THE WORLD’S GREATEST STRIKES.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1987, 7 May 1906, Page 7

THE WORLD’S GREATEST STRIKES.

INDUSTRIAL CRISES WHICH HAVE THREATENED THE PROSPERITY OF THE WORLD, v Of all the internal disorders which afflict countries, scarcely any, omitting civil wars, are so disastrous and deplorable as strikes. Indeed, strikes are a modified form of civil war—a struggle between capital and labour, often involving u loss of men and money, disorganizing trade ami traffic, and affecting politics to as great .an extent as many minor wars. 'The truth of this can he better realized from the fact that during the B<> years of TSSI-IPno the total loss to employes and employers in America through strikes was estimated at £.91 .OOP.<MK) : and the total number of persons thrown out of employment totalled altogether (>,(» 10,(KJO. The first recorded strike took place between the Hebrews and Egyptians, and was prolonged for many years. Hie organization and decision of Moses at last bringing victory to Mu; labourers. And from that instance down to the present terrible upheaval in Russia the path of national commercial progress everywhere has been marked by these labour wars, which only may eventually he ended by either of the two methods which can achieve peace between nations, viz., co-operation—i.e., mutual goodwill and , support in the best sense —or arbitration. THE MOTIVES OF STRIKERS in all ages vary very little. The concessions mainly demanded are in--9 creased wages, shorter hours of work right regulation of method of work and ' materials used, the employment of tin- right number of apprentices, and the exclusion of non-union men, &c.—evincing, in short, a determination to force on the notice of autocratic employers the employes’ right to reasonable consideration. As to tlie results*of such efforts, it may lasaid that it has been calculated that <iO per cent, of strikes have succeeded, while <SO per cent, of lock-outs have failed. England and America easily lead the way among countries in the matter of big strikes, but it may safely be left to historians to determine whether this is for their ultimategood or not. Indeed, Hu* first strike on a large scale recorded in history took place in England in 1819, immediately following the terrible black plague. The labourers who escaped this calamity fled from the country, and those who remained demanded higher wages : so that the bad plight of the country was increased by mouldering, untended crops, and the price of food rose fourfold. But, as every schoolboy knows, Hu- famous Statute of .Labourers, passed in 18.11. compelled workmen to accept wages in vogue prior to the plague : and a second statute in 18.18 forbade them to leave the village in which they worked, For nearly 400 years following this employers of labour must have bad a good time, or else the strikes that took place were thought unworthy of record, for it is not until 3741 thiit the second real organized strike was chronicled. This distinction was earned for America by the journeymen bakers of Now Y'ork.

However the MOST HISTORICAL STRIKES are of comparatively recent dale. Three of the most noteworthy of those took place in England, each of which should be fresh in the minds of most people. It was in August, 1889, that, firstly, the dock labourers of London, determined to cease work until their pay was increased from sd. to 6d. per hour and engagements of never less than four hours agreed to. Stevedores,i lightermen, and all the other followers of riverside craft showed their sympathy by { throwing in their lot with the strik- j

ers. On August 22 the number on strike totalled 25,000 ; on the 30th of the same month it had grown to 80.000. The weather was fine, the public was sympathetic, and enormous processions paraded the streets John Burns was prominent in organizing and leading the strikers, and on the four Sundays during which the strike lasted great meetings were held in Hyde Park, at which men very prominent in politics held forth. Though there was .much picketing, little real rioting took place : but the distress of the Eastend was very acute. To relieve this public subscriptions were started, the sympathy of the colonies was enlisted, and soon a sum of £oo,ooo was subscribed, of which no loss' than £30,000 was sent by the Australian colonies. The strike ended on September 10 in a complete victory for the strikers. In .1893 came the next great strike, which is memorable as being the largest coal strike ever recorded, and the strike of greatest magnitude that has taken place in England. Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Midlands were involved, the strikers taking action as a protest against the proposed reduction of 25 per cent, on the standard rate ot

wages. The number on strike reached 30,000, or nearly half of the total number engaged in the coal industry. At Featherston the colliery was attacked. and the military, being called out, fired on tho rioters, killing two. After lasting 16 weeks the strike ended on November 17, largely ias a result of Lord Rosehury/s efforts, and a Conciliation Hoard was formed to regulate wages. The third . of these was as much a lock-out as a strike, and is historically memorable because of the unwavering tenacity displayed by both sides. This is the famous engineers’ dispute. ! Their demand was for an eight hour day in the London workshops ; but I it met with a stern resistance from , their employers, who thereupon coinj menced a gradual system of lock- [ out. Hut to defeat them the strikers prevailed on the non-union men to : strike also, so that though at first the number affected was 26,900. it rapidly grew to 17..*»<•(). Though the early symptoms of this great strike showed themselves in August. 1896, it did not finally end until .January 28, 1898.

