In
1894 George Pullman, the president of
the Pullman Palace Car Company, decided to reduced the wages of his
workers. When the company refused arbitration, the American Railway
Union called a strike. Starting in Chicago
it spread to 27 states.
The attorney-general, Richard Olney, sought
an injunction under the Sherman Anti-Trust
Act. As a result, of Olney's action, Eugene
Debs, president of the American Railway Union, was arrested and
despite being defended by Clarence Darrow,
was imprisoned. The case came before the Supreme
Court in 1895. David Brewer spoke
for the court on 27th May, explaining why he refused the American
Railway Union's appeal. This decision was a great set-back for the
trade union movement. David Brewer died
on 28th March, 1910.
(1)
Samuel Gompers, letter to Judge Peter
Grossup concerning the imprisonment of Eugene
Debs during the Pullman Strike (14th August, 1894)
You know, or ought to know, that
the introduction of machinery is turning into idleness thousands faster
than the new industries are founded, and yet, machinery certainly
should not be either destroyed or hampered in its full development.
The labourer is a man, he is made warm by the same sun and made cold
- yes, colder - by the same winter as you are. He has a heart and
brain, and feels and knows the human and paternal instinct for those
depending upon him as keenly as do you.
What shall the workers do? Sit idly by and see the vast resources
of nature and the human mind be utilized and monopolized for the benefit
of the comparative few? No. The labourers must learn to think and
act, and soon, too, that only by the power of organization and common
concert of action can either their manhood be maintained, their rights
to life be recognized, and liberty and rights secured.
(2) David
Brewer,
ruling of the Supreme Court on Eugene
Debs and the
Pullman
Strike (27th
May, 1895)
It is obvious that while it is not the
province of the government to interfere in any mere matter of private
controversy between individuals, or to use its great powers to enforce
the rights of one against another, yet, whenever the wrongs complained
of are such as affect the public at large, and are in respect of matters
which by the Constitution are entrusted to the care of the nation,
and concerning which the nation owes the duty to all the citizens
of securing to them their common rights, then the mere fact that the
government has no pecuniary interest in the controversy is not sufficient
to exclude it from the courts or prevent it from taking measures therein
to fully discharge those constitutional duties.
The national government, given by the Constitution power to regulate
interstate commerce, has by express statute assumed jurisdiction over
such commerce when carried upon railroads. It is charged, therefore,
with the duty of keeping those highways of interstate commerce free
from obstruction, for it has always been recognized as one of the
powers and duties of a government to remove obstructions from the
highways under its control.
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