M 
 
 I v( ''i; .''■' 1 
 
 
 ml Mxmmmr 
 
 iu:£:g.;;'liB:R.a;r,y,, 
 
 Mtmif
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 c»
 
 KEPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ROYAL COMMISSION 
 
 ON 
 
 3 ? 1 
 
 imm 
 
 II 
 
 ISSUED BY 
 
 THE DEPARTMENT OE LABOUR 
 
 O^N^DA. 
 
 OTTAWA 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 
 
 1903 
 
 T a AotTt rtyTcousiJir^ 1
 
 
 ROYAL LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 COMMISSIONERS 
 
 The Honourable Gordon Hunter, 
 
 Chief Justice of British Columhia, 
 Cliairraan. 
 
 Eev. Elliott S. Rovve. 
 SECRETARY : 
 
 STENOGRAPHER 
 
 W. L. Mackenzie King, 
 
 Deputy Minister of Labour, 
 
 Francis W. Giddens, 
 
 Department of Labour, 
 
 iS?sO 

 
 CO]SrTE:N^TS 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Commission vii 
 
 Letter transmitting Report of Commissioners ix 
 
 Chapter 1 — Introductory 1 
 
 2 — Strike of United Brotherhood of Eailway Employees and Sym- 
 pathetic Strikes 2 
 
 3 — Disputes in the coal mines of British Columbia during 1903. ... 35 
 
 4 — Strike of coal miners at Ladysmith 37 
 
 5 — Strike of coal miners at Union 49 
 
 6 — General Conclusions 63
 
 COMMISSION 
 
 APPOINTING THE HONOURABLE GORDON HUNTER AND THE REV. ELLIOTT 
 S. ROWS COMMISSIONERS TO INQUIRE INTO AND REPORT UPON 
 NUMEROUS DISPUTES BETWEEN OWNERS OF COAL AND METAL- 
 LIFEROUS MINES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES, AND BETWEEN TRANS- 
 PORTATION COMPANIES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES IN THE PROVINCE 
 OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ; DATED APRIL 18, 1903 ; RECORDED, APRIL 
 22, 1903. (SGD.) P. PELLETIER, ACTING DEPUTY REGISTRAR GENERAL 
 OF CANADA. 
 
 MINTO (L.S.) CANADA. 
 
 Edward the Seventh, ty the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of 
 the Faith, Emperor of India. 
 
 To all to "whom these Presents shall come, or whom the same may in anywise 
 concern, 
 
 • Greeting : 
 
 Whereas it appears from a report from our Minister of Labour that numerous 
 disputes frequently resulting in strikes and lockouts between (amongst others), owners 
 of coal and metalliferous mines and their employees; and between transportation com- 
 panies and their employees, have prevailed throughout the Province of British Colum- 
 bia for a considerable length of time, occasioning serious industrial depression and 
 great public injury : 
 
 And Whereas we deem it expedient that inquiry under oath should be made into 
 and concerning such disputes and the nature and causes thereof : 
 
 Now Know Ye that We, by and with the advice of our Privy Council for Canada 
 do by these presents nominate, constitute and appoint The Honourable Gordon Hunter, 
 Chief Justice of the said Province of British Columbia, and the Peverend Elliott S. 
 Rowe, of the City of Victoria, in said Province of British Columbia, to be Our Com- 
 missioners, to inquire into and concerning the said disputes hereintofore referred to, 
 and the nature and causes thereof. 
 
 And we do hereby, under the authority of the Revised Statutes of Canada, Chapter 
 144, intituled ' An Act respecting Inquiries concerning Public Matters ' ; confer upon 
 you, Our said Commissioners, the power of summoning before you any witnesses and 
 requiring them to give evidence on oath, orally or in writing, or on solemn affirma- 
 tion, if they are persons entitled to affirm in civil matters, and to produce such docu-
 
 Viii BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 ments and things as you, Our said Commissioners, shall deem requisite to the full 
 investigation of the matters into which you are hereby appointed to examine, inquire 
 into and investigate, to have, hold, exercise and enjoy the said office, place and trust 
 unto you the said The Honourable Gordon Hunter, and you the Revered Elliott 
 S. Eowe, together with the rights, powers, privileges and emoluments unto the said 
 office, place and trust of right and by law appertaining during pleasure. And we do 
 hereby require and direct you to report to Our Minister of Labour of Canada the 
 result of your investigation, together with the evidence taken before you, and any 
 opinion you may see fit to express thereon. 
 
 In Testimony Whereof we have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent, and 
 the Great Seal of Canada to be hereunto affixed : — 
 
 .Witness : Our Bight Trusty and Right Well-Beloved Cousin and Councillor, 
 the Bight Honourable Sir Gilbert John Elliot, Earl of Minto 
 and Viscount Melgund of Melgund, County or Forfar in the 
 Peerage of the United Kingdom, Baron Minto of Minto, County 
 of Boxburgh in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baronet of Nova 
 Scotia, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Distinguished Order 
 of Saint Michael and Saint George, dec, &., Governor General 
 of Canada. 
 
 At our Government House in Our City of Ottawa, this Eighteenth day of April, 
 in the year of Our Lord One thousand nine hundred and three, and in the Third year 
 of Our Reign. 
 
 By command, 
 
 (Signed) P. PELLETIER, 
 
 Acting Under Secretary of State. 
 
 (Signed) E. L. Newcombe, 
 
 Deputy of the Minister of Justice, Canada,^
 
 LETTER TRANSMITTING REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS 
 
 Victoria^ July 10, 1903. 
 
 To the Honourable 
 
 Sir William Mulock, K.C.M.G., M.P., 
 
 Minister of Labour, 
 Ottawa. 
 
 Sir, — We have the honour to transmit to you the Eeport of the Comraission 
 appointed to inquire into numerous disputes between the owners of coal and metalli- 
 ferous mines and their employees, and between transportation companies and their 
 employees in the Province of British Columbia. 
 
 We have the honour to be. 
 Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servants, 
 
 (Signed) Gordon Hunter, 
 Elliott S. Eowe, 
 
 Co7nmissioners. 
 
 86a-— 2
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMISSION 
 
 To the Honourable 
 
 Sir William Mulock, K.C.M.G , M.P., 
 Minister of Labour, 
 Ottawa. 
 
 Sir, — "We have the honour to submit here- 
 with the results of our investiga- 
 tions into the nature and causes of recent 
 industrial disputes in the province of Brit- 
 
 ish Columbia, between owners of coal and 
 metalliferous mines and their employees 
 and between transportation companies and 
 their employees, together with the evidence 
 taken before us, and the opinions which 
 we have deemed it fit to express, pursxiant 
 to the directions of the commission issued 
 to us by His Excellency the Governor Gen- 
 eral of Canada. 
 
 CHAP. I— lETEODTJCTOEY. 
 
 T 
 
 HE Commission entered upon its 
 duties at the end of April, and 
 evidence was commen- 
 4, at Ladysmith, and 
 at Vancouver on June 
 
 taking of 
 on May 
 concluded 
 
 the 
 ced 
 was 
 
 15. Evidence was taken in the cities 
 of Victoria, Vancouver and Nanairao, and 
 in the mining towns of Lady.smith, Exten- 
 sion and Cumberland (Union). The sittings 
 of the Commission were continuous and 
 uninterrupted, and during the time over 
 one hundred witnesses were examined. The 
 Commission made every effort to hear as 
 many parties as possible who were or might 
 be immediately interested in the matters 
 under investigation. In the case of the ex- 
 isting disputes, the employers and emi^loy- 
 ees concerned, or their representatives, were 
 examined at considerable length, and op- 
 portunity given to any persons who de- 
 sired to appear before the Commission. The 
 opinions of representative, employers and 
 workmen other than those who were parties 
 to existing disputes were also obtained in 
 regard to general questions affecting their 
 relations and the settlement of labour dis- 
 putes, and on matters on which the Com- 
 missioners felt it desirable to have inde- 
 pendent testimony. Owing, however, to the 
 limited tim.e at its disposal, it was neces- 
 sary to restrict the taking of evidence both 
 as to the places which the Commissioners 
 
 had, at the outset, hoped to visit, and the 
 
 36a~2J 
 
 number of witnesses examined in those lo- 
 calities where sittings were held. We be- 
 lieve, however, in regard to the disputes 
 which were made the subject of special in- 
 quiry, the evidence obtained, and the docu- 
 ments and correspondence submitted to the 
 Commission, have made us fully acquainted 
 with all the material facts and circum- 
 stances relevant to the pui"poses of the in- 
 quirj'-, and that such additional evidence as 
 might have been obtained by fuller investi- 
 gation would have been merely corrobora- 
 tive of the facts disclosed. 
 
 The Commissioners have much pleasure 
 in stating that the parties' to the various 
 controversies under investigation were re- 
 presented by able counsel, who much facili- 
 tated the work of the Commission, and only 
 regret that they were unable to hear ex- 
 tended argument from them as to what 
 legislation ought to be suggested. They 
 also desire to record their appreciation of 
 the invaluable assistance rendered by Mr. 
 W. L. Mackenzie King, secretary to the 
 Commission, to whose unceasing efforts and 
 interest in the work of the Commission is 
 due much of any value that may be found 
 in this report. They also feel it due to Mr. 
 E. W. Giddens, the stenographer attached 
 to the Commission, to acknowledge the ac- 
 curacy and rapidity of his work in report- 
 ing and transcribing the evidence, owing 
 to which the report was completed at as 
 early a date as was possible.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 CHAP. II— THE UNITED BROTHEEHOOD OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES' AND 
 
 SYMPATHETIC STRIKES. 
 
 THE strike at Vancouver of certain 
 employees of the Canadian Paci- 
 fic Eailway, who were members of the 
 United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 .ployees, and which commenced on 
 February 27, had, at the time the 
 Commission began its investigation, 
 been on foot for a longer time than any 
 of the strikes in the province during the 
 present year. This strike was investigated 
 during the sittings of the Commission at 
 the city of Vancouver, which were held 
 after the Commission had concluded its 
 sittings at different places on Vancouver 
 Island. The Commission having originally 
 intended to visit the boundary and Koote- 
 nay districts, it waS' deemed advisable to 
 conclude the taking of evidence on Van- 
 couver Island before proceeding to the 
 mainland, and for this reason, and the ad- 
 ditional fact that there appeared to be 
 greater iirgency for an immediate investi- 
 gation of the mining disputes, the strike of 
 the United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees, although occurring earlier than the 
 strikes on Vancouver Island, was not taken 
 up until the taking of evidence in regard to 
 the latter was concluded. But its relation 
 to, and bearing upon the other disputes, 
 make it desirable that it should be the first 
 to be taken up in this report. 
 
 Sources of information. 
 
 Preliminary to the taking of evidence at 
 Vancouver the Commission required each 
 party to the dispute to file an affidavit of 
 documents which would cover all corres- 
 pondence relating in any way to the strike. 
 An immense mass of material was produced 
 in response to this direction of the Com- 
 mission by both the company and the strik- 
 ers. Privilege was claimed by both sides 
 for the greater part of the correspondence 
 
 produced. On examining the correspond- 
 ence the Commassioners found that it con- 
 tained practically all the information wliich 
 was necessary to give a complete under- 
 standing of the entire situation, and of the 
 purposes and methods of both parties to the 
 dispute. To have formally brought out in 
 open court even the most important of the 
 facts established by these documents would 
 have occupied the time o^ the Commission 
 for several weeks. The parties themselves 
 were unwilling to have much of the informa- 
 tion publicly disclosed, but expressed their 
 willingness to leave all of the documents 
 in the hands of the Commission, and joint 
 admissions were very properly made that 
 all the documents and correspondence were 
 what they purported to be, and it was 
 agreed by the parties that the Commission- 
 ers might refer to such of them as they 
 might think necessary or proper and draw 
 inferences of fact therefrom. The agents 
 of the telegraph companies at Vancouver 
 and other points, were required by the Com- 
 mission to produce all telegrams which had 
 been sent or received by their offices by any 
 parties concerned in the dispute, and which 
 related in any way to the matters before 
 the Commission. 
 
 Settlement of Strike before Commission. 
 
 The Commission having in its possession 
 all the material evidence bearing on the 
 situation, the parties reques'ted its assist- 
 ance in effecting a settlement of the dis- 
 pute, and after one or two days' negotia- 
 tions a settlement was arrived at, the terms 
 of which, having been accepted by the re- 
 presentatives of both parties, were filed with 
 the Commission, to be retained as a sealed 
 document in the Department of Labour at 
 Ottawa. This course led to the immediate 
 termination of the original strike, and the 
 several strikes which had taken place at
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 other points on the company's system, as 
 well as the sympathetic strikes in other 
 trades. 
 
 It was felt by the Commissioners that to 
 have pursued the taking of evidence to other 
 than a limited extent, while negotiations 
 were pending, would have precluded the 
 possibility of a settlement, and that after 
 the settlement was effected, it was not in 
 the public interest that the trouble should 
 be publicly ventilated any more than was 
 necessary. The Commission, however, eat- 
 isiied itself in the first instance that the 
 documents in its possession were sufficient 
 to satisfactorily demonstrate the nature and 
 causes of the strike. Our report on this 
 strike is, therefore, based primarily on 
 documentary evidence, but only such docu- 
 ments have been made use of as the Com- 
 mission feel satisfied are authorative and 
 in the public interest to disclose. 
 
 The United Brotherhood of Railway 
 Employees. 
 
 As has been mentioned, the strike of the 
 employees of the Canadian Pacific Kail- 
 way Company at Vancouver who were 
 members of the United Brotherhood of 
 Railway Employees, commenced on Febru- 
 ary 27, 1903. Immediately after, it was 
 followed by strikes among members of the 
 Brotherhood at other points on the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway, and by sympathetic 
 strikes in other callings at Vancouver and 
 elsewhere. The nature and causes of 
 the strike itself, and the strikes which fol- 
 lowed in consequence of it, cannot be right- 
 ly understood without explaining in some 
 detail the nature of the organization known 
 as the United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees and the relations which existed be- 
 tween this organization and the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway Company for some, time 
 previous. 
 
 Oath Administered to Members. 
 
 The United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees was constituted in January, 1901. 
 It is a secret society, bound together by the 
 folllowing oath : 
 
 I do most solemnly and sincerely swear (or 
 affirm), freely and voluntarily, upon the Holy 
 Bible and my sacred honour, that I will never 
 reveal any of the secrets of the United Brother- 
 hood of Railway Employees, which have been 
 heretofore, shall be at this time, or may at any 
 future time, be imparted to me as such, to any 
 person whomsoever, unless under lawful au- 
 thority of the Brotherhood ; that I will never 
 write, indite or print, or allow to be written, 
 indited or printed, if in my power to prevent 
 it, any of the unwritten work of the Brother- 
 hood ; that I will uphold and support its con- 
 stitution and by-laws, and will obey and abide 
 by all regulations and mandates issued through 
 its various official channels, and will respect 
 and comply with all decisions of its tribunals, 
 when in acordance with its constitution and 
 laws ; that I will not knowingly wrong, cheat, 
 nor defraud any member of this Brotherhood, 
 or speak ill or slightingly of any member there- 
 of ; that I will assist all destitute worthy mem- 
 bers of the Brotherhood who may apply to me 
 for relief, so far as lies within my power ; that, 
 other things being equal, I will give employment 
 to a member of this Brotherhood in preference 
 to a stranger ; that I will give members due 
 and timely notice of any danger that I may 
 know of, threatening them or their families ; 
 that I will recognize all signs, passwords, grips 
 or signals which may be given me by members 
 of the Brotherhood ; that I will endeavour at all 
 times to uphold and maintain the dignity of 
 the Brotherhood ; that I will not recommend 
 any candidate for membership therein, whom I 
 have reason to believe would prove unworthy. 
 All this I most sincerely and faithfully swear 
 (or affirm), and will steadfastly keep and per- 
 form without the least equivocation or mental 
 reservation whatsoever, and will consider this 
 obligation binding, whether I remain a member 
 of the Brotherhood or not. 
 
 Nature of Organization. 
 
 This' oath isi administered during a 
 lengthy and impressive ceremony. 
 
 The headquarters of the organization are 
 at San Francisco, and its purpose is to em- 
 brace in one organization all classes of rail" 
 way employees. The management of the 
 affairs of the Brotherhood is in the hands 
 of its president and board of directors, who 
 are clothed with exceptional powers in the 
 direction of the affairs of the- entire Bro- 
 therhood. As an illustration of the na- 
 ture of this power, and also of the main 
 purposes of the Brotherhood in endeavor- 
 ing to effect an organization that may em- 
 brace all classes of employees upon rail- 
 ways, the following, which is section 25 of 
 Article 5 of the constitution of the Brother- 
 hood (the Article v/hich defines the power 
 of the president) may be quoted : — 
 
 Whenever a reasonable satisfactory adjust- 
 ment of grievances of a member or members 
 of the Brotherhood, or of the Brotherhood, or
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 any division or departments thereof, is re- 
 fused by the management of any railway, notice 
 of refusal to adjust grievance may be given by 
 the joint order of the president and board of 
 directors, and upon the same being made, and 
 until the same is revoked, no member of the 
 Brotherhood shall perform any labour or ser- 
 vice in or upon any such railway, or upon 
 freight or passengers thereof, either while ac- 
 tually upon said railway or upon premises own- 
 ed by the corporation owning the same, or un- 
 der the control or direction of such corpora- 
 tion or its management, or that may be destin- 
 ed for or to be carried upon any such railway 
 or any part thereof, or that may be coming 
 from or to be transported from the same, or 
 from any part thereof, and while such notice is 
 in effect and until the same is lawfully revoked 
 by the authority issuing the same, no member 
 of the Brotherhood shall in any wise handle, 
 transport or be in any way connected with the 
 handling, transmission or transportation of any 
 of the freight, or passengers, or property of 
 said railv.'ay, or of the railways affected by and 
 specified in said order under penalty of expul- 
 sion. Nothing herein shall ever be construed 
 as authorizing any act of violence or the des- 
 truction of any property, or any other unlawful 
 act, or to secure or effect the hindrance of any 
 person or persons not connected with the Bro- 
 therhood in the preformance of any service, 
 which it or its members hereunder fail or re- 
 fuse to perform, but is in all cases to be limited 
 to a lawful and peaceful refusal to render fur- 
 ther service in connection with the transporta- 
 tion of passengers, or of freight, or of property 
 of the railway or railways affected by such 
 notice of refusal to adjust grievance. 
 
 From this Article it will be seen that "un- 
 like the provisions nsiially found in the 
 constitutions of trade unions, relating to 
 strikes, the constitution of the United 
 Brotherhood of Railway Employees leaves 
 no option under certain circumstances, to 
 the members to determine in their local 
 lodges whether or not they "will become in- 
 volved in a sympathetic strike, but subjects 
 one and all, under penalty of expulsion, to 
 the order of the president and a board of 
 directors. Those, therefore, who are ac- 
 customed to trades' union methods of pro- 
 ceeding, will be at a loss to understand the 
 action of the men involved in this strike at 
 different points on the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway, or some of the sympathetic strikes 
 referred to, unless the nature of this or- 
 ganization is kept in mind. 
 
 Nature and Extent of Organization on 
 C.P.R. 
 
 In June, 1902, the clerks in the employ 
 of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company 
 at Vancouver were organized as a branch 
 
 (called a * division ') of the United Brother- 
 hood of Railway Employees. Divisions 
 were formed during the fall of the same 
 year at Revelstoke, Nelson and Calgary. 
 In November George Estes, the president 
 of the Brotherhood, visited Vancouver to 
 work up the membership of the order, and 
 one of the results of his visit was the ad- 
 dition to the order of the Vancouver freight 
 handlers and checkers, who were already 
 members of a local organization which had 
 an agreement with the company, including 
 a schedule of wagesi which was to be in 
 force until June 21, 1903. Erom that 
 time on, the relations between Estes and 
 executive officers of the Canadian divisions 
 were of an intimate nature, Estes appar- 
 ently directing much of his time and en- 
 ergy to furthering organization of the 
 Brotherhood in Canada. 
 
 From reports furnished by secret service 
 detectives the company learned : — 
 
 (1). That the p"urpose of the organization 
 was to include all classes of employees, 
 whether raembers of other orders or not. 
 For example, men were being taken into 
 the Brotherhood from the shops at the sev- 
 eral divisional points on the Canadian Pa- 
 cific Railway, although the mechanical de- 
 partments to which these men belonged had 
 organizations which had agreeonents with 
 the company ; one or two train baggage 
 men, members of the Order of Railway 
 Trainmen, -with which the company had an 
 agreement, also joined the Brotherhood. In 
 December instructions were given by Estes 
 to one P , the organizer of the Bro- 
 therhood in Canada, to endeavour to organ- 
 ize the bridge and trackmen in the Eoote- 
 nay country as members of the Brother- 
 hood, although they belonged to a union of 
 the maiutenance-of-way men, with whom 
 the company had made an agreement fol- 
 lowing upon a strike which lasted a good 
 part of the summer of 1901. 
 
 (2). That sailors on the Pacific and local 
 boats of the Canadian Pacific Navigation 
 Company were being taken into the order. 
 
 (3). That the general foreman of the 
 freight sheds at Vancouver, who had charge
 
 BRITISH COLVMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 of 95 men, and had the power of engaging 
 and dismissing men, had joined the organi- 
 zation. 
 
 (4). That preparations were being made 
 to organize the Brotherhood along the en- 
 tire line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 
 and that it was contemplated to make a de- 
 mand for recognition of the Brotherhood 
 and schedules' at Montreal on July 1 of the 
 present year, 
 
 (5). That an employee who had been dis- 
 missed for cause at Nelson and afterwards 
 given work in the sheds at Vancouver and 
 again dismissed, had placed his case in the 
 hands of the Vancouver division, and that 
 that division had asked support from Eev- 
 elstoke. Nelson and Calgary, but had re- 
 ceived a promise of it only from the last 
 named. It was decided to wait on the 
 general superintendent of the Pacific 
 division, Mr. Marpole, and demand 
 the reinstatement of this employee, and be- 
 fore doing so, to publish their intention in 
 the papers, in order, as Estes stated when 
 advising the course named, that they might 
 'work a bluff,' and get glory for the order 
 as well as indicate strength, the idea being 
 that the general superintendent, in order 
 to prevent trouble, might pretend ignorance 
 of the ease and do aa requested. 
 
 (6). That the private business of the 
 company was being given out and discussed 
 in the divisions of the Brotherhood. Mat- 
 ters were mentioned by officers of the Bro- 
 therhood, that could not have come to them 
 except by the treachery of some employees 
 having confidential positions. One of the 
 telegraph operators was seen to hand Estes 
 a number of copies of dispatches. Upon 
 investigation it was discovered that this 
 man had given to Estes, at the latter's re- 
 quest, private information that came to 
 b.im in the course of his work as operator. 
 He signed a confession to this effect. 
 
 Private Business of Company discussed. 
 
 The fact that the confidential clerk of the 
 ceneral superintendent was being sent to 
 San Francisco and other coast towns was 
 discussed in the division. The advance 
 
 voucher for his expenses was perused and 
 reported otj, and the conclusion reached that 
 he was being sent to the points named to 
 find out the strength of the Brotherhood, 
 and to report on the probability of getting 
 men to take the places of those employed 
 in the event of a strike on the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway. This supposed discovery 
 was communicated to Estes, who Is, by the 
 secret service detectives, reported to have 
 replied to the following effect from Seattle 
 on January 2 : * I am proud to think that 
 the union is so well organized as to put us in 
 a position to get such information, and con- 
 gratulate you on your promptitude in giv- 
 ing me the information. I will make it im- 
 possible for him here in Seattle to get any 
 clerks, as they get about $60 a month here, 
 and are nearly all solid for the U.B.R.E. 
 However, I will put them on their guard, 
 and have wired Massey (the vice-president 
 of the U.B.R.E.) in San Erancisco. I will 
 go at once to Tacoma and make that place 
 my headquarters and try to keep them from 
 scabbing and organize there as quickly as 
 possible. Keep me posted.' This letter was 
 directed to F. J. Halton, the agent (sec- 
 retary) of the local lodge at Vancouver, 
 who decided that it was best to have an in- 
 terview with Estes, and with the connivance 
 of his immediate superior, left his work on 
 sick leave and went to Seattle. 
 
 Suspension of Member of Brotherhood 
 in January. 
 
 These disclosures resulted in the sus- 
 pension of Halton and the transfer of a 
 young woman, who was a member of the 
 Brotherhood, from the office of the assist- 
 ant to the general superintendent, to an- 
 other department, in pursuance of a de- 
 cision that no member of the Brotherhood 
 should remain in the private office of the 
 superintendent. The cases of Halton and 
 this young woman were taken up by the 
 Vancouver division. A grievance com- 
 mittee was formed to present a request for 
 the reinstatement of Halton, and the em- 
 ployment of the young woman in a perma- 
 nent position at no less wages than she had
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 been receiving. This committee waited 
 upon the general superintendent on Janu- 
 ary 5 (the general superintendent's confi- 
 dential clerk had left on December 29, Hal- 
 ton on the 30th, and the latter suspended on 
 January 2) who refused to deal with them 
 as representing the Brotherhood. He agreed 
 to meet the committee of general office 
 clerks and explain the reasons for Halton's 
 suspension, and the transfer of the other 
 clerk. He explained that they had been 
 wrong as to the supposed purpose of the 
 mission of his confidential clerk to the 
 States, and read them correspondence re- 
 lative to that between himself and Mr. 
 McNicoll, the general manager at Montreal, 
 and Mr. Tait. This correspondence, inas- 
 much as it has a direct bearing on the 
 v;hole situation, it may be well to repro- 
 duce. 
 
 Correspondence re Wages of Clerks on 
 C.P.R. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Marpole on December 
 
 15, Tait says : — 
 
 In reference to tlie organization of clerical 
 labour in Vancouver and else%vhere on your di- 
 vision under the auspices of U.B.R.E., I do not 
 know wliat we can do to stop this and prevent 
 trouble, except to pay our men as well as they 
 are paid elsewhere under the same conditions. 
 In order that we may know where we stand in 
 this respect, will you kindly select some one in 
 whom you have confidence, to go to Portland, 
 Seattle, Tacoma and San Francisco, and ascer- 
 tain just what salaries are paid to clerks in 
 various positions at each of these points, and 
 send me a statement showing this, with the 
 corresponding salaries paid at Vancouver, and 
 your recommendation as to what, if any, in- 
 crease should be granted. 
 
 In a letter of Mr. Marpole to Mr. Mc- 
 Nicoll, dated January 26, to which was at- 
 tached a statement containing the recom- 
 mendations of the former as to the increases 
 growing out of the inquiries of his confi- 
 dential clerk, and a statement covering pre- 
 sent and proposed wages and the rates of 
 pay at Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Spo- 
 kane, Mr. Marpole says. : — 
 
 I have already discussed pretty fully with 
 you the subject of the action we proposed now 
 to take, and desire to repeat now my earnest 
 appeal to you to let me make these effective 
 from the first of February, so as to put us on 
 a proper and fair footing before we force the 
 issue of pending trouble. 
 
 We must be just and reasonable in dealing 
 with this class of employees, and give them the 
 satisfaction of knowing that this company i3 
 willing to pay as much as other transcontinen- 
 tal lines immediately south of us for exactly 
 similar work done. 
 
 I am especially anxious to retain the services 
 and respect of those employees whose loyalty 
 has already been demonstrated, and can only 
 do so by being absolutely just in the matter of 
 remuneration, and make this equivalent to 
 what they can get readily from other com- 
 panies. I am asking only what I consider the 
 responsible and loyal element are entitled to, 
 and the total increase in this connection does 
 not cut much of a figure when we look at the 
 faithful services rendered at all hours and 
 places. 
 
 Please wire me you decision, as I desire to 
 announce the increase immediately for a reason 
 you are aware of. 
 
 Having read the preceding corresx)ond- 
 ence to the members of the committee who 
 waited upon him on January 6, and had 
 some discussion with them, Mr. Marpole 
 remained firm in his determination not to 
 recognize the committee as a committee of 
 the Brotherhood. Halton thereupon wived 
 to Estes : * Will not deal with committee as 
 union, but as employees ; will try to satisfy 
 re request as such, but not as union.' To 
 this telegram Estes replied : ' Must deal 
 with union ; it is vital and only solution ; 
 will be with you at noon to-morrow.' The 
 committee then withdrew, as it felt it could 
 not accept anything less than recognition 
 without the consent of the local division. 
 
 Threatened Strike in January. 
 
 At the meeting of the division that night 
 the committee was instructed to inform the 
 general superintendent at 10 o'clock on the 
 following day that a reply in writing would 
 be required before noon, and that if it were 
 not satisfactory the committee would have 
 power to act at its discretion and call out 
 such employees belonging to the order as it 
 saw fit. A strike committee was formed 
 and a meeting called for the following day 
 at noon to receive the report. Tlie general 
 committee was given power to appoint 
 pickets to interview those not aware of the 
 strike who were to be called on with a view 
 of inducing them to quit woi'k. Suspected 
 men were followed home from the meeting, 
 and a picket placed near the residence of 
 the general superintendent to see if any
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 one gave liim infoi-matiou before the proper 
 time. In short, every preparation was made 
 for an immediate strike. Tlie freight hand- 
 lers who were working under the scliedule 
 which had been agreed to by them and the 
 company, were in some doubt as to what 
 should be done in view of this obligation. 
 It was decided, however, that the position 
 should be taken tliat their agreement provid- 
 ed that the company was not to discriminate 
 against any of their members, which condi- 
 tion would be broken in case Ilalton was 
 not reinstated, as, all being members of the 
 Brotherhood, he was now one of them. 
 
 The committee met at the time appointed 
 on the following morning, but no settlement 
 was reached. Mr. Marpole was told that 
 Estes was in town and asked if he would 
 meet him. He replied to the effect that he 
 would be glad to meet any one, but could not 
 meet Estes as representing them. He 
 would, however, meet him privately in or- 
 der to convince him that the recognition 
 of the Brotherhood was impossible. In the 
 afternoon Estes accompanied a small com- 
 mittee as their attorney, and as a result of 
 this meeting an understanding was reached 
 which was embodied in the following let- 
 ter, signed by T. G. Townley, the assistant 
 of the general superintendent, and ad- 
 dressed to Mr. EouHs, for a committee of 
 the employees : — 
 
 Re interview between committee of emploj^ees 
 and myself this afternoon : My understanding is 
 tliat Clerk Halton is to be suspended one week 
 for absenting himself without leave and de- 
 ceiving you as to the reason for his absence on 
 Wednesday last ; this decision being arrived at 
 after the explanation given by Halton and your- 
 self as to the reason of his absence, which 
 shoirid have been forthcoming before, and that 
 any similar breach of discipline will mean im- 
 mediate dismissal. As to Miss C , there 
 
 appears to be some misapprehension as to her 
 case, as she is still employed, and no intima- 
 tion was given her that her services were not 
 required. 
 
 Palse representations by Estes, Presi- 
 dent TJ.E.R.E. 
 
 On the evening of the same day (January 
 C) there was a mass meeting of the members 
 of the Brotherhood at Vancouver, at which 
 Estes gave an account of the proceedings 
 of the day. After reading the above letter 
 36a— 3 
 
 to the meeting Estes is reported to have 
 
 said : — 
 
 This is practical recognition. If we had not 
 gone to Marpole, Halton would not have got his 
 position back, and I, as attorney for this union, 
 carried out the negotiations with Mr. Marpole. 
 I told him what to say in that letter, and he 
 wrote it. I did not think of getting a state- 
 ment in writing from him that he would not 
 discriminate against members of the union, but 
 feel sure if I had asked it that he would have 
 put that down also. However, he stated in the 
 morning, before 15 witnesses, that he would 
 not do so, and that is good enough for us also ; 
 at least a dozen times he hinted to us to put in 
 our schedule. This is quite a victory for us, 
 as at the interview in the morning he had no 
 idea of reinstating Halton — he said * it would 
 play the devil if I reinstated him.' It will play 
 the devil all right, as our organizer will take 
 this news all along the line, and if that does 
 not organize the Canadian Pacific Railway, 
 nothing would. If I were you I would rest on 
 my laurels for a short while now, until we get 
 solid. I have set down June 30 to have the 
 Canadian Pacific P^ailway organized solid ; then 
 I will go to Montreal with your representatives, 
 and if we cannot get recognition then and a 
 fine schedule, I am a long way out of ray reck- 
 oning. 
 
 Regarding the letter to Eoulds, Mr. Mar- 
 pole's version is that the committee with- 
 drew and Townley prepared the letter. He 
 says : * I told them I could not recognize 
 the union, having no power to do so, and 
 could only deal with them as a committee 
 of employees.' And in regaid to the meet- 
 ing at which Estes was present : ' After a 
 few words Estes admitted to us that reco- 
 gnition could not be gained througt me.' 
 
 The use subsequently made by Estes of 
 this understanding and interview in con- 
 nection with the strike of the Brotherhood^ 
 commenced in Eebruary, may serve to indi- 
 cate the deliberate manner in which be at- 
 tempted to mislead the members of the 
 United Brotherhood in his endeavours to 
 further the strike and gain for it the linau- 
 cial and moral support of other organiza- 
 tions. In a circular letter dated March 4, 
 he says : — 
 
 This strike was brought about by the per- 
 sistent discrimination and intimidatioii of our 
 members, which was in deliberate violation of 
 an agreement between the U.B.R.E.. and the 
 management of the C.P.R., which was signed 
 by General Superintendent Marpole early in 
 January as an outcome of the efforts of the 
 company at that time to destroy the organiza- 
 tion, but which resulted in a complete back- 
 down on its part v/hen it sav,' the completeness 
 of our organization and the extent cf our 
 power at Vancouver, and its utter inability to 
 defeat us. It was believed at that time the
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 management would respect this agreement, but 
 they seem to have had no regard whatever for 
 their word or the sacredness of a contract, and 
 from that time to this they have evidently been 
 malcing preparations for another test of 
 strength. 
 
 It is to be noted in connection with the 
 above statements that there had never at 
 any time been an agi'eement between the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway Company and 
 the United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees, and that the former had refused 
 absolutely to recognize the Brotherhood in 
 any way whatever, and that no wage sche- 
 dule was given to the employees collectively 
 who had concerned themselves with Hal- 
 ton's suspension. 
 
 Estes' plan for Organizing the Brother- 
 hood in Canada. 
 
 Besides the division formed at Vancouver, 
 the United Brotherhood had, as already 
 mentioned, organized divisions at Bevel- 
 stoke, Nelson and Calgary during the fall 
 of 1902. These, together with the division 
 at Winnipeg, seem to have constituted all 
 the lodges established on the Canadian Pa- 
 cific Railway up to the end of last year. 
 But it was the purpose of the order to push 
 forward the work of organization over the 
 entire line, and for the execution of this 
 
 work one P , was appointed general 
 
 organizer for Canada. Estes' plans for 
 the order may be gathered from his several 
 
 letters to P , who subsequently sold 
 
 them for valuable consideration to the Can- 
 adian Pacific Railway Company. 
 
 It will be well to reproduce at length 
 parts of some of these communications, as 
 they serve to illustrate the manner in which 
 Estes intended to organize and use Cana- 
 dian workmen to further ends and purposes 
 of his own. They are also important as 
 helping to explain, in part, the attitude of 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway Company 
 towards this organization in refusing to 
 grant it recognitioru 
 
 Under date of December 25, Estes writes 
 
 from Seattle to P , at Winnij)cg, as 
 
 follows : — 
 
 I have to-day written the Railway Employees* 
 Journal to honour your personal requests upon 
 the Journal for papers to the extent of 25 of 
 
 each issue of the Journal for organizing pur- 
 poses. (No free copies of the Journal can be 
 issued except on the president's personal 
 order). 
 
 Therefore please advise the Journal from 
 time to time where you want the Journals sent 
 to, giving as much advance notice as possible. 
 I have also said to the editor that I expected you 
 to contribute to the Journal weekly, giving- 
 favourable information of your work in your 
 steady march across the continent, and that I 
 wanted these articles given preference (as our 
 space is always overcrowded) because I desire 
 every possible attention given to the Canadian 
 portion of the U. B. work. 
 
 I desiire you to be especially charged with the 
 work of getting all Canadian divisions pro- 
 perly into the Directory, and the editor in 
 chief has received instructions to the effect that 
 you will supply this information to him just 
 as rapidly as you reach each division. 
 
 As you work your way eastward please send 
 in good, vigorous articles about your reception 
 (whenever favourable) and the spirit and 
 enthusiasm of the members. Let them be 
 signed articles, using your ofiBcial title — General 
 Organizer for Canada. This title will appear 
 in the Directory of the Journal, as I have sent 
 it to San Francisco to-day. In these articles 
 have your work even showing details where 
 interesting, giving names of places and of 
 persons where safe to do so. 
 
 In all your writings carefully word your 
 articles so as to develop a public sentiment 
 for the U.B.R.E. — the Industrial Union plan — 
 the A. L. U. and against the reactionary and 
 capitalistic party now temporarily in control of 
 the A. P. of L., but not against the masses of 
 members comprising the A. F. of L. Continu- 
 ally separate the administration of the A. F of 
 L. from the A. F. of L. itself, and give all 
 possible praise to the masses of the A. F. of L., 
 but without being personal or vindicative con- 
 demn the temporary capitalistic administration 
 of the A. F. of L. in the strongest terms you 
 can possibly employ. 
 
 In this way you will constantly stimulate and 
 augment a great public sentiment for the U. B. 
 R. E. — for Industrial Unions, for the A. L. U. 
 and for Socialism (but don't use the word) and 
 against capitalism and the Gompers faction 
 which is working in harmony with Marcus A. 
 Hanna and the infamous civic federation to 
 keep down the masses of the people. 
 
 Let your articles be serial or continued in 
 character, as it is my desire for our whole 
 membership, through the paper, to carefully 
 trace your movements across the continent. By 
 the time you reach the Atlantic seaboard, if 
 you handle this matter as I desire you to, you 
 will be in the minds of twenty-five thousand 
 railroad men and women of North America. 
 Not only that, but it will make you the 
 strongest man in Canada in the labour move- 
 ment provided you show yourself to be a 
 natural lead(;r in the work you perform and the 
 reports you make of it through the Journal. 
 
 This will all have its effect in building the 
 U. B. R. E. throughout the Dominion, besides 
 that, our Canadian divisions Will watch your 
 march across Canada with the most boundless 
 interest, provided you portray it for them pro- 
 perly in the Journal, and this will give you a 
 prestige among them which you cannot other- 
 wise acquire. This will also be the cheapest 
 and best way whereby you can keep all Canada 
 advised of your movements. In order to pre- 
 serve the continuity of your articles it would 
 be best not to miss a single issue of the Journal,
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 ■without something from you to keep up the 
 interest. 
 
 It would be well, as soon as you get this, to 
 send in a preliminary article to open up the 
 case, so to speak, and then follow it weekly 
 thereafter. 
 
 Massey advises me that there is a movement 
 on foot for the Bridge and Trackmen in the 
 Kootenay country to go into our division there. 
 If you can put this through do so, and I will 
 back any reasonable action you take to accom- 
 plish that end. 
 
 As before stated, I give you large authority 
 within the Dominion, and, of course, as I wrote 
 Gault, I expect results. I wish you to send 
 your photograph (bust) to the Railway Employ- 
 ees' Journal, and when you have made some good 
 stroke at some point I will personally Vi^rite an 
 article and have the picture appear in the paper. 
 
 Under date of January 28, Estes -writea 
 to P , as follows, concerning tlie con- 
 clusion of the strike of the Canadian 
 Northern Railway at Winnipeg : — 
 
 It is a wonderful victory, and we can now say 
 we are an organization which has never lost 
 a strike, as we won the great strike at Houston, 
 Texas, comprising 6S8 men, and the brush at 
 Vancouver on January 6, and the great strike 
 on the C. N. R. which has lasted seven months. 
 
 We should new sweep Canada from Ocean to 
 Ocean, Vancouver to Halifax, and should be 
 ready to get our committees into Montreal 
 early in the coming summer. 
 
 In another letter of the same day, in re- 
 ply to a letter from P , complaining 
 
 that he is being shadowed by a Canadian 
 Pacific Railway detective, he, in an effort 
 
 to encourage P , (who had sold out 
 
 to the Canadian Pacific Railway four days 
 before the date of the letter) speaks of the 
 plan he had for the conquest of the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway : — 
 
 The whole division of Vancouver Is now ex- 
 erting its combined strength to build up the 
 U. B. R. E. I have requested that division to 
 open Divisions at Victoria, North Bend and 
 Kamloops, also a division of the Express 
 Auxiliary at Vancouver, which it will proceed 
 to do as rapidly as possible. I have requested 
 the division at Revelstoke to open divisions at 
 Field and Laggan. Gault, now that he has the 
 strike off his hands, has gone solidly to work 
 building up at Winnipeg and in that vicinity. 
 Besides this, after Massey finishes organizing 
 at Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Spokane Falls and 
 Victoria, I will send him to join you about 
 May 1, and I expect you will be about Winni- 
 peg or Port Arthur by that time, and by the 
 time the worlc has progressed well toward 
 Montreal, I will myself begin at Victoria and 
 traverse the whole Canadian Pacific Railway 
 into Montreal, leading the committees in their 
 last great stand at that point. 
 
 Purchasability of leaders disclosed. 
 
 In publishing these letters as part of tiiis 
 report, the Commissioners feel that it is 
 
 in the Interests of the workingmen, as well 
 as of the public, that there should be no 
 concealment as to the method by which 
 they came into possession of the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway Company. We feel that 
 they should be published, if only to show 
 that there is a possibility of labour 
 leaders being bought to sei^ve the inter- 
 ests of a corporation in view of the power 
 or influence which they may have among 
 their fellow workmen. It has often been 
 asserted that many of the strikes of recent 
 occurrence in this province were fomented 
 by agitators who were in the pay of some 
 rival corporation in the United States. 
 When such allegations have been made 
 they have always been strongly resented by 
 workingmen everywhere. If, however, it 
 might occur, as it in fact did, that the 
 chief organizer for Canada of an inter- 
 national order such as the United Brother- 
 hood of Railway Employees, was made, for 
 a small gratuity, to reveal in their entirety 
 the secret workings and plans of an organi- 
 zation of which he was, within the Domin- 
 ion, the head and trusted rcp-.esentative, 
 there can be little doubt that men in a less 
 responsible position and for larger induce- 
 ments, might be found who w'ould under- 
 take the less traitorous task of fomenting 
 strife among the employees of a particular 
 corporation in order to further the business 
 of a rival corporation elsewhere. 
 
 The C. ?. E. Secret Service. 
 
 It appears from the correspondence that 
 with few exceptions there were present at 
 the meetings of the several lodges of the 
 United Brotherhood of Railway Employees 
 in Canada, paid secret service officials of 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 
 who reported in full the proceedings of the 
 meetings to the company. As only mem- 
 bers of the BrotheAood were admitted to 
 these meetings, these men must have gained 
 admission through the order. In fact it 
 would appear from the written report of 
 one of these secret service men to the com- 
 pany that he was not only present at the 
 meetings, but that ho, on occasions, ad- 
 dressed the meetings at considerable length,
 
 10 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 and at one time went so far as to initiate 
 four new members into the organization, 
 administering to them the oath by which 
 he himself was bound. The purpose to be 
 gained could make but little difference to 
 a man who would lend his services to work 
 of this kind, while the fact that such ser- 
 vices W8re performed successfully would 
 clearly indicate that, while zealously guard- 
 ing their own rights in the matter of their 
 relations to their emjiloyers,. a body of men 
 might quite unconsciously be led to adopt 
 a course of action detrimental to them- 
 selves and their employers alike, and which 
 might only help to further the purposes of 
 some rival interest. 
 
 Canadian Organizer of TJ B. R. E. enters 
 Company's Secret Service. 
 
 P , who was selected by Estes as 
 
 liis chief representative to do the work of 
 organizing in Canada, and who was looked 
 up to as a leader by the members of the 
 Brotherhood in this country, appears to 
 have been a weak man with a doubtful rC' 
 cord, and at the time of his appointment 
 to the post of organizer of the Brotherhood, 
 in financial difficulties, and apparently in 
 poor health. At Nelson he was threatened 
 with exposure by the Canadian Pacific Pail- 
 way detective, who had discovered some 
 facts regarding his career elsewhere. Un- 
 der the influence of fear^ and under the 
 stress of having to make provision for his 
 family, he yielded to the pressure applied 
 by the detective and subsequently signed 
 the following written statement : — 
 I, P- 
 
 , Organfeer General of ttie United 
 Brotlierliood of Railway Employees for Canada, 
 do hereiby offer my service to the special service 
 department of the Canadian Pacific Railway 
 Company, and shall be pleased to accept a 
 position under them. This offer is made of my 
 own free will and without conditions. 
 
 This proposal is dated and witnessed at 
 
 Nelson, January 24, 1903. P was 
 
 then evidently hurried on to Winnipeg, 
 where, on the 27th of the month, he gave a 
 receipt to the Chief Inspector of the com- 
 pany's special service department at Win- 
 nipeg, for ' the sum of $25 for expenses, 
 the same to be accounted for. Also trans- 
 portation, Winnipeg to Calgary and re- 
 
 turn.' In a report by the Chief Inspector 
 at Winnipeg on January 29, the following 
 statements are made : — 
 
 After discussing the matter thoroughly and 
 
 also after the proposal, P had made to 
 
 me, he having offered to work for my depart- 
 ment by continuing to organize from place to 
 place, but to confine himself to speaking on 
 Socialism and Labour Unions, and keep out 
 the U. B. R. E. from all his meetings, I 
 then went up to the hotel and made arrange- 
 ments for P to return to Calgary and to 
 
 keep me posted every day as to his progress 
 in the work, and also give me the names of all 
 the men joining the U. B. R. E. and on his 
 agreeing to those conditions, I gave him trans- 
 portation to Calgary and return to Winnipeg 
 in the shape of a first-class ticket, and also 
 gave him $25 for expenses as he would not be 
 able to collect any fees from the men joining 
 the Union. I took his receipt for this amount 
 and we left to take No. 1 at 18.05 K. 
 
 I omitted to say in the above that he had 
 given me several letters of introduction and 
 considerable correspondence between himself 
 and Estes which has been going on since the 
 18th of December last in regard to the progress 
 of organizing the U. B. R. E. 
 
 P wrote from Calgary on Febru- 
 ary 1 to Winnipag, concerning his work 
 in that place, and sent in other reports, in 
 one of which he gives an estimate of the 
 relative influence of different members 
 whom he named. Later he returned to 
 Winnipeg, and a letter from him to the 
 ' Voice ' in favour of the United Brother- 
 hood of Railway Employees appeared on 
 February 13. Shortly aftenvards he fell 
 sick in Winnipeg and was taken to the hos- 
 pital,' where he was cared for by the 
 Brotherhood until his death, which took 
 place during the month of April. 
 
 C. p. R. takes steps to Suppress U. B. R. E. 
 
 During January, Mr. Marpole went east, 
 and, with the knowledge he had of the in- 
 tentions and methods of the United 
 Brotherhood, decided after, consultation 
 with other officials, on a certain course of. 
 action. It wasi determined that men on 
 steamships and men who already had agree- 
 ments with the company should not be al- 
 lowed to join the United Brotherhood of 
 Railway Employees. That in view of 
 Estes' evident intention to tie up the road, 
 and the certainty that upon any attempt 
 being made by the company to reorgaiiize 
 its staff, or to discipline a member of the 
 order, there would be trouble, iDrovision was
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 11 
 
 to be made to secure substitutes in tbe 
 event of a strike being declared. That the 
 general foreman of the wharfs and local 
 shed, who had practically control of all the 
 time and employment of about 95 men, in- 
 cluding their engagement and discharge, 
 sliould be required to retire from the order 
 in any event, as he had proved himself to 
 be an aggressive member of the order, and 
 had acted as a member of the committee 
 which had interviewed Mr. Marpole in re- 
 gard to the Halton affair. It was, more- 
 over, decided that the wages of the clerks 
 and foremen should be readjusted. 
 
 From this time until the strike was de- 
 clared On February 27, a kind of secret 
 warfare was kept up between the company 
 and its employees, who were members of 
 the Brotherhood, both parties having know- 
 ledge of each other's movements through 
 spies and traitors ; the Brotherhood get- 
 ting information from disloyal employees 
 of the company, and the company learning 
 the secrets of the organization through 
 faithless members, the latter violating their 
 oath in order to serve the corporation. 
 
 Events immediately preceding Strike. 
 
 On January 23 four men on the 'Empress 
 of Japan ' joined the Brotherhood, and on 
 February 13, fourteen men on different ves- 
 sel of the company, including the first 
 oflicer of the ' Empress of Japan.' On 
 January 20 the allied mechanics in the 
 company's workshops at Kevelstoke, who 
 were already organized as an independent 
 lodge of the International Association of 
 Machinists, and who had an agreement 
 with the company, joined the Brotherhood. 
 On February 12 the freight handlers at 
 Vancouver handed over their funds to the 
 Brotherhood. On February 19 two train 
 baggage men, mem.bers of the Order of Rail- 
 way Trainmen, joined the Brotherhood. On 
 February 20, the Vancouver division ap- 
 pointed an emergency executive. On the 
 following days three or four of the promi- 
 nent officials of the Brotherhood were sent 
 to Montreal by the company, two at the di- 
 rect request of the accounting department 
 in Montreal, to confer in regard to the 
 
 changes in the form of accounting on di- 
 visions, and two that they might be segre- 
 gated from the influence of the United 
 Brotherhood at Vancouver. On February 
 24 a freight checker at Revelstoke, who was 
 a member of the Brotherhood, was dis- 
 charged for general inattention to dutj^, 
 resulting in numerous claims for missing 
 and damaged freight. On the same day an 
 employee named Forrest, of the local 
 freight staff at Vancouver, was suspended 
 pending investigation by Superintendent 
 Beasley, on the charge that he had in col- 
 lusion with another member of the United 
 Brotherhood at Winnipeg, underbilled some 
 freight for a third party from Winnipeg 
 to Vancouver. Forrest asked to be brought 
 before Mr. Marpole, the general superin- 
 tendent, who, after hearing his defence, 
 warned him that if he found that he was 
 not telling the truth, Bcasley's decision 
 would be confirmed. Within an hour after- 
 wards, Mr. Marpole believed that he had 
 evidence that Forrest had not told him the 
 truth, and sent word to Beasley to continue 
 the suspension pending further investiga- 
 tion. On February 26, the general foreman 
 of the wharfs and local shed, whom the 
 company had decided should be retired 
 from the order, was offered a position as 
 assistant agent — a new office created to per- 
 mit of the agent having more time, for 
 general supervision and less for purely 
 office duties. This position was offered the 
 foreman with an increase of wages on the 
 condition that he should withdraw from the 
 order, but he declined. 
 
 Notice of Strike served by IT. B. R. E. 
 
 At 9.30 in the morning of February 27, 
 Mr. Marpole received the following letter 
 from a committee of employees v/ho were 
 members of the Vancouver division : — 
 Vancouver, February 26, 1903. 
 
 R. Marpole, Esq., 
 
 General Superintendent, 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, 
 Vancouver. 
 Dear Sir, — We, the undersigned committee of 
 Employees, have been instructed to write you 
 requesting the immediate withdrawal of the 
 suspension of H. P. Forrest of the local freight 
 staff, issued subsequent to your cancellation of 
 his suspension by Mr. Beasley.
 
 12 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 We further request a cessation of the policy 
 of intimidation lately pursued against the em- 
 ployees of various departments by your various 
 officials because of their membership in the 
 United Brotherhood of Railway Employees. 
 
 A satisfactory reply hereto is requested by 
 11.30 o'clock a.m. to-morrow, 27th instant, 
 otherwise the employees represented by this 
 committee will cease work at 12 o'clock noon. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 (Sgd.) ROBT. BROOKE, 
 F. J. WALKER, 
 DAVID LAVEROCK, 
 P. G. DENISON, 
 S. GARNHAM, 
 
 Acting Agent. 
 
 Strike of Clerks, Baggagemen and others 
 at Vancouver, February 27. 
 
 Mr. Marpole met this committee at 11 
 o'clock on the morning of the 2Tth, and at 
 11.40 the committee retired. In addition 
 to the suspension of Forrest mentioned in 
 this communication, the case of the freight 
 checker at Eevelstoke, who had been dis- 
 charged on the 24th, was also taken up at 
 the interview. Mr. Marpole understood 
 that the committee were to come hack in 
 the af ternon, but they did not, and a strike 
 was declared at noon, twenty minutes after 
 they had left his office. Thereupon the 
 clerks, office men, station baggage men and 
 men at the stores who were members of the 
 Brotherhood at Vancouver went out. 
 
 Immediately after the strike had been 
 dic'ared a circular letter was issued t, other 
 unions in the city, in which an appeal was 
 made for their aid and sympathy, A direct 
 appeal was made to the city trades, such as 
 the teamsters, the building trades and the 
 iron trades, to make an effective boy- 
 cott of all materials which they might 
 be expected to handle which in any 
 way might have come over the C.P.R. Car- 
 ried out in accordance with the wishes of 
 the strikers, compliance with tbis request 
 on the part of those appealed to might have 
 produced a complete paralysis of industry 
 and business throughout the city. 
 
 Eorrest was suspended on Tuesday, 
 February 24. The letter sent by the com- 
 mittee demanding his reinstatement was 
 dated February 26. Ou the 25 th Estei 
 
 wired from Portland, Oregon, to Garnham, 
 at Vancouver : 
 
 Will arrive Vancouver ' Mainlander ' Friday 
 morning or train Friday evening. 
 
 The Strike directed by Estes. 
 
 The strike was declared on Friday, the 
 day of Estes' arrival, and he at once took 
 supreme command of the striking forces. 
 The correspondence indicates that no im- 
 portant step was taken without his initia- 
 tive or authority. In fact, both letters and 
 telegrams reveal very clearly that the order 
 is governed by an autocracy, and that ex- 
 ecutive officers, not only in Winnipeg, but 
 at different places along the line where the 
 Brotherhood has established divisions, were 
 in many cases not so much as consulted as 
 to what course it would be advisable to pur- 
 sue, but were entirely subject to the dictates 
 and directions of the president of the order. 
 
 As examples of the manner in which 
 Estes exercised his authority, and as il- 
 lustrating the means taken to extend the 
 strike over different parts of the company's 
 system, the following may be quoted from 
 the originals of telegrams produced. The 
 telegrams here quoted are such only as were 
 sent to executive officers of the Brotherhood 
 at different points. 
 
 On the day on which the strike was de- 
 clared, Garnham, of the strikers' executive, 
 at Vancouver, had wired to Gault, of the 
 local executive at Winnipeg : 
 
 We quit work noon ; wire Calgary immedi- 
 ately. 
 
 Gault was acting at this time as organ- 
 izer for the Brotherhood, P being in 
 
 the hospital, and he evidently communicat- 
 ed at once to the headquarters of the 
 Brotherhood, at San Francisco, as on the 
 day following a wire was received by E:^t:s 
 at Vancouver from C. M. Hurlburt, one of 
 the executive at San Francisco, sfa'ing : 
 
 Gault says Vancouver wires quit work ; wants 
 him call out Calgary ; keep us posted. 
 
 On receipt of this telegram from Hurl- 
 burt, Estes wired to Gault at Winnipeg : 
 
 Trouble confined to Pacific division only ; 
 Revelstoke goes out next.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 13 
 
 On March 2, Estes wired Gaiilt that fif- 
 teen clerks left Montreal Saturday for Van- 
 couver, and instructed him to watch west- 
 bound trains. The next day he advised 
 Gault by wire as follows : — 
 
 Publish in ' Voice ' (a Winnipeg labour paper) 
 and other papers for all men keep away from 
 British Columbia ; 100 machinists, clerks, 
 freight handlers struck (at) Revelstoke to-day, 
 
 "On March 4, Estes wired Clarence Smith, 
 
 secretary of the American Labour Union, 
 
 Butte, Montana, as follows : — 
 
 Strike spreading ; Revelstoke out ; longshore- 
 men struck here to-day. Please have Western 
 Federation Miners refuse to allow coal loaded 
 on cars, steamboats, ships or hulks at Lady- 
 smith, Union or other points on Vancouver 
 Island for Vancouver. This to prevent Can- 
 adian Pacific getting coal. Rush orders by 
 wire — Don't fail — Fight for life — Answer. 
 
 On March 5, Estes wired Gault at Win- 
 nipeg, addressing the latter by his official 
 title of vice-president, and subscribing his 
 title as president to his own signature : 
 
 Call out all Canadian Pacific Railway mem- 
 bers at Winnipeg and Calgary on strike to-day. 
 File written statement with superintendent that 
 men will return to work when settlement made 
 here, and advise when out. 
 
 Later in the day he wired Gault, tempo- 
 rarily rescinding this order, as follows : — 
 
 Negotiations for settlement opened ; call 
 strike off Winnipeg and Calgary until further 
 advised. 
 
 The same day he wired to George Hor- 
 sted at Nelson, B.C., at 11.22 in the fore- 
 noon : 
 
 Call out all members of 92 on strike to-day. 
 File written statement with superintendent 
 that men will return to work when settle- 
 ment made here. Advise number out. 
 
 At 1,10 p.m. Horsted, having received 
 Estes' message, wires in reply : 
 
 Please say quick if any objection to members 
 carrying on work for Great Northern ; this is 
 a union depot. 
 
 Estes answered this telegram at 7.55 p.m. 
 
 as follows : — 
 
 Yes, go ahead and carry on Great Northern 
 work. 
 
 In the meantime, however, other tele- 
 grams passed between Estes and Horsted, 
 in regard to the men working for the C.P.E. 
 At 2.55 Horsted informed Estes that 26 
 members at Nelson, 3 at Rossi and and 3 
 
 at Eholt, had quit work at 1 p.m. At 5.30 
 Horsted wired Estes as follows : — 
 
 Superintendent Downie requests Divisioa 
 ninety-eight to resume work until he com- 
 municates with his superiors at Vancouver. 
 Wire instructions quick. 
 
 At six o'clock Estes replied to this tele- 
 gram : 
 
 Hold all members out until strike settled. 
 Negotiations now progressing. 
 
 The negotiations here referred to, and 
 
 which were the occasion for the hoMiug 
 
 off of the strike at Winnipeg and Calgary 
 
 were those carried on by the Vancouver 
 
 Board of Trade, and other parties, to bring 
 
 About a settlement of the dispute. These 
 
 efforts not having been successful, Estes 
 
 commenced to re-extend the strike. On 
 
 March 9, he wired to Gault at Winnipeg, 
 
 as follows: — 
 
 Board of Trade endorsed proposed Canadian 
 Pacific Railway agreement ; Montreal declined 
 it this morning. Call out all Canadian Pacific 
 Railv>'ay members Winnipeg and Calgary im- 
 mediately. Notify Leonard in writing strike 
 on this division is for recognition (at) Montreal. 
 Get endorsement Labour Council. Labour 
 Council here has endorsed ; fight to finish. 
 
 This telegram was sent from Vancouver 
 at noon. At 3,20 p.m. (Vancouver time) 
 Estes received from E. B, Smith, Winni- 
 peg, executive officer, the following wire : 
 
 All out four o'clock ; Calgary called on ; will 
 stand to finish. 
 
 At 1.30 p.m. Estates wired to Haiton, 
 
 who at this time was in Montreal : 
 
 Yourself, Foulds, Dick, Wilson, prepare, sign 
 as committee and deliver letter to-day to Mc- 
 Nicholl, requesting recognition of U. B. R. E., 
 stating s'trike will be settled when recognition 
 granted. Calgary now out. 
 
 To this telegram Estes received the fol- 
 lowing reply the next day (March 10) : 
 
 Letter delivered ; refuse to treat except 
 through departmental head ; claims customary 
 procedure. ^ 
 
 On the same day Estes wired from Van- 
 couver to Haiton again at Montr; al : 
 
 •Press reports say four hundred clerks Mont- 
 real striking. Organize them on any terms. 
 
 J. W, Stanley, at Calgary, wired Estes 
 
 on the same day : 
 
 Teamsters in sympathy ; won't haul baggage ; 
 is this right ? Answer
 
 14 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 To which Estes replied : 
 
 That is right ; no freight or baggage handled 
 by teamsters here. 
 
 He also wired Stanley : 
 
 Will go to Calgary personally soon. Stand 
 firm ; will report daily. 
 
 Horsted at Nelson wired Estes to know 
 if any arrangement had been made towards 
 immediate settlement ; also as to whether 
 there was any possibility of him or other 
 speakers being there shortly in order to 
 hold a mass meeting. Estes replied on the 
 10th of March, that no immediate sett^.e- 
 ment was in sight, but that the provincial 
 government had proposed arbitration, and 
 that the Premier was coming on Friday, 
 and on March 11 that he himself would 
 visit Nelson or send some one shortly, that 
 the teamsters at Calgary were with them, 
 and to stand firm. On the 12th of March 
 he Avired Horsted at Nelson : 
 
 Have instructed Forrest, now (at) Revel- 
 stoke ; to go (to) Nelson immediately to assist 
 you. 
 
 and sent the following wire to H. P. For- 
 rest at Revelstoke : 
 
 Please go (to) Nelson and assist there ; 
 Greenwood Smelter Junction have struck. 
 
 He wired Gault at Winnipeg : 
 
 All teamsters, 200 struck here to-day ; refuse 
 haul scab freight. Premier Prior arrives here 
 to-morrow. 
 
 The same telegram was sent to Horsted 
 at Nelson. On the 13th Estes wired Hor- 
 sted at Nelson : 
 
 Mass meeting, 1,000 men here last night. 
 Steamship men say v^^ill tie up all vessels to- 
 morrow ; Premier not yet arrived ; 150 out 
 Winnipeg. 
 
 To Gault at Winnipeg he wired : 
 
 Employ counsel protect your men ; Premier 
 not arrived yet ; mass meeting 1,000 men last 
 night : steamshipmen say will tie up all vessels 
 to-morrow. 
 
 The reference to employing counsel in 
 this telegram is to a telegram received 
 from Smith, at Winnipeg, on the morning 
 of the same day, informing Estes that four 
 office clerks had been summoned for break- 
 ing contracts and deserting employment, 
 but that all was well. 
 
 On the 15th of March, Estes wirc^ Gault 
 at Winnipeg : 
 
 Railroad men, longshoremen, steamshipmen, 
 teamsters, formed immense mass meeting last 
 night. Waterfront tied up ; Skagway boat left 
 without cargo. ' Empress ' crew struck. Cal- 
 gary, Revelstoke, Nelson still out and increas- 
 ing membership. 
 
 To A. J. Jamieson, 2C0| Fourteenth 
 Street, Portland, Oregon, he sent tLe fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 Railroad men, longshoremen, steamshipmen, 
 teamsters, formed immense mass meeting lasf 
 night ; waterfront tied up. Skagway boat left 
 without cargo last night. Help us financially 
 all possible. 
 
 On March 16, he wired J. F. Massey, 
 
 Seattle : 
 
 Situation better to-day than heretofore ; men 
 standing firm ; waterfront completely tied up ; 
 I go Victoria to-night. 
 
 To Horsted, at Nelson, he wired : 
 
 Advise all members stand absolutely firm, no 
 matter if all places are filled ; will win just 
 same. Everything tied up here ; all men stand- 
 ing firm ; steamshipmen co,me out to-morrow. 
 
 To E. B. Smith at V/innipeg, Thornton 
 
 at Eevelstoke and Cardell at Calgary, he 
 
 wired : 
 
 Montreal ' Star ' publishes report that men 
 back to work ; deny it ; we are all firm ; 
 steamshipmen come out to-morrow. 
 
 As mentioned in his telegram to Massey 
 at Seattle, Estes arrived at Victoria on the 
 evening of March 16. On the following 
 morning he wired to Garnham at Vancou- 
 ver : 
 
 All steamshipmen struck here last night. 
 Engineers and officers of other boats scabbing 
 as firemen and deckhands on ' Charmer ' to-day. 
 
 On the 19 Ih he wired from Victoria to 
 
 Garnham : 
 
 Strike getting stronger here ; have requested 
 Massey come Vancouver. 
 
 Other Leaders hroiight in from United 
 States. 
 
 About this time Estes was arrested in 
 Victoria on the charge of conspiracy in 
 attempting to stop the government mail on 
 the steamboats. His trial occupied some 
 days, during which time he arranged to 
 have several members of the executive 
 board in the United States come to Canada 
 to direct the movement of the strikers at
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 15 
 
 different points. Among these were J. F. 
 Massey, referred to in Estes' telegram to 
 Gfirnham on the 19th. Massey having ar- 
 rived, and taking command, wired on 
 March 24th to C. M. Hurlburt at San Fran- 
 cisco : 
 
 Have French come here ; Canadian Pacific 
 Railway summoning all our prominent members 
 to Victoria. Want assistance to prevent dis- 
 organizing our forces. All firm. Can win with 
 some one to assist. 
 
 On the 9th of April another executive 
 
 officer from the United States was brought 
 
 in to direct the forces of the strikers, as is 
 
 shown by the following telegram eent by 
 
 Estes to W. J. Bradley, St. Paul, Minn.: 
 
 Please go Winnipeg soon as possible. Assist 
 Gault M'ith work. 
 
 Estes having been discharged on the 
 charges preferred against him at Victoria, 
 proceeded to tour over the line of the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway, personally visiting 
 committees and addressing mass meetings 
 of the strikers and others at Nelson, Re- 
 velstoke, Calgary and Winnipeg. It was 
 the latter part of April when he arrived in 
 Winnipeg, and he remained in Canada un- 
 til some time in May, when he left to at- 
 tend the annual convention of the Ameri- 
 can Labour Union at Denver, and has not 
 since returned. During the entire time of 
 his stay . in this country he continued to 
 exercise the same absolute control, even in 
 regard to matters of detail, as the telegrams 
 here quoted disclose. As free a use of the 
 wires appears to have been made by him, 
 during the months of April and May, as 
 was made during March. The telegrams 
 sent during April and May, however, are 
 for the most part in cipher, and the Com- 
 mission, owing to his absence from the 
 country at the time of its sittings in Van- 
 couver, and also to the limited time at its 
 disposal there, were unable to obtain their 
 translation. Other telegrams appear to 
 have passed in cipher from the comu.ence- 
 ment of the strike, between Estes and offi- 
 cers lu the United States. We have reason 
 to think from the reference made to these 
 telegrams in the correspondence before us 
 that, were their contents disclosed, the part 
 36a— 4 
 
 played by Estes in the direction and mani- 
 pulation of matters pertaining to the strike, 
 and of movements auxiliary thereto, would 
 be shown to have been much more extensive 
 and daring than even the messages already 
 quoted might suggest. 
 
 Strike in Violation of CoRstitntion of 
 U. B. E. E. 
 
 The strike of the Vancouver clerks and 
 office men having been declared practically 
 without notice to the comi>any or other 
 members of the Brotherhood, and in viola- 
 tion of the constitution, which provides 
 that no strike is to be declared till the mem- 
 bership of the order reaches 100,COO, the 
 strikers found themselves in an isolated 
 position. They had been preparing for a 
 struggle, but the strike came when it did, 
 only because local members felt that to al- 
 low the company additional time might 
 have meant a disruption of the order. The 
 constitution of the Brotherhood, however, 
 is framed with a view to provide for emer- 
 gencies of this kind. Unlike the locals of 
 regular unions, lodges of the Brotherhood 
 are not left to determine for themselves 
 whether or not sympathetic support is to be 
 given to branches of the order elsewhere, or 
 to employees who follow a different calling. 
 The plan is to bring all classes of em- 
 ployees connected in any way with railways 
 into one organization, and to subject all 
 lodges, wherever situate, to the order and 
 direction of the executive head. While, 
 therefore, the strike was prematurely 
 forced, once it had taken place, full rein 
 was given by Estes to the powers conferred 
 upon him by the constitution ; and methods 
 which it was evidently intended were not 
 to be adopted until a more perfect organiza- 
 tion had been effected, were utilized on 
 every side to gain a victory at any cost. A 
 brief review of these methods and of their 
 results will serve to bring out the more 
 im.portant developments of the strike, 
 while at the same time they disclose the 
 latent possibilities of evil to be found in 
 this organization.
 
 16 
 
 DRITISn COLUMBIA LABOUR COMML'^SIOH^ 
 
 Methods adopted to force Recognition. 
 
 The methods adopted by Estes and local 
 strikers at Vancouver to force the Canadian 
 Pacific Eailway Company into a recogni- 
 tion of the United Brotherhood may be 
 briefly classified as follows : — 
 
 (1). The extension of the strike at Van- 
 couver So as to embrace other classes of 
 employees "who were members of the 
 Brotherhood, and the initiation of strikes 
 at other places on the company's system 
 among members of the Brotherhood in its 
 divisions at those points, notwithstanding 
 the fact that members thus called upon had 
 no -immediate grievance against the com- 
 pany. 
 
 (2). The bringing about of sympathetic 
 strikes wherever i^ossible among members 
 of organizations engaged in such callings as 
 might lead to an embarrassment of the rail- 
 way, and the attempted formation of new 
 organizations among employees of the com- 
 pany and others at different points, with a 
 view to bringing them out on strike. 
 
 (3). Attempts to tie up the steamshiiDS 
 belonging to the Canadian Pacific Naviga- 
 tion Company and other companies. 
 
 (4). Efforts to bring about a stoppage 
 of the supply of coal, thereby making it 
 impossible for the company to carry on its 
 transportation business either by land or 
 sea. 
 
 (5). The creation of a gigantic boycott 
 to immediately injure the company's busi- 
 ness, and the business of any concern that 
 might happen to have any dealings with it. 
 
 (6). The prevention of persons from 
 taking the places of strikers, or those who 
 might have gone out in sympathy, making 
 use in this connection of the practices of 
 picketing, black-listing, molesting and in- 
 timidating innocent parties. 
 
 (T). The dissemination, througli the 
 press and other sources, of literature in- 
 tended to create antagonism to the railway 
 in the minds of workingmen in particular, 
 and on the part of the general public, and 
 to arouse in the strikers and their sympa- 
 thizers undue expectations of success. 
 
 I. — Extension of Original Strike. 
 
 The Extension of the strike among mem- 
 hcis of the Brotherhood, in other callings 
 and at different points. 
 
 The members of the Brotherhood who 
 originally went out on the 27th of Febru- 
 ary, included only such as were employed 
 as clerks, office men, station baggagemen, 
 or men at the stores. The Vancouver 
 division, however, embraced also men cm- 
 ployed in the freight sheds, known as 
 freight handlers and checkers, who had be- 
 come members of the order at the time of 
 Estes' visit to Vancouver in November. 
 Previovis to that time the freight hand- 
 lers had had an organization of their own, 
 and as members of such had an agreement 
 with the company, which was to be in force 
 until June 21. This agreem.ent contained 
 certain concessions to the freight hand- 
 lers' union, and increased rates of pay 
 over what they had been previously receiv- 
 ing. The question, therefore, which pre- 
 sented itself to the freight handlers, after 
 the office men and clerks had gone out, was 
 how they could at once remain loyal to their 
 agreement and to the obligation which they 
 were under to their fellow members of the 
 Brotherhood who were on strike. 
 
 On the 1st of March, Superintendent 
 Beasley, fearing that the strike of clerks 
 and office men might, because of their con- 
 nection with the Brotherhood, be followed 
 by a similar course of action on the part 
 of the freight handlers, interviewed John- 
 stone, who was a prominent member of the 
 latter. Beasley assured Johnstone in this 
 interview that he did not want to have any 
 trouble with the freight handlers. He 
 wanted them to continue as they were at 
 "the time, but stated that the company was 
 entirely opposed to the United Brother- 
 hood, and would not have a man like Estes 
 interfering with its business. 
 
 Strike of Freight Handlers at Vancouver 
 on March 2. 
 
 On March 2, Beasley sent for a com- 
 mittee of the freight handlers. At this 
 meeting, according to the evidence of John-
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 17 
 
 stone, given before the Commission, Beas- 
 ley wished to draw up a new agreement 
 with them, and also intimated that any re- 
 newal of the agreement could only be had 
 upon the understanding that they would 
 withdraw from the Brotherhood. One of 
 the freight handlers named Fowler had re- 
 fused, after the clerks had gone on strike, 
 to handle a bill made out by a person who 
 was filling the position of one of the 
 strikers, as he looked upon him in the light 
 of a scab. For this refusal Fowler was dis- 
 charged. Between 20 and 25 men had been 
 brought by the company to Vancouver to 
 take the places of men who might happen 
 to go out on strike. These circumstances, 
 jointly considered, were alleged by the 
 freight handlers as sufficient reasons to 
 justify the breaking of their agreement 
 with the company, or, as they termed it, 
 constituted a violation of the agreement 
 by the company itself. There was the ad- 
 ditional circumstance that the foreman of 
 the local freight sheds had gone out on 
 strike with the clerks, and the freight hand- 
 lers maintained that they could not permit 
 one of their own members to accept promo- 
 tion to the position, or work with any other 
 man Who might take it, on the ground that 
 he would be a scab. 
 
 The telegrams already quoted as having 
 passed 'between Estes and executive officers 
 of the Brotherhood at Nelson, Bevelstoke, 
 Winnipeg and Calgary are of themselves 
 sufficient to indicate the manner in which 
 the strikes among members of the Brother- 
 hood at these several points were procured. 
 Additional light, however, is to be had from. 
 the correspondence v/hich passed by letter 
 between Estes and officers of the local exe- 
 cutive at Vancouver and local executive 
 officers at other points. 
 
 Strike at Revelstoke on Slarcli 3. 
 
 The following appears as part of a com- 
 munication sent by Forest at Revelstoke on 
 the 2nd of March to the Vancouver execu- 
 tive, Forrest having been sent to Eevelstoke 
 on the day previous under orders from 
 Estes. 
 
 I found that a meeting of the division had 
 already been held at which it had been decided 
 3Ga— 4J 
 
 to cease work as soon as they were In posses- 
 Ejion of authoritative reasons for the necessity of 
 doing so. This they felt they had not r-^jeived, 
 although they had been informed by Brother 
 
 M. that the men at Vancouver had quit 
 
 work, and the causes which led up to their 
 action, and so they were very glad to see me. 
 I was received in open arms by the executive 
 committee, and that body immediately pro- 
 ceeded to draft a communication to Superin- 
 tendent Kilpatrick on the lines suggested by 
 Brother Estes. 
 
 The following is a copy of the ultimatum 
 addressed to Superintendent Kilpatrick, at 
 Revelstoke, and it is the one referred to in 
 this letter of Forrest : 
 
 Revelstoke, B.C., March 2, 1903. 
 I. Kilpatrick, Esq., 
 Supt., Revelstoke, 
 Dear Sir, — As you are aware, D. Inches, em- 
 ployed in the freight department at this station, 
 was discharged as we believe, because he was 
 a member of the U. B. of R. E. It has also 
 come to our knowledge that H. P. Forrest, of 
 the local freight office at Vancouver, was dis- 
 charged for the same cause, and that intimi- 
 dation and discrimination against members of 
 the union is being extensively practiced by 
 officials of the Canadian Pacific Railway. We 
 therefore hereby demand that the above 
 mentioned employee's be .immediately ro-dmst- 
 ated. and that all discrimination and intimida- 
 tion against our me^mbers cease. Unleiss we 
 receive a favourable answer to this communica- 
 tion in twenty-four hours, we beg to notify 
 you that all members of the U. B. of R. E. at 
 this station and under our jurisidiction will cease 
 work at 8 a.m, March 3, 1903. 
 
 (Sgd) W. A. CHAMBERS, 
 HUGH A. BOYD, 
 T. H. DUNNE, 
 CHAS. CLARKE, 
 C. A. HART, 
 
 Executive Committee. 
 DAVID INCHES, Jr., 
 
 Agent. 
 As threatened in this ultimatum, at 8 
 o'clock on the following morning the mem- 
 bers of the U.B.R.E. in the shops of the 
 company at Revelstoke, to the number of 
 fifty-two, dropped their work and walked 
 out without saying a word to the foreman 
 or the acting master mechanics as to their 
 reason for going out. Two charge men 
 and six fitters who had not joined the 
 United Brotherhood of Railway Empl yees 
 refused to go out and remained at their 
 work. This was on March 3. 
 
 Strike at ITelson and other points, 
 March 4. 
 
 On March 4, Forrest, at Revelstoke, in a 
 letter to Garnham at Vancouver says 
 among other things :
 
 13 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 The boys are hanging together splendidly, and 
 we are gaining accessions to our ranks every 
 day, but there is a feeling that it would strength- 
 en our cause if Nelson and Calgary were to 
 come out. There seems to be a little suspicion 
 that they possibly are not called out because 
 they are not entirely willing to come out. Men- 
 tion this to President Estes so that he may de- 
 cide .as to wheither, und?r these circumstances, 
 it would be better to call them out. 
 
 In a reply to this communication sent by 
 
 Garnham to Forrest on the Gth of March, 
 
 the former says : 
 
 You say that it would strengthen the cause at 
 Revelstoke were Nelson to be called out. This 
 has been done, as you have learned since writ- 
 ing. Three are out at Rossland, three at Eholt 
 as well as the Nelson boys. 
 
 As already quoted, Estes had wired to 
 Horsted at Nelson at 11.22 a.m. on March 
 5 : 
 
 Call out' all members of 92 on strike to-day. 
 File written statement with the superintendent 
 that men will return to work when settlement 
 made here. Advise number out. 
 
 On the same day Horsted had replied to 
 Estcs : 
 
 Twenty-six members Nelson, three Rossland, 
 three Eholt, quit work at 1 p.m. 
 
 In this connection, too, it may also be 
 recalled that before the men at Nelson felt 
 at liberty to do any work for the Great 
 Northern Kailway, which, so far as they 
 were concerned, they had no grievance 
 against, they felt it necessary to wire in the 
 first instance to Estes to know if the mem- 
 bers might carry on work for the Great 
 Northern Eailway, informing him that it 
 was a union depot, and received his permis- 
 sion to work. 
 
 It appears from the correspondence that 
 from the connnencement of the strike Ee- 
 velstoke was anxious to have the support of 
 Nelson. As soon as Inches was discharged 
 he wrote to Nelson asking if the division 
 there would support Eevelstoke if they took 
 up his case. Nelson replied on March 1 
 that they would. On the 2nd of March, 
 Eevelstoke wired Nelson that the Eevel- 
 stoke division was out, and on March 4 
 wired again to know what action had been 
 taken by Nelson in the matter, saying in 
 the inquiry : 'Please say quickly what 
 action taken.' This message being received 
 by Hoisted at Nelson, and the latter having 
 
 in mind the reply sent by him to Inches on 
 
 March 1, suspected that the telegram — 
 
 ' Please say quickly what action taken ' — 
 
 might be a decoy sent out by the company 
 
 to get information of the Nelson divisi n, 
 
 and wrote to Estes on the matter. In this 
 
 letter, speaking of Eevelstoke, Here ted 
 
 says : 
 
 Since the strike* has started in Vancouver they 
 would also be aware that Nelson would not act 
 on its own account or on word from Revelstoke, 
 but only on authority from yourself (Estes), be- 
 ing on the ground and having the strike in 
 charge. 
 
 This view of Estes' authority in direct- 
 ing the strilve is further supported by the 
 reply sent by the chief executive officer of 
 the local division at Vancouver to Horsled 
 at Nelson, which was written on behalf of 
 Estes, who was busy with other matters at 
 the time. In this letter the Vancouver 
 agent says: 
 
 Of course, when the Vancouver division de- 
 clared a strike and the president was here in 
 person to conduct affairs, it could hardly be ex- 
 pected that any outside divisions would take 
 instructions from any other source than the pre- 
 sident. 
 