COAL STRIKES have been, perhaps, most frequent in (jlreat Britain, and many of these have taken place in South Wales. In 1873 the colliers of this district refused to submit to a ten per cent, reduction in wages, and for three months 60,000 were out on strike ; again, two years later, 60,000 were out in protest ; and in the tear of the mammoth coal strike above mentioned (1893) the number electing idleness in preference to accepting their masters’ terms was nearly 90, 000. The great coal dispute of 1898 (also confined to South Wales) was | noteworthy from its length. Tt was occasioned by the refusal of the masters to grant a 10 per cent, advance on wages. Fifty thousand hands were idle, and serious disturbances took place at Tirphil, whilst the distress at. Cardiff was very great. It commenced on April 1, and its end came with the triumph of the masters on August 31. Equally noticeable for tenacity on both sides were the very recent strikes in Lord T’enrhya’s slate quarries in North Wales —the first, in 1896, lasting 48 weeks and the second, in 1900, lasting more than a year ; indeed, many of the workmen were still on strike in 1902. GERMANY’S GREATEST STRIKE

was also in connection with the coal industry, ami took place at Westphalia in 1888. At the beginning 89,000 laid clown their picks, causing Krupp, tlie great gun manufacturer of Essen, to close his numerous works for lack of coal. The military were soon called out, and during the lighting at (lladbock three miners were killed. Thereafter the strike, spread rapidly, and very, soon JOO,OOO were out. 'The Government then intervened, and the Emperor personally recieved three delegates of the miners, lint he hud little hut advice to offer, and on the following day the strike spread to Silesia, where .10,000

hands struck work. The numbers of strikers in Westphalia soon grew to 110,000. and the total number in Germany reached 111,000. Hut with the arrest of 40 members of tinstriking committee the strikers dwindled, and at last, after a four I weeks’ resistance, they accepted the musters’ compromise and returned to work. It is interesting, too, to note that perhaps the greatest Austrian and French strikes were by the coalminers. The former, in 1900, originated very innocently, some colliers at. the pits merely voicing their disapproval of some minor matters, but very soon 90.000 out of a total of 11 0.000 were on strike, it lasted II weeks, and in the. end the men triumphed. The French strike was I caused in an equally simple manner, but was marked by much bitterness. At L’armau.x, in 1898, A MINER WAS ELECTED MAYOR. and his consequent dismissal from tlie mine caused great dissatisfaction ■ to his fellow-workers. This they ; manifested in such violent am) riot- i ous fashion, demanding the removal of the chief director, that, after two and a half months, M.Loubet was appointed to he arbitrator. 11 is

decision was that (he miner-Mayor he given leave during the period oi his mnvorulity, and Hum he allowed to resume work. Ihn the matter was only finally settled hy the removal oi' the mine director and the quashing of tin 1 penalties on (he strikers who had heen convicted. Of the many English cotton strikes, perhaps that at Preston in 18dd-d is most mornoro.hle. It lasted six and a halt months, and the calculated loss of wages to the 20,000 factory hands who struck was estimated at £1!,000,000, and the actual loss to employers and others at £020,216. It was in the same district that, in 3876, the Operative Spinners’ Association proposed to set aside the “standard list of prices,” commencing on November 1. But, the masters promptly announcing a lock-out of 80,000, to take place ou Nov. 2d, the association submitted on the i 3 Bth of that month. Perhaps it was | their success in this instance which I induced the masters two years later | to require a reduction of 10 per cent. I on wages. The inevitable strike was I followed by a huge lock-out, which j made nearly 120,000 men idle. More- | over, although the strike lasted two j months, the masters were again the ! victors in the end. I The greatest Danish strike was of modest origin, commencing with the | protest of but dOO joiners, but it j quickly rose to an organized strike i of dO,OOO men in the building trades, j which number was swelled by .10,000 ! by a lock-out. Women workers of : to-day will perhaps take heart from the fact that the greatest Italian :

I strike was by the | WOMEN STR A\V-PL ALTERS - I of Soutli and East Florence. The riots wore serious, too, and the conflicts with the police many, and violent. Forty thousand nine hundred and fifty strikers were for 10 days out in 1896, and the number affected in 1897 reached 41,550. Rut for once they did not get entirely their own way, the matter ended in a satisfactory compromise. There was ! nothing in the nature of a com- 1 promise, though, about the termination of the famous schoolboy strike of 1889. Large sections of London scholars, those of four other English towns, Cardiff, and six Scotch towns struck for shorter school hours and abolition of home lessons. Such was their demand. History is discreetly silent as to what they actually got. Once railways had been firmly established the strike soon followed, and 1867 saw the first of these on two English lines. Ten years later America furnished us with what was called the GREATEST STRIKE ON RECORD. It had its inception in a secret so- . ciety called the “Molly Maguire,” whose riots in the Pennsylvania coalfields in June, 1877, were marked by

a savage brutality that did not stop at murder. They were subdued, and many were executed, but on the 16th of the following month, owing to a reduction in the wages, the railway servants on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway struck work. In West Virginia the riots assumed violent form, and a veritable reign of

terror was inaugurated. The military were not only resisted, but on many occasions defeated. Pittsburg was held by, the rioters, who used a cannon in its defence, and in the fighting around it between .July 21 23 many were killed and wounded, among the former being the sheriff. The town was sacked ; 1.600 cars with their contents, 126 locomotives and practically every shop were hurtled, the damage being estimated at the sum of £1.000.000. Within a week the strike had extended to the New York railways. At Chicago, on ,/nJy 26, tin* mob (among whom were many foreign Communists) was routed by the military. the casualties numbering 16 killed and 100 wounded ! General Sheridan was then sent to Pittsburg to quell the disturbance there, and finally succeeded in restoring order on August 1. ’The extent of Ibe damage done was represented by the sum of £8,000,000 ! 189 1 was a year of great strikes for the Tinted States. 'The first was by the colliers of Pennsylvania and other Stales, and was marked by much rioting, attended by bloodshed in Illinois. The number of workmen affected was 126,600. And on April 20 of the same year what was known as Coxey’s comm mweal and other industrial “armies." formed by a Mr. Goxey. of Ohio, marched to Washington to demand legislation for work and better payment. ’They soon came into conflict with the railway, authorities at Omaha, and. seizing the trains, successfully held them against Iho forces brought against them, though some were recaptured by the troops in Dakota. Coxey’s I land numbered 7,260, and his main body arrived at Washington on April 29. However, Mr. Goxey and his two chief associates were seized, imprisoned, and heavily fined, and the strike expired on May 11. On June 28 of the same year the great Pullman car strike at Chicago took place when 60,000 were out. The railway service was partially blocked throughout the United States, and the Gov-

eminent ordered the military to raise A BLOCKADE OF THE RAILWAYS and quell the rioting. But with the arrest, of Mr. I’helun, a noted strike leader, serious fighting ensued. The great Chicago Exhibition was in progress, and buildings covering 80 acres were burned by incendiaries, 10,000 men in the city alone were workless, and in the lights with the military, many met their deaths, president Cleveland proclaimed martial law throughout Illinois, and put General Miles at the head of the Federal forces. The end soon came, but not till 17 lives had been lost and 4,000,000 dollars’ worth of railway property destroyed. As thrilling as a page from some wild romance is tlie tale of the great Homestead strike, which took place in Pittsburg on dune 80, 18*98, by tin- employes of the Carnegie Steel Company, 'Lite workmen look possession of and for tilled the Homestead Steel Works. A force of Pinkerton’s detectives were sent in two barges np the Ohio River to dislodge the strikers. But at once, on their approach, Hie tight began, the first shot being fired til 4 a.m. on .July o, The workmen, breaking through the mill fence, entrenched themselves behind steel billets, and, resisting the approach of the barges, refused to

let (lie detectives land. Pinkerton's men were armed with Winchester rifles, but, having to land and ascend the embankment single file, were easily driven back, (he galling fire from behind the steel rails and billds again and again repelling their advance. On the following day the light was renewed, brass IDlb. cannon were procured hy the strikers and planted to command tin* barges ; and a force of 1,000 men with one cannon, was sent across (he river, | where they took cover behind aj breastwork of railway ties. The can- j non were (rained on the boats, and at 1) a.m. the HUM BAR DM I.ONT COMMENCED. Hut the barges were protected by steel plates, and the strikers then attempted to fire them. Hose was procured and oil sprayed on to the decks and sides ; then barrels of oil were emptied into the. river with the object of igniting it so that the flames might reach the boats. In this terrible plight the detectives flew a flag of truce, which, however, j the strikers ignored. Finally, how-

ever, the latter’s officers brought an end to the fight, and to them the detectives surrendered. The. casualties sustained by the latter totalled 27, and, in addition, 11 workmen were killed. Hooting, clubbing, and other disorders followed, the captured detectives meeting with violent treatment in many cases, till at length the Governor was compelled to send the entire militia force to stamp out this strike, which threatened to become a widespread revolt, and at last, on November 20, order was restored. Now Russia has eclipsed all records and the war started hy the railway workers has developed into the greatest strike in history.—“ Weekly Budget.”