ? " 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "About seven, I thmk ii» Chi- 
 cago. Three at Forty-seventh and Loomis streets, 
 one at Kensington, the woman just mentioned, 
 and I think two others." 
 
!28^ THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 Mr. Worthington : "Please state about the 
 militia engaged during the strike." 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "I will read my copy of the 
 telegram to the govemoi to which I referred. 
 The next day I again telegraphed the governor 
 suggesting that five regiments be placed at the 
 disposal of the city. In one half hour I received 
 an answer stating that the militia had been 
 ordered to report. There was virtually the entire 
 militia of the state in service, probably 2,000 
 men. The last detachment went home Au- 
 gust 6." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "You have stated that 
 you gave orders to suspend officers at certain 
 crossings. Why was that?" 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "The officers complained that 
 people jumped over the fences and that they could 
 not prevent them. The Rock Island road is pro- 
 tected on each side of the right-of-way by low 
 fences, and empty freight cars were standing for 
 many blocks on the side track next the fence. 
 The. people who lived near the tracks could easily 
 jump the fence unseen and tip the cars over. I 
 ordered the men suspended for the general effect 
 it would have on the force." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "I would like to ask a 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 283 
 
 general question. As mayor of the city, do you 
 think the police, or a jDortion of them, either 
 directly or indirectly, took a part in promoting 
 the strike in any way?" 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "I would not deny that some 
 of the men had sympathy wnth the strikers. 
 I am in sympathy m^'self with the Pullman 
 strikers." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "But do you think the 
 police did their duty?" 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "Yes, sir. Several times Mr. 
 Eagan telephoned that trouble was occurring at 
 some point. When officers would investigate 
 thc}^ would find no trouble at all. There are 2,100 
 miles of railway in the city limits; there are 
 1,360 trains dail}-, 160 railroad crossings, and 
 3,000 surface railroad crossings. The police force 
 for this year is scheduled at 1,928 patrolmen. 
 There are 186 square miles of territory in the 
 cit}" and you can readily see that every point 
 could not be covered at once. The amount ot 
 violence was not very great. In Pullman not 
 one pane of glass was broken in the three 
 months of the strike. I live in Pullman my- 
 self." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "You may state w^hether 
 
284 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT, 
 
 at any time you advised the American Railway 
 Union or its members to strike?" 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "No, sir." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Did the General Man- 
 ager's Association either during or since the 
 strike request the city to arrest any individual 
 strikers or suggest such arrest?" 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "No, sir; I think that Pres- 
 ident Newell swore out a warrant for a man 
 named Hall, but the information was furnished 
 by the city." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Has the American Rail- 
 way Union brought in any information of this 
 character?" 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "Yes, sir; in the case of Hall, 
 who was charged with turning over cars; also 
 in other cases, which upon investigation we con- 
 cluded not to take up." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "Then the disposition of 
 the American Railway Union appears to have 
 been to assist the city?" 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "Yes, sir." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "During or before the 
 strike were there any overtures made in regard 
 to arbitration ? ' ' 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "I met Mr. Pullman at lunch 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 285 
 
 in the Chicago club one day and he told me of 
 a meeting his employes had held. Then July 3, 
 there was a further talk about protecting the 
 works on the following day when trouble might 
 be expected. There was some talk about a set- 
 tlement, but the company seemed to regard the 
 strikers as law breakers. Then a committe of 
 the council was appointed, and word sent to Mr. 
 Eagan, but he said he couldn't come. Then the 
 committee called at Mr. Pullman's office to dis- 
 cuss the question of arbitration— or if there was 
 anything to arbitrate. The answer received there 
 was that the company refused to arbitrate. 
 July 11, I received a telegram from Mayor Pin- 
 gree of Detroit, asking if I would act with him 
 in endeavoring to settle the strike. He had com- 
 munications from fifty other mayors giving their 
 views on the question. We saw Mr. Wickes, Mr. 
 Runnels and Mr. Brown, and had a long interview. 
 Mayor Pingree took the point that arbitration 
 should be tested, and made a strong argument. 
 He is a member of a shoe manufacturing firm 
 and related his own experience in a strike of nine 
 months' duration. Mr. Wickes, Mr. Runnels and 
 Mr. Brown withdrew and prepared a statement 
 giving the position of the company and declining 
 
286 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 the proposition. On July 13, Mr. Debs, Mr. How- 
 ard, and Mr. Kelliher prepared a communication 
 to the railway managers offering to settle the 
 strike if the railroads would re-instate the men 
 as individuals or such men as had committed no 
 overt acts. With Mr. McGillen I went over with 
 the document to Mr. St. John. What occurred 
 there has heen published. Now, while I thnik of 
 it, I want to say that the statement published 
 in some papers that Mr. St. John told me I 
 should not act as a messenger boy for the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union is false. I deny most em- 
 phatically that Mr. St. John used those words I 
 should not have allowed it. This was the last 
 action on my part to bring about a settlement. 
 
