1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 27i 
REMINDERS. 
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is an 
asssociation founded in 1863 and now numbering 
about 35,000 members. They are all locomotive 
engineers in active service on the railroads of the 
United States, Canada and Mexico. The organization 
does not include all the locomotive engineers in these 
countries ; for many outsiders belong to the Knights 
and Federation of Labor ; hut for its independence of 
other associations, financial resources, conservatism in 
commencing action, as well as for the skill and intelli¬ 
gence of its members, it is at the head of the repre¬ 
sentatives of organized labor on the globe. Its man¬ 
agement of controversies with employer companies 
rests immediately with the chairman of the standing 
general adjustment commission for the particular 
railroad system concerned and afterwards with the 
Grand Chief, who is the ultimate authority always 
called in to adjust difficulties between members and 
their employers and also to settle disputes between 
members and sub-divisions of the order. 
X X X 
Early last month the Brotherhood employees on 
the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michigan Railroad 
made a demand for higher wages, which the Superin¬ 
tendent of the company refused. After several unsuc¬ 
cessful attempts at settlement, Grand Chief Arthur, 
who had been called in, consented to a strike which had 
been previously voted by two-thirds of the men in the 
company’s employ. To compel the company to grant 
its members’ demands, the Brotherhood determined to 
boycott Ann Arbor freight by refusing to handle it on 
other roads. This was in accordance with Rule 12 of 
the organization’s constitution, which in case of a 
regularly ordered strike, forbids, under penalty of 
expulsion, any member on a connecting road to handle 
the property of the recalcitrant line or system until 
the grievance at issue has been amicably settled. 
When therefore the Brotherhood employees of the 
other roads running through Toledo, Ohio, refused to 
handle the Ann Arbor freight cars, the aggrieved com¬ 
pany appealed to Judge Ricks of the United States 
Circuit Court for the Northern District of Ohio, West¬ 
ern Division, for an injunction to compel the other 
roads to handle its freight and cars under the third 
section of the Inter-State Commerce Law, which 
forbids any unreasonable discrimination by a railroad 
against any person, corporation, location, or class of 
freight to be transported from one State to another. 
X X X 
In the injunction, which was promptly granted on 
March 11, the defendants, their agents and employees 
were enjoined “ to refrain from refusing to handle ” 
the objectionable goods. This injunction was diso¬ 
beyed, and on March 18, the Court held eight mem¬ 
bers of the Brotherhood to trial for contempt. In ad- 
drefsing the prisoners Judge Ricks laid down the law 
to the effect that railroad employees are not free to 
leave their employment at will; but can do so only 
after having given due notice; and that they were 
bound to handle the Ann Arbor cars while they re¬ 
mained in the service of their employers because the 
latter, as common carriers, were bound to receive and 
haul such cars The novel features of the procedure 
are, first, the injunction ordering employees to do a 
specific work, and, second, the decision that they can¬ 
not end their employment at will. 
X X X 
Such a law has never been enacted by Congress or 
any State Legislature and has never before been pro¬ 
claimed by a Court. It has always been supposed 
that, unless bound by special contract, railroad em¬ 
ployees, in common with other wage earners, had the 
right to quit work at will, either as individuals or as 
a body without notice, just as it has been the supposed 
right of masters to discharge individuals or lock out 
bodies without notice. In all our strikes and labor 
troubles, this principle has been universally recog¬ 
nized by employers and employees as well as by the 
public and by the Courts, and there is a widespread 
impression that any change should be made by the 
people themselves through their Representatives in 
Congress or the State Legislatures. Anyhow the 
principle involved is too novel and important to be 
decided by a single judge of a lower Federal Court ; 
and an authoritative declaration on the matter by the 
United States Supreme Court will alone be satisfac¬ 
tory, and to that tribunal of final arbitrament an ap¬ 
peal is to be made at once. 
X X X 
On April 3, the eight men held for contempt of court 
appeared before United States Judges Ricks and Taft 
at Toledo, 0. Seven were discharged and the eighth 
was fined $50 and costs, but has appealed to the United 
States Supreme Court. The Court decided that while 
“ one or more employees may lawfully quit their em¬ 
ployer’s service at will, a combination of a number of 
them to do so for the purpose of injuring the public 
and oppressing employers by unjustly subjecting them 
to the power of the confederates for extortion or mis¬ 
chief, is criminal.” The seven were acquitted on the 
plea that they had resigned from the company’s ser¬ 
vice before they refused to handle Ann Arbor freight, 
and the other was held on the ground that without re¬ 
signing, he refused to obey the orders of his employers 
to move the boycotted cars after the Court had for¬ 
bidden the men to observe the boycott. The Court 
also enjoins Arthur, forbidding him to order a boy¬ 
cott, or in any way enforce Rule 12 of the Brotherhood, 
which directs members not to haul freight from a road 
against which Brotherhood men are striking. Indeed 
it goes further and declares that “ the existence and 
enforcement of Rule 12, under their existing laws, 
make the whole Brotherhood a criminal conspiracy 
against the laws of their country.” 
X X X 
There are several European breeds of cattle that 
have not yet been popularized in this country. Have 
we need of more breeds here ? Would it be possible 
to create a “boom” for a breed at present unknown ? 
The time when gambling in cattle prices (such as was 
virtually done when the Short-horns and Jerseys were 
pushed to such extreme figures) has gone forever. 
There is, however, in this great country of ours a 
place for any breed of cattle that has merit enough to 
win a special place for itself abroad. The following 
letter from a German subscriber of The R. N.-Y. gives 
an idea of the next new thing in cattle breeding that 
may be expected : 
I am a German farming my own property and engaged In breeding 
the Slmmenthal cattle, a general purpose breed whose merits are 
widely acknowledged, as the annual sales of over a million dollars 
worth of pedigreed stock by the members of our breeders association 
shows. 1 have visited the United States several times and am per¬ 
suaded that our cattle would soon find favor with a certain and 
increasing class of farmers, but I have failed to make a connection 
that would enable me to Introduce It. 1 had contemplated sending an 
exhibit to the World’s Fair, but the foot-and-mouth disease which Is 
lurking around In adjoining countries has made this too risky. I now 
Intend establishing a herd on ray own aocount In the United States. 
My plan Is to acquire several thousand acres In one tract and, reserv¬ 
ing about 200 acres for my own use, parcel out the remainder to 
farmers from this part of Germany in farms of from 30 to 50 acres 
each, as by this means I should have a neighborhood that would at 
once demonstrate the advantages of our Slmmenthal cattle. The I' ar 
West is out of the question, so are the Northern States. Taking 
everything together, It has seemed to me that Virginia holds out fair 
Inducements In the way of proximity to good markets, variety of 
products and mildness of climate. There I can get an estate one- 
third cultivated uplands, one-third river bottom, and another third 
In original forest for only $10 to $15 per acre while all taxes com¬ 
bined will not exceed $1 per $100 of value. The avowed scarcity of 
labor would not discourage me. 
If this plan succeeds, tbe cattle will advertise them¬ 
selves and show at once the value of the German 
system of dairying. It is hard to conceive of a more 
practical method of Americanizing these cows. 
X X X 
A good deal has been said in times past about the 
postal savings banks in England and other European 
countries. In the last report of the Postmaster- 
General many interesting facts are given to show how 
the system works abroad. Mr. Wanamaker was in 
favor of establishing or testing these banks in this 
country, but Congress would never consent to an ap¬ 
propriation for the purpose. The argument most in¬ 
strumental in forcing a trial in Europe was the fact 
that in many rural districts there were no savings 
banks or other means of investing small savings. Most 
of the towns had such banks but many of the dwellers 
in hamlets or country neighborhoods had no means of 
easily investing small savings. Asa result such people 
either did not save or fell a prey to some of the wild¬ 
cat schemes for investment that dishonest men in 
every land are urging. The governments felt that 
postal banks would encourage thrift and business 
economy among the farmers and also give them more 
interest in the way in which they were governed. It 
was therefore chiefly for the benefit of farmers that 
these banks were started. Under the European sys¬ 
tem funds may be deposited at any post office where 
a money business is done and any responsible post 
office employee may collect the funds. Deposits must 
be made in certain sums—for example, in England 
one shilling or 24 cents is the least sum received at 
one time, with $150 in one year and $1,000 in all as 
the limit of deposits permitted from one person. 
Penny deposits are managed in this way—the depos¬ 
itor buys a penny or two-penny stamp and “ sticks 
to a card, furnished by the Government, until he has 
enough to make a shilling. This stamped card is ac¬ 
cepted as money and deposited to his credit. These 
postal banks pay but small interest—three per cent in 
France and 2% in England. The funds are invested 
in Government securities or loaned to cities or used 
for road building. It has not been found that these 
postal banks interfere in any way with the regular 
private savings banks. In fact they are a benefit as 
they are patronized mostly by persons who are too 
far away to do business with a private bank while 
the sums deposited are so small that the latter would 
not care to handle them. 
An idea of the amount of business done by these 
banks may be obtained from the following table which 
gives the statistics for the year 1889 or 1890. 
Number of Amount 
Country. depositors. on deposit. 
Hungary. 1,639,592 $7,500,000 
Sweden. 271,257 5,000,000 
Belgium. 1,466,113 30,000.000* 
France. 1,910,371 55,001',000* 
Great Britain. 8.776,566 335,000,000 
Italy. 2,764,464 60,000,000 
*for a single year only. 
A large proportion of this money was invested in 
government securities and went into general circula¬ 
tion. But for the postal savings banks most of it 
would not have been invested at all, and a consider¬ 
able part would have been hoarded at home—kept out 
of general circulation. There are many reasons why 
this scheme would be useful in this country. For one 
rural district without a bank in France, there are a 
dozen in this country, and nowhere else in the world 
have people greater need of education in true economy 
and thrift. In every country neighborhood a search 
would reveal considerable sums of money hoarded 
away, drawing no interest, and a constant tempta¬ 
tion to thieves. It is more than probable that a system 
of postal savings would tend to gather up most of this 
money, which would thus be made to yield a small 
but safe rate of interest. It would increase the circu¬ 
lating medium to a considerable extent and give the 
investors more of an interest in the economical man¬ 
agement of the country’s finances. While there are 
some objections to the scheme, it seems to The R. 
N.-Y. that this and free delivery ot the mails in rural 
districts are matters of prime importance to American 
farmers. .j. I ^ 
It is pretty well understood that manures and fer¬ 
tilizers are “lasting” in their effect, that one season’s 
cropping does not use them all up. It is a new idea to 
assume that one season’s feeding of animals gives an 
effect that is felt for a year or more, yet an experi¬ 
ment conducted by Prof. I. P. Roberts indicates that 
there is something like a similarity between the land 
and the animal in this respect. In 1891 an experiment 
was tried with 16 cows at pasture to see if grain feed¬ 
ing in addition to the pasturage was profitable. Eight 
cows fed grain gave, from May 22 to October 23, 4,930% 
pounds more of milk than eight similar cows that had 
nothing but good pasture. The grain-fed cows also 
gained 166 pounds per cow in weight, while the cows 
on pasture alone gained but 113 each. It was then 
proposed to see if this grain feeding in 1891 would 
have any effect on the cows in the season of 1892. They 
were therefore all pastured last year, and an accurate 
record of their milk taken for six months. As a result 
it was found that the cows that were fed grain the 
year before gave 480 pounds of milk more than those 
not fed grain. It is assumed, and we think fairly, that 
this difference is lagely due to the better feeding of 
the previous year. The cows went into winter-quar¬ 
ters in better condition and, in the spring, were better 
able to consume and make me of the pasturage. In 
younger animals the good effect of previous grain 
feeding was very apparent, as the young grain-fed 
heifers were developed into noticeably better animals 
than those having no grain. We think most of our 
successful dairymen will agree that the after effects of 
grain feeding are well worth considering. That is why 
most of them never put their cows on a “starvation 
diet,” but continue heavy feeding all through the year. 
X X X 
BUSINESS BITS. 
C. E. Chapman, Peruvllle, N. Y., has something of Interest for you 
about Jersey cons, Cheshire pigs, Brown Leghorn chickens and seed 
potatoes. He Is the young man who paid for a Tompkins County 
farm with potatoes Bold from the hillsides. 
The Boomer & Boschert Press Company, 118 W. Water Street, Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y , are probably the largest manufacturers of elder machinery 
In the country. Their goods are tlrst-class and they are thoroughly 
responsible and reliable. They will send you something about cider 
to Interest you, If you ask for It. 
About Potato Planting.— One planter would easily do the work 
for four or six ordinary farmers, provided they tried to accommodate 
each other. I usually plant whole potatoes about the size of common 
hens’eggs, aoout 15 Inches apart, and plant them Hve or six Inches 
deep, on land well pulverized. 1 think they then stand the drought 
better than when planted shallow. 1 roll the ground immediately 
alter planting; then, as they begin to prick up through the surface, I 
harrow across the rows with a light, 30-tooth barrow that gives the 
plants the Btart of the weeds, then cultivate to my heart’s content. I 
also have a horse hoe manufactured at Foxeraft, Me. The team strad¬ 
dles the row, and I can hill up as much or little as I please. At dlgglDg 
time, with a shovel plow I throw them up, every other row at Urst, and 
pick them up, and then plow up tbe rest, and, after picking them up, 
go over the ground with a spring-tooth harrow and pick the field over 
again and have them all. That leaves the Held In good condition for 
wheat. 
A BUSINESS PAPER.—I feel as though l should want to say an en¬ 
couraging word for The RURAL New-Yorker. I have been taking 
It for 22 years, a circumstance which of Itself shows what I think of It. 
I first paid $2.50 for It. and then the price was reduced to $2. I then 
thought It was cheap enough, but now It costs only $1 a year, Including 
the seed distribution, which l consider worth Hve times the coBt of 
the paper to anv one who will only give the gifts a trial. I am 
satisfied that THE Rural New-Yorker has done more for the 
advancement of agriculture than any other journal In this country, 
and I don’t think too much can be said in Its praise. It Is neatly got 
up, Its language Is undented, which makes It desirable for the family 
0 lr' c ie at all times; and I think all old subscribers should send In one 
new subscriber, if no more, to help out lor the reduced price. 
Sedalla.iMo, yr ‘ K * 