 The letter goes on to say, referring to the 
 statement in a communication from Hor- 
 sted to Estes, that the men were not very 
 well organized at Nelson, and could em- 
 barrass the company very little there : 
 
 You must continue to do the best you can to 
 prevent men working in the freight sheds and 
 office. They are the main points, and should 
 be carefully guarded. When Brother Inches at 
 Revelstoke wrote you advising you that he had 
 been discharged and asking your support, there 
 was no idea that we at Vancouver were so close 
 to trouble. 
 
 Elsewhere in the letter, the same writer 
 
 says : 
 
 Had the company not endeavoured to extin- 
 guish us here when they did, v/e would have 
 come to the support of Revelstoke if required. 
 
 Eight to call off Strike Eefused. 
 
 As note-d above, the men at Nelson quit 
 on March 4, in pursuance of Estes' com- 
 mand to Horsted to call out all members 
 of 92 on strike. On March 13, a committee 
 of three of the employees on strike at 
 Nelson wrote a personal letter to Estcs, 
 which indicates clearly the desire of the 
 men at that point to return to work, but
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 19 
 
 also their complete submission to Estes, 
 whom probably they had never seen : 
 
 The majority of the members of this division 
 are under the impression that you are not thor- 
 oughly conversant with the position Nelson oc- 
 cupies with regard to the main line. The bulk 
 of freight arriving here comes either from Van- 
 couver or through Winnipeg, and on account of 
 the strike being now on at these points, prac- 
 tically no freight is arriving here, and the little 
 that is arriving is being handled by our local 
 officials here without inconvenience to the com- 
 pany. This practically nullifies our position here 
 eithci- one way or the other, and in consequence 
 a number of our members are of the opinion 
 that more practical assistance could be rendered 
 by our members by returning to work and as- 
 sisting financially towards maintaining the 
 strike on the main line. In the meantime our 
 positions- here are being gradually filled, and 
 the work is going on as heretofore, without any 
 very great inconvenience to the company. This 
 letter is written on the presumption that you 
 are not, as previously mentioned, acquainted 
 with the situation of affairs in the Kootenay 
 country. We would, therefore, be pleased if 
 you would reply by wire immediately on receipt 
 of this, as we have been informed by the com- 
 pany that all positions will be filled by Monday 
 morning. 
 
 This letter was received at Vancouver on 
 the 16th, and was replied to by E&tes in a 
 telegram already quoted and which was as 
 follows : — 
 
 Advise all members stand absolutely firm, no 
 matter if all positions are filled. Will win just 
 same. Everything tied up here, all men stand- 
 ing firm; steamshipmen come out to-morrow. 
 
 The acting agent of the local division at 
 
 Vancouver wrote the same day to Horsted 
 
 at Nelson the following letter : 
 
 Your personal letter March 13th to Brother 
 Estes was very discouraging to our executive. 
 I am informed that a message has been sent 
 to you to-day in connection with your standing 
 firm in the Kootenays. I have to advise you of 
 the fact that President Estes should arrive in 
 Nelson towards the latter end of this week. He 
 will be In Revelstoke on Thursday, where you 
 can address him care of Brother Inches. In the 
 meantime, do not, under any circumstances, per- 
 mit a member to return to work, as it would 
 prejudice our stand with the public. When one 
 man goes back it is reported that half a dozen 
 have done so, and if three or four go back 
 thirty or forty, and members of other points 
 become discouraged and disheartened. Would 
 it not be a terrible thing were this strike to be 
 lost through the action on the part of the Koot- 
 enay boys, such as your letter states to be their 
 wishes. It is absolutely necessary to stand firm 
 until we win. 
 
 Strikes at "Winnipeg and Calgary, 
 March 9. 
 
 Winnipeg and Calgary were the ne:j;t di- 
 visions to be ordered out. On March 5, 
 Estes had wired Gault at Winnipeg : 
 
 Call out all C.P.R. members at Winnipeg and 
 Calgary on strike to-day — < 
 
 but later rescinded this order in the tele- 
 gram : 
 
 Negotiations for settlement opened ; call 
 strike off Winnipeg and Calgary until further 
 advised. 
 
 In a letter written the same day, copies 
 of which were sent to all Canadian divi- 
 sions, Estes says : 
 
 We will call out Calgary and Winnipeg next 
 If we find it necessary to do so. 
 
 In a letter written on March 7, to a gen- 
 tleman who was endeavouring to effect a 
 settlement of the strike, Estes says, 
 amongst other things : 
 
 It is proper that we should advise you of a 
 decision just arrived at by the joint executive 
 committee of all the strikers in this city, which 
 is to the effect that there is no apparent desire 
 on the part of the C.P.R. to come to a settlement 
 of the trouble, but on the other hand, merely 
 attempt to delay proceedings in the hopes of im- 
 porting men and delaying the strike. The joint 
 executive have decided to extend the strike still 
 further, involving several unions in the move- 
 ment. The order for the extension of the strike 
 Willi be held until 2 p.m. for the purpose of as- 
 certaining if there is any possible hope of fair 
 treatment for the strikers, and if nothing definite 
 is received from the C.P.R.. direct, or through 
 yourself by that hour, the order as decided upon 
 v/ill be issued. 
 
 The settlement not having been arrived 
 at through the intervention of the Board 
 of Trades, Estes immediately proceeded to 
 extend the scope of the strike. Gault, at 
 Winnipeg, was commanded to call out all 
 C.P.R. members at Winnipeg and Calgary 
 immediately, and to notify Leonard (Su- 
 perintendent C.P.R. at Winnipeg), in 
 writing that the strike was for recognition. 
 OlEeers of the Vancouver division who weie 
 at Montreal were instructed to foim a com- 
 mittee to prepare and deliver to the gen- 
 eral manager there a request demanding 
 recognition of the U.B.R.E., and slating 
 that the strike would be settled wh-n the 
 recognition was granted. 
 
 Ultimatum presented at Montreal. 
 
 The ultimatum presented to lh? ceneral 
 
 manager of the C.P.R. in furtheiance of 
 
 this order was as follovrs : 
 
 We. a committee of the U.B.R.E., arc re- 
 quested by Mr. George Estes, president, to v^'ait 
 on you and reques't recognition of the U.B.R.E., 
 whose members are now on strike at Vancouver, 
 Revelstoke, Calgary and Winnipeg. On your 
 advising us in writing that this will be dene.
 
 20 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 our members will return to work immediately 
 and endeavour in the future to serve the com- 
 pany's Interests as faithfully as in the past. 
 
 With the divisions of the Brotherhood 
 at Vancouver, Kevelstohe, Calgary and 
 Winnipeg on strike, and the demand for 
 recognition of the entire order from the 
 head office of the Canadian Pacific Eai way 
 at Montreal, the United Brotheihocd of 
 Railway Employees had gone as far in its 
 direction of all its members in Canada as 
 it was possible, owing to their limited 
 numbers, for it to do. 
 
 II. — Creation of Sympathetic Strikes. 
 
 Sympathetic stril-es.— While the strike of 
 the freight handlers at Vancouver on the 
 2nd of March, and the strikes of the local 
 divisions of the Brotherhood at Revel stoke, 
 Nelson, Calgary and Winnipeg should 
 really be regarded in the nature of sym- 
 pathetic strikes, yet they were strikes by 
 different bodies of men belonging to the 
 same organization. There were also strikes 
 by members of other organizations, not 
 members of the United Brotherhood, but 
 who came out in consequence of conditions 
 created by the brotherhood strike, and in 
 order to strengthen the hands of the mem- 
 bers of the U. B. R. E. in their conflict 
 with the company. 
 
 Longshoremen, Steamshipmen, Teamsters 
 and Messenger Boys Strike. 
 
 On March 4, between 150 and 200 long- 
 shoremen, members of the Longshoremen's 
 Union at Vancouver, quit work. 
 
 On the same day the members of the Brit- 
 ish Columbia Steamshipmen's Society at 
 Vancouver and teleg-raph messenger boys 
 
 also quit. 
 
 The Teamsters' Union decided not to haul 
 freight or baggage to or from the Canadian 
 Pacific Eailw-ay wharf and shed, or in 
 places where it was likely to be handled by 
 ' scabs.' It being absolutely essential, in 
 order to prevent a general dislocation of 
 business, that much of this freight should 
 be hauled, the master teamsters undertook 
 the work of hauling the freight themselves 
 
 where their employees objected. This ac- 
 tion on their part lead to the Teamsters' 
 Union to the number of 200, declaring a 
 general strike on March 12. 
 
 About the same time the teamsters at 
 Calgary refused also to haul any baggage 
 from the Canadian Pacific Railway. 
 
 In all these cases it was the refusal to 
 have anything to do with ' scab ' freight 
 which led to the strikes being declared, and 
 in all it would appear that no regard had 
 been paid by the unions involved to the 
 clauses in their constitutions regarding the 
 declaration of strikes; and the evidence ob- 
 tained by the commission and parts of the 
 correspondence leave no room for doubt that 
 Estes and other officers of the brotherhood 
 were primarily responsible for bringing 
 about these several sympathetic strikes. 
 
 III. — Efforts to tie up Shipping and 
 Transportation by Water. 
 
 Efforts to tie up C. P. iV. Co.'s and other 
 
 ships. — On March 13 Estes wired to several 
 
 divisions : 
 
 Steamship men say will tie up all vessels to- 
 morrow. 
 
 On the same day, A. B. Bulley, chairman 
 of the Victoria Branch of the British Col- 
 umbia Steamshipmen's Society, wired from 
 Vancouver to the secretary in Victoria : 
 
 Call special to-night ; " Charmer " (Canadian 
 Pacific mail steamer between Vancouver and 
 Victoria) loaded with scab freight ; all coming 
 out to-night. 
 
 Bulley went to Victoria that night, evi- 
 dently with the purpose of carrying out the 
 I)lan stated in his telegram. 
 
 On the same day at Victoria, the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Navigation Company, hovrevc-r, 
 entered into an agreement with the Steam- 
 shipmen's Society that the company would 
 not take any ' scab ' freight or baggage on 
 any boats in the fleet, or carry coal for use 
 on the Empress line of steamers, known as 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway's Royal Mail 
 Steam.ships, at Vancouver, without giving 
 twelve hours notice, during which time no 
 'scab' freight or baggage would be handled. 
 This agreement deprived the Steamship So-
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 21 
 
 ciety of any excuse for declaring a strike, 
 and on the same night Bulley, after reach- 
 ing Victoria, wired back to the secretary of 
 the society at Vancouver that the terms of- 
 fered by the Canadian Pacific Navigation 
 Company had been accepted. 
 
 Strike of Steamshipineii at Victoria, 
 March 16. 
 
 On March 16, Estes again, in telegrams 
 sent to Winnipeg, Revelstoke, Nelson and 
 Calgary, informed the executive officers of 
 the Brotherhood at these points that the 
 steamshipmen would go out on the follow- 
 ing day. He also wired to the vice-i)resi- 
 dent of the order in Seattle that he was 
 going to Victoria that night. He went, as 
 stated, and attended a meeting of the Vic- 
 toria division of the Stearnshipmen's So- 
 ciety, and at this meeting a strike was de- 
 clared. It is to be noted in connection with 
 this strike that the constitution of the Brit- 
 ish Columbia Stearnshipmen's Society re- 
 quires that before a strike can be declared, 
 the matter must be considered at two spe- 
 cial meetings, that all members must re- 
 ceive due notification, and that two-thirds 
 of the membership must decide by secret 
 ballot in favour of a strike. According to 
 the evidence of one of the officers of this 
 union, it would appear that not one of these 
 provisions had been observed by the Steam- 
 shipmen's Society when they decided to 
 strike. No notice of the meeting was given 
 till 10.30 p.m. on the night Estes arrived, 
 when the president and secretary notified a 
 n Limber of the men personally. About 40 
 out of 160 members were present, and be- 
 tween 12 and 1 o'clock at night, by open 
 vote of 39 to 1 it was decided, after Estes 
 had addressed the meeting; that a strike 
 should be declared. 
 
 The Charmer was due to leave at 1 a.m., 
 and the members of the union refused to 
 go aboard. To prevent a crippling of the 
 service, the other boats of the fleet had to 
 assist the management in sending out the 
 Cliarmer, in order that she might reach 
 Vancouver on time to connect with the 
 train for the east. The next day Estes 
 
 wired the chief executive officers of the di- 
 vision of the IT. B. R. E. at Vancouver : 
 
 All steamship men struck here last night ; 
 engineers and offlcers of other boats scabbing 
 as firemen and deck-hands on " Charmer " to- 
 day. 
 
 Nature of Embarrassment. 
 
 The strike was so unexpected by the offi- 
 cials of the company that no preparation 
 had been made for such an emergency. The 
 men attempted to justify their action be- 
 fore the commission on the ground that the 
 Canadian Pacific Navigation Company had 
 violated its agreement with them in rela- 
 tion to carrying scab freight and baggage 
 without giving them the twelve hours' no- 
 tice provided. Officials of the company, on 
 the other hand, assert that their captains 
 had insti*uctions not to receive or carry any 
 'scab' freight. In order to insure that none 
 such woiild be carried, the company allowed 
 three officers of the association to ovei'look 
 the freight which was taken on board, in 
 spite of which arrangement a scab barrel of 
 oil found its way on board, which the com- 
 pany contended was brought on purposely, 
 in order to furnish a pretext for the strike. 
 
 The action of the British Columbia 
 Stearnshipmen's Society did not affect very 
 seriously the work of the Canadian Pacific 
 Navigation Company, owing to the fact 
 that the company was able to fill the places 
 of the strikers. On the other hand, the 
 correspondence indicates very clearly that 
 had Estes and other officers of the Brother- 
 hood been able to carry out the scheme 
 which they had contemplated, all vessels 
 carrying baggage or freight, either to or 
 from the station at Vancouver, or carrying 
 any coal, would have been completely tied 
 up, quite regardless of the disastrous effects 
 which such action might have had upon 
 public and private interests generally. 
 
 Attempts to Organize Crev7S on Empress 
 Steamers and Lake Boats. 
 
 Strenuous efforts were made to organize, 
 as members of the Brotherhood, the crews 
 of the Empress steamships, sailing between 
 Canada and China and Japan ; also the 
 crews of other boats which had Vancouver
 
 BKITISn COLUMBIA LABOUR COilMISSIOY 
 
 as a port, and the crews of tlie boats of the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway Company which 
 sail on the Arrow Lakes between Revelstoke 
 and Xelson. Although these efforts were 
 not in any way generally siiccessful, embar- 
 rassment and loss was, nevertheless, in- 
 curred by the company in consequence of 
 them. The fact that the strikers believed 
 that they had succeeded in undermanning 
 the crew of one of the Empress steamships, 
 and caused her to leave port with her coal 
 bunkers half full, that the Skagway boat 
 had been compelled to leave without cargo, 
 and that the water front was completely de- 
 moralized, and that all these statements 
 were made with a view to stimulating the 
 enthusiasm of the members of the Brother- 
 hood on strike at different places, indicates 
 very 'clearly to what extremes they were pre- 
 pared to have gone, had their efforts in any 
 way been followed with success, and that 
 these bodies had become as effectually sub- 
 ject to Estes' control as the members of his 
 own organization. 
 
 IV.— Efforts to stop Coal Supply. 
 
 Efforts to stop the supply of coal.— The 
 correspondence sent by Estes to other 
 oiBcers of the United Brotherhood s.hows 
 very clearly that efforts no less determined 
 were made by the Brotherhood to stop the 
 supply of coal to the railway than were 
 made with a view to the crippling of the 
 steam.ship service. In fact the two projects 
 were intimately associated, inasmuch as the 
 main supply of coal to the railway was 
 brought by vrater from mines on Vancou- 
 ver Island to Vancouver. 
 
 The Mines on Vancouver Island. 
 On March 4, the same day that the Brit- 
 ish Columbia Steamshipmen's Society de- 
 cided that they could not handle 'scab' 
 baggage or freight at Vancouver, and that 
 the longshoremen and telegraph messengers 
 came out on strike, Estes sent the message 
 already quoted to Clarence Smith, the secre- 
 tary of the American Labour Union at 
 Butte, Montana, which may- be quoted 
 again : 
 
 strike spreading. Rsvelstcke out ; 'longshore- 
 men struck here to-day. Please have Western 
 Federation of Miners refuse to allow coal loaded 
 on cars, steamboats, ships or hulks at Lady- 
 smith, Union, or other points on Vancouver Is- 
 land for Vancouver. This to prevent Canadian 
 Pacific getting coal. Rush orders by v.ire. 
 Don't fail— Fight for life. 
 
 The main sources of supply to the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway being the mines of the 
 Wellington Colliery Company at Union and 
 Ladysmith, it followed that special efforts 
 were made by the strikers to stop the sup- 
 ply from these points. The strikes at 
 Ladysmith and Union, which took place on 
 March 14 and May 2 respectively, have been 
 the subjects of special investigation by the 
 commission, and are dealt with in a sub- 
 sequent part of this report, as are the re- 
 lations between the United Brotherhood of 
 Railway Employees and the Western Fed- 
 eration of Miners in connection therewith. 
 Supplementary to the facts recited there, 
 and as shov\dng that the coal supply at all 
 points was a matter of first importance in 
 the eyes of the strikers, the follov,'ing ex- 
 tracts may be quoted from com.muni cat ions 
 in the correspondence. 
 
 The Supply from other Sources. 
 
 In a letter written by direction of Estes 
 to J. R. Lawson, of the United Brotherhood 
 at Seattle, on the Gth of March, the follow- 
 ing appears : — 
 
 We have managed to stop the C.P.R. from ob- 
 taining coal for their boats and engines, and 
 v.'e have stopped the shipment of coke into the 
 Boundary country. 
 
 The day following a circular letter vcas 
 
 sent out by the Vancouver division, in 
 
 which, ennumerating the embarrassements 
 
 to which the company had been subjected 
 
 in consequence of the strike, the following 
 
 IDassage occurs : — 
 
 Y/e have closed out their coal supply at Van- 
 couver; prevented them from loading or un- 
 loading ships ; forced them to decline accept- 
 ance of freight for shipment ; prevented thean 
 from delivering freight already in their ware- 
 houseis ; in fact, harassed th:im in many ways, 
 but we are not done yet. 
 
 On March 20, the acting agent of the 
 division at Vanvouver, writes to the agent 
 of the Revelstoke division as follows : — 
 
 In concectioQ with the coal supply obtainable 
 from Canmore, will advise that the closing of
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 23 
 
 the Canmore and Anthracite mines, more espe- 
 cially the former, has greatly helped us. As a 
 matter of fact, we want all the coal supply cut 
 out altogether ; although the C.P.R. claims to 
 have coal coming from Australia and Japan, we 
 know that they cannot get it here in a reasonable 
 time, nor can they afford to do so. 
 
 The following appears in a circular let- 
 ter sent by the chief representative of the 
 Calgary division to the executive officers 
 of other divisions : — 
 
 No doubt you have all heard of the accident 
 at Frank. All coal mined at this point is con- 
 signed to the C.P.R. , so that this will be an- 
 other trump card for us, as the mines will cer- 
 tainly have to close up for some time. 
 
 In a communication dated May 7 to an 
 
 officer of another union in Victoria, the 
 
 writer says : 
 
 I have just received a telegram to say that 
 the Canmore mine has given out, and that there 
 is only one week's supply at Roger's Pass. This 
 is splendid news. 
 
 Relation of Strikes on Railway and in 
 Mines. 
 
 On May 13 the following appears as part 
 of a circular letter addressed to all the offi- 
 cers and members of the TJ. B. E. E. in 
 North America. It is written by the Van- 
 couver agent : — 
 
 The coal siiuation on the C.P.R. is rapidly 
 approaching alarming conditions. It is a fact 
 that they are compelled to use up their reserve 
 supply at all western points, and that supply 
 will soon be exhausted. In fact the Roger's 
 Pass engines are now running to Revelstoke 
 for coal. If the U.B.R.E. strike were satisfac- 
 torily settled it would be found that the coal 
 situation on the C.P.R. would quickly be ad- 
 Justed. 
 
 The statement in the communiaation sent 
 by direction of Estes to Lawson at Seattle, 
 on Mar,cli 6, that ' We have stopped the 
 shipment of coke into tne Boundary coun- 
 try/ would, if true, indicate, at least, that 
 there had been some connection and joint 
 action between the members of the Western 
 Federation who went on strike in the mines 
 of the Crow's ISTest Pass Coal Company 
 at Ecrnie, Morrissey and Michel, on Febru- 
 ary 11, and the members of the U.B.E.E. 
 who came out on strike on the 27th of that 
 month. This assumption gathers addition- 
 al weight from the following paragraph 
 taken from a letter dated March 30, the 
 day on which the strike at the Crow's Nest 
 Pass was settled, which letter was sent by a 
 36a— 5 
 
 neutral and responsible person (who had, 
 however, the confidence of the strikers, be- 
 cause of the efforts made by him to effect 
 a settlement of the dispute), to General Su- 
 perintendent Marpole at Vancouver : — 
 
 Although the conciliation committee of the 
 Provincial Mining Association has, at so much 
 trouble, succeeded in effecting a settlement of 
 the strike of the Crow's Nest Coal Miners, I fear 
 if the strike affecting your company is allowed 
 to continue it will mean a renewal of the strike 
 if the railway is supplied with fuel from these 
 mines, and the different interests of the pro- 
 vince will be placed in a worse position than 
 ever. 
 
 The significant remark contained in the 
 circular letter of May 13 that 'If the U. 
 B.R.E. strike were satisfactorily settled it 
 would be found that the coal situation on 
 the Canadian Pacific Eailway would quick- 
 ly be adjusted ' — would show that those in 
 authority believed that the strike situation 
 as it had developed in the mines of the 
 Wellington Colliery Company on Vancou- 
 ver Island during the preceding months, 
 had an intimate connection with the U.B. 
 E.E. situation. The same opinion was 
 evidently held by the editor of the 'Rail- 
 way Employees' Journal,' the official organ 
 of the United Brotherhood, as he writes as 
 follows in the issue of March 12 : — 
 
 Besides the power of the United Brotherhood: 
 besides the power of organized labour through- 
 out Canada, there has been enlisted in the cause 
 a power that is already realized and feared for 
 its method of doing something. 
 
 The American Labour Union has thrown its 
 weight into the balance of justice's scales in 
 favour of the United Brotherhood. 
 
 On the 6th insc, a telegram was directed to 
 the American Labour Union requesting that the 
 Western Federation of Miners stop handling 
 coal on "Vancouver Island for the Canadian Pa- 
 cific Railway. 
 
 Within a few hours every member of the pow- 
 erful Western Federation of Miners in Vancou- 
 ver had ceased work. 
 
 Tliere was no " ahem " or " ahaw " or let- 
 ters of supplication or such Gomperiau tom- 
 foolery about it. As quickly as messages could 
 be flasihed over v.-ilres. and without a dis- 
 senting voice, but with a willingness born only 
 of true fraternal union spirit, the Western Fed- 
 eration of Miners, through the American Labour 
 Union, as a body of reserves rushing to the as- 
 sistance of their comrades, adminisitered a stag- 
 gering blov/ to the octopus that is striving to 
 overthrow the rights of railway men to organ- 
 ize when and how they wish. 
 
 Let no member of the United lirotherhood or 
 any railroad man worthy of the name ever for- 
 get this act. If anything were lacking to ce- 
 ment the feelings of friendliness which the U.B. 
 of R.E. has entertained for the .V.L.U. and its 
 members, this unquestionable display of loyalty 
 has furnished it.
 
 24 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUIt COMMISSION 
 
 Other issues of tlie same journal are full 
 of similar references, some of ■which assert 
 positively that the strikes in the coal mines 
 on Vancouver Island were directly attribut- 
 able to the influence of the TJ.B.E.E, 
 
 As a matter of fact, the Canadian Pacific 
 Eo.ilway vras obliged to import 10,000 tons 
 of coal from Japan, to be sure of a supply. 
 
 V. — ^Extensive use of the Boycott. 
 
 Tlie Boycott. — ^It is difficult to assign any 
 limits within which the leaders of the 
 United Brotherhood were prepared to con- 
 fine the use of the boycott wherever, by 
 any possible way, there seemed to be an 
 opportunity of causing embarrassment to 
 the Eailway Company through this means. 
 A few instances, from a great number con- 
 tained in the correspondence, are cited only 
 a.s examples to show that few trades or 
 callings could hope to escape the ban which 
 might be put upon them in consequence of 
 possible relationship to the railway com- 
 pany, by reason of what might or might 
 not be proclaimed from .time to time as 
 ' scabbing ' or ' scab ' material. 
 
 It has already been seen that the strikes 
 of the freight handlers, longshoremen, 
 teamsters and steamship men were broug'ht 
 about in response to the appeal ' not to 
 handle scab baggage, scab freight, or any 
 other scab material of any kind while this 
 strike is in progress.' 
 
 Building and Iron Trades appealed to. 
 
 To all engaged in the building trades an 
 appeal was made — 
 
 Not to use lumber, paint, nails or any- 
 material of any kind -whatsoever that 
 may be handled through the freight 
 sheds during the progress of the strike 
 as it -will be all scab material, because 
 billed, booked and entered by scab bill- 
 ers, revisers or expense clerks. 
 
 To all in the iron trades appeal was made 
 
 To support us by not handling any scab 
 material transported through the Cana- 
 dian Paciflc Railway local freight sta- 
 tion until this matter is settled. 
 
 Bakers asked to Refuse Bread. 
 The Bakers' Union of Vancouver, in re- 
 sponse to a general appeal of this kind, re- 
 plied as follows : — 
 
 The Bakers' Union do most heartily endorse 
 your action, and •v\-e do resolve that we will not 
 handle any flour, butter, or any other article 
 shipped over the C.P.R. until the strike is set- 
 tled. 
 
 This offer of assistance was taken up by 
 the strikers, and the agent of the Vancou- 
 ver executive addressed the following to the 
 Bakers' Union : — 
 
 I am directed to inform you that it is reported 
 that W. D. Muir, baker. Mount Pleasant, has 
 supplied the steamers " Empress of India " and 
 " Princess ?.Iay " with bread, and we are also 
 informed that said baker is about to haul flour 
 from the C.P.R. delivery track, contrary to 
 union principles. You will be good enough to 
 call the attention of your members to these as- 
 sertions and advise me what steps are being 
 taken to discountenance this action on the part 
 of the master bakers. 
 
 With what consequences this communica- 
 tion was followed will appear elsewhere in 
 a reference to the action of the Bakers' 
 Union in this report. 
 
 Steel Girders declared ' Scab Goods.' 
 
 The following obtained from the Build- 
 ing Trades Council was sent for publica- 
 tion to the press committee of the U.B. 
 E.E. :— 
 
 A number of steel girders from Ross & Ho-w- 
 ard's works were delivered by the Paciflc Coast 
 Transfer Co.'s teams this morning to a build- 
 ing in course of erection on Granville street 
 next to the Bank of Montreal. The building la 
 being constructed for Parr & Fee, architects, 
 by union labour only. The Paciflc Coast Trans- 
 fer Co. being on the unfair list, these girders 
 cannot go into the building until they have 
 been made fair by being hauled back by union 
 teamsters and re-delivered by them, or by the 
 payment of the fine to the Teamsters' Union 
 equivalent to such haulage. The girders re- 
 ferred to ,ire now labelled 'scab goods' in 
 plain writing. 
 
 Merchants in outside Towns asked to 
 Boycott Vancouver. 
 
 Som.e of the appeals appear to have been 
 so exacting in their nature as to have been 
 flatly refused by organisations who would 
 not sacrifice their interests or conceptions 
 of justice to what they evidently regarded 
 as an ' unfair ' request. 
 
 The following communication of ^larch 
 
 16, sent by the Miners' Union at Silverton, 
 
 belongs to this class : — 
 
 While we heartily endorse the action of No. 
 81 in striking for its existence, we do not see 
 how we can consistently urge our merchants to 
 refuse to patronize the wholesale merchants of 
 Vancouver, because they handle goods shipped
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 25 
 
 by the C.P.R., as we have no other means of 
 transportation than that of the C.P.R. 
 
 A more reciprocal feeling is manifested 
 in the following communications which 
 were exchanged about the same time be- 
 tween the New Denver J^liners' Union and 
 the Vancouver division of the U.B.K.E. 
 The New Denver Miners' Union writes : 
 
 We would inform you that there will be a 
 new citizen in Vancouver from this town, whom 
 it would pay all union men to watch and boy- 
 cott. He is a scab, and an enemy of organized 
 
 labour. His name is . He comes to 
 
 open a dry goods store. 
 
 Replying to this communication, the offi- 
 cers of the Brotherhood say : 
 
 "U'e note your remarks in connection with. . . 
 and will have the matter brought up before tho 
 Trades and Labour Council at its next meeting. 
 
 Attempts to bring- about Sympathetic 
 Strikes in New South Wales. 
 
 The following letter sent to the long- 
 shorem.en at Sydney, in New South Wales, 
 requesting them not to handle freight on 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway ships arriv- 
 ing at that port, will indicate the extent 
 to which the United Brotherhood was pre- 
 pared to go in 'the matter of endeavouring 
 to bring about a sympathetic strike and 
 boycott on the part of any body of men 
 who in any way were engaged upon work 
 connected with the business of the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway : — 
 
 Vancouver, B.C., March 31, 1903, 
 To the Secretary, 
 
 Wharf Lumpers' Union, 
 Sidney, N.S.W. 
 Dear Sir and Brother : 
 
 The wharf lumpers ('longshoremen), steam- 
 ship men, railway freight handlers and other 
 Ca,nadian Pacific Railway employees are on 
 strike in Vancouver, and all freight loaded at 
 this port is handled by blacklegs, or as they 
 are called in this country, ' scabs,' and should 
 not consistently be handled by union men in 
 Australia. 
 
 You will readily umJerstand the assistance 
 you could render us by refusing to handle this 
 ' scab ' freight, and if the time should come 
 when you will require our assistance you can 
 depend on us to a man. 
 
 "The enclosed circular will give you an insight 
 into the present status of this fight and you, as 
 union men, will understand that we will not 
 tolerate the attempt on the part of the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway to dictate to their em- 
 ployees as to v/hether they shall organize, and 
 with what organization they shall affiliate. 
 
 All the members of the United Brotherhood 
 of Railway Kmployees at Vancouver, Revel- 
 stoke, Nelson, Calgary and Winnipeg are on 
 strike, also all members of the British Colum- 
 
 86a— 5i 
 
 bia Steamshipmen Society and the International 
 'Longshoremen of Ameri'ca at this port, and this 
 action on the part of these unions is endorsed 
 by tho Trades and Labour Councils at all the 
 affected points, as well as the endorsation, moral 
 and financial, of nearly all branches of organ- 
 ized labour on the continent of North America. 
 
 The reports coming in from all points are most 
 ■encouraging, and the railway business is practi- 
 cally at a standstill, so serious is the position 
 of the company that men are being imported 
 from all points of Canada and the United States 
 and even from England. 
 
 We will cable you immediately on the conclu- 
 sion of this strike, so that you may guard 
 against fictitious messages cabled by the rail- 
 way and steamship companies. 
 
 Signed on behalf of the unions affected. 
 
 To this communication wore attached tiio 
 names of the president of the United Bro- 
 therhood of Railway Employees, the presi- 
 dent of the British Columbia Steamship- 
 men's Society, the president of the Long- 
 shoremen's Union, and it was endorsed by 
 the president and secretary of the Van- 
 couver Trades and Labour Council. 
 
 Finally, that no part of the system might 
 escape, Estes, about the end of May, 
 secured from the convention of the Ameri- 
 can Labour Union at Denver a resolution, 
 denouncing the whole Canadian Pacific 
 Railway as unfair. He also managed to 
 get an appropriation of $500, as a contri- 
 bution from the American Labour Union 
 to the resources of the members of his 
 Brotherhood on strike, although he as];cd 
 for $5,000. 
 
 VI. — Treatment of Non-Strikers. 
 
 Treatment of persons who refused to 
 strike. — Attention has already been directed 
 to the efforts made on the part of the 
 strikers to organize other classes of the 
 company's employees, and of men whose 
 work was in no way connected with the 
 business of the company, with a view of 
 bring] ng out these men in support of the 
 strikers. As an indication that in ])ursu- 
 ing these tactics the Brotherhood was not 
 very particular as to the manner in which 
 new members were admitted to its ranks, 
 the following telegram from Estes at Van- 
 couver to Ilalton at Montreal, on ]\fare]i 
 10, may be cited :— 
 
 _ Prcsis reports say 400 clerks Montreal strik- 
 ing. Oi-gauize them on any terms.
 
 26 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSIOl^ 
 
 The most strenuous efforts appear to 
 have been put forth in the direction of 
 intercepting any men brought by the com- 
 pany to fill the places of strikers, or who 
 of their own accord might have sought 
 employment in consequence of the vacan- 
 cies created by the strike; also to make as 
 miserable as possible the lot of any man 
 who might, in the opinion of the strikers, 
 have come to be regarded as a ' scab.' 
 
 Efforts to prevent Men "Working. 
 
 A member of the order was sent to Seat- 
 tle to prevent the company from procuring 
 substitutes in that city. Members of the 
 order in Montreal were instructed to in- 
 form emigrants of the conditions existing 
 in British Columbia. Advertisements were 
 inserted in the papers throughout the Do- 
 minion warning men to keep away from 
 the coast. 
 
 An oiler on the steamship Joan received 
 the following intimation from the secre- 
 tary of the Vancouver division : — 
 
 Strike executive asks you and other two to 
 come out. 
 
 Instructions were sent from the same 
 officer in reference to another individual 
 at Nelson, in the following words, by wire : 
 
 Jensen working ; pull him out, by order of 
 Massey [the itinerant executive head from 
 Seattle]. 
 
 ' Princess May's crew ordered out, war de- 
 clared, order out C.P.N, fleet- 
 were the words sent over the wires from 
 Vancouver as a command to an executive 
 officer of the British Columbia Steamship- 
 men's Society from a fellow officer in Van- 
 couver, when it had been determined that 
 all persons should be brought out on strike. 
 
 Meet ' Mainlander." I coralled seven, but 
 some esicaped me — • 
 
 was the wire sent from an agent of the 
 Brotherhood in Seattle to the chief execu- 
 tive officer, on March 16, as the report of 
 his zeal and misfortvme in this connection. 
 
 In Vancouver and other cities affected 
 by the strike, committees of strikers were 
 told off to persuade men to refuse to work 
 for the company. Where men had accepted 
 positions vacated by strikers they were 
 
 made to suffer as many inconveniences as 
 possible. Efforts were made to prevent 
 them from getting accommodation in hotels 
 and boarding houses. An effort was made 
 to organize the waitresses in the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway hotel at Eevelstoke, so that 
 they would not serve the ' scabs.' Mer- 
 chants were urged in some cases to refuse 
 to supply them with goods. Their names 
 were put, together with names of persons 
 who had declined to qxiit work, in a black- 
 list, which was published in certain labour 
 papers and other periodicals. The oath 
 which had been administered to members 
 of the organization was brought to the at- 
 tention of those who wished to withdraw 
 as a solemn obligation which they were 
 forced to respect, and men who returned to 
 work without permission of the union were 
 referred to in circular communications, 
 which were sent to different parts of the 
 country, as having ' forfeited all rights to 
 the respect of their fellow men, and not 
 deserving of the least sjTnpathy.' 
 
 * Scabs ' Molested. 
 
 The following may be quoted from com- 
 munications which pa.ssed between execu- 
 tive officers of different divisions. The 
 officer at Nelson writes as follows : — 
 
 We expect a number of would-be scabs in by 
 to-night's train from Vancouver, but our picket 
 is all set for them and wil.l attend to them. This 
 committee (picket) i» doing good work, and has 
 been instrumental in having the majority of the 
 scabs ejected from their boarding houses and 
 otherwise making it unpleasant for them. 
 
 A man went to Eholt to scab. He remained 
 there one day, then returned to Nelson on ac- 
 count of his not being able to get anything to 
 eat or a place to sleep. He has since been 
 given employment by the company here, and has 
 already been told to get out of two boarding 
 houses here. 
 
 Calgary division is advised as follows by 
 
 the Vancouver division : — 
 
 In connection with that scab working in the 
 baggage department, use every effort to get him 
 away. Get after the place that supplies him 
 with grub, and induce them to shut off the sup- 
 ply. If he takes his meals at the station eat- 
 ing house get the girls after him. That course 
 of action is working well in Revelstoke, and 
 the lives of scabs at that point are made doubly 
 miserable. 
 
 Winnipeg division writes as follows : — 
 
 We have dropped bur pickets, and have put 
 on a system of paid specials who put in halC
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 27 
 
 time. They are in charge of a chief special. 
 These men. with additional assistance, follow 
 all scabs that have the nerve to board down 
 town, report to a special committee who inter- 
 view the landladies with a view of getting these 
 scabs out of their boarding houses. We have 
 been very successful along these lines, and in- 
 tend to brinig the aame of scab home to every- 
 one of them. 
 
 In a circular letter of May 1, addressed 
 to all officers and members of the United 
 Brotherhood of Railway Employees in 
 North America, the following appears : — 
 
 The strike situation at Vancouver, Revelstoke 
 and Winnipeg remains about the same as at last 
 writing. At Vancouver a number of scabs seem 
 to have met with accidents in some unaccount- 
 able maner. 
 
 If they receive them whilst at work they must 
 surely be very awkward and unaccustomed to 
 the work they are doing, for the men whose 
 places they are attempting to fill, were never 
 seen with bandaged heads or black eyes. 
 
 Permission to ' Scabs ' granted on 
 occasions. 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that 
 it was not possible for a man to ' scab ' with 
 the permission of the division. On March 
 10 a permit was issued under the seal of 
 the United Brotherhood, allowing two train 
 baggagemen, who had joined on February 
 19, to follow their calling during the strike, 
 until such time as the same was cancelled 
 by order of the division. The object doubt- 
 less was to avoid a collision with the Order 
 of Railway Traimnen, to which these men 
 also belonged, and with which the company 
 had an agreement. 
 
 Dispensation from the pains and penal- 
 ties of scabbing was also granted to the 
 crew of the ' Aorange,' to enable them to 
 handle a shipment of frozen meat. ' Scab ' 
 permits were also issued to team drivers on 
 special occasions during the strike. 
 
 The following permit was issued to one 
 John Lane, a member of the crew of the 
 ' Charmer ' : — 
 
 John Lane, Esq., 
 
 SS. ' Charmer,' at Vancouver. 
 
 Dear Sir, — This will be authority granting you 
 the right to continue at work on the SS. 
 • Charraer,' and will be effective until cancelled 
 and withdrawn. 
 
 (Sgd.) J. TURNBULL, 
 
 For E.Kecutive Committee. 
 Aprwoved. 
 
 (Sgd.) GEO. ESTES, 
 
 President. 
 
 On the same date Lane was authorized 
 by the same authority to ' organize for the 
 U.B.R.E. Vancouver Division 81.' 
 
 It must also be noted that, according to 
 Estes, there are ' scab ' unions, and the ef- 
 fect of the declaration by the American 
 Labour Union that the whole Canadian 
 Pacific Railway was unfair is, of course, 
 to stigmatize all the existing railway unions 
 w'ho have all disregarded the declaration, 
 as scab unions. 
 
 All of which goes to show that the term 
 ' scab ' is of elastic signification. 
 
 Attitude of other Railroad Brother- 
 hoods toward the TJ. B. R. E. 
 
 The attitude of the several existing rail- 
 way organizations towards the Brotherhood 
 in its conflict with the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway is important as illustrating the 
 difference between methods pursued by legi- 
 timate and responsible unions in the mat- 
 ter of dealing with their employers, and 
 the purposes and method of working pur- 
 sued by an organization like the U.B.R.E. 
 Although urgent appeals were made by the 
 Brotherhood to all of the several railway 
 organizations, as the Locomotive Engineers, 
 Locomotive Eiremen, Railway Trainmen, 
 Conductors, Telegraphers, and Mainten- 
 ance-of-way men, for their co-operation and 
 assistance, it does not appear that the 
 United Brotherhood received a single cent 
 from the local lodges or members of any 
 of these organizations. In fact there is di- 
 rect evidence to show that as an organiza- 
 tion it was discountenanced from the out- 
 set by the several existing orders of rail- 
 way employees. 
 
 The following extract taken from the 
 ' Advance Advocate,' the official organ of 
 the Maintenance-of-way Employees, pub- 
 lished monthly at St. Louis, Mo., contained 
 in the April number of that publication, 
 may be taken as giving an epitome of the 
 views entertained by the majority of mem- 
 bers of the several class organizations of 
 the United Brotherhood and its president, 
 as well as their estimation of the purposes 
 for which it was created, and its likelihood
 
 23 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMIT SIOTT 
 
 of future success. The Maintenance-of-way 
 eo'.ployees were among the last of the sev- 
 eral classes of railway employees to become 
 organized into a body of their own. The 
 extract from the article is as follows ; — 
 
 In a receat address in San Francisco, Cal.; 
 one Estes, who is president of a mixed organi- 
 zation of railway employees which has attracted 
 some attention on the Pacific coast, stated that 
 ' no effort had ever been made to organize the 
 trackmen ' until the task was undertaken by the 
 organization he represents. Mr. Estes knew 
 that he was stating a falsehood at the time, 
 for he knew of the existence of the Trackmen's 
 Brotherhood at the time when he was fighting 
 hard to have his ambitions recognized, and to 
 have himself elected president of the O.R.T., 
 but since those who know him best decided that 
 he was not the man to lead the hopes and to 
 preside over the destinies of the ' men of the 
 key,' and turned him down very coldly in that 
 organization, and since none of the other es- 
 tablished railway organizations saw fit to take 
 up Mr. Estes and his grievances, he decided he 
 v/ould start a little organization of his own, 
 not f,o much for the good he might do to the 
 toiling thousands in the railway service, as for 
 the purpose of securing funds from them to 
 carry out his work of retaliation against those 
 who failed to see and recognize his greatness. 
 If Mr. Estes thinks it will be anything to his 
 advantage to utter such palpable falsehoods as 
 the one above referred to, he has placed a dif- 
 ferent estimate upon the character and intelli- 
 gence of men in the railway service to that 
 which has been held by the real leaders of or- 
 ganized labour. Men in the railway service who 
 have sbown themselves to have the intelligence 
 to get together, the determination to stick to- 
 gether, and the courage to fight together for 
 improved conditions, prefer to remain in their 
 class organizations which have shown ability to 
 secure results. Many of these men remember 
 with sorrow their previous connection with gen- 
 eral organizations like the K. of L. and the 
 A.R.U., which failed miserably in their efforts 
 to hasten the millenium, and they feel that it 
 is only a question of time — and a short time at 
 that— when the U.B. will follow the K. of L. and 
 the A.R.U. to the shades of the bone-yard. No 
 permanent good results can come to labour 
 through an organization whose principal mis- 
 sion is to disorganize established unions. 
 
 Opinions expressed in Journals of Class 
 Organizations. 
 
 A circular printed for general distribu- 
 tion and addressed to ' Members of pro- 
 perly constituted and recognized unions,' 
 aijpeared at the time of the strike in Van- 
 couver. It contained extracts from edi- 
 torials in some of the journals of the re- 
 gular orders, and the following among other 
 references may be quoted as further illus- 
 trating the estim.ation in which the United 
 Brotherhood of Railway Employees is held 
 by the class orders : — 
 
 The U.B.R.E. has appealed to the trades or- 
 ganizations of Canada for sympathy. Naturally 
 they have to, for the other railway organizations 
 recognize the enmity of this organization pirate 
 in the same manner they would the enmity of 
 an unfriendly corporation. There is no friend- 
 ship, no sympathy for it, foT it is recognized as 
 the agent of disruption and disintegration and 
 nothing less than an aittempt to destroy what 
 has been done by the older organizations. 
 
 The officers have gone into Canada and lied 
 deliberately to bolster up their organization. 
 They have intimated that they have secured the 
 schedules for train and engine service on the 
 Southern Pacific lines, and the statements are 
 false, for those schedules are made with the 
 older organizations. They have paraded the fact 
 that they destroyed the Southern Pacific relief 
 plan, and they lied out of the whole cloth when 
 they said so. At the time the Southern Pacific 
 reliief plan was placed before the men there was 
 no U.B.R.E.. and the old organizations, the in- 
 surance fraternities, and the peoiple of the coast 
 are united against it, and it was killed by their 
 influence. The U.B.R.E. had nothing whatever 
 to do with it, it had not even been started, yet 
 it has gone into Canada preaching its success 
 and leading the railway employees into trouble. 
 
 In the United States the U.B.R.E. movement 
 has fizzled down to the unorganized trades, for 
 the men in the train and engine service under- 
 stand that this movement is simply another 
 American railway union, with its loud sounding 
 pretenses, its traitors, who have violated their 
 obligations to their organizations, its destroyers 
 of unionism, its place hunters and impractical 
 schemers, that may cause a little flurry of ex- 
 citement for a time, destroy what has been done 
 in some instances and leave wreck and ruin in 
 its train. 
 
 As far as the Brotherhood of Railway Train- 
 men is concerned, there will be no false senti- 
 ment in dealing with it. Wherever it shows it- 
 self interfering with the work of the organiza- 
 tion right there it will meet the opposition of 
 the brotherhood in a way that will not be con- 
 ducive to its organization peace of mind. The 
 ' Journal ' dislikes to be compelled to take this 
 position, because quarrels between labour or- 
 ganizations seldom do much good. But this has 
 been forced upon us, and there will be no mis- 
 taken feelings of delicacy in meeting the ques- 
 tion wherever it arises. It was organized by 
 discontents, office hunters and enemies to the 
 labour aragnizations that have accomplished the 
 greatest work that labour organization has to 
 its credit. We will oppose every action on their 
 part that threatens our organization. There will 
 be no pandering to sickly sentiment that calls 
 for ' glad hands ' and brotherly feelings, but the 
 traitors who violate the rights and laws of the 
 brotherhood and expect that appeals made in 
 the name of unionism will be heard, until they 
 have wrought their purpose, will be turned 
 down hard. i 
 
 The freight handlers' strike in Chicago, and 
 the sympathetic strike of the teamsters is an- 
 other case in point that should prove to every 
 member of a labour organization the fallacy of 
 the sympathetic strike as the means of adjust- 
 ing disturbed labour conditions. 
 
 Estes' opinion of other Railway Organi- 
 zations. 
 
 That such are the opinions held by the 
 regular unions of railway employees of the
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 29 
 
 United Brotlierhood is not to be wondered 
 at in view of the manner in which these 
 unions have been characterized by the presi- 
 dent and members of the United Brother- 
 hood at different times. Speaking at a mass 
 meeting in Vancouver during the course 
 of the strike. President Estes is reported in 
 an official account prepared by U.B.K.E. 
 officials, to have said : — 
 
 There are Oirders and orders, religions and re- 
 ligions, U'uions and unions, some so constituted 
 that they cannot carry out the true laws of un- 
 ionism. This, he (the speaker) had practiced 
 at the start and this had come true. 
 
 These orders were a curse to railway em- 
 ployees, because they were under the control of 
 capital. These truths might hurt, he knew that, 
 and the men might hate him for making such 
 statements — it was his duty to speali plain — he 
 could not help it — his statements were true. 
 Glass orders and contracts make m'en Sioab ; one 
 cannot get away from that. The recent ruling 
 of the Trades and Labour Council hurt, he 
 would sooneir see men scab without a contract 
 than with one, because with one it made the 
 action appear to be premeditated. One is sim- 
 ply forced into it, and the only solution was to 
 get out of such an order. 
 
 Blacksmiths' International TJnion refuses 
 to Sanction Strike at Revelstoke. 
 
 A number of men who were on strike 
 at Revelstoke were members of the Inter- 
 national Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, 
 which order had, at that time, an agree- 
 ment with the Canadian Pacific Railway 
 covering the terms and conditions of em- 
 ployment of its members in the shops at 
 Revelstoke. They had, however, become 
 members of the United Brotherhood of Rail- 
 way Employees as well. When the latter 
 went on strike there at once arose a con- 
 flict of jurisdiction as between these two 
 orders, the executive officers of the Black- 
 smiths' Union taking the ground that no 
 members of a. local vinion belonging to the 
 International order had any right to violate 
 a contract which they had with their em- 
 ployers. 
 
 As sooij as it was brought to the notice 
 of the headquarters executive of the Black- 
 smiths' Union at Moline, Illinois, that the 
 local at Revelstoke had gone out in 
 violation of its contract, a member of the 
 executive board came to Revelstoke, inves- 
 tigated the matter, and ordered the men 
 back to work immediately, on penalty, if 
 
 they refused, of being expelled from the 
 ■union. This action on the part of the mem- 
 ber of the executive was reinforced by mes- 
 sages from headquarters stating that the 
 men ' must religiously observe agreement 
 with company.' The men thereupon re- 
 turned to work. 
 
 The U.B.R. refuses to allow Revelstoke 
 Strikers to return to work. 
 
 When these matters were first considered 
 
 by the Brotherhood, Estes, in a letter to 
 
 Mr. Marpole, of the 5th March, says : 
 
 We regret we cannot authorize the machimlsta 
 at Revelstoke to return to work, as until the 
 whole 20 back they would have to work with 
 non-union labour, which they will not do. 
 
 The next day Eorrest, at Revelstoke, was 
 informed as follows by the Vancouver divi- 
 
 As advised Brother Inches, a machinist by 
 the name of Dunn left here -yesterday at the 
 reauest of the C. P. R.. with the intention of 
 prevailing upon the roiachinists at that point 
 to work. Brother Estes won'.t permit this. You 
 can undersitand the disadvantage we would be 
 under were they to return to v/ork. 
 
 In a letter of March 9 to the agent of 
 
 the division at Revelstoke from the agent 
 
 of the Vancouver division, the latter says : 
 
 Brother Estes has imatruoted me to reply to 
 your letter of March 7. which, owing to press 
 of business he is unable to undertake. I am, 
 however, directed to say thait under no cir- 
 cumstances will the machinists be permitted 
 to return to work at Revelsitofce until we wia 
 the fight. 
 
 Estes' communication from Victoria to 
 Halton at Vancouver on the 23rd of March, 
 after the machinists at Revelstoke had re- 
 turned to work, is rather characteristic. 
 Referring to this matter, he says : — 
 
 Your telegram of yesterday received. I will 
 do the best I can on the machinists' proposition, 
 but the result has been just as I expected, and 
 just as it alv.viys is in cases where ' class ' or- 
 gainizations are concerned. We must fight the 
 battle without the Revels'toke machinists, and 
 fight it we will, and win, if our other men stand 
 
 firm Had I been free here the 
 
 machinisits v.'ould never have returned to work 
 at Revelstoke. 
 
 Boilermakers' International Union refuses 
 to Sanction Strike at Vancouver, 
 
 A strong effort was made by the United 
 Brotherhood to have the machinists and 
 boilermakers in Vancouver, as well as at
 
 30 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Eevelstoke, come out on strike. To place 
 his lodge on a sure footing in the matter, 
 the secretary of the local of the Brother- 
 hood of Boilermakers and Iron Ship- 
 builders at Vancouver wrote to head- 
 quarters at Kansas City, explaining the 
 situation to the executive board there. The 
 following reply, received by the secretary 
 from the grand president, speaks for itself : 
 
 Brotherhood of B&iler Makers and Iron Ship 
 Builders of America. 
 Kansas City, Kas.. April 11, 1903. 
 J. H. Watson, Esq., 
 
 Cor. See.. L. No. 194, 
 Vancouver. B.C. 
 Dear Sir and Brother, — . . . . . 
 Now, in regard to the boilermakers working 
 en the Canadian Pacific Railway, will say, that 
 under no consideration will we allow any 
 of our members to violate a contract, and if 
 any of the men attach themselves to any dual 
 organization, or go out in sympathy with any 
 other organization and violate their contract, 
 they will immediately annul their card, and a 
 lodge that will encourage them to do so, we 
 will call in their charter. We appreciate the 
 sanctity of a contract, and if we do not live 
 UD to contracts, in a very short time the em- 
 ployers will refuse to make any with us. I 
 hope you will so notify those members, as you 
 can rest assured that we will do just as stated 
 in ♦>ii'; letter. 
 With best wishes and regards, I remain. 
 Yours fratemaUy, 
 
 (Signed) JOHN McNEIL, 
 
 G. P. O. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the Vancouver local 
 of this Brotherhood extended as far as Eev- 
 elstoke. A member having gone out at 
 that point, he was fined $25 by the union 
 for violation of its rules. 
 
 Instances of Interference on part of 
 Officers of Unions in United 
 States. 
 It is to be regretted that these instances 
 cannot be cited as without exception on 
 behalf of international bodies, in the mat- 
 ter of th^r regard for the sacredness of 
 contract between members and their em- 
 ployers. The action of the International 
 Brotherhood of Boilermakers two j'ears pre- 
 vious, in regard to a contract between its 
 members in Victoria and the Albion Iron 
 Works, which came to the attention of the 
 Commission at its sittings in Victoria, and 
 the action taken by the International 
 Bakers and Cojifectioners' Union during 
 the present strike at Vancouver, show a 
 Berious lack of appreciation of the respon- 
 
 sibilities of executive heads, and an un- 
 warrantable interference in matters of local 
 concern. 
 
 The Case of tlie ' Garonne ' Contract. 
 
 In March, 1901, a contract was entered 
 into by the Albion Iron "Works Company 
 of Victoria with Frank Waterhouse of 
 Seattle, for the repairing of a ship, the 
 ' Garonne,' of which he was the owner. The 
 contract had originally been given to the 
 firm, Moran Bros., of Seattle, but owing 
 to their men in the moulding and machine 
 department having gone on strike for 
 higher wages, Moran Bros. v;ere unable 
 to complete the contract. In order to have 
 the work completed in time, Waterhouse 
 arranged that Moran Bros, were to give up 
 the contract, and a new contract was to 
 be entered into with the Albion Iron Works 
 Company. Before accepting this contract, 
 B. Seabrooke, at that time manager of the 
 Albion Iron Works, called a meeting of the 
 Boilermakers' Union of Victoria, of which 
 the men in his employ were members, 
 showed them the total correspondence in 
 regard to the matter, and left it to them to 
 say whether or not the Albion Iron Works 
 might take the contract. They said that it 
 would be all right, and agreed to work on 
 the ship when it was brought over. Sea- 
 brooke thereupon drew up a telegram, 
 which was submitted to the union, and 
 approved by it. It was addressed to Water- 
 house at Seattle, and was to the eiiect that 
 Seabrooke could take the contract, and 
 would leav& that night for Seattle. After 
 arrival there a contract was entered into 
 with Waterhouse, a condition of which was 
 that in the event of it turning out that the 
 Albion Iron Works could not complete the 
 contract on account of any trouble witli 
 its union boilermakers, the company should 
 pay the expenses of the ship both ways. 
 On the expenses being giiaranteed the con- 
 tract was closed. ISTo contract of any kind 
 was made with Moran Bros., the dealings 
 of the Albion Iron Works Company being 
 entirely with Waterhouse. The amount in- 
 volved in the contract was estimated at be- 
 tween $30,000 and $35,000.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 SI 
 
 The Seattle Union. 
 
 A committee of boiler-makers from Se- 
 attle came to Victoria on the same boat by 
 ■which Seabrooke returned. He did not 
 know that they were a committee, but 
 thought they were boiler-makers coming 
 over to get work on the boat. On the fol- 
 lowing morning (the ' Garonne ' having ar- 
 rived late that night), when repairs were 
 started, the boiler-makers refused to work. 
 The committee which had come over from 
 Seattle had held a meeting with the boiler- 
 makers, and claimed that the job was an 
 unfair one, and would not allow them to go 
 to work. The machinists and^other trades 
 took hold of the work without asking a 
 question, but the boiler-makers refused. 
 
 At the time Seabrooke had first consulted 
 with his men only the machinists were on 
 strike at Seattle, and not the boiler-makers, 
 but before he left Seattle with the ship, the 
 boiler-makers in Seattle had gone out. 
 When he returned he called the men to- 
 gether and told them that he would not ask 
 them to carry out the contract on the wages 
 first agreed upon, but that he would give 
 them what was being demanded bv the men 
 in Seattle. The boiler-makers had given 
 him notice some time previously that they 
 would go out on a certain date if better 
 terms were not granted them. These terms 
 were conceded, and they promised Sea- 
 brooke at the meeting that afternoon that 
 they would go to work the next morning. 
 This was before they had any interview 
 with the Seattle committee. When asked 
 on the following morning why they would 
 not go to work, the men stated that they 
 could not, owing to instructions from the 
 committee which had come over from Se- 
 attle. Tbe committee had informed lliem 
 that the Seattle boiler-makers regarded the 
 job as 'unfair'; that they, as well as the 
 machinists, had had trouble with their em- 
 ployer;:. After having had several meetings 
 wl'",h the boiler-makers and being unable to 
 effect a satisfactory arrangement, Sea- 
 brooke was obliged to take the other men 
 off the ship and send her back to Seattle, 
 36a— 6 
 
 notwithstanding that between $300 and 
 $400 worth of work had been done. The 
 total loss to the firm in consequence of its 
 imdertaking to pay the expenses of the ship 
 both ways in the event of the contract not 
 being carried out, and of the loss of the 
 work which had been partly performed, 
 was about $1,250, The local union offered 
 to reimburse the company. They regretted 
 their action, bal claimed that it was against 
 the rules of the international union to work 
 on tl'-L- ship, 
 
 Losses to Company and Men in conse- 
 quence. 
 
 There were several other jobs which 
 might have been secured, but the company 
 was obliged to reject them. The company 
 estimated that in consequence of this in- 
 cident, over $100,000 worth of work was 
 lost to Victoria, of which about 75 per cent 
 wculd have gone to workmen in their em- 
 ploy as wages. 
 
 The manager of the Albion Iron Works 
 interviewed not only his own men, but also 
 the committee from Seattle, at the time of 
 this occurrence. At these interviews one 
 of the members of the Seattle committee 
 did most of the talking, and as far as 
 the manager was able to judge, the diffi- 
 culty could have been got over but for this 
 individual. 
 
 The president of the local boiler-makers' 
 union at Victoria agreed in substance with 
 Seabrooke's statement of the facts, but his 
 idea seemed to be that the union had en- 
 tered into the agreement on the footing 
 that there would be no trouble between the 
 boiler-makers at Seattle and their employ- 
 ers. However this may be, the president 
 stated that even after the Seattle committee 
 had conversed with them, they were pre- 
 pared to go on with the work if the consent 
 of the executive board at Kansas City could 
 be obtained. In his evidence this witness 
 Baid : 
 
 We asked the lodge at KanBas by telegram 
 what to do, explained as far as we could the 
 facts of the case ; that the Seattle men claimed 
 it would assist them ; that we had given our 
 promise to do the work, and that we were wil- 
 ling to do the work if we could get the consent
 
 32 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 of the Supreme Lodge. The nature of the re- 
 ply was that we were not to work on the job 
 en account of the Seattle union — we were to 
 work in conjunction with Seattle. 
 
 The ■witness explained that had the work 
 been gone on with, notwithstanding that all 
 conditions asked for by the men in Seattle 
 had been granted by the Victoria firm, the 
 charter of the Victoria lodge might have 
 been taken away, and its members declared 
 * scabs ' and their names so posted all over 
 the continent of America. 
 
 Action of Vancouver Bakers' Union at 
 instance of U. B. K. E. "> 
 
 Muir, the baker, referred to in the com- 
 munication quoted from the U.B.R.E. offi- 
 cers to the Bakers' Union in Vancouver, 
 and certain of his employees, testified be- 
 fore the Commission as to the course pur- 
 sued by the Bakers' Union in consequence 
 of their decision to assist the strikers, and 
 its eSect upon them. Muir said that he 
 received a communication from the sec- 
 retary of the Bakers' Union, requesting 
 him not to supply the ' Princess May ' with 
 bread. When he refused to do this, on the 
 ground that he had been supplying bread 
 for two years to the C.P.iS[. steamers, he 
 received word that his shop would be put on 
 the unfair list, and his employees, to the 
 number of eight, who were members of the 
 union, were ordered out on strike. Six of 
 the men refused to obey the order of the 
 union and were expelled. Two left his em- 
 ploy. As a further consequence of his re- 
 fusal to stop supplying bread to the ' Prin- 
 cess May,' several men quit buying bread 
 from him, and an effort was made to induce 
 others to follow their example. In his evi- 
 dence on this point, Muir said : ' At the 
 time six men were taken out of my shop. 
 Several men belonging to the Bakers' Union 
 went to a lot of places in the city, grocery 
 stores, hotels, restaurants and other places, 
 and solicited them to quit buying bread 
 from me.' As a consequence of this action 
 some of the restaurants stopped buying his 
 bread, and he lost the custom of forty- 
 tliree private houses. 
 
 As a further evidence of the manner in 
 which his business was embarrassed in con- 
 sequence of the action of the strikers, Muir 
 gave the following : * I had a carload of 
 flour consigned to me, and as the teamsters 
 were on strike I could not get it delivered. 
 I had to use the wholesale warehouse, have 
 the flour put in there, and get it delivered 
 from there .... Why I had to take the flour 
 from tlie wholesale house was because my 
 union men would not take it if it was 
 hauled by non-union teamsters. I had to 
 do this way to get the union to handle it. 
 They would take it from the sidewalk, but 
 not from the track. I sent one of my men 
 up and we bi*ught it through this wholesale 
 grocery.' That disinfected it. 
 
 It should be noted in this connection 
 that Muir's shop had been a union shop for 
 some time, and that he had a written con- 
 tract with the Journeymen Bakers' Union, 
 which was to stand good until the 1st of 
 July. As a consequence of the breach of 
 contract on the part of the imion, and their 
 action towards him, Muir declared that his 
 shop would be a non-union shop in the 
 future. 
 
 Union Principles and Constitution 
 Violated. 
 
 George Nelson, a baker in Muir's employ, 
 testified that at the time the appeal was 
 made to the union the bakers in Muir's 
 employ should be called out on sym- 
 pathetic strike, he wrote to the head- 
 quarters of the union at Cleveland, asking 
 whether the local union, of which he was 
 a member and officer, could order out on 
 strike when his employer was acting up to 
 his agreement with the union as to wages 
 and hours. For having written to headquar- 
 ters of his own initiative Nelson was fined 
 $25, and having refused to pay his fine was 
 expelled from the union. This was two 
 days before the six other bakers in Muir's 
 shop refused to go out on strike on the 
 orders of the union, and were also ex- 
 pelled. The Bakers' Journal of May 23, 
 inserting the names of all these men, con- 
 tained the following notice :^
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 33 
 
 The following men are expelled from Union 
 46, Vancouver, B.C., for scabbing in Muir's 
 shop of this city. [Names given]. 
 By order of the union, 
 
 MURDO Maclean, 
 
 2160 "Westminster Avenue, Vancouver. 
 
 The constitution of the Jonrneymen 
 Bakers and Confectioners' International 
 .Union, of which Vancouver Union jSTo. 46 
 was a local, contains the follov/ing, as 
 Article 9 (that part of the constitution 
 which deals with the question of strikes) : 
 
 Section 1. In case of difBculties between em- 
 ployees and employers it becomes the duty of 
 local unions to prevent strikes as much as pos- 
 sible by attempting to settle such difficulties 
 in a peaceful vfay. Only in the event that all 
 attempts at a peaceful settlement shall prove 
 of no avail, or if the deruands of the employers 
 should be beneath the dignity of the employees 
 and contrary to the principles of unionists, a 
 strike shall be resorted to. 
 
 Section 4. Strikes can only .be declared when 
 three-fourths of the members in good standing 
 vote in favour thereof. The same vote is re- 
 quired to declare a strike ended. 
 
 Section 8. No strikes shall be decided upon 
 unless every member has been invited in writ- 
 ing or persionally by an officer of the union to 
 attend the meeting where it is to be acted 
 upon. 
 
 In his evidence as to the manner in 
 which this strike had been declared, Nel- 
 son said that written notices were not given 
 to anj'one in the shop in which he was 
 employed, and that the strike was declared 
 by less than a tvvo-thirds vote. 
 
 Strike of U. B. E. E. conducted mostly by 
 Funds from United States. 
 
 It is rather remarkable that during the 
 whole of its struggle, the aid given to the 
 Brotherhood by Canadian vinions was com- 
 paratively insignificant. The strikers were 
 successful in obtaining an endorsation of 
 their actions from a number of Canadian 
 unions, and even from the Trades and 
 Labour .Councils of a few cities, but most 
 of the financial assistance came from 
 unions in the United States affiliated with 
 the American Labour Union. The man- 
 ner in which some of these appeals were 
 made is interesting, as revealing the way 
 in which Americans were induced to 
 render assistance to the Brotherhood at this 
 time. Exhibit No. 37, filed with the Com- 
 
 mission, is a circular addressed — ' To all 
 unions affiliated with the American Labour 
 Union.' It is printed on paper intended 
 to represent the official letter paper of the 
 Brotherhood — 
 
 Uaited Brotherhood of Railway Employees, 
 
 General Olliees, 
 
 210-211. 573-574 Parrot Building, 
 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 appears at the top to the left. The cir- 
 cular is signed — 
 
 Yours for industrial unionism, 
 
 GEO. ESTES, 
 President. U.B.R.E. 
 
 Estes being in Canada at the time, re- 
 ference is made to this country at the head 
 of the circular in these words, to the right — 
 
 Executive Office, 
 
 President's Headquarters in the Field, 
 Vancouver. B.C., March 27, 1903. 
 
 , The circular in the lower left-hand corner 
 Jias the following — 
 
 Hea/dquarters American Labour Union, 
 Butte. Montana, March 31st, 1903. 
 
 We approve and endorse the above appeal. 
 (Sgd.) CLARENCE SMITH, 
 
 Soc'y. A.L.U. 
 
 DANIEL McDonald, 
 
 President A.L.U. 
 
 The circular itself, after giving an ac- 
 count of the situation, in terms which are 
 very exaggerated and misleading, concludes 
 as follows : — 
 
 To win this fight we must have all the finan- 
 cial help possible and as quickly as possible, 
 and we urgently appeal to all unions affiliated 
 with the A. L. U., whose principles we believe 
 in and uphold, to send us financial aiid in as 
 large amounts as possible, and to continue 
 aiding us until the fight is won. 
 
 Numbers concerned in Strike and AiSiected 
 by Settlement. 
 According to the statement of the 
 Brotherhood's counsel before the Commis- 
 sion there were at the time of its sittings 
 in Vancouver, about 1,000 employees in all 
 on strike ; this included Longshoremen, 
 Teamsters, Steamshipmen and members of 
 the U.B.R.E. at different points. TSie 
 follov.-ing statement put in by the company
 
 34 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSIOIf 
 
 indicates the number of the latter whose 
 places had not been filled at the time : — ^ 
 
 Vancouver — 
 
 General freight office 5 
 
 Supt. telegraphs office 10 
 
 General superintendent's office.. 1 
 General superintendent's account- 
 ing department 12 
 
 Passenger department (depot 
 
 ticket office) .2 
 
 Stores department 13 
 
 Baggage department 4 
 
 Freight office 127 
 
 Mechanical department 23 
 
 197 
 
 New "Westminster — 
 Operating department 3 
 
 Revelstoke — 
 
 Operating department 7 
 
 Mechanical department 58 
 
 Golden 
 
 Field 
 
 Nelson — 
 
 (Mechanical department 6 
 
 Operating department 17 
 
 Rossland 
 
 Greenwood 
 
 23 
 3 
 1 
 
 294 
 
 All these strikes were declared at an end 
 in consequence of the agreement arrived 
 at during the sittings of the Commission.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 85 
 
 CHAP. Ill— DISPUTES IN THE COAL MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA DURING 
 
 1903. 
 
 THE coal mining properties of import- 
 ance operated in British Columbia 
 during the present year are the mines of 
 the Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company at 
 Fernie, Morissey and Michel, situate in 
 East Kootenay ; and the mines of the Wel- 
 lington Colliery Company at Extension and 
 Union, and the mines of the Western Fuel 
 Company at Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. 
 It is a singular fact that since the com- 
 mencement of the year there has been a 
 strike in every one of these camps, and in 
 all, without exception, local unions of the 
 Western Federation of Miners have been 
 concerned. 
 
 Strike of Employees of Crow's Nest Pass 
 
 Coal Company at Fernie, Morissey 
 
 and Michel. 
 
 The first of these strikes was the strike 
 of the miners in the employ of the Crow's 
 Nest Pass Coal Company, where the main 
 question at the outset was one of recogni- 
 tion of a district union comprised of repre- 
 sentatives from the local lodges of the 
 Western Federation at Fernie, Michel and 
 Morissey. This strike was commenced on 
 February 11, and lasted until March 31 ; 
 it involved in all about 1,500 employees. 
 
 Strike of Employees of Western Fuel 
 Company at Nanaimo. 
 
 The second strike was that of the coal min- 
 ers in the employ of the Western Fuel Com- 
 pany at Nanaimo, who were members of the 
 Nanaimo Miners' Union No. 177, of the 
 Western Federation of Miners. This strike 
 commenced on February 16, and was ter- 
 minated on the 26th of the same month. 
 The cause of the dispute was the withdraw- 
 al by the company of an allowance of 25 
 cents per day, which had been paid to min- 
 ers working with safety lamps, on the in- 
 troduction of an improved and more costly 
 
 lamp. On the restoration of the allowance 
 the men resumed work. Between 600 and 
 700 employees were affected by this strike. 
 
 Strikes of Employees of Wellington Col- 
 liery Company at Ladysmith and 
 Union. 
 
 \ The third strike was that of the em- 
 jployees of the Wellington Colliery Com- 
 pany at Ladysmith, which commenced on 
 iMarch 12, and as the result of which the 
 mines of the company at Extension were 
 (closed, and remained closed until July 3. 
 /About 800 employees were immediately 
 (affected by this strike. The last strike 
 occurred in the mines of the same company 
 at Union on the 2nd of May. Between 300 
 and 400 miners have been affected by that 
 strike, which is still unsettled. 
 
 Investigation of these Disputes. 
 
 ' It was our intention to inquire fully 
 into the causes and circumstances of all 
 ■these strikes, but owing to the limited 
 <time at the disposal of the Commission it 
 was found impossible to investigate the 
 facts and circumstances connected with 
 (the strike of the several mines of the 
 fCrow's Nest Pass Coal Company. In 
 view, however, of the fact that this strike 
 was made the subject of a special investi- 
 gation by a conciliation committee consti- 
 tuted under the auspices of the Provincial 
 Mining Association of British Columbia, 
 and that operations had been resumed be- 
 fore the Commission was appointed, the 
 omission of more than a passing reference 
 to it in this report is not as important aa 
 it might have been had the dispute not 
 been settled, and its main features already 
 disclosed to the public through authorita- 
 tive sources. 
 
 The strike of the employees of the West • 
 ern Fuel Company at Nanaimo was investi-
 
 36 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 gated by tlie Commission, and an account 
 both of its causes and of the settlement 
 will Be found in the evidence taken at Na- 
 naimo, which is submitted with this re- 
 port. In view of the larger issues which 
 came to the attention of the Commission in 
 its investigation of the strikes at Lady- 
 smith and Union, and because there did 
 not appear to be any difference of opinion 
 between the parties as to the nature and 
 cause of this dispute, which was of short 
 duration and not far-reaching in its effects, 
 it has not appeared to us necessary to 
 make more than mention of the fact of its 
 occurrence. 
 
 Strikes at Ladysmith and Union specially 
 important. 
 The strikes at Ladysmith and Union, on 
 the other hand, have been of a most serious 
 nature, both as regards the way in which 
 they were brought about, and the great in- 
 convenience and loss which they have 
 caused to the people of Vancouver Island 
 in particular, and the province in general. 
 The strike at Ladysmith having been in 
 existence for seven weeks at the tim.e the 
 Commission commenced the inquiry, we 
 felt it expedient to make this strike the 
 first subject of investigation. The strike 
 at Union commenced only a day or two 
 before the Commission began hearing evi- 
 dence in regard to the strike at Ladysmith, 
 
 The Extension mines are about 12 miles 
 distant from the town of Ladysmith. Min- 
 ing operations were commenced at this 
 place about six years ago, shortly after 
 which a number of houses were built by 
 the miners, and a small mining town es- 
 tablished there. Owing to the orders of the 
 president of the Wellington Colliery Com- 
 pany, the miners at Extension were com- 
 pelled to give up residing at the mines, 
 and take up their residence in the town of 
 Ladysmith. It is now over a year since 
 most of the miners who at one time might 
 have resided at Extension have had their 
 homes at Ladysmith. This separation of 
 the places of work and residence is apt to 
 give rise to some confusion unless it is 
 borne in mind that when Ladysmith miners 
 are referred to, what is meant, in reality, 
 are the miners who work at Extension and 
 reside at Ladysmith. A similar confusion 
 is apt to arise in speaking of Union and 
 Cumberland. The two places are situated 
 side by side, separated only by an imagin- 
 ary line, and both are sometimes referred 
 to under one designation, as Comox, v/hich 
 is the name of the electoral district in 
 which they are si.uate. Where, therefore, 
 reference is made to either Cumberland or 
 Union, or the mines at Cumberland or 
 Union, this interchangeability of names 
 should be kept in mind.
 
 BlilTISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 37 
 
 CHAP. IV— THE STRIKE AT LADYSMITH. 
 
 ON Sunday, March 8, a mass meeting of 
 the Extension Miners was held at 
 Ladysmith. Between 300 and 400 of the com- 
 pany's employees were present. James 
 Pritchard and Samuel Mottishaw, sr., two 
 Extension miners, were chosen respectively 
 as chairman and secretary of the meeting. 
 The notice calling the meeting, which was 
 not signed, and did not state any object, 
 had been put up on the day previous at the 
 Post OiSco at Ladysmith. According to the 
 minutes of this meeting, as filed with the 
 Commission, and the evidence of the wit- 
 nesses who testified in regard to it, the 
 chairman first exj^lained that the meeting 
 had been called with a view of asking for 
 an advance of 15 per cent in wages. The 
 subject was left open to the meeting, and 
 the question of sending a deputation to 
 James Dunsmuir, the president of the Wel- 
 lington Colliery Company, discussed. It 
 was suggested in opposition to this that 
 the employees should first form themselves 
 into an organization, but that in view of 
 the attitude of the company towards unions 
 in the past, it would be useless to form a 
 local organization. A motion was then put 
 to the meeting that ' the dema,nd of a 15 
 per cent increase be waived, and that, in- 
 stead, the men organize in the Western Fed- 
 eration of Miners.' It was urged by those 
 who supported this motion that the West- 
 ern Federation was a numerous and pow- 
 erful body and that it could be counted on 
 for financial support in the event of the 
 local union encountering difficulties with 
 the company. An amendment that a secret 
 ballot should be taken on the subject was 
 proposed and carried, but after considerable 
 argument and discyssion was withdraven, 
 and the question as to whether or not a local 
 union of the Western Federation should 
 be formed was decided by a show of hands. 
 The minutes reoprd the result of this vote 
 
 as vinanimous, but from the evidence of cer- 
 tain witnesses who were present it would 
 appear that few had voted against the pro- 
 posal. The secretary was instructed to noti- 
 fy James A. Baker, the Canadian organi- 
 zer of the Western Federation of Miners, 
 as quickly as possible, to form a branch of 
 that organization at Ladysmith, and a mo- 
 tion was carried that those present would 
 agree to stand by any miner who might be 
 discharged by the company through tak- 
 ing steps to join the Western Federation 
 of Miners. 
 
 ladysmith Miners decide to join^' 
 W. F. of M., March 8. 
 
 Mottishaw left Ladysmith on the first 
 train for Nanaimo, and after a conversa- 
 tion with Thomas Shenton, the secretary of 
 the Nanaimo union, the following telegram 
 was sent to Baker : — 
 
 Urgent request for your presence ; come to 
 Nanaimo i£ possible immediately. 
 
 This telegram was not signed by Mot- 
 tishaw, the secretary of the Ladysmith 
 meeting, but by Shenton. 
 
 On Tuesday, March 10, Pritchard and 
 Mottishaw, the president and secretary of 
 the Ladysmith meeting on the Sunday pre- 
 vious, were discharged, also two other min- 
 ers, S. K, Mottishaw, jr., and Robert Bell. 
 No reason was given for their summary 
 dismissal, but as all four had been promi- 
 nent in connection with the Sunday meet- 
 ing, there was no doubt in the mind of 
 anyone concerned as to the cause. On the 
 same day an official notice Avas posted by 
 the Wellington Colliery Company at the 
 mines and the depot, stating that on April 
 1 the mines would be closed, and notifying 
 the men to take out their tools on that date. 
 No reason was stated in the notice why 
 the company has decided on this course of 
 action.
 
 38 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Strike declared at Ladysmith on March 
 12. 
 
 A mass meeting of the miners and mine 
 labourers was immediately called for the 
 following Thursday, the 12 th of March. 
 At this meeting, which was held at Lady- 
 smith in the morning, the dismissal of 
 Pritchard, Bell and the two Mottishaws 
 was announced, and a motion carried that 
 the meeting reaffirm its adherence to the 
 resolution of March 8, wherein it had been 
 decided to stand by any man who might be 
 discharged because of having taken part 
 iu the meeting on that day. It was then 
 moved and seconded that the secretary be 
 instructed to write Mr. Dunsmuir in regard 
 to reinstating the men who had been dis- 
 charged. In amendment to this motion it 
 was proposed that a committee be appointed 
 to interview Mr. Dunsmuir on the matter. 
 Finally, an amendment to the amendment 
 was moved and subsequently carried, as 
 follows : ' That we stay as we are until Mr. 
 Baker arrives and organizes us as a branch 
 of the Western Federation of Miners, before 
 we approach the company with regard to 
 reinstating men that were discharged.' 
 
 Abiding by the terms of this resolution, 
 the men did not return to work, and it be- 
 came necessary for the company to close 
 up the mines. It was claimed by some of 
 the witnesses who testified before the Com- 
 mission that as the company had post- 
 ed the notice requiring the miners to take 
 out their tools on April 1, and had dis- 
 charged persons who had been prominent 
 at the meeting at which it was decided to 
 organize a branch of the Western Federa- 
 tion of Miners, the cessation of work which 
 ensued was in the nature of a lock-out rath- 
 er than a strike. In view, however, of the 
 fact that events might have transpired in 
 the interval which would have caused the 
 company to alter its decision as to the clos- 
 ing of the mines of April 1 ; and the fact 
 that the quitting of work was in conse- 
 quence of a resolution passed by the miners 
 themselves, and voluntarily adhered to by 
 them, it would appear that the status quo 
 ■was altered of their own initiative, and that 
 
 their collective action in quitting work un- 
 der the circumstances constituted a strike. 
 There were, at the time the strike was 
 declared, about 800 employees in the mines 
 at Extension, all of whom became involved 
 in the strike. 
 
 Local Org^anization of W. F. of M. 
 formed March 15. 
 
 On Sunday, the 15th of March, Baker 
 arrived at Ladysmith. A meeting of the 
 miners was held that day, and a local 
 branch of the Western Federation of 
 Miners, known as ' Enterprise Union, No. 
 181,' was formed. It was stated before the 
 Commission by officers of the union that 
 about 600 miners and miners' helpers had 
 joined at the outset, and about 200 more 
 in the course of the following weeks. Some 
 of the witnesses testified to having joined, 
 not from any particular desire to become 
 members of the Western Federation, but 
 simply because they wished to have a voice 
 in any collective action which might be 
 taken by the union whereby their interests 
 might be affected. 
 
 The events, as here recorded, considered 
 by themselves, and irrespective of other in- 
 cidents and happenings at the time, are 
 calculated to give the impression that the 
 strike at Ladysmith was the spontaneous 
 expression on the part of the miners in the 
 Extension camp of their determination to 
 have an organization, through the agency 
 of which they might be able to obtain an 
 increase in the existing rates of remimera- 
 tion. Such, undoubtedly, was the impres- 
 sion created in the minds of many of tho 
 miners, and of a large section of the public 
 as well. In view, however, of the facts 
 disclosed in the evidence taken by the Com- 
 mission, and the nature of the testimony 
 given by certain of the witnesses, we are 
 of the opinion that the true inwardness 
 of the Ladysmith strike cannot be rightly 
 understood apart from its relation to other 
 industrial disturbances existing at the time, 
 and particularly to the strike of the United 
 Brotherhood of Kailway Employees at Van- 
 couver.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Kelation of Miners' Strike at Ladysmith 
 to Strike of U.B.R.E. at Vancouver. 
 