 "It has been said that I protested against 
 the presence of the federal troops in the city. I 
 do say that the railways had never complained 
 that the civil authorities were unable to protect 
 the roads. I have never protested against the 
 federal troops and think they did some good." 
 
 Mr. Worthington: "It has been stated in 
 the press that you applied to Mr. Debs to move 
 trains." 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "That is not true. A man 
 named Brenock has a contract with the city to 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 287 
 
 remove dead an:mals, the place where they are 
 rendered being over the Indiana state Une. He 
 called upon me and said that there was a train 
 load of dead animals at the stock yards which 
 could not be pulled out; the men had quit work. 
 I said I thought a voltneeer crew of trainmen 
 could be procured which would do the work. I 
 sent my secretary to the American Railway 
 Union with that request. A crew went down to 
 the yards and manned the train. When it pro- 
 ceeded some distance it was discovered that a 
 train load of dressed beef had been substituted 
 and the train crew abandoned the cars. The 
 dead animals then remained where they were for 
 several days." 
 
 Mr. Kernan: "Then this action was simply 
 a plan to guard the public health ? " 
 
 Mr. Hopkins: "Yes, sir; simply to remove 
 the dead animals from the city limits." 
 
 At the conclusion of Mayor Hopkins' testi- 
 mony, President Carroll D. Wright arose and de- 
 clared the commission formally adjourned until 
 Wednesday, Sept. 26, at Washington, D. C. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ALTGELD INYESTIGATES PULLMAN. 
 
 In response to a piteous appeal for help 
 from a committee of Pullman strikers, John P,. 
 Altgeld, governor of Illinois, came in person to 
 the town of Pullman and made an investigation 
 of the condition of the people in order to satisfy 
 himself regarding their complaints of suffering and 
 destitution. After only a partial investigation 
 the governor returned to his hotel satisfied with 
 the correctness of the reports. 
 
 He said the starvation at Pullman was as bad 
 if not worse than had been reported by the 
 Times that 1,600 families in Pullman and vicinity 
 were starving. 
 
 "Not only starving," said the governor, 
 "but they are without fuel and in rags. They 
 must not starve and I will remain in Pullman 
 until some means can be devised for their relief. 
 
 "I went to Pullman in response to an invi- 
 tation by the strikers' committee, and found 
 matters even worse than represented. I visited 
 
 288 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 289 
 
 their homes and went through every room in 
 some of their houses. Two representatives of 
 the Pullman company who accompanied me, 
 admitted that the houses visited were a fair 
 representation of every house occupied by the 
 strikers' families. Their condition is pitiful, 
 there are families numbering from two to eight 
 members and I tell you they are slowly starving 
 to death. The little ones are crying with hun- 
 ger and there is nothing in the house to eat. 
 Something for their relief must be done immedi- 
 ately. I have thought of several measures, but 
 as yet have arrived at no conclusion. For sev- 
 eral months the people may have to be cared for, 
 and it is well to go slow v^hen one is treading 
 in deep water. I suppose I will be abused no 
 matter w^hat steps I take, but I don't care a 
 blank, as these people will not starve if I can 
 prevent it, and I shall see that I do prevent it." 
 
 The governor declined to say anything in 
 relation to the cause which created the present 
 condition at Pullman. He said it was enough 
 to know that women and children were crying 
 with hunger, it was time enough to talk about 
 the causes later. 
 
 Upon the governor's arrival at Pullman, a 
 
 19 
 
290 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 big man with gray whiskers and a lordly air rushed 
 forward and presented his card to his excellency. 
 He was August Rapp, chief designer of the com- 
 pany and formerly superintendant of the works. 
 With him was Chief Wilde, Pullman's head ac- 
 countant, whom he presented. It was evident 
 that the governor did not wish to see the Pull- 
 man official. 
 
 "Where are the members of the committee 
 that sent for me?" he demanded. "I want to 
 see the men." Somewhat abashed Messrs. Wilde 
 and Rapp stepped backward and three or four 
 mechanics came forward. There was Thos, W. 
 Heathcoat, G. A. Kreamer, Theo. Rhode and 
 two or three members of the relief committee. 
 "I want to see what you men have to show 
 me," said the governor. 
 
 They repaired at once to the tenements on 
 Fulton street, where the first stop was made at 
 No. 124, occupied by Mrs. O'Halleron. A blind 
 widow was found occupying four small rooms on 
 the first floor. She told the governor that she had 
 two sons aged nineteen and fourteen respectively 
 and a daughter aged twenty. All three had 
 worked for Pullman but were now idle. They 
 had applied for work but were told there was 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 291 
 
 no work for them. One of the boys had been a 
 brass polisher and the younger son and the 
 daughter had worked in the laundry. They had 
 lived in the town seven years. There was no 
 coal in the house, they had a little food, given 
 them by the relief committee, but they could not 
 support themselves and said there was no one to 
 look after their condition. 
 
