![]() It is worse, however, when any considerable body of men, armed, belligerent, and violent, insist, at the pistol's muzzle, that they shall be paid certain wages, and that no man shall work for less at the peril of his life. It is a pretty bad state of things when able-bodied men are obliged to work for three or four dollars a week, and pay extra expenses for board out of that. Ours is a free country, and the right of a man to get the best price he can for his work necessarily involves the converse of this proposition: a man or corporation may procure labor at the lowest possible cost. Just now, however, this is not the question. It is no less deplorable that men needy enough to accept the reduced terms can now be found. If this is true, it is deplorable, both as regards the condition of the men and the condition of the railroad corporation. It is said, for example, that some of the men who have struck on the Baltimore and Ohio Road have been earning a sum hardly sufficient for subsistence, and that the proposed reduction would leave them less wages than are adequate for the support of life. But they now, by force of arms, are trying to coerce the railroad managers into employing them at rates which only they, the insurgents, are willing to accept.īack of this, of course, lie many questions of general management of the railroads which cannot now be discussed. They would think it monstrous is anybody should attempt to compel them to buy dear flour when they can buy cheap flour. If these so-called strikers can buy flour cheaper in Hornellsville than they can in Martinsburg, other things being equal, they will buy in Hornellsville. There is something about it which is so antagonistic to the proverbial Anglo-Saxon love of fair play that most fair-minded men refuse at once all sympathy with the movement. ![]() If they are not paid at this rate, they will not only quit work, but they will prevent others from taking their places on any terms. The firemen, engineers, and brakemen insist upon being paid a certain rate of wages. So far as heard from, in every case of insubordination, the issue is merely a question of wages. This is a fatal weakness in the cause of the strikers. But, as is the case of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the strikers, not content with leaving their posts without warning, oppose the employment of men who would take their places, on any terms. Generally speaking, the interruption of freight and passenger traffic would not be great if the strikers simply quit work without ado. On several lines the passenger business is also interrupted or wholly suspended. If the strikers have been watching for an opportunity to strike when they could most seriously embarrass the roads, they have certainly hit on the right time. There are indications that the rebellion, if such we may call it, will affect most of the lines of railroad travel between the East and the West, and will seriously impede the movement of freight, which, at this time, is a matter of very great importance. The Western Division of the Erie Railway, with head-quarters at Hornellsville, is also in a state of insurrection, and there are rumors of similar difficulties on the Lake Shore Road. From the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the trouble has been communicated to the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne Road, and to the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The disaffection, which is almost a rebellion, is spreading. It is not certain whether the feebleness of the West Virginia authorities, or a previous understanding among railroad employees, is at the bottom of the present general railroad strike. In his view, to what were the railroad companies entitled? To what did the author compare the workers' wage demands? What term did the writer use to describe the strike?Īccording to the author, what was the "fatal weakness" of the strikers? ![]() This editorial from the New York Times is typical of that response. ![]() Evidence 12: "The Great Railroad Strike," 21 July 1877Īs the previous author suggested, most newspapers feared the growing strike and strongly condemned the violence associated with it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |