The Great Strike on the 'Q' Part 16

CHICAGO, Jan. 4, 1889.

_Mr. A. R. Cavener, Chairman Committee Brotherhood Locomotive Engineers_:

DEAR SIR: The above is a copy of a telegram received yesterday from Mr. Perkins, our President, and which, in accordance with his instructions, I have submitted to you, and which has been fully discussed with you and your Committee.

Yours truly, HENRY B. STONE.

CHICAGO, Jan. 4, 1889.

_Mr. Henry B. Stone, Second Vice President_:

DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned Committee, in behalf of our respective organizations--Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen--and as representatives of the ex-employes of the Burlington system, who left the services of said company February 27, 1888, or later, on account of the strike, approve of the foregoing agreement, and hereby declare the strike of the said ex-employes as settled.

Yours truly,

ALEX. R. CAVENER, A. W. PERLEY, T. HOLLINRAKE, THOS. HUMPHREYS, A. LE MAY, WM. C. HAYES, A. W. LOGAN, EDW. KENT, T. P. BELLOWS, S. W. DIXON, L. MOONEY.

The Joint Committee submitted their report to the Grand Officers of the B. of L. E. and B. of L. F., and the settlement "met with their entire and unqualified approval." The Grand Officers, therefore, issued a circular to their respective Divisions and Lodges, under date of January 7, 1889, in which they say "The strike of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen on the C., B. & Q. railway system, inaugurated February 27, 1888, is hereby officially declared at an end, and the striking employes are now at liberty to make applications for situations on said system."

The purpose of this circular is to advise the striking switchmen who desire to be re-employed, to file their applications at their respective Division headquarters, on or before February 1, 1889.

This advice is given at the request of the officials of the company. Applications filed after February 1 will not be considered.

The settlement may not be all that might be expected or desired, but it seems to be the best that could be secured under the condition of things, and I hope it will be received in good faith, and that all hostility will cease.

In closing, I urge upon switchmen, members of our a.s.sociation, to exert their influence in securing situations for the ex-employes of the C., B. & Q. system.

Yours fraternally, FRANK SWEENEY, Grand Master S. M. A. A. of N. A.

The letters herein printed are given without comment, further than to say that as they seem to have some bearing on the settlement, they were evidently intended for that purpose.

The business of the Burlington, as with the other western roads at this time, is but little over half its usual volume. No switchmen, engineers or firemen returned to the employ of that company during January.

Advices from along the entire system indicate the same condition of affairs at the present date, February 8, 1889. The new men, laid off on account of dull business, still remain on hand, and as business increases they will return to work, and not until their ranks are exhausted will there be any vacancies for the old men. The probabilities are, that several months will elapse before any of the strikers will be needed by the Burlington road.

The following letters having been made public by the Grand Officers of the firemen, through the medium of their magazine, we violate no confidence in giving them publicity here. We particularly desire to print them, from the fact that they indicate a condition of affairs in relation to the settlement that should be made known to the general public. The letters and comments are from the February, 1889, number of the Firemen's Magazine.

"The B. of L. E., at its Richmond Convention, not only declined to repeal laws, the enactment of which was an indignity of such unquestioned insolence, that 'a wayfaring man though a fool' need not err in comprehending the outrage, but in its deliberations relating to ending the C., B. & Q. strike, it concluded to ignore the B. of L. F.

entirely, as if the Order had no interests at stake and was unworthy of notice. In proof of this we introduce here an extract of a letter from P. M. Arthur, Grand Chief, dated November 5, 1888, which is conclusive:

"The Convention also decided to appoint a Committee of nine, with Bro. Alex. Cavener as chairman, to determine when the strike _shall end_ on the C., B. & Q. Bro. Cavener will first go over that system, and see how the situation is, and address the men at the different places on the line, in view of a _settlement_. After which he will _convene his Committee_ and they are to _decide when the trouble shall end_, and _no one but themselves is to know the result until they report to the Grand Officers_.

"We have italicised certain expressions in Grand Chief Arthur's letter to Grand Master Sargent, to enable our readers to see how effectually the B. of L. F. was squelched, left out in the cold, disregarded and tabooed by the B. of L. E. in the 'settlement' of the strike.

"In reply to Grand Chief Arthur's letter of November 5, we here introduce extracts from Grand Master Sargent's letter of November 7:

_P. M. Arthur, Esq._:

DEAR SIR AND BROTHER: I am in receipt of your communication of November 5, written by S. G. E. Bro. Everett, and I have noted its contents carefully and I must acknowledge that I am disappointed in the action taken at Richmond on the question of federation.

Referring to the strike, I had hoped that your Convention would end it, believing as I do that it is a useless waste of time and money to continue it any longer. We are already feeling the strain ourselves; my mail is continually filled with communications coming from the officers of the Subordinate Lodges, appealing to me in behalf of their members to excuse them from paying the heavy a.s.sessments which we have been compelled to levy. Others are prepared to surrender their charters, and the situation is anything but agreeable to me. There can be no change, however, until such time as the strike is declared off. And we will be compelled to contribute to the support of these men for a long time after, as many of them will be without situations. Whatever may be the decision of the Committee which you have appointed, I hope that they will bear in mind that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen are just as much interested in this strike as is the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and that they will also consider this claim, that the members of the Brotherhood of Firemen are not all wealthy men.

"In reply to Grand Master Sargent's letter of the 7th, Grand Chief Arthur writes as follows, under date of November 9:

In regard to the strike we are deeply sensible of the circ.u.mstances by which you are surrounded, and nothing could have been further from our thought than to ignore you or your Brotherhood, but in view of the fact that your Convention adjourned without action touching that matter, and as you had expressed a hope that our Convention should declare it off, it was deemed wise to take steps to fix a time to end it without giving any aid or comfort to the company.

This is what was kept in view and the welfare of the firemen in it was as much an object as was that of the engineers, and when the Committee reports you will be fully informed of the course decided upon.

"We are not disposed to indulge in severity of language in criticising Grand Chief Arthur's letter to Grand Master Sargent, of November 9. It is easily seen that Mr. Arthur was not only 'deeply sensible' of the circ.u.mstances which 'surrounded' the B. of L. F., but was quite as 'deeply sensible' that the circ.u.mstances 'which surrounded' the B. of L.

E. were of character which he found it exceedingly difficult to explain.

When the B. of L. E. deliberately 'ignored' the B. of L. F., giving it a direct slap in the face in a matter in which the interests of its members were vitally involved, the declarations of the Grand Chief 'that nothing could have been further from our thoughts than to ignore you or your Brotherhood,' the very climax of irony is reached. Look at it; here were two great Brotherhoods engaged in a life and death struggle with a powerful corporation. It had cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Firemen, with a fidelity born of heroism worthy of monuments of marble, had stood by the engineers until they were impoverished. At this supreme juncture, the B. of L. E. concludes to take steps to terminate the strike. Does it consider the interests, the rights, the sacrifices of the B. of L. F.? No, not in the least. There is no word, no sign of recognition. On the contrary the action of the B. of L. E. is that of the most offensive ostracism. There is not so much as a squint at co-operation or federation. The gush and slush about the 'twin Brotherhoods' disappears, and yet Grand Chief Arthur declares, as if he expected his a.s.sertion would be accepted as true, that in the appointment of a Committee of nine, clothed with full power to settle the strike, in which no reference was made to the B. of L. F. or to its interests, 'nothing could have been further from our thought than to ignore' the B. of L. F. It is sufficient to say that the declaration of Grand Chief Arthur was not accepted as conclusive. It is neither an apology nor an explanation. Indeed, it only serves to emphasize the fact that the B. of L. E. deliberately and purposely ignored the B. of L. F.

"Proceeding with the history, it will be seen that Mr. Alexander K.

Cavener, Chairman of the Committee of nine engineers, proceeded to carry out his instructions. He went over the roads of the 'Q' system, he held meetings and obtained information. He a.s.sembled his Committee of engineers and made his reports. The conclusion was to declare the strike at an end. In all of this no fireman had been consulted--no attention paid to the B. of L. F. officers or men. There had been neither co-operation nor federation--no allusion to the 'twin (?) Brotherhoods.'

"At this juncture, Mr. Alexander K. Cavener, Chairman of the Committee of nine, bethought himself of the fact that there was such a Brotherhood as the B. of L. F. The B. of L. E. had not authorized him to indulge such a thought, but he did remember it and sent the following telegram:

CHICAGO, Dec. 27, 1888.

_Sargent and Debs_:

Can you select a Committee of your Order to act in conjunction with our Committee? Meet us at Commercial Hotel morning of December 29.

[Signed] ALEX. R. CAVENER.

"This was the first intimation the B. of L. F. had that the B. of L. E., or the Committee of nine, recognized that the B. of L. F. had any interest whatever in the 'Q' strike, or in the settlement of the strike.

Grand Master Sargent was not in Terre Haute when the message was received, and Grand Secretary and Treasurer Debs, of the B. of L. F., replied as follows:

TERRE HAUTE, IND., Dec. 27, 1888.

Grand Master Sargent is expected home from the East this evening, and your message will be referred to him on his arrival. For myself I do not favor the appointment of a Committee such as you suggest at this time. The invitation for joint procedure comes too late in the day. I have no doubt our regular Committee representing the C., B. & Q., now at Chicago, will be amply able to look after our interests.

E. V. DEBS.

"Upon the arrival of Grand Master Sargent the following message was sent to Chairman Cavener, at Chicago: