INCENDIARISM AND BLOODSHED.
The 6th day of July was one long to be remembered, 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 connected the tool-house with the tower-house. This fine structure
was recently built and cost the company $40,000. Upon the authority of
the city police and firemen, I can state that the fires were started by
a crowd of young hoodlums 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 different directions and simultaneously fire broke out
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 terror. Innocent men, women and children were being shot down
or bayoneted by the tools of railroad corporations in a most cold
blooded and heartless manner. According to the statements of eye
witnesses some young fellows under the age of sixteen years, and
therefore not strikers, threw stones at the soldiers who at once began
to shoot indiscriminately 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 unfortunate enough
to be caught were severely dealt with. One old man, a Pole, who was
standing in his own door yard, and seeing the people run took fright
and started into his house, was pursued by a soldier who saw him run and
stabbed 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 was 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 Saturday; 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 carnage, 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
bullet pierced her heart. Of course she was not a striker nor was her
continued life a menace to American institutions.
"John Burke, identified by the police as a professional crook, was
another victim and his presence 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
military 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
workingmen of any organization, but the acts of toughs and pluguglies
and boisterous boys, with whom 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."
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 actually exist. My purpose in this is to have the great American
public--the plain people--in every avenue 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 are 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 unanimous. They simply
revolted against a series of deep-seated wrongs of long standing, and no
power could stay them. It has been charged, and the charge has been
widely accepted, that they were induced to strike by their "leaders" and
labor agitators; that if left alone they would have remained at work.
The charge is wholly 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 themselves 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 conditions 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 every 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 expenses
that in a large majority of cases the employes are barely able to
support their families. Proof overwhelming 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 demand
unconditional surrender as the only basis of settlement they would
merit the condemnation 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 willing to make concessions, to
compromise in the interest of peace. All their advances were repelled.
"The company was, and is, unyielding 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 convention at Chicago. The Pullman trouble had been discussed at
their local meetings. Many of the delegates came instructed. The
grievances of the Pullman employes were taken under consideration, and
two separate committees were sent to the officials.
"Not the slightest satisfaction could be obtained. As a last resort the
delegates by a unanimous vote determined that unless the Pullman company
would agree to do justice to their employes within five days, the
members of the order would refuse to haul Pullman cars. 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 confined to the Pullman company
and its employes. How, then, did the strike extend to the railways? 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, declaring 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 reduce and defeat their half
starved employes. In this way the trouble was extended from line to
line, and from system to system until a crisis has been reached. The
business of the country is demoralized to an extent that defies
exaggeration.
"To say that the situation is alarming is entirely within the bounds of
prudent statement. Every good citizen must view the outlook 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 defiance, 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 confidence? The American Railway Union on whose
authority and in whose behalf this statement is made, stands ready, has
from the beginning stood ready, to do anything in its power, provided it
is honorable to end this trouble.
"This, briefly stated, is the position the organization occupies. It
simply insists that the 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
American Railway Union or any other organization 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 without prejudice and the trouble will be ended. The
crisis will thus be averted, traffic will resume and peace will reign.
The railways are not required to recognize the American Railway Union.
This has never been asked nor is it asked now.
"If there are those who discover in this statement 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 affords
them. We have been deliberately and maliciously 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 wrong we are ready to
be convinced. We are open to reason and to conviction, but we will not
be cowed or intimidated. 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 citizenship.
"It may be asked what sense is there in sympathetic 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. 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 themselves felt the oppressive hand of corporate
capital. 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 employes
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 in reference to myself, although ordinarily I pay no
attention to misrepresentation 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 represent, which may suffer if silence is maintained
while it is assailed with falsehood and malignant detraction. I shirk no
responsibility, neither do I want credit to which I am not entitled.
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 votes of the delegates in this instance was unanimous, and where
ever men have struck they 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 authority 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 assigned 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 and stubbornly maintain that there
is 'nothing to arbitrate,' the responsibility of what may ensue will be
upon their heads, and they cannot escape its penalties.
EUGENE V. DEBS."