 As already described the strike of the 
 United Brotherhood was declared on Feb- 
 ruary 27, and involved, in the first instance, 
 clerks, officemen, baggagemen, and men in 
 stores among the employees of the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway at Vancouver. It 
 was followed by strikes of freight-handlers, 
 longshoremen and stearashipmen on March 
 4. On this day the following telegram, 
 already quoted, was sent by George Estes, 
 the president of the United Brotherhood, 
 from Vancouver, to Clarence Smith, secre- 
 tary of the American Labour Union at 
 Butte, Montana : — 
 
 Vancouver, B.C., March 4, 1903. 
 Clarence Smith, 
 
 Secretary American Labour Union, 
 Butte, Montana. 
 Strike spreading — Revelstoke out — 'Longshore- 
 men struck here to-day. Please have Western 
 Federation Miners refuse to allow coal loaded 
 on cars, steamboats, ships or hulks at Lady- 
 smith, Union or other points on Vancouver Is- 
 land, for Vancouver. This to prevent Canadian 
 Pacific getting coal. Rush orders by wire — 
 Don't fail — Fight for life — Answer. . 
 
 GEO. ESTES. 
 
 On the day following, March 5, Estes 
 received the following reply from W. D. 
 Haywood, secretary of the Western Federa- 
 tion of Miners at Denver : — 
 
 Denver. Col., March 5, 1903. 
 
 Geo. Estes, ' 
 
 Vancouver, B.C. 
 Have complied with your request. Notified 
 union at Nanaimo. 
 
 WM. D. HAYWOOD. 
 
 Relation of American Labour Union at 
 
 Butte, Mon., to the TJ. B. R. E. and 
 
 W. F. of M. 
 
 The affiliated relations of the United 
 Brotherhood of Railway Emi^loyees, the 
 Western Federation of Miners and the 
 American Labour Union are of the first 
 importance in considering the significance 
 of the telegram sent by Estes, and the reply- 
 received. The American Labour Uaion was 
 formed at Salt Lake City, Utah, in May, 
 1895. It is a delegate body, and holds 
 annual conventions, to which affiliated 
 bodies send represent^itives. The United 
 Brotherhood 9f Kailway Employees, and 
 
 the Western Federation of Miners, are in- 
 ternational labour organizations, which 
 grant charters to local unions, and each of 
 these bodies is afliliated with the American 
 Labour Union. The preamble to the con- 
 stitution of the American Labour Union 
 states that the organization is formed for 
 the purpose of ' concentrating energies and 
 consolidating the labour forces,' and the 
 constitution itself gives to the executive 
 board, which is appointed at the conven- 
 tion, full power to direct the working of 
 the union between conventions. The head- 
 quarters of the United Brotherhood of Rail- 
 way Employees are at San Francisco, Cali- 
 fornia; the headquarters of the American 
 Labour Union at Butte, Montana; and the 
 headquarters of the Western Federation of 
 Miners at Denver, Colorado. From the 
 fact that the telegram sent by Estes to the 
 secretary of theAmerican Labour Union 
 at Butte was replied to by the secretary of 
 the Western Federation at Denver, it is 
 evident that its contents were immediately 
 communicated by some person at Butte to 
 some person at Denver. The wording of 
 Estes' telegram — ' Please have Western 
 Federation refuse to allow coal loaded on 
 Vancouver Island. .. .this to prevent Cana- 
 dian Pacific getting coal. . .fight for life.' — 
 would indicate pretty clearly by what it 
 leaves unsaid, no less than by the nature 
 of the request made, and the reasons given, 
 that there existed a vital connection be- 
 tween the workings of the three organiza- 
 tions, and that there was an understanding 
 between the American Labour Union and 
 both the United Brotherhood of Railway 
 Employees and the Western Federation of 
 Miners whereby the three were to act in 
 conjunction in the event of either of the 
 latter requiring the aid of the other. The 
 actual occurrences are the demonstration 
 that such was the case.* 
 
 * For further account of relations existing be- 
 tween officers of the United Brotherhoofl 
 of Railway Employees and the Western Federa- 
 tion of Miners, see particulars i.n connection 
 with the strike at Union, at pages 50 and 51.
 
 40 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 United Action of American Organizations 
 to bring aTbout Strikes in Canada. 
 
 Informed by the American Labour Union 
 that it is the desire of the members of the 
 Brotherhood on strike at Vancouver that 
 the coal supply to the railway from Van- 
 couver Island should be stopped within 
 twenty-four hours the secretary of the 
 Western Federation wures to the president 
 of the Brotherhood : ' Have complied with 
 your request. Notified union at Nanimo.' 
 
 The union at Nanaimo, referred to in 
 the telegram, in Miners' Union No. 17Y, of 
 the Western Federation of Miners, which 
 obtained its charter from the Federation 
 in December, 1902. It was the only union 
 on Vancouver Island which, at the time, 
 was affiliated with the Western Federation 
 of Miners, and the only union existing in 
 any of the coal mines on the island. The 
 telegram sent to this union, referred to in 
 the telegi-am of the secretary of the West- 
 ern Federation of Miners to Estes, was not 
 delivered at Nanaimo till 8.40 on the morn- 
 ing of March 6. It was addressed to Shen- 
 ton, the secretary of the Nanaimo union, 
 and was signed by Charles Moyer, the pre- 
 sident of the Western Federation of Min- 
 ers, Moyer signing his official designation 
 as well as his name. The telegram was as 
 follows : — 
 
 Denver, Col., March 6, 1903. 
 T. J. Shenton, 
 
 Nanaimo, B.C. 
 Use your best efforts to prevent Canadian Pa- 
 cific from getting coal at Vancouver. Assist 
 strikers all you can. 
 
 CHAS. MOYER. 
 
 (Tresident, W.F.M.) 
 
 It is important to notice that in the tele- 
 gram sent by Estes to the secretary of the 
 American Labour Union the camps at Lady- 
 smith and Union were si>ecified. The mines 
 at each of these places, as has been men- 
 tioned, are the property of the Wellington 
 Colliery Company, and were the main sour- 
 ces of supply to the Canadian Pacific Bail- 
 way ; the Western Fuel Company, which 
 owns the mines at Nanaimo, not having any 
 coal contract with the railway. Ladysmith 
 is about fifteen miles south, and LTnion 
 some eighty mi'lcs north of Nanaimo. 
 
 Organization at Ladysmith, how 
 effected. 
 
 On the same day as he received from the 
 president of the Western Federation the 
 telegram asking that best eitorts be used 
 to prevent the Canadian Pacific from get- 
 ting coal, and that all assistance be given 
 strikers, the following reply was sent by 
 Shenton to Moyer at Denver :— 
 
 Nanaimo, B.C., March 6th, 1903, 
 Chas. Moyer, 
 
 (President W.F.M.). 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 • We will render all assistance possible. 
 T. J. SHENTON, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 The notice calling the mass meeting of 
 Extension employees was posted at Lady- 
 smith on March 7, the day after Shenton 
 had replied that all assistance possible 
 would be rendered. As already mentioned, 
 it was not signed, nor did it say for what 
 purpose the meeting was being called, nor 
 was it known, until the sittings of the Com- 
 mission, by whom the notice had been post- 
 ed. From the evidence given it would appear 
 that there had been no general agitation 
 at the time among the body of miners at 
 Ladysmith, either in regard to conditions 
 of employment or the formation of a union. 
 There had been some talk among a few 
 as to asking for an increase in wages of 
 ten to fifteen per cent in consequence of 
 the removal of the United States tariff on 
 coal a short time before, but in the state- 
 ment filed with the Commission by the 
 strikers, setting forth the gi'ounds primar- 
 ily responsible for the trouble, the subject 
 of wages was not mentioned, and counsel 
 for the miners disclaimed any desire to 
 have the question of wages gone into. In 
 fact, the witnesses testified generally as to 
 there having been satisfaction on the score 
 of wages, and such special evidence as was 
 put in on this point indicated that, as com- 
 pared with the rate of return in similar 
 undertaking's elsewhere, there was little 
 room for complaint, and much for favour- 
 able comparisons, if desired.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 41 
 
 No general demand for Organization. 
 
 Up to tlae time of tlie meeting on March 
 8, there appears to have been less general 
 discussion among the mass of the miners 
 on the subject of the formation of a la- 
 bour organization than there had been on 
 the subject of demanding an increase in 
 tlie rate of wages. It was well known that 
 Mr. Dunsmuir was strongly opposed to the 
 formation of unions among his employees ; 
 that attempts at organization had, prac- 
 tically without exception, been followed by 
 the immediate dismissal of those employees 
 who had been prominent in the work of 
 organization ; and it was tolerably certain 
 that like efforts at this time would be fol- 
 lowed by like results. No question of wages 
 or conditions being urgent at the time, the 
 motive for effecting an immediate organi- 
 zation did not exist. The clause contained 
 in the statement filed by the men that ' the 
 mine-owner insisting upon all his workmen 
 residing at Ladysmith as a condition of 
 employment ' was a ground for the trouble, 
 undoubtedly contains a truth as to what 
 was a cause of complaint amon;g a consid- 
 erable number during former years, but it 
 was not a complaint to which the demand 
 for organization at this time was in any way 
 related, either by the miners themselves, 
 at the meeting at which they decided it 
 was desirable to organize, or, in fact, since 
 the exodus had been completed for over 
 six months, and Ladysmith had already 
 become the place of residence of practically 
 all of the miners and their labourers em- 
 ployed in the Extension mines. On the other 
 hand, there had been for some time a desire 
 on the part of a few men, who at one time 
 or another had resided at Nanaimo, or were 
 pretty constantly in touch with the union 
 officials there, to effect an organization 
 among the miners at Extension. Among 
 these few, Mottishaw and Pritchard, the 
 secretary and chairman, respectively, of the 
 mass meeting at Ladysmith on March 8, 
 were conspicuous, Mottishaw admitted hav- 
 ing talked over the matter of organization 
 with different miners at Extension, and the 
 evideace of other witnesses disclosed the 
 
 fact that he had been instrumental in en- 
 deavouring to form a committee which 
 might serve as a nucleus to effect the de- 
 sired result. It was also brought out that 
 it was Mottishaw who posted the notice 
 calling the meeting, and it was the day 
 after Shenton had promised that all pos- 
 sible assistance would be given the strik- 
 ers at Vancouver that he posted it. 
 
 Evidences of Intrigue. 
 
 The fact of Mottishaw posting the notice 
 at this time is of itself not sufficient to 
 connect him and Shcnton in the matter, 
 but the circumstances that, having procured 
 from the meeting on March 8 a resolution 
 approving of organization and instructions 
 to send for the organizer, Mottishaw left 
 at once for IsTanaimo, and there, after con- 
 ference with Shenton, had the latter send 
 the telegram to Baker in his (Shenton's) 
 name, does, when scrutinized in the light 
 of the coirflicting statements made by these 
 parties before the Commission in reference 
 to the transaction, and their relations to 
 each other, as well as subsequent events, 
 constitute, in our opinion, satisfactory 
 proof of the connection without any ad- 
 mission. 
 
 Asked before the Commission how he 
 
 came to post up the notice calling the 
 
 meeting on March 8, Mottishaw replied : 
 
 By the unanimous request of the fellow- 
 workmen. 
 
 Q. When did you begin to get these requests ? 
 
 A. Two weeks before the notice was posted 
 up. 
 
 Q. You don't happen to remember the names 
 of any men who requested you ? 
 
 A. There are some gone away. There may 
 be a few here. I could not give the names. 
 
 Mottishaw's explanation of what hap- 
 pened at the meeting on March 8, given 
 elsewhere in his examination, is interest- 
 ing, in view of his statement that it was 
 at the unanimous request of his fellow- 
 workmen he had called the meeting to con- 
 sider an advance. Replying to the question 
 put by counsel for the miners as to what 
 took place at that meeting, Mottishaw said : 
 
 The first question that the chairman put to 
 the meeting was that he understood the meet- 
 ing was called to consider an advance of 10 or 
 15 per cent, not more than 15, but left it to the
 
 42 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 men whether It should be 10 or 15. The major- 
 ity of the men did not want to hear anything 
 about an advance. They thought it was no use 
 attempting to get an advance without organi- 
 zation. Every one was clamouring for organi- 
 zation and that knocked the first question out. 
 The meeting was called on purpose to ask for 
 an advance, and not for the purpose of organiza- 
 tion at all. 
 
 Q. Was it the general consensus of opinion 
 to have some form of organization ? 
 
 A. Yes, it was sprung on the meeting sud- 
 denly. 
 
 Contradictions and Evasions in Evidence 
 of Secretary of Ladysmith Meeting. 
 
 Quite as interesting were the contradic- 
 tions, pointing to an evident desire at 
 concealment, made by Mottishaw in his 
 evidence in regard to interviews with any 
 of the Nanaimo ofl&cials. 
 
 Counsel for the miners in a leading ques- 
 tion designed to establish a plausible reason 
 for the men at Ladysmith choosing the 
 Western Federation of Miners as the or- 
 ganization with which they desired to be- 
 come allied, had suggested to the witness 
 that the men at Ladysmith knew at the 
 time that the miners working at Nanaimo 
 were organized as a branch of the Western 
 Federation of Miners, to which Mottishaw 
 assented. Then following this question, the 
 question was put — 
 
 So from your intercourse with workmen at 
 Nanaimo you had some knowledge of the organi- 
 zation ? 
 
 Immediately Mottishaw replied — 
 I did not have any Intercotirse with the Nan- 
 aimo men. 
 
 Elsewhere on the same point he was ques- 
 tioned, and answered as follows : — 
 
 Q. You lived in Nanaimo ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And were familiar with the workings of 
 the organization there ? 
 
 A. No, I was not in the lodge but once. 
 
 Q. You had familiarized yourself with the 
 workings of the organization ? 
 
 A. No, sir. 
 
 Q. Never talked with any Nanaimo men, or 
 with the labour leaders ? 
 
 A. Not until after the trouble. 
 
 Q. "^%at date — the day you fixed the meet- 
 ing ? 
 
 A. Yes, I had talked with no one until after 
 the meeting. 
 
 Q. Had ajiy one talked to you at Nanaimo 
 about organization at Dadysmith before the 
 meeiting ? 
 
 A. Yes, I believe that cropped up there. 
 
 Q. How did it crop up there ? 
 
 A. I suppose there was a general feeling that 
 •we ought to be organized, and able to defend 
 ourselves. 
 
 Q. You talked about the probability of being 
 able to effect organization at Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you only talk with one person on that 
 subject at Nanaimo ? 
 
 A. There were very few. 
 
 Q. Was it because your conv'fersations were 
 confidential, or because there was no one else 
 interested ? 
 
 A. I think all the men were generally inier- 
 ested. 
 
 Q. So this was confidential, and consequently 
 you only talked to a few ? 
 
 A. It may be so. 
 
 Q. Was it, or was it not ? 
 
 A. I could not say. 
 
 Q. You did not want to start the work of or- 
 ganization until you thought it would be a suc- 
 cess ? 
 
 A. I don't know. 
 
 Q. And you discussed the prospects of its be- 
 ing a success ? 
 
 A. Yes, I wanted to make it a success. 
 
 Q. And when you had discussed the plan you 
 came to Ladysmith and talked It over here ? 
 
 A. Casually. 
 
 Q. Every time you talked to the men when 
 you considered it safe ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And when you had got a sufficient number 
 of them, you posted a notice of the meeting ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Nowhere in his evidence did Mottishaw 
 make any allusion to any conversation 
 with Shenton, nor to the telegram which 
 had been sent by Shenton to Baker at his 
 request. 
 
 Contradictions and Evasions in Evidence 
 
 of Secretary of Nanaimo Union, 
 
 W. F. of M. 
 
 Shenton was called before the Commis- 
 sion a number of times and questioned in 
 regard to his relations with Mottishaw, and 
 his knowledge of attempts on the part of 
 the United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees and the Western Federation of 
 Miners to effect a stoppage of coal from the 
 mines of the Wellington Colliery Com- 
 pany. The conscious evasions and the in- 
 explicable contradictions contained in the 
 statements of this witness before the Com- 
 mission render unintelligible much of the 
 evidence given by him, and he cannot be 
 regarded in any light other than as one 
 who went to the limit in withholding from 
 the Commission all information about 
 those matters which he thought it wisest 
 to have remain concealed. 
 
 With a knowledge of the fact that the 
 president of the Western Federation at 
 Denver had wired to him to prevent tlie
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 43 
 
 Canadian Pacific Railway ivom getting 
 coal on Vancouver Island, and to assist 
 the strikers all he could, with this telegram 
 still in his possession, and a full knowl- 
 edge of the reply sent, and the circum- 
 stances under which it had been prepared, 
 he replied in his first examination to some 
 of the questions bearing on this matter 
 as follows : — 
 
 Q. Do you know Mr. Estes ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Have you had any correspoudence with 
 him ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. It is stated that he said to the Board of 
 Trade in Vancouver that he had commumcated 
 with the executive of the Western Federation 
 at Denver ; and that they had endorsed his 
 reqiuest, amd that if the strike were persiisted 
 in he would call out all the coal miners on 
 VanicoTiver Island. Could he do that ? 
 
 A. That would be a queistionable position. 
 
 Q. You think he was stating what was not 
 true when he slated that the executive at Den- 
 ver had endorsed his application ? 
 
 A. No, if the Western Federation Lad, as an 
 executive board representing the whole body, 
 approved of that, then it has to be submitted 
 to the local union, and I am pretty sure ■ 
 
 Q. Then it is possible that on Mr. Estes' ap- 
 plication a request could be made by the exeau- 
 tive from Denver that this union should go out 
 en strike in sympathy with the United Brother- 
 hood of Railway Employees — ^that is possible ? 
 
 A. It could make the request— 'I don't know. 
 
 Q. Mr. Estes says it is possible, and that he 
 had a telegram to show it. Is he right or 
 wrong ? 
 
 A. If he is right, then we don't know it. It 
 is not in the c oils ti tut ion. 
 
 Q. Then, if Mr. Estes is rigM, it must be 
 that while the Docstitution makes a gen'eral 
 statement, the executive can interpret it in 
 particular instances, the way he mentions ? 
 
 A. It might be that. 
 
 Q. What do yoiu think abooit it ? 
 
 A. M'ell. I simply think little about it. 
 
 Q. You don't believe Mr. Bates' statemenit 
 then ? 
 
 A. Well. I would not like to discredit the 
 statement exacfly, of Mr. Estes. but wo have 
 not been made responsible for that stctem-jnt 
 through the Federation. 
 
 Q. That is not the point. I am .<5imi>ly ask- 
 ing you if, under the constitution, and in ac- 
 cordance with the manner of the interpreta- 
 tion, at Mr. Estes' request, could tlic executive 
 make that call on you ? 
 
 A. Well, there is nothing in the coD^tifution 
 saying so. 
 
 Q. Then you don't know whM.fr it ooiild 
 or not ? 
 
 A. No, I am not just e.xactly aware. There is 
 nothins: to inform me, in the con.stitution, that 
 he could do that. 
 
 Replying elsewhere to a sijuilitr qu* stion 
 Slienton said : — 
 
 Well. I feel"This regarding th&t nv.,tter. Sup- 
 posing it may be possible — we aio not sure 
 what Mr. Estes' says is correct — well, in the 
 absence of anything to the contrary that it is 
 correct, we would not like to say it is not, 
 
 but so far as I know, we are not aware of 
 the fact that he eo.uld do that, and if a request 
 of the executive board of the Western Federa- 
 tion of Miners was made, it would have to be 
 endjor&ed or rejected in accordance with the 
 local union's vote. 
 
 Q. Supposing the statement made by Mr. 
 Estes was true — ^that he had that power, with 
 the assurance that he would call out the 
 miners on Vancouver Island — would that sur- 
 prise you ? 
 
 A. Yes. it would, to some extent. 
 
 Q. It wo'uld present the Western Federation 
 in a light that you did not conceive it pos- 
 sible to be viewed in. Do you think your local 
 is subject to a possible call of that kind ? It 
 is a case that does not affect your wages or 
 your work, simply the general cause of labour ? 
 
 A. I hardly think they would do it, nor I 
 don't think if a request of that nature was 
 made, it would certainly on our part be opposed. 
 
 Matters of fadt denied. 
 
 During the same examination on May 
 
 21, Shenton was asked in regard to the 
 
 organization of the miners at Ladysmith : 
 
 You had no connection with the agitation and 
 organization at Ladysmith ? 
 
 With a full knowledge of his conversa- 
 tions with Mottishaw on the subject, and of 
 the fact that he had himself, at Mottishaw's 
 request, written out and signed the telegram 
 which brought Baker to Ladysmith to or- 
 ganize, he replied to this question ' none 
 whatever,' and further testified as follows : — 
 
 Q. You never suggested to any person that 
 they should go to Ladysmith to organize ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. You had no communication with Mr. Mot- 
 tishaw on that subject ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. No talk with him on the subject of or- 
 ganization at Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. No suggestion that some one should go to 
 Ladysmith and bring about organization ? 
 
 A. No, I don't remember. 
 
 Q. You had no conversation with Mr. Motti- 
 shaw which in any way bore on the question of 
 organization at Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. Since then, since the organization ? 
 
 Q. But before the meeting was held, the meet- 
 ing to call on Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. I was going to say that I did not know 
 anything about the meeting that was called. 
 
 Q. When did you have a conversation with 
 him, what was it about ? 
 
 A. We'll, the only conversation I had with 
 Mr. Mottishaw — I had a talk with him prior to 
 that — just previous to that meeting. I don't 
 know anything about the meeting. 
 
 Q. Did you know it was being talked of prior 
 to the meeting ? 
 
 A. Yes, representations had been made in sev- 
 eral instances at Nanaimo that the men down 
 there were wishful to organize. That is about 
 the sum and substance of the conversation that 
 transpired. Then I had no conversations until 
 afterwards. 
 
 Q. The first conversation was before the meet- 
 ing, and it was to the effect of the communica-
 
 41 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 tloa from Mr. Mottishaw that the men were an- 
 xious to organize at Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. No, none by letter. 
 
 Q I mean the statement by Mr. Mottishaw to 
 ycu, that the men at Ladysmith wanted to or- 
 ganize ? 
 
 A It was commonly repeated by men passing 
 to and fro from here to Ladysmith— that that 
 
 was so. , . ,4 i„ 
 
 Q. What did Mr. Mottishaw say about It to 
 
 you ? 
 
 A. Mr. Mottishaw simply repeated the state- 
 ments made by other parties. 
 
 Q. Did he volunteer the statements, or did 
 you ask some questions ? 
 
 A. Mostly volunteered. 
 
 Q. What part was not volunteered, or what 
 part was not brought out by you ? Did he be- 
 gin the conversation or did you ? 
 
 A. He began the conversation. 
 
 Q. What did he say ? ^ . v •.s 
 
 A I am open to tell you exactly what he said. 
 It will help my case. Mr. Mottishaw has been 
 in the habit of coining into town. He has a 
 house here. He said that the men were feeling 
 disposed to be organized at Ladysmith. 
 
 Q. That is what he told you ? 
 
 (A. Yes, and other men prior to me. 
 
 Evidence given on previous Examination 
 subsequently refuted. 
 
 On June 1 Shenton was recalled before 
 the Commission, and shown the telegram 
 of March 9, sent by him to Baker, and ask- 
 ed if he could explain it. His reply was 
 that he guessed ho could, but he would like 
 to ask whether the Commission expected to 
 make him responsible for everything con- 
 nected with ' our consolidated organization.' 
 0]i being told that the Commission had 
 been appointed to iind out all the facts, and 
 that he was simply asked to cxi^lain the 
 telegram, he asked if he might be allowed 
 an adjournment until he had conferred 
 with other men. Asked if there was any- 
 thing in the matter, he had reason to be 
 ashamed of, his reply was— ' No, I don't 
 think so. These things are connected be- 
 tween our union and the Federation, and 
 I might be committing myself in regard to 
 the secret and private aifairs of our or- 
 ganization. If I have to give this I would 
 like an adjournment until I can consult 
 with the parties and confer with our lawyer 
 in the matter.' On his undertaking to ap- 
 pear before the Commission at Vancouver 
 on June 3, he was not questioned further 
 at the time in regard to it. Questioned at 
 Vancouver on June 3, in regard to this 
 telegram, his reply was as follows : — 
 
 As near as I can remember that telegram 
 for the calling on Mr. Baker was in connection 
 with — was simply sent from Nanaimo as for- 
 v/arded en from Ladysmith in connection, I 
 think, with the organization of the miners at 
 that town as a request. I believe this is the 
 same telegram. 
 
 Q. Then the object of this telegram was to 
 ccme and organize the miners at Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Why did you send it ? 
 
 A. I think I am mistaken your Lordship ; 
 there are so many telegrams. I think I am sub- 
 stituting that telegram in the wrong place. That 
 is the telegram that was sent rather — I remem- 
 ber now — that is the telegram that was sent— 
 there were two sent — in connection with the pos- 
 sible trouble that we had in sight at our own 
 place, and we wanted Mr. Baker there in connec- 
 tion with our own trouble, and I was requested 
 to send for him immediately. That is the tele- 
 gram. 
 
 Q. What trouble was in sight ? 
 
 A. That was in connection with the local dis- 
 pute that occurred there ; in the month of 
 February I think it was. 
 
 Q. When was tha.t ilo:al dispute settled ? 
 
 A. That was settled about the latter part of 
 February. 
 
 Q. I think you must still be mistaken, Mr. 
 Shenton, because this telegram is dated March 
 9. so it can.not have anything to do with that 
 dispute ? 
 
 A. Yes, your Lordship, but the matter waa 
 under way for threo or four weeks pending. 
 
 Q. But you told us the dispute was settled 
 the end of February, and here Is the telegram 
 sent on March 9, asking Mr. Baker to coms 
 immediately. You also say there is an urgent 
 request for his presence ? 
 
 A. Yes, it is in connection with the matter 
 on hand then ; it extended over a period of 
 three or four weeks. 
 
 Q. But you tell us that particular trouble 
 was settled at the end of February. I am 
 reminding you that this telegram is dated on 
 March 9, and the strike at Ladysmith took 
 place on March 11. In view of that is not 
 your first answer the correct one ? 
 
 A. (No answer.) 
 
 Mr. Rowe : 
 
 Q. I think it must be, because Mr. Baker said 
 he was called about the 10th of March ; he said 
 that in his evidence. 
 
 A. I am not able to recall. I am not clear. 
 I am sorry. 
 
 His Lordship : 
 
 Q. Is it not clear that the object of the tele- 
 gram was to request him to come and organize 
 the men at Ladysmith — this telegram on the 9th 
 of March, sent by you ? 
 
 A. I cannot recall the matter clearly. 
 
 Q. It is the reasonable and obvious conclusion 
 that that is the meaning of the telegram, is it 
 not ? 
 
 A. It seems so, although I thought — ^I know 
 there was a second telegram urging Mr. Baker 
 to come immediately in connection with our 
 trouble. I have forgotten the date. 
 
 Mr. Rowe : 
 Q. Did he come ? 
 
 A. Yes, he was at Nanaimo during the dis- 
 pute, as speedily as he could be got there. 
 His Lordship : 
 Q. He answered on March 10 that he woiiM 
 leave Fernie for Nanaimo ' to-morrow morning '
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 45 
 
 and he himself says in his evidence (.hat he was 
 sent to organize. I suppose there is no difB- 
 culty in coming to the conclusion ihat this is 
 the telegram ? 
 
 A. Yes, I guess it must be. I cannot just 
 recall all the telegrams. We had our own 
 trouble somewhere about that tin^e. 
 Q. Who requested you to send this telegram ? 
 A. The request of Ladysmith. 
 Q. WIio at Ladysmith requested you ? 
 A. I think it was Mr. Mottishaw, if I am not 
 mistaken. 
 
 Q. Why should they not have sent the tele- 
 gram direct instead of through you ? 
 
 A. Well, I don't know that they have any 
 telegraph ofRce at Ladj'smith. 
 
 Q. Yes, there is a telegraph oiUce at Lady- 
 smith ? 
 
 A. Yes, that is right ; I don't know why they 
 did that. 
 Q. Who paid for this telegram ? 
 A. The Ladysmith — Mr. Mottis!i:i a'. 
 Q. They paid for it ? 
 A. A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did not you pay for it s' liie Nanaimo 
 office ? 
 A. Not that I am aware of. 
 Q. How did you get the telegrora from Lady- 
 smith ? How were you instructed to send this 
 te-legraim — by letter ? 
 
 A. If my memory serves me ri.g-ht, Mr. Motti- 
 shaw came into tow^n on the day. 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Why did not vou ask him to send it him- 
 self ? 
 
 A. Well, usually, as men knowing each other, 
 we will help each other in that regard. He 
 simply asked me to send it for hira. 
 
 Q. If that is the case, why should you ask 
 Baker to come to Nanaimo, 'rather itUan Lady- 
 smith ? 
 
 A. I cannot see that there was any special 
 reason why, Mr. Hunter. 
 
 Q. Is it not the obvious inference that it was 
 intended to discuss the matter before proceeding 
 t<) Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. No, I think not. The only connection I 
 have with that circumstance is the fact of my 
 being called on^ and that was to sui!; his con- 
 venience in regard to send'ing thnt telegram ; 
 that is all. 
 
 Q. And you say it is a wrong Inference to 
 suppose that Mr. Baker should have a discussion 
 with you and other Nanaimo leaders before he 
 proceeded to Ladysmith ? Is tbfit correct or 
 wrong ? 
 
 A. I think that is correct sinujly from the 
 fact, as I have stated previously in my evi- 
 dence, that we always tried to keep out of the 
 matter because the Ladysmith men, or Duns- 
 muir's employees, had been feeling a little sore 
 with Nanaimo having anything to do with the 
 matter, and we tried to keep out of it as much 
 as possible. 
 
 Q. If that is the case, why did not you tell Mot- 
 tishaw to send the telegram himself ? 
 
 A. In the first place he is a very poor writer ; 
 it was only a matter of convenience. 
 
 Q. But you could have signed M»ttishaw's 
 name to the telegram ? 
 
 A. Yes, I could hive ; I cannot just say now 
 why I signed my own name. I am willing to con- 
 fess my name was signed. 
 
 Q. I don't see why you make so much mystery 
 over the matter, Mr. Shenton. You would 
 naturally like to see a union at I^i-idysmith, as 
 a union man ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And you would naturally do all you could 
 with Mr. Baker to suggest the best way of doing 
 it, would you not ? 
 
 A. Well, that was not the reason why he was 
 sent for to come to Nanaimo. 
 
 Q. What was the reason why he was asked to 
 come -to Nanaimo ? 
 
 A. As I have said, I don't know that there was 
 any special reason that I could give. 
 
 Q. Then you don't want us to infer that it 
 was the intention that you and he should have 
 a talk over the matter before he proceeded to 
 Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. No, I don't. 
 
 Q. Yet it is the obvious inference, is it not ? 
 Is that not so ? 
 
 A. Well, it may appear to be so, but at tha 
 time, as far as my knowledge goes, that was 
 not so. 
 
 Q. Why was he to come immediately to 
 Nanaimo ? What wa.s the urgency ? 
 
 A. Well, of course that meant immediately to 
 Ladysmith, I guess. 
 
 Q. What was the urgency ? 
 
 A. The only urgency that I know is that tha 
 men had stated they wanted to organize at 
 Ladysmith, and they wanted him there to 
 organize them. 
 
 Q. Now, did Mr. Baker show you a telegram 
 which he sent to Moyer, asking Moyer to coma 
 to Nanaimo ? 
 
 A. Yes, I believe I have seen the telegram.* 
 
 Q. So that Mr. Baker and you were discus- 
 sing this matter together evidently ? 
 
 A. Well, at times of course, naturally so. 
 Mr. Baker and myself talked the matter over ; 
 that was only natural. 
 
 Mr. Rowe : 
 
 Q. Did you see Mr. Baker before he went 
 to Ladysmith, when he came to Nanaimo ? 
 
 A. If I did see him it was just on matters of 
 his business there. I don't remember having 
 any conversation with him at all when he came 
 to Nanaimo. 
 
 Q. He would naturally want to know why you 
 sent for him ? 
 
 A. Of course the Ladysmith men — that is, Mr. 
 Mottishaw — knew he was coming and the time 
 he would be there, and we waited and received 
 him there, to conduct him down to Ladysmith. 
 
 His Lordship : 
 
 Q. Did Baker show you a telegram dated 
 March 14. in whioh Moyer tells him he has 
 full power to act for the Federation ? 
 
 A. Yes, I think I have seen that. 
 
 Q. So that there is no doubt that Mr. Baker 
 and you were consulting frequently about the 
 organization of these men at Ladysmith, and 
 about the strike generally ? 
 
 A. Mr. Baker often came to me with either 
 letters, communications or telegrams from 
 Moyer, and would read them to me. 
 
 Q. And Baker was taking advice from you as 
 to how to conduct the affair ? 
 
 A. Not that I am aware of. 
 
 Q. He would naturally take advice from some- 
 body on the subject ? 
 
 A. I don't know as to advice ; we simply 
 talked over the matter. 
 
 * This telegram was in cipher. Elsewhere 
 in his evidence, when informed of this fact, 
 Shenton denied having seen the telegram, and 
 said that Baker had ' infonued me regarding 
 the matter.'
 
 48 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Q. He was consulting -with you from time to 
 time ? That is the evidence by this correspon- 
 dence, is it not ? 
 
 A. Well, if he took advice from any discus- 
 sions that we had, of course I don't know any- 
 thing about it. 
 
 Q. Well, he was discussing the matter with 
 you anyway ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Who else did he discuss it with ? I mean 
 of the Xanaimo men ? 
 
 A. He had a few conversations with the presi- 
 dent ; I cannot say how may times they met. 
 
 Q. This is Mr. Neave ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And I suppose you and Mr. Neave had dis- 
 cussions about the situation ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. He is president, and you are secretary of 
 the union ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q." When did Baker get to Nanaimo ? 
 
 A. I don't remember the date of that either. 
 
 Q. About the 11th or 12th of March, was it 
 not ? Because he sends a telegram to Moyer on 
 the 13th for Nanaimo, and you asked him to 
 come on the 9th. so he must liave come between 
 the 11th and 12th ? 
 
 A. Yes, somewhere between those dates. 
 
 Q. Were you at Ladysmith about that time ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. How long before that were you at Lady- 
 smith ? 
 
 A. I don't know how long before that. 
 
 Q. You had a conversation with Mottishaw 
 about the advisability of organizing the Lady- 
 smith men ? 
 
 A. He had a conversation with me regarding 
 the matter, yes. 
 
 Q. When was that ? 
 
 A. Previous, I think, to the time of organiza- 
 tion ; I cannot just remember the date. He 
 had a conversation with me. 
 
 At this examination on June 3, Slienton 
 was required to produce all documents in 
 his possession hearing in any way on the 
 situation. Among the papers produced was 
 the telegram of March 6, from Moyer to 
 himself : 'Use your best efforts to pre- 
 vent Canadian Pacific from getting coal at 
 Vancouver. Assist strikers all you can.' 
 Asked if he received this telegram, he an- 
 swered * Yes.' Asked if he did not know of 
 these telegrams when questioned in regard 
 to the matter in his examination at Nanai- 
 mo, he replied, ' Yes,' and pressed as to why 
 he had said nothing of them, gave, as an 
 explanation, that the questions which had 
 been put to him were not directly on the 
 point. 
 
 Admissions that Organization of Lady- 
 smith Miners would lead to Strike. 
 Questioned as to whether he did not 
 know that if he got the Western Confedera- 
 tion organized at Ladysmith they would 
 
 demand recognition, and there would be a 
 strike immediately, he answered that he 
 believed these things were possible in the 
 trend of events. 
 
 Q. Did not you think that was going to hap- 
 pen ? Did not you think in your own mind 
 that that would be the result of the action ? 
 If the Western Federation was organized they 
 would demand recognition, Dunsmuir would 
 refuse it. and there would be a strike. Did not 
 you think that was the course ? 
 
 A. I foresaw that was possible, but we did 
 not expect that. 
 
 Q. Will you swear that you did not expect 
 that result ? 
 
 A. Well, we were hopeful it would not. 
 
 After Shenton had admitted later in his 
 examination that he knew Mr. Dunsmuir 
 would not recognize a union, and had ex- 
 pressed himself over and over again to the 
 effect that he would not have a union 
 among his men, the question was put : 
 
 Q. Now, I ask you, If you did not expect when 
 you organized the union at Ladysmith that they 
 would demand recognition ? 
 
 He replied : 
 
 Yes, I expected they M-ouId demand recogni- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. And did not you expect that Mr. Dunsmuir 
 would refuse it as he had always done in the 
 past ? . Did not you look for it ? 
 
 A. It was most likely of course. 
 
 Q. You knew the kind of man Mr. Dunsmuir 
 is, so you knew it would be refused, and did 
 not you expect a strike would follow ? 
 
 A. Well, of course I did. 
 
 Q. And would not a strike at Ladysmith shut 
 off the Canadian Pacific Railway supply of coal, 
 to the best of your knowledge and information ? 
 
 A. Yes, it would. , 
 
 Significance of Organization by W. F. of 
 M. under circumstances. 
 
 Hardly less significant than the admis- 
 sions contained in these statements 'are 
 the circumstances under which the work 
 of organization at Ladysmith was effected 
 by the ofiicial representative of the Western 
 Federation in Canada. On the 11th of 
 February the strike involving all of the 
 coal miners in the employ of the Crow's 
 Nest Pass Coal Company at the company's 
 mines at Fernie, Michel and Morissey com- 
 menced. The men in these camps had been 
 organized as locals of the Western Federa- 
 tion of Miners some little time before ; 
 and the recognition of a joint committee 
 of the officials of these unions by the com- 
 pany was, as has been pointed out, one of
 
 BlUTliSU COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 47 
 
 the cardinal issues in the dispute. This 
 strike had been in continuance for four 
 v/eeks. Baker, who had organized these 
 unions, and was particularly interested in 
 bringing about a successful issue, was at 
 Fernie with the union officials there at. the 
 time that Shenton wired the urgent request 
 for his presence a Nanaimo, ' to come im- 
 mediately if possible.' He replied to this 
 telegram on March 10 : ' Will leave here 
 for ISTanaimo to-morrow evening.' He ar- 
 rived at Nanaimo on either th?? 12th or 
 13th of March. He had come to organize 
 the Ladysmiih miners as a branch of the 
 Western Federation, but encountered, upon 
 his arrival, a situation which gave the 
 question of organization at Ladysniith a 
 more serious aspect. The miners had struck 
 on the 12th, so that to organize them tinder 
 these circumstances meant that the West- 
 ern Federation of Miners must assume at 
 once the obligation of financial aid which, 
 except for special and iirgent reasons, was 
 not to be lightly undertaken. Baker evi- 
 dently felt the critical nature of the situa- 
 tion, for instead of going on immediately 
 to Ladysmith he stayed at Nanaimo, con- 
 sulting with Shenton and other parties 
 there, and on the 13th of March wired from 
 Nanaimo in cipher to Moyer, the president 
 of the Western Federation of Miners at 
 Denver: 'Can yoji come here; important; 
 answer.' To this telegram Moyer replied 
 on the following day : ' Situation such can- 
 not leave; you have full powers to act for 
 Western Federation of Miners.' With this 
 authority from headquarters. Baker pro- 
 ceeded forthwith from Nanaimo to Lady- 
 smith, and on the 15 th of March organized 
 the strikers into a local of the Western 
 Federation, giving them full assurances 
 that they now had the Western Federation 
 at their backs. 
 
 Ladysmith Strike brought about by In- 
 trigue of U. B. E. ^. and W. F. of M. 
 
 Taking all the facts and circumstances 
 into account, the nature of tlie organiza- 
 tions concerned, the United Brotherhood 
 of Il;jilway Employees and the Westerji 
 
 Federation of Miners, and their relations 
 to the American Labour Union; the ac- 
 tions of the executive officers in the LTnited 
 States and Canada, and the known corres- 
 pondence which passed betv/een them; the 
 request from the U.B.R.E. president that 
 the supply of coal from Ladysmith and 
 Union should be stopped, and the reply 
 from the Western Federatio-:i officials tluit 
 the request had been complied with; the 
 command from headquarters to the Nana- 
 imo local to prevent coal being supplied 
 the railway, and to assist strikers all they 
 could; the evident desire on the part of 
 Mottishavv^ and Shenton to conceal from 
 the Commission what tliey knew of the 
 circumstances surrounding the establisli- 
 ment of organization at Ladysmith; the 
 wilful misstatements and contradictions of 
 each of these v.-itnesses on material points; 
 the fact admitted by Shenton that he knew 
 a strike would probably ensue on the forma- 
 tion of a union at Ladysmith, and that he 
 had convei-sed with Mottishaw on the 
 matter; Mottishaw's denial that he had had 
 any conversation with Shenton prior to the 
 meeting; the hasty manner in -ndiich so 
 important a step was taken by the minors 
 at Ladysmith; the part played by Motti- 
 shaw in secretly posting the notice calling 
 the meeting, and his being the secretary of 
 the m.eeting; the joint action of Mottishaw 
 and Shenton in the matter of the telegram 
 sent to Baker urging his immediate pre- 
 sence; the denial of Shenton at the outset 
 of having had anything to do in the send- 
 ing of this telegram; Baker's further con- 
 versation after arrival at Nanaimo with 
 officials there, and his coniumnications with 
 headquarters at Denver before taking final 
 action ; the incurring by the "Western Fede- 
 ration of Miner^ of an enormous obliga- 
 tion at a time when its resources were 
 already being heavily taxed in virtue of 
 difficulties at other points in the Dominion 
 and in the United States— all these facts 
 and circumstances, coupled with the ab- 
 sence of any general desire among the 
 miners at Ladysmith for organization at 
 the time, or dissatisfaction with the wages 
 or the conditions of their employment,
 
 48 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 lead lis to tlie inevitable conclusion that 
 the trouble at Ladysmith would never have 
 taken place but for the strike of the United 
 Brotherhood of Railway Employees at Van- 
 couver; that it originated in the intrigues 
 of a few men, who, in part consciously, in 
 part unwittingly, allowed themselves to be 
 vised as instruments to serve the desires 
 and ends of a handful of dictators residing 
 in the United States, and who are not in 
 any vray amenable to the laws of this 
 country or responsible to those of its in- 
 habitants whom they succeed in enlisting 
 in the forces over which they hold sway. 
 
 Ee Compulsory Removal of Wellington 
 
 Colliery Company's Employees from 
 
 Extension to Ladysmith. 
 
 Reverting to the allegation made in the 
 statement filed by the miners, that their 
 forced removal to Ladysmith was one of the 
 grounds primarily responsible for the trou- 
 ble, we think that this was a small factor, if 
 a factor at all, in the promotion of the or- 
 ganization. The removal had taken place 
 more than six months before — many had 
 moved over a year before, — and there is 
 nothing in the evidence to show that this 
 was a subject of discussion in the agitation 
 leading up to the organization. Moreover, 
 the majority seemed to be satisfied to live 
 at Ladysmith, as that place is much to be 
 preferred as a place of residence to Exten- 
 sion. The former is on the main line, and 
 the town site overloolvs the sea, is easily 
 
 drained, and good water is available; the 
 latter lies in a depression in the hills, and 
 is badly situated from a sanitary point of 
 view. 
 
 At the same time, there is no doubt that 
 the removal was effected in an arbitrary 
 way, and caused more or less loss to a num- 
 ber of the men, which has not been recoup- 
 ed. The order was given verbally to the 
 foreman, who passed it on to the men, and 
 some few who persisted in disobeying the 
 order were dropped out of employment. The 
 company charged nothing for carrying the 
 men's eifects and what houses were pulled 
 down to Ladysmith, but did not pay the 
 cost of their re-erection, or recoup those of 
 the men whose houses were left, the losses 
 as sworn to, ranging from $150 to $300. 
 
 Although about 200 families were re- 
 moved by virtue of the order, the contention 
 of the company was that its intention to 
 establish the miners at Ladysmith was made 
 clear shortly after starting np the mines, 
 while a good many of the miners maintain- 
 ed that the decision was not finally arrived 
 at or announced until after they had leased 
 ground and erected their houses. How- 
 ever this may be, the dissatisfaction of 
 many seemed to be not so much with the 
 removal as with tlie way in which it v,-as 
 brought about, and it is just such arbitrary 
 and inconsiderate dealing that antagonizes 
 employees to their employers, and is at once 
 a provocation and justification for the for- 
 mation of unions.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 49 
 
 CHAP. V— THE STEIKE AT UNION. 
 
 0~ N" May 2, the miners in tlie employ of 
 the Welling-ton Colliery Company at 
 Union went on strike \inder cireuuistances 
 somewhat similar to the Extension miners 
 seven weeks before. A local of the Western 
 Federation of Miners was formed at Union 
 on April 5. Almost immediately after its 
 formation one after the other of the officials 
 of the union were dropped from the com- 
 pany's employ. This was not done in the 
 way of a direct dismissal, hut as their 
 places in the mine were worked out, new 
 places VN'ere not given to them. Before the 
 end of the month the services of all the 
 officers, of whom there were nine, with the 
 exception of two, had been dispensed with 
 in this way ; also the services of other min- 
 ers holding the offices of trustees of the 
 union. On May 1, a comm.ittee of three of 
 the union interviewed Matthews, the man- 
 ager, and asked for a reinstatement of the 
 m_en dismissed, in the order of their dis- 
 missal. This request Matthews refused, 
 stating to the committee that as Mr. Duns- 
 niuir had refused to recognize any union, 
 he was unwilling to do so. Notices were 
 immediately posted, calling a meeting of 
 the union for the following day. At the 
 meeting the following resolution was car- 
 ried : ' That because officers discharged af- 
 ter organization on April 5, we take a bal- 
 lot on whether or not we stop work till 
 such time as the officials and members who 
 have been discriminated against by the 
 Wellington Colliery Company are reinstat- 
 ed in their proper order, with full recogni- 
 tion of the Western Federation of Miners.' 
 According to the return given by the secre- 
 tary to the Commission, out of 208 votes 
 cast on this resolution only 12 were op- 
 posed to it. As a result of this decision all 
 of the miners in No. 4 mine quit work. 
 
 The Strike at TJnion part of a g'eneral 
 intrigue. 
 
 The organization of the m.iners at Union 
 into a union at this time, and the subse- 
 
 quent declaration of strike cannot, in our 
 opinion, be accounted for except as part of 
 the general scheme to tie up the coal sup- 
 ply on Vancouver Island, in aid of the 
 U.B.K.E. strikers at Vancouver. The strike 
 at Union was in reality a strike in sym- 
 pathy with the men who were out at Lady- 
 smith, and the manner in which this was 
 procured cannot be too carefully consid- 
 ered, as illustrating, on the one hand, the 
 secret and irresponsible nature of the in- 
 ner workings of the Western Federation of 
 Miners and the deceptive practices of some 
 of its most prominent officials ; and on the 
 other, the comparatively simple manner in 
 which a body of men may, at the instance 
 of a few persons of ordinary adroitness and 
 cunning, be drawn into a deplorable situa- 
 tion, from which they are unable to extri- 
 cate themselves without humiliation and 
 loss. 
 
 Wliat the exact relations were at this 
 time between Baker, the Canadian organ- 
 izer of the Western Federation of Miners 
 and Estes, the president of the United 
 Brotherhood of Eailway Employees, the 
 Commissiojiers v^ere unable to ascertain, 
 owing to the absence of the latter from the 
 country at the time the Commission was 
 holding its sittings at Vancouver. How- 
 ever, the evidence obtained from many 
 sources leaves no question as to the design 
 of the Brotherhood and its president in 
 attemipting the stoppage of the coal supply 
 from Vancouver, Island, while the actions 
 of the Canadian organizer of the Western 
 Federation tend, on the whole, to indicate 
 very clearly that he was a prime mover in 
 tlio furthering- of this design. 
 
 Efforts of U. B. E. E. to stop Coal Supply 
 at TJnion. 
 
 Amongst other facts mentioned in the 
 account already given of the efforts made 
 by the strikers at Vancouver to stop the 
 coal supply to the Canadian Pacific, it will 
 be rem.embered that the telegram sent ou
 
 50 
 
 BEITISn COLUMBIA LABOUR C0AIML<S8I0N 
 
 March 4 by Estes to Clarence Smith, sec- 
 retary of the American Labour Union, 
 mentioned Union as one of the points on 
 Vancouver Island at which the Western 
 Federation was to refuse coal to be loaded 
 on cars, steamships, boats or hiilks, the 
 object being to cut off the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway from its supply of coal. Union, 
 as well as Ladysmith, was, therefore, aimed 
 at in the telegram sent by the president of 
 the Western Federation at Denver to Shen- 
 ton, the secretary of the Nanaimo union, 
 when the former wired : ' Use your best 
 efforts to prevent Canadian Pacific from 
 getting coal at Vancouver. Assist strikers 
 all you can,' to which the reply was : ' We 
 will render all assistance possible.' The 
 following circular, signed in prominent 
 type,__' George Estes, president U.B.E.E.,' 
 was printed at Seattle, and distributed in 
 different places after the sympathetic strike 
 of the longshoremen, steamshipmen and 
 teamsters had been declared at Vancouver: 
 
 NOTICE ! 
 
 TO ALL, UNION MEN. 
 
 The United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees, luternatiouai Longshoremen's Union 
 No. 211, British Columbia Steamship Society 
 and Teamsters Union of Vancouver, B.C. 
 
 Are involved in a strike with the Canadian 
 raciSc Railway Company. The United Brother- 
 hood has ordered cut the members of that 
 organization at Vancouver, Revelstoke, Calgary, 
 Coutney, Rossland, Winnipeg and Fort William. 
 
 This strike was due to the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway Company trying to destroy Unionism 
 on Its line. 
 
 The three above named organizations have 
 struck in order to assist the United Brother- 
 hood. 
 
 The Western Federation of Miners will be 
 asked to stop the mining of coal on Vancouver 
 Island in order to deprive the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway of fuel, and they will strike within the 
 next few days. 
 
 Ii you are a Union Man, or if you are friendly 
 to Unionism, stay away from British Columbia, 
 and ask your friends to do likewise, as this is 
 a fight to a finish, and the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway must give in or the United Brother- 
 hood of Railway Employees with the assistance 
 of th^ other organizations will carry on the 
 battle indefinitely. 
 
 Vv'e ask the aid and co-operation of all Unions 
 in helping us to make this struggle a success, 
 and in the end the victory must be ours. 
 
 GEORGE ESTES, 
 President U.B.R.E. 
 Denny-Coryell Co. Printers, Seattle. 
 
 This circular was evidently prepared by 
 authority of Estes as president of the 
 U.B.E.E., with the full knowledge of what 
 
 might be expected from the Western Feder- 
 ation of Miners in view of the request by 
 the American Labour Union to them for 
 assistance to the Brotherhood, or at least 
 as the result of some mutual understand- 
 ing between the parties. 
 
 The Organizer of W. F. of M. remains on 
 Vancouver Island. 
 
 After his arrival at Nanaimo for the 
 purpose of organizing the men at Lady- 
 smith, and after the organization of the 
 latter place had been formed. Baker re- 
 mained on the island, making ISTanaimo 
 his headquarters ; this, as already men- 
 tioned, notwithstanding the fact that the 
 strike in the camps at Fernie, Michel and 
 Morissey continued to the last day of the 
 month, and was causing some anxiety to 
 the Denver ofiicials, as evidenced by tele- 
 grams which passed between the executive 
 at Denver, the Canadian organizer and 
 other parties, which telegrams were pro- 
 duced before the Commission at its ISTaiia- 
 imo sittings. 
 
 Estes claims lie is tying up Coal Mines 
 at Union. 
 
 The day after the formation of the 
 union at Ladysmith, Estes left Vancouver 
 for Victoria, having wired to several Bro- 
 therhood officials at different points that 
 the steam.shipmen would strike the day 
 after his arrival there. They did strike 
 the same night (March 16), having agreed 
 to do so at the meeting in Victoria, at 
 which Estes was present. Estes then re- 
 mained for a day or two on Vancouver 
 Island. On the 17th one of the Vancouver 
 papers published the following special from 
 its correspondent at Victoria : — 
 
 Victoi-ia, March 17. — (Special) — George Estes, 
 president of the U.B.R.E. is here. To your cor- 
 respondent he spoke as follows : 
 
 ' I am here in response to a telegram from 
 Portland to deal with the strike here. We now 
 have the Canadian Pacific Railway practically 
 tied up, all sources of its coal supply having 
 been blopked with the exception of Union, and 
 Frank in Alberta. We have the assurance of 
 the miners at the latter point that they will go 
 out as :«.on as asked to do so by the union. 
 - ' I am going to tie up the Dunsmuir mines at 
 Union.'
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 51 
 
 The next day the following telegrams 
 were sent by Garnham, acting agent of the 
 Vancouver division of the U.B.E.E., to offi- 
 cers at different points: 
 
 To J. T. 
 
 Revelstoