456 



LABOR, MOVEMENTS AND AGITATIONS OF. 



had decided to make the return of any of the 

 men to work conditional upon their signing an 

 agreement not to be governed by it. The 

 members of the committee were therefore 

 directed to apply at the mills, if they wished 

 employment. 



At the beginning of August, or after the 

 strike had been two months in operation, the 

 position of the workmen had obviously been 

 weakened, while the proprietors had not ma- 

 terially lost strength. A meeting of the Amal- 

 gamated Association was held at Chicago, the 

 sessions of which were continued through sev- 

 eral days, at which resolutions were passed 

 guaranteeing the manufacturers that no ad- 

 vance on the scale prices for rolling and 

 puddling would be asked for five years. The 

 strike continued, however, till the 19th of Sep- 

 tember, when the district meetings of the 

 Amalgamated Association at Pittsburg, Wheel- 

 ing, and Youngstown resolved to return to 

 work without conditions, and the president of 

 the association officially declared it at an end. 



STRIKE OF FREIGHT-HANDLERS IN NEW YORK 

 CITY. The freight-handlers of the railroads ter- 

 minating in the city of New York struck in 

 June, on a demand for an increase of their 

 wages from seventeen cents to twenty cents an 

 hour, or of three cents an hour or thirty cents 

 a day. The agents of the railroad companies 

 asked for time to consult with their superior 

 officers before answering the demand, but the 

 men insisted, and ceased work at once. The 

 strike began with the Hudson River Railroad, 

 but quickly extended to all the railroads hav- 

 ing termini or docks in New York, and to the 

 terminal stations in Jersey City. As a consid- 

 erable advance had been recently made in the 

 schedule of freight rates to the West, public 

 opinion, as was indicated by expressions made 

 in various ways, did not regard the demand of 

 the workmen as unreasonable. The agents of 

 the railroads explained that it had been precipi- 

 tated upon them without notice, whereas, if 

 due warning had been given them, and time 

 for consultation, concessions might have been 

 made which would satisfy the freight-handlers. 

 The business at the railroad-stations and docks 

 was almost wholly interrupted for a few days; 

 freight accumulated in large quantities, and 

 shippers and cartmen were subjected to great 

 inconvenience in getting their goods received. 

 New hands were employed to take the place of 

 the strikers, engaged chiefly from among the 

 recent immigrants from abroad ; but they were 

 unskilled at the business, and were not able to 

 do effective service. The striking workmen 

 paraded the streets in considerable bodies, vis- 

 iting the railroad-stations and docks, for the 

 'purpose of persuading such new laborers as 

 might be engaged to desist from work, and of 

 preventing others from giving their services. 

 These demonstrations became so formidable, 

 especially in Jersey City, that forces of special 

 policemen were enrolled. The Governor of 

 New Jersey issued a proclamation, notifying 



the civil authorities that it was their duty to 

 use the power vested in them for the protec- 

 tion of persons and property, and promising 

 the aid of the military power of the State if 

 it should be needed. One of the railroads of 

 New Jersey being in the hands of a receiver 

 appointed by the court, the Chancellor of the 

 State gave notice that any interference with its 

 operation and management would be regarded 

 as an obstruction offered to the execution of 

 the order of the court, and treated as a con- 

 tempt. 



The interruption in transportation and in- 

 convenience to shippers having continued sev- 

 eral weeks, an action was brought in the Su- 

 preme Court of New York, July 17th, against 

 the New York Central and Hudson River, and 

 the New York, Lake Erie, and Western Rail- 

 road Companies, for a writ of mandamus to 

 compel them to perform their duties as com- 

 mon carriers in delivering, receiving, and for- 

 warding with all reasonable dispatch the freight 

 put in their care or offered to them. The ap- 

 plication was enforced by the affidavits of mer- 

 chants regarding the losses they alleged they 

 had suffered by the failure of the compa- 

 nies to forward their goods, and of the strik- 

 ing freight-handlers concerning their position 

 as toward the companies. The institutors 

 of the proceedings held that among the du- 

 ties of the companies was that of operating 

 their roads while they could be operated to 

 carry the goods which might be offered them 

 on the condition of the payment of the proper 

 charges. When a railroad company, it was 

 claimed, " sitting in the gates of commerce, 

 closes its doors against the receipt of goods 

 offered for transportation, or opens them tar- 

 dily to oppress trade instead of supporting 

 it, then it is answerable to the public whose 

 franchises and trusts it is abusing. . . . The 

 people in this case have sought nothing from 

 the corporations except that they go on in the 

 performance of their duties to their maximum 

 power, and now pray that relief may be granted 

 under the great prerogative right of writ of 

 mandamus. When a railroad ceases to perform 

 its function as a common carrier, or does it in 

 a careless manner, causing public inconvenience 

 and distress, it violates the provisions of its 

 charter, and it is the duty of the Attorney- 

 General to compel it to a discharge of its 

 duties, and, if it still persists in its neglect, its 

 franchise may be revoked." The matter of 

 the strike, it was added, was merely put for- 

 ward as an excuse. The position of the people 

 (or promoters of the suit) was this : " These de- 

 fendants may employ such help as they please 

 so long as it is competent help, but they have 

 no right to refuse the performance of their 

 public duties because they can not get compe- 

 tent help at the price they are willing to pay 

 for it. The relations of supply to demand in 

 this country are such that capital can not fail 

 to obtain adequate assistance anywhere." 

 The respondent companies pleaded through 