 "Have the Pullman people sent any one to 
 see you? " 
 
 "They have not," replied the blind woman. 
 
 She said they paid $12.60 for the four rooms. 
 One of her sons had drawn $1.60 and the other 
 96 cents per day. 
 
 "Good luck to you, sir," she said as the 
 governor walked away with his teeth set firmly 
 together. 
 
 F. H. Taylor, superintendent of the Pullman 
 company, had now joined the party taking the 
 place of Accountant Wilde. Mr. Rapp pressed 
 his way in everywhere though paying no atten- 
 tion to the audible slurs of the people about 
 him. 
 
 Block B, across the way on Fulton street 
 was next visited. The manner of Gov. Altgeld 
 was kindly and he introduced himself in a pleas- 
 
292 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 ant way, asking questions in a manner calcu- 
 lated to inspire confidence. 
 
 There were six families in Block B, some of 
 the tenants had gone back to work. A poor 
 woman in No. 3 said her husband was not work- 
 ing, he had been in Pullman for six years and had 
 asked to return to work, but was told there 
 was nothing for him to do, the shop was full. 
 She had three little children but little to eat, 
 only a bit of flour, coffee and tea from the relief 
 store left. 
 
 In Block S, room 7, was John Carlson, a 
 cabinet maker who had worked in Pullman for 
 seven years and could not get his position back 
 He had nothing in the house to eat. 
 
 "Have YOU eaten to-day?" asked the gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 "I had some bread and coffee from a neigh- 
 bor," said the man. "My wife is sick and I 
 divided with her, we havn't a thing in the house 
 now. 
 
 Theo. Ericson, of 301 Fulton street, had six 
 in family. He said he could not get work and 
 the money he had saved before the strike was 
 all gone. The relief committee had given a little 
 food. 
 
1?HE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 293 
 
 "How many in Pullman," said the governor, 
 "are in the same fix, whom you know of? " 
 
 "Lots of men, sir, I know of half a dozen in 
 my neighborhood," answered the man. 
 
 Olaf Olson had worked in the street car shops 
 and was now idle. He had six children and his 
 wife to care for, they have nothing to eat, and 
 he could get nothing from the relief committee 
 as their supplies were exhausted. 
 
 Otto Wullf, of room 22, Block F, also had 
 a wife and six children. He said that all he had in 
 the house to eat was two pounds of oat meal 
 from the relief store. As he told his story tears 
 rolled down the cheeks of the big bearded fellow 
 and the governor was visibly affected. His 
 wife was sick abed he said and a newspaper re- 
 porter dropped a quarter into his hand while 
 he used a handkerchief to remove the moisture 
 from his eyes. 
 
 The man stated that his wages had been 
 $1.30 per day, and his rent $9.60 per month for 
 four small rooms. 
 
 Peter Anderson, of Kensington, said he had 
 worked in the repair shop but could not get 
 ■work now as the shop was filled, or at least so 
 he was told when he applied. 
 
294 THE J'ULLMAN BOYCOTT, 
 
 He had five children and not enough to eat. 
 He had borrowed a dollar with which to buy a 
 sack of flour. This was all he had. 
 
 Mr. Yanderwein had a wife and four child- 
 ren and could not get a position. He had no 
 money and only two pounds of oat meal, two 
 pounds of corn meal and a little flour left. 
 
 Here someone whispered to the governor and 
 the latter turned to Mr. Rapp and said : 
 
 "They tell me you are taking the names of 
 those who complain, with a view of keeping 
 them out of work? " 
 
 "That is not so, sir," said Rapp, coloring 
 deeply. 
 
 "And," said the governor, "they tell me you 
 are largely responsible for the reduction of the 
 wages?" 
 
 "That is not so, sir," persisted Mr. Rapp. 
 
 "Well, men," said the governor let him come 
 with us, this must not be a star chamber 
 aff"air." 
 
 A boy named Koopka spoke for his father 
 who did not understand English. 
 
 He was one of three children he said, and 
 they hadn't enough to eat. No relief could be 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 295 
 
 obtained now and every thing was gone but 
 a few potatoes. 
 
 Mrs. Nathan Booth stepped forward. She 
 said she had six children, all barefooted, the 
 oldest eleven years, and the youngest six months. 
 They had been two years in Pullman and her 
 husband had earned $1.30 per day. He had no 
 work now, and the only food was that given 
 them by the wife of the Methodist minister. 
 
 Andrew Schelly said he had worked for the 
 Pullman companj^ twelve years but could get 
 no work now, and his family had nothing to 
 eat. He had borrowed a pair of shoes in which 
 he could seek work. 
 
 A. Bergstrom for seven years in Pullman 
 said he could not get his old position. He had 
 five children, the eldest ten years, and they had 
 no money, no food, no trust. 
 
 Frank Mass had been three years in Pullman, 
 had three children and nothing to eat. 
 
 The wife of Pat Mullen, of Block E, room 1, 
 appeared with a child in her arms and a toddler 
 at her skirts. 
 
 They had been in Pullman twelve years and 
 and had four other children. Her husband could 
 not get back to work because he was on the 
 
296 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 strike committee. She did not know where the 
 next meal was to come from. 
 
 Though wretchedly poor these people were 
 clean and neat. They are all of the better class 
 of laboring people. 
 
 John Cedarland sat at a table and stared sto- 
 lidly at the visitors, while his wife with a baby 
 at her breast and two at her heels stood by. A 
 neighbor who had given them of her scanty 
 store, said the man was sick and the family 
 destitute. On Sunday she had given them a 
 piece of meat, and wood with which to cook 
 it. 
 
 A reporter slipped a quarter into her hand 
 and received a look worth $8.00. 
 
 Two of John Smith's collectors, out with 
 furniture bills as a matter of form, told the gov- 
 ernor that two-thirds of the old men were still 
 idle, and that the condition of these men was 
 deplorable. They had called at one place where 
 one of the children was celebrating its birthday 
 and all there was for the feast was bread and 
 onions. The collectors chipped in for a few 
 luxuries. 
 
 Mrs. Peter Camp appeared with two child- 
 ren and reported five more, and there were 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 297 
 
 scores of similar cases, all destitute and abso- 
 lutely without food. 
 
 On his way back to the city the governor 
 would say but little. 
 
 Mr. Wickes, vice president of the Pullman com- 
 pany called and was presented to his excellency in 
 due form. The object of his visit was to tender 
 his services as guide and escort. 
 
 This was declined. 
 
 Mr. Wickes expressed his regret that the 
 governor saw fit not to accept the offer. 
 
 As a result of Gov. Altgeld's investigation 
 he issued the following proclamation : 
 
 "To THE People of Illinois, and Especi- 
 ally Those of the City of Chicago: There 
 is great distress growing out of the want of 
 food in and around the town of Pullman. More 
 than a thousand families in the neighborhood 
 of 6,000 people, are utterly destitute. Nearly 
 four-fifths of them are women and children. 
 The men have endeavored to get work but were 
 unable to do so. I have made a personal ex- 
 amination of the case and learn from the offi- 
 cials of the Pullman company that prior to the 
 strike they had 3,260 names on the pay roll; 
 yesterday they had 2,220 people at work, but 
 
298 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 over 600 of these were new men, so that they 
 have only about 1,600 of their old employes at 
 work, leaving about 1,660 that have not been 
 taken back. Several hundreds of these have 
 left, but the remainder are unable to go away 
 and have nothing to eat. I find that immediatel}'- 
 after the beginning of the strike a relief associa- 
 tion was formed to provide for the needy, and 
 the books of this association show that 2,463 
 applications were made by the Pullman employes, 
 mostly heads of families, to this association for 
 aid. In fact, nearly all of the employes, except 
 the few hundred who left, have been supported 
 by charity for nearly three months. 
 
 "As a rule they are a superior class of 
 laboring people, industrious, capable, and steady 
 and some of them have worked for the Pullman 
 company for more than ten years. Those who 
 have been given work can get food, but are still 
 in such an impoverished condition that they 
 cannot help their neighbors if they would. The 
 relief society is unable to get more supplies. 
 Last Saturday it gave to each family two 
 pounds of oat meal and two pounds of corn 
 meal, and having nothing left it suspended oper- 
 ations, leaving the people in an absolutely help- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 299 
 
 less condition. The county commissioners of 
 Cook count}^ as overseers of the poor, have 
 rendered some assistance, but owing to limited 
 appropriation they can furnish relief but for a 
 short time. 
 
 "We cannot now stop to inquire into the 
 cause of this distress. The good people of this 
 state cannot allow women and children by the 
 hundred to perish of hunger. I therefore call 
 upon all humane and charitably disposed citizens 
 to contribute what they can toward giving 
 relief to these people. I am satisfied that any 
 contribution sent to the Pullman relief com- 
 mittee at Kensington, 111., will be judiciously dis- 
 tributed. I find their treasurer has given a bond 
 to properly account for all moneys received. 
 "John P. Altgeld. 
 "Aug. 21, 1894. Governor. 
 
 "To THE Honorable, the Board of 
 County Commissioners of Cook County — 
 Gentlemen : Your attention has already been 
 called to the great destitution that exists in and 
 around the town of Pullman and 3'ou have fur- 
 nished some relief there. I haA^e made a personal 
 investigation of the conditions there and find 
 the suffering is very great for want of food. I 
 
300 TfHE PULLMAN BOVCOf t. 
 
 respectiully appeal to you as the officers upon 
 whom devolves the duty of providing for cases 
 of this kind, that you do the uttermost in your 
 power to furnish immediate assistance to those 
 people. Very respectfully, 
 
 "John P. Altgeld. 
 "Aug. 21, 1894. Governor." 
 
