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Show L L-t4-w- u L uii i . x J - La- . GVS ITS . .-; SiKfl2T TO fifiEOI If , as Mr. Bancroft says, the objectionable, objection-able, features . were .left out, why does he not accept that-proposition? We offer to accept It and will do so now. If given an opportunity. Further, we stand ready to 'accept fair and honorable arbitration of the entire controversy, the company to select one arbiter, the employees. to select se-lect one and the two thus selected shall choose a third, and the decision of the majority - of said board of arbiters submitted sub-mitted In writing; to both the . parties thereto, to -be final and binding- upon the same. , We stood ready to abide by the agreement agree-ment of Friday night, as submitted to us by his honor the Mayor, and published in the dally papers. . - As the matter now stands It leaves the company and the men to argue out he controversy, and the public must act as the umpire. We ask you to aid us In the cause of Justice, to the end that early and. honorable hon-orable peace may be had that will protect us from unreasonable corporate greed and our displacement by a lot of hired thugs and desperadoes who can only bring shame and disgrace into our city and ,makp the safety of our homes Insecure. Inse-cure. .C O. PRATT. tentlon to-plnce back in their hands the power -thev hart- previously delerated to me sr 1 have them Instruct their local comir i tees to aaln take up the. work with the company and complete a final settlement along the lines 'which had been agreed upon, and I would then retire from the field well satinfled that a peaceable plan of adjustment- of the controversy had been agreed upon. Imagine my surprise when,' at 11 o'colck Saturday morning, his honor the Mayor again summoned our committee before him and notified us that President Bancroft Ban-croft had .held" an audience with him during dur-ing the morning and notified him that th ; understanding of the. night before was not to be lived up to by the company.-He company.-He then submitted another document that was drafted by their lawyer which was to act as '. tl e company's only basis of settlement. . As the company had twice made a settlement set-tlement withi us through the honorable Mayor and could not live up to their i agreement over night, we would not even consider their new proposition, but gave them until i o'clock Saturday afternoon to signify their willingness to live up to the agreement entered Into through the Mayor on the previous evening. We waited upon the Mayor at 2 o'clock, and no word had been -received from, the company, com-pany, nor has there been up to the present pres-ent hour. We believe that we have done everything that Is honorable within our power to aid In securing a Just settlement. settle-ment. We nave never stood upon technicalities tech-nicalities or (formalities, but on the contrary con-trary we have stood ready at all times to waive anyi or all differences that stood as a stumbling block in the way of meeting meet-ing the - company. The company have continually shifted position, and when the negotiations of a day were closed the following morning would find them occupying oc-cupying an entirely new field, like the ostrich, thrusting their heads In the sand, leaving the vhole body exposed. Faith in tint People. - We have confidence In the loyalty of the citisens of Salt Lake City, and In their desire to see fair play, for that reason we pit ce this statement before you that you may fully understand the exact situation. The question at Issue Is one of bread and butter of manhood and womanhood, as well as honorable cltl-senshlp. cltl-senshlp. The previous statements In the public press setting forth the original requests made, by the employees of the company and which X r. Bancroft says I garbled, and had left out objectionable features. Is the text i fijhawereourioiietits. votes out of over 400 members to the contrary. con-trary. Then a unanimous motion . was made that the entire matter be placed in my hands In accordance with our constitution con-stitution and laws with full power- to settle or notify the men when to cease work. " Tried to Avert Strike. .. ' Consequently I used every honorable effort to obtain an amicable adjustment, and it was only when a strike was Imminent Im-minent that I stepped Into the breach, at the request of over 400 men who were involved. The company's statement that I stood in the way of settlement is positively posi-tively false, for I have only stood In the way of allowing a lockout to take place. I communicated to Mr. Bancroft the action ac-tion of his employees and asked him to co-operate to the end that serious trouble trou-ble might be averted. His attitude toward to-ward that proposition is past history. Of which the publlo Is fully Informed. The' committee of the employees also waited upon Mr. Wells on Monday morning morn-ing and Informed him officially of the action taken " at the morning's meeting, stating that the employees had decided not to Instruct any more -new students who might be hired after that date pending pend-ing a settlement of the present controversy. contro-versy. .They also Informed him that the meeting had placed the entire matter In' my hands. I have faithfully labored night and day since that moment to the end that a peaceable solution of the controversy might be brought about. Through the citisens' committee, composed of Rev. Slmpkln, Rev. Young-, Colonel Wall and Mr. William Igleheart, and, further, through various other committees, and finally through his honor. Mayor Thompson, Thomp-son, I have conscientiously co-operated to the same end, with the result that on last Thursday the Mayor reported to our committee that the company, through President Bancroft, had assured him that they did not want trouble and were, willing will-ing to accept arbitration of the dispute as a means of settlement. We told his honor, the Mayor, that we would accept the proposition and authorised him to so notify Mr. Bancroft. It was too late to reach Mr. Bancroft that night, as the Mayor called up the company's office over the phone and was Informed that Mr. Bancroft had left there for the night The Mayor assured us he would notify the officials of the company of our acceptance ac-ceptance the first thing Friday morning. On Friday morning at about 11 o'clock we were summoned before the Mayor, who informed us the company had refused re-fused to abide by their proposition agreed upon Thursday evening, and he presented a written statement of what the company said they were willing to agree to, which was the original proposition that had previously pre-viously been submitted to me by Mr. Bancroft, namely, "that the company would accept arbitration of the wage scale only and that In the selection of the board of arbitration, the employees must select their arbiters from among one of their number who is an employee of the company; the company would select se-lect their arbiter from wherever they pleased, and the two so selected should choose a third, the decision of two members mem-bers of said board to decide the wage scale. The company reserved - the right to name the wage scale that should be subjected to arbitration." Thought It Unfair. The employees had no voice whatever, and neither was there any assurance that the company would not ask the board of arbiters te reduce the present wage instead of granting an increase. ,We-positively ,We-positively refused to entertsln such an unfair proposition, which Is not arbitration arbitra-tion in any sense of the word, but absolute abso-lute dictation, and thai solely on the part -Of the company, iiewever, we replied through the Mayor by making a written statement to him of what would beaccepted beac-cepted by us as a plan of settlement namely, that we would arbitrate all questions ques-tions in dispute, the company to select one arbiter, the employees to select one arbiter and the two thus selected to choose the third arbiter or umpire, whose duty it should be to take testimony and hear all of the evidence bearing upon the present controversy and render their decision In writing. The findings of the majority of the said board to be flnsl end binding upon both parties thereto. This proposition was promptly refused by Mr. Bancroft, and he submitted ba-k another an-other proposition through the Mayor, which would permit the employees to se- I lect their arbiter from among the citi- . - Speeches, pledges . and resolutions were made, yesterday afternoon at an open meeting of union men and sympathisers sympa-thisers In Federation of Labor hall, In support of the present stand of street railway men against the Utah Light and Bailway company, and In support of unionism In general. 8peakers generally advocated peaceful peace-ful methods, but intimated that if things were brought to a head, it would be war to the end, with every anion man and woman in the eity lined up against employers. For the most part, Ihe speeches were of a mild nature, but whenever a particularly par-ticularly strong phrase was used or an unusually drastic measure proposed, the men answered with rousing cheers. The hall was packed to the walla-with representatives- of almost every union organization or-ganization in the city. When C. O. Pratt, national representative repre-sentative of the Carmen's union, appeared ap-peared on the platform, he was greeted with great, applause.- In effect, his speech was similar to statements made publio by him, in which he contended for arbitration, and in which he decried violence. "The railroad had no right to dictate dic-tate where we were to select our arbitrator," arbi-trator," said he. "We wanted to so-lect so-lect our arbitrators from an open field." A summing up of the situation between be-tween the electrical workers and the Utah Light and Bailway company was given by Louis Lynn, secretary and business agent of the local union. He stated that a secret ballot - was taken at a special meeting yesterday, which resulted in 76 out of 77 votes for supporting sup-porting the strike of the street railway men. - Another conference, it was announced, was scheduled for 9:30 o'clock this morning between the electrical workers work-ers and the management of the company. com-pany. Unless satisfactory to rthe men in every respect, Lynn stated that a strike would be called early today. D. I. Elton, recording secretary of the Federation of Labor, officially granted the support of the body to the street railway men, and praised Mayor Thompson for his stand. Conciliatory measures were advocated by him, and he advised that all street railway men appear on the streets in uniform. President Currie of the Carpenters' union, De Truax and Russell of the Typographical Ty-pographical union, Hubbard of the Leather Workers' union, Bihe of the Cigarmakers' union, and representatives of the Boilermakers' and Barbers' unions pledged support. The following resolutions were adopted: "To the General Public: "Inasmuch as the employees of the Utah Light and Railway company have been forced by the arbitrary action of the company to take a stand for right and justice; therefore, be it "Resolved, That we, the Utah Federation Fed-eration of Labor, do hereby pledge our moral and financial support to the employees em-ployees of said company, until such time as the company shalt see fit to deal justly with its employees? and be it f urthen - v i "Resolved, That we request all lovers lov-ers of justice and equality that they take cognizance of the action of the Utah Federation of Labor, and refrain from supporting this money-grabbing, bloodless corporation which opposes the right of the toiler to secure a fair day's pay for a fair day's labor; and we further "Resolve, That a copy of these resolutions reso-lutions be spread upon our minutes and a copy of the same be given to the public press for publication, also a copy of the same be sent to the honorable Mayor and City Council." sens of Salt. Lake City, excepting that said arbiter should not be an official of any labor organization. The company still reserved the right to stipulate the wage question that should be arbitrated, and positively stated that no other question ques-tion should be a subject for said board of arbitration to pass upon. The committee could not accept the entire en-tire proposition, but said they would agree to the company's plan of selecting their arbiter, waiving their right to select an arbiter In the open field and agreeing that SHch selection should be made from among the citizens of Salt Lake who were not officers of any labor union, but we still Insisted that all questions in dispute should be subject for their consideration and to be passed upon. 'W further agreed that the "closed shop" was not a PRATT'S STATEMENT SETS FORTH THE EMPLOYEES' SIDE The following statement prepared by C. O. Pratt, chairman of the international interna-tional executive board of the street car men's organization, as setting forth the attitude of the men, was given out early jesterday morning: Salt Lake City. Utah, April Z. To the General Public: It has been my earnest desire that I might be spared the necessity of replying to the repeated insinuations made by; vour esteemed cltlsen, Mr. W. H. Bancroft, Ban-croft, president of the Utah Light & Railway Rail-way company, through the language of his attorneys. Insinuating that I stood in the way of an amicable adjustment of the present controversy between his company and their employees; also the emphatlo statement, accredited to him - in publlo print, that I have In any way "garbled" the Issues that are in controversy. The action of the company In again breaking faith after a basis of settlement along the lines of propositions made by question for arbitration and we would not ask its consideration. Bancroft Dissatisfied. The Mayor again waited upon President Bancroft and informed him of our acceptance ac-ceptance of the company's proposition as to the manner of selecting the arbitrators, arbi-trators, but that we desired all questions In dispute to be adjudicated by them. Mr. Bancroft promptly refused this proposition, prop-osition, and the Mayor reported back to us, and all hope of peace vanished, for the committee positively refused to accept ac-cept anything less than fair and honorable honor-able arbitration. As we were about to leave the Mayor's office, he said: "I would like to see you boys accept that proposition of the company's to arbitrate the wage scale, as I believe they will be fair. Mr. Bancroft said to me that that was the only grievance he knew of at the present time, but should any future grievance arise that could not be mutually mu-tually adjusted by the representatives of the company and a properly authorized committee representing a majority of their employees, they would then be willing will-ing to adjust such differences through arbitration." ar-bitration." "Did Mr. Bancroft say that?" I interrupted. He replied that he certainly cer-tainly did say that. I said that again throws a ray of hope Into the situation. Let me put that In writing, so there can be no mistake, and if accepted by the company, it Is agreed to by us. I had the Mayor's stenographer typewrite the statement that the. Mayor said Mr. Bancroft Ban-croft had suggested to him. The Mayor read the statement carefully and said: "That is exactly what Mr. Bancroft told me, and I win take it up to him again and notify him of your approval." . This the Mayor did. and upon his return notified noti-fied our committee through his private secretary that Mr. Bancroft had read it over and said It was satisfactory to him. Upon the strength of this acceptance and our assurance from the Mayor, that all that was now necessary to do was to name our arbiter, we agreed to Immediately Imme-diately cell a special meeting of all of the employees to ratify our action and agree upon our arbiter. I also went before be-fore the delegates of the Utah Federation of Labor Friday night and made a full and complete statement of the satisfactory satisfac-tory settlement that had been reached and they were unanimous in their approval ap-proval of our action. Pratt Willing to Eetlre. The Mayor assured the representatives of the newspapers of the amicable adjustment ad-justment that had been brought about and gave out the printed communications that had passed bark and forth through his hands. Everything seemed to be harmonious and at the meeting of the car men called for the purpose of laying this matter before them. It waa my ln- them and submitted to r.a through tho honorable Mayor Ezra Thompson, and accepted ac-cepted by both parties in dispute as a satisfactory settlement, and in less than twenty-four hours afterward serving notice no-tice on us through his honor, the Mayor, that they had again turned a complete back somersault and refused to abide by the agreement they had entered Into with us through the Mayor. It was after the representative of the company and the committees of their employees em-ployees had utterly failed to settle their differences, and Mr. Wells, general manager man-ager of the company, had stated positively posi-tively that the company would not arbitrate arbi-trate even the wage scale, that I was sent for by the employees, as they had no further fur-ther recourse but to strike. Attempts to Bring Peace. Upon my arrival I convened a meeting of the men and they explained the entire situation. After acquainting myself thoroughly thor-oughly with all of the facts, I advised the local committee to again go before Mr. Wells of the company and ask if they would further negotiate with them with a view of effecting a settlement. This they did one week ago last Thursday, and M. Wells assured them that he would meet the committee on the following fol-lowing Saturday afternoon, which he did. At that conference the committee explained ex-plained to Mr. Wells that the mot or men and conductors, as well as bam and shop men, were very much dissatisfied with the wage scale as proposed by the company, com-pany, as It Old not afreet the great majority ma-jority of employees. Mr. Wells Anally told the committee he would grant a raise of 1 cent an hour to the motormen and conductors who had received no increase, in-crease, but further stated the company would reduce the wages of barn and shop men by not allowing them pay in the future at the rate of time and one-half for all overtime and holidays, as had been the custom. He stated positively that that waa final and that the company would not arbitrate anything. The committee com-mittee called a special meeting of all of the employes for the following Monday morning at -1 o'clock. At that meeting the men decided not to accept the company's com-pany's offer and voted almost unanimously unanimous-ly to go on strike, there being only eight |