 Before leaving Springfield to investigate the 
 condition at Pullman, Gov. Altgeld sent the fol- 
 lowing telegram to Mr. Pullman: 
 
 "Aug. 19, 1894. 
 "iGeorge M. Pullman, President of the Pullman's 
 Palace Car Company, Chicago, 111.: 
 *I have received numerous reports to the 
 effect that there is great distress at Pullman. 
 To-day I received a formal appeal as governor 
 from a committee of the Pullman people for aid. 
 They state that 1,600 families, including women 
 and children, are starving ; that they cannot get 
 work and have not the means to go elsewhere; that 
 your company has brought men from all over 
 the United States to fill their places. Now, these 
 people live in your town and were your em- 
 ployes. Some of them worked for your com- 
 pany for many years. They must be people of 
 industry and character or you would not have 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 301 
 
 kept them. Many of them have practically 
 given their lives to you. It is claimed that they 
 struck because after years of toil their wages 
 were so reduced that their children went hungr3^ 
 Assuming that they were wrong and foolish, 
 they had yet served j^ou long and well and you 
 must feel some interest in them. They do not 
 stand on the same footing with you, so that 
 much must be overlooked. The state of Illinois 
 has not the least desire to meddle in the affairs 
 of your company, but it cannot allow a whole 
 community within its borders to perish of hun- 
 ger. The local overseer of the poor has been 
 appealed to, but there is a limit to what he can 
 do. I cannot help them very much at present, 
 so unless relief comes from some other source I 
 shall either have to call an extra session of the 
 legislature to make special appropriation or else 
 issue an appeal to the humane people of the 
 state to give bread to your recent employes. It 
 seems to me that you would prefer to relieve the 
 situation j-ourself, especially as it has just cost 
 the state upward of $50,000 to protect your 
 property and as both the state and the public 
 have sufiered enormous loss and expense on ac- 
 count of distui-bances that grew out of the 
 
303 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 trouble between your company and its workmen. 
 I am going to Chicago to-night to make a per- 
 sonal investigation before taking any official 
 action. I will be in my office in the Unity block 
 at 10 A. M. to-morrow and shall be glad to hear 
 from you if you care to make any reply. 
 
 "John P, Altgeld." 
 The following letter was addressed to Mr. 
 Pullman by Gov. Altgeld. 
 
 " Chicago, IIJ., Aug. 21. 
 "George M. Pullman, President of the Pull- 
 man's Palace Car Company, Chicago. 
 "Sir: I examined the conditions at Pull- 
 man yesterday, visited even the kitchens and bed- 
 rooms of many of the people. Two representa- 
 tives of your company were with me and we 
 found the distress as great as it was represented. 
 The men are hungry and the women and child- 
 ren are actually suffering. They have been living 
 on charity for a number of months and it is ex- 
 hausted. Men -who have worked for your com- 
 pany for more than ten years had to apply to 
 the relief society in two weeks after the work 
 stopped. I learn from your manager that last 
 spring there were 3,260 people on the pay roll; 
 yesterday there were 2,220 at work, but over 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 303 
 
 600 of these are new men, so that only about 
 1,600 of the old employes have been taken back, 
 thus leaving over 1,000 of the old employes who 
 have not been taken back. A few hundred have 
 left. The remainder have nearly all applied for 
 work, but were told that they were not needed. 
 These are utterlj^ destitute. The relief committee 
 last Saturday gave out two pounds of oatmeal 
 and two pounds of cornmeal to each family, but 
 even the relief committee has exhausted its re- 
 sources. Something must be done at once. The 
 cavse differs from instances of destitution found 
 elsewhere, for generally there is somebody in the 
 neighborhood able to give relief. This is not 
 the case at Pullman. Even those who have gone 
 to work are so exhausted that they cannot help 
 their neighbors if they would. I repeat now 
 that it seems so me j^our company cannot afford 
 to have me appeal to the charity and humanity 
 of the state to saye the lives of your old em- 
 ployes. Four-fifths of those people are women 
 and children. No matter what caused this 
 distress it must be met. 
 
 "If you will allow me I will make this sug- 
 gestion : If you had shut down your w^orks last 
 fall when you say business w^as poor you 
 
304 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 would not have expected to get any rent from 
 your tenants. Now, while a dollar is a large 
 sum to each of these people all the rent now 
 due you is a comparatively small matter to you. 
 If you will cancel all rent to Oct. I, you will be 
 as well off as if you had shut down. This 
 would enable those at work to meet their most 
 pressing wants. Then if you cannot give work 
 to all, work some half time so that all can at 
 least get something to eat for their families. 
 This will give immediate relief to the whole sit- 
 uation and then by degrees assist as many to go 
 elsewhere as desire to do so and all to whom 
 you cannot give work. In this way something 
 like a normal condition could be re-established 
 at Pullman before winter and you would not be 
 out any more than you would have been had 
 you shut down a year ago. I will be at the 
 Unity block for several hours and will be glad to 
 see you if you care to make any reply. 
 
 "Yours respectfully, 
 "John P. Altgeld." 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 305 
 
 Mr. Pullman replied as follows: 
 
 "The Pullman's Palace Car Company, 
 "Office of the President 
 
 '•Chicago, III., Aug. 21, 1894. 
 "Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the 
 receipt of your letter of this date, giving your 
 impressions derived from your visit to the town 
 of Pullman yesterday. In pursuance of the in- 
 vitation contained in your telegram of the 19th 
 inst. I caused Mr. Wickes, a vice president of 
 this company, who is thoroughly acquainted 
 with its affairs at Pullman, to call upon you 
 and offer you every assistance in his power or 
 which could be offered by any officer of the com- 
 pany in making your proposed personal investi- 
 gation. Mr. Wickes offered to accompany you 
 to Pullman for this purpose, and I regret that 
 you did not appear to consider that he could 
 be of service to you. As an indication of the 
 importance of the aid of local knowledge in mak- 
 ing essential discriminations I may say to you 
 that I have the best reason for believing that 
 the husband of a wile who is published as repre- 
 senting her family to you yesterday as in need of 
 help, drew more than $1,300 of his savings from 
 
306 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 a bank July 2 last for the purpose as he said of 
 buying lots. 
 
 "While it has not been represented to the 
 officers of this company by any persons concerned 
 that there was any such extended distress at 
 Pullman, as was represented for the first time 
 by the extraordinary method of a published 
 telegram to you in your official capacity, I do 
 not doubt that there are many cases of need 
 caused by the refusal of the employes for more 
 than two and one-half months to earn offered 
 wages of more than $300,000; and that such 
 cases have been increased and made more severe 
 by the persistence of more than 650 of our 
 employes, of whom about 350 live in Pullman, 
 in refusing to apply for their old places after the 
 strike was practically over and after they were 
 publicly invited, July 16, to resume their work, 
 until by the gradual coming in of new men dur- 
 ing the whole month their places have been filled 
 and the full force engaged for all work in hand. 
 In addition to this there is, no doubt, need 
 among the old employes living in Pullman, a 
 considerable number of whom have persistently 
 refused to apply for work at all, many of them 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 307 
 
 it is understood, considering themselves to be 
 still engaged in a strike. 
 
 "I mention these things so that the responsi- 
 bility for the existing situation, whatever it is 
 may not be improperlj^ placed. The situation, 
 however, is one which must be dealt with without 
 regard to what has caused it, and I shall give it 
 the consideration which is due from the com- 
 pany. I do not, however, anticipate, as you 
 appear to do, that those emploj^es who have re- 
 sumed their work will be limited to the satisfac- 
 tion of their most pressing wants, and as to 
 those who are not at work the cancelling of their 
 rents is not, I venture to suggest, a question to 
 which attention should first be given at the pres- 
 ent juncture if their pressing needs are as j^ou 
 suppose them to be. The company will continue 
 in its efforts to secure work in order to employ 
 as many men as possible, and in that way re- 
 lieve the situation as far as practicable, 
 
 "Your suggestion that the work should be 
 divided so that a sufficient number of our present 
 employes should be put on half time in order to 
 give at least half time work for all was tried 
 last winter. The restdt has been that the gross 
 earnings of various indi\ndual employes were 
 
308 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 last winter so small as to give an erroneous im- 
 pression with reference to the sufficiency of the 
 rate of wages. The policy of the company is 
 now to employ only as many men as it is pos- 
 sible to fiimish work for on full time. 
 " Very respectfully yours, 
 "George M. Pullman, 
 
 "President. 
 
 "The Hon. John P. Altgeld, Governor." 
 "Chicago, Aug. 21. 
 "George M. Pullman, Esq., President the Pull- 
 man's Palace Car Company, City. 
 
 "Sir: I have your answer to my communi- 
 cation this morning. I see by it that your com- 
 pany refuses to do anything toward relieving the 
 situation at Pullman. It is true that Mr. Wickes 
 offered to take me to Pullmam and show me 
 around. I told him that I had no objection to 
 his goi :g, but that I doubted the wisdom of 
 my going under anybody's wing. I was, how- 
 ever, met by two of your representatives, both 
 able men, who accompanied me everywhere. I 
 took pains to have them present in each case. I 
 also called at your office and got what information 
 they could give there, so that your company 
 was represented and heard, and no man there 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 309 
 
 questioned either the condition or the extent of 
 their sufifering. If j^ou will make the round I 
 made, go into the houses of these people, meet 
 them face to face, and talk with them 3'ou will be 
 convinced that none of them had $1,300 or any 
 other sum of money a few weeks ago. 
 
 "I cannot enter into a discussion with j^ou 
 as to the merits of the controversy between you 
 and your former workmen. It is not m}' busi- 
 ness to fix the moral responsibilit3^ in this case. 
 There are nearly 6,000 people suffering for the want 
 of food — they were your employes — four-fifths of 
 them are women and children — some of these 
 people have worked for you more than twelve 
 years. I assume that even if they were wrong 
 and had been foolish you would not be willing to 
 see them perish. I also assume that as the state 
 has just been to a large expense to protect your 
 property you would not want to have the pub- 
 lic shoulder the burden of relieving distress in 
 your town. 
 
 "As you refuse to do anything to relieve the 
 suffering in this case I am compelled to appeal 
 to the humanity of the people of Illinois to do 
 so. Respectfully yours, 
 
 '^JoHN P. Altgeld." 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The condition of the Pullman strikers elicited 
 by the commission appointed by President 
 Cleveland for that purpose as shown by the pre- 
 ceeding extracts from the investigation, was known 
 to the delegates to the convention of the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union held in Chicago in June. In 
 turn they made known to the various local 
 unions these deplorable conditions. Hence the 
 boycott, or as it has been designated by the gen- 
 eral managers, a sympathetic strike. 
 
 They have been charged with striking with- 
 out a cause other than a fanciful grievance of 
 the Pullman employe, and roundly censured for 
 their actions. That too by men of kind 
 hearts and liberal views who were not aware of 
 the true situation. Had this commission been 
 appointed previous to the boycott, it i s my 
 honest conviction, there would have been no 
 trouble. The broad inherent spirit of humanity 
 in American hearts would assert itself, and the 
 
 310 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 311 
 
 powerful voice of public sentiment would terror- 
 ize this inhuman corporation into doing justice to 
 their employes. 
 
 The defeat of the strikers was attributed to a 
 great many causes, but the real cause can be 
 laid to the federal government or the adminis- 
 tration thereof. 
 
 President Cleveland, it is said, was and is a 
 partner in a law firm who are employed by four 
 of the largest railroad systems in the United 
 States. The cabinet, with a few exceptions, are 
 also connected with railroad corporations either 
 directly or indirectly. 
 
 The federal courts are absolutely owned b}^ 
 the railroads, and consequently the whole fed- 
 eral government was arrayed against the 
 strikers. 
 
 The federal judges prostituted the courts to 
 the use of the railroads in granting injunctions 
 to restrain the officers of the American Railway 
 Union from acting in any form for or with that 
 organization. From the time that Mr. Debs w^as 
 successfully shackled by the courts, the strikers 
 were like some great beheaded mastodon, stag- 
 gering about, vainly endeavoring to retain the 
 dpng spark of life. 
 
312 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 In order to be more explicit, just as soon as 
 the officers of the American Railway Union were 
 incarcerated, reports were circulated by the gen- 
 eral managers at one point, that men at some 
 distant point had returned to work. The men, 
 where these reports would be received, would at 
 once wire to the officers at Chicago, asking if it 
 be true. The officers of the union were prohib- 
 ited from sending telegrams, and on receiving no 
 reply they would take it for granted that these 
 reports were authentic, and apply for work. In 
 short, when they lost the guidance of Debs, their 
 ranks became demoralized. This was the real 
 cause of the defeat of the American Railway 
 Union. Its first defeat after twelve decisive vic- 
 tories, eleven of which were accomplished with- 
 out a strike.. 
 
 The prostitution of the government — founded 
 on the blood of our forefathers — by the organized 
 capital of this country, of which the greater part 
 is foreign gold, is something of the most vital 
 importance to every workingman in America to- 
 day. This is a matter that demands the gravest 
 thought of every American citizen who is loyal 
 to himself, to his family and to his country. 
 
 The flagrant abuse of the constitution by 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 313 
 
 the plutocratic money power, if not checked by 
 the people, will reduce them to a condition 
 beneath that of any nation in the knowm world. 
 
 This strike has clearly demonstrated the 
 truth of this assertion. In not one instance dur- 
 ing the whole course of the trouble, 
 have the representatives of the corpor- 
 ations and the representatives of the govern- 
 ment failed to unite in destroying the constitu- 
 tional rights of the American workingman. 
 
 The devilish ingenuity of this corporate power 
 goes still further to retain the power they hold 
 over the government. They have conceived a 
 plan to disfranchise in a manner all members of 
 the American Railway Union and deprive them 
 of the right to vote. In this they have actually 
 accomplished their purpose by forcing its mem- 
 bers out of emploj'ment, and driving them from 
 their homes to seek employment in foreign parts 
 of the country on the eve of election, where they 
 Avould not be elligible to vote. 
 
 The inherent cunning of this blood sucking 
 money power would pale to insignificance the 
 most diabolical deeds of the prince of darkness. 
 
 Blinded by their victory over the American 
 Railway Union— through the assistance of the 
 
314 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 federal courts — they will stop at nothing 
 to complete the work of subjugation 
 and annihilation. They have tested their power 
 over the courts and find them so completely sub- 
 servient to their will that they know they would 
 be secure in carrying out any high-handed pro- 
 ceeding which they may deem necessary to com- 
 plete their work of demoralization and hounding 
 to death, if need be, the members of this order. 
 
 This was the very condition of affairs that 
 President Debs anticipated, and tried to guard 
 against. This was the impending danger against 
 which he warned the men, and for this he filled 
 a felon's cell in Cook county jail. 
 
 Against these conditions the people must unite 
 and co-operate. We must no longer close our eyes to 
 the glaring fact that we are being made parties 
 to our own destruction by the corporations and 
 trusts of this country, and their allies the Demo- 
 cratic and Republican parties. 
 
 These two great political parties are so com- 
 pletely controlled by the corporations, that any- 
 thing asked of them is immediatedly granted, 
 the only difference between the two being their 
 views as to the best method by which they can 
 serve these corporations. 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 315 
 
 The railroads combine and trusts of all kinds 
 furnish the funds for campaign % purposes, and 
 also incidentally furnish the votes to elect their 
 friends. They have in every precinct, ward, 
 town, cit3', county and state, their hirelings who 
 beguile the people into voting as they dictate. 
 
 The child like confidence of the people could 
 not be shaken in the old parties. They were 
 ever read\' to place implicit faith in these design- 
 ing politicians, believing that the laws made by 
 them were just what was wanted for the people's 
 salvation. 
 
 This delusion cannot last, the time is now 
 ripe for action. The masses must protect 
 their interests if they would be free to enjoy the 
 rights awarded them by the constitution. 
 
 The American Railway Union has proven the 
 greatest blessing to the working people of this 
 country. It has torn the mask of hypocracy 
 from these plutocratic professional politicians 
 and revealed them in their true character. 
 
 The w^orking people can no longer afford to 
 be deluded by these old parties. They must 
 unite and arise in one grand body and assert 
 their independence as freemen and intelligent 
 American citizens, and by their ballot take pes- 
 
316 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 session of this government of the capitalist, 
 by the capitalist, and for the capitalist, and 
 again make it a government of the people, by 
 the people and for the people. 
 
 President Debs struck the keynote when he 
 said that it was better for the government to 
 own the railroads than for the railroads to own 
 the government. Our only chance to succeed in 
 obtaining our constitutional rights is by legis- 
 lation and this we must create ourselves. We 
 never can obtain it through either of the old 
 parties and therefore must ally ourselves to a 
 new party. 
 
 It is time that every intelligent workingman 
 would think and act for himself. All semblance 
 to aristocracy in labor must be eliminated, the 
 skillful artesan has no more guarantee of just 
 treatment than has the common laborer. 
 
 Every workingman should endorse the Peoples 
 party. They must unite as one, in one common 
 cause and strike for their rights with the only 
 effective weapon left to them "the ballot." 
 
 This strike has proven beyond doubt that the 
 protective features in railroad organizations, and 
 other organizations as well, is a dead letter as 
 long as the federal courts are controlled by cap- 
 
THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 317 
 
 ital. Unless this is remedied, all labor organiza- 
 tions might just as well send in their charters 
 and cease to exist. 
 
 I cannot believe that the American people will 
 allow this state of affairs to continue. There are 
 many men in public life to-day whose motives 
 are pure and unselfish. Such men as Governors 
 Altgeld, Waite, Penoyer; Congressmen Kyle, 
 Peffer, McGann, Pence, Goldgier ; Ma^^or Hopkins 
 of Chicago, Sydney M. Owens, Clarence S. Dar- 
 row. Judge Tully, Gen. Weaver, W. W. Erwin and 
 hosts of others, who publicly espoused the cause 
 of the strikers. 
 
 The subsidized press, the most dangerous 
 enemy of labor, and next to the courts, the most 
 effective weapon in the hands of the railroad cor- 
 porations in destrojang the rights of labor and 
 defeating the strikers, has again fallen in line as 
 the champions of the laboring classes. With 
 hypocritical pretentions to sympathy for the 
 workingman, the organs of the two great polit- 
 ical parties have begun to knife each other, and 
 unite in denouncing the People's party, all for 
 the benefit of the poor farmer, railroader, me- 
 chanic and laborer. They are loud in their denun- 
 ciation of trusts, combines and corporations of 
 
318 THE PULLMAN BOYCOTT. 
 
 all kinds that have a tendency to crush the poor 
 working people. Their great and generous 
 hearts are overflowing with sympathy for the 
 poor oppressed toiler. 
 
 The question is, can the American working- 
 man be again deluded by these organs of organ- 
 ized capital ? 
 
 The laboring people do not want sympathy, 
 neither do they want charity, all they want is 
 simple justice, and this they must and will have. 
 
 There are exceptions among the press and 
 these should be remembered by the people. Papers 
 that were champions of right and justice and 
 whom the general managers could not buy. 
 
 And now, kind reader, in conclusion I will 
 quote the words of him, whose noble life is de- 
 voted to the cause of humanity : 
 
 " The strike was not a failure. It will pass 
 into history as a noble struggle for a righteous 
 cause, and those who participated in it, whatever 
 their immediate sacrifices may be, will in the end 
 feel amply compensated for all their losses." 
 
 THE END, 
 
5355 
 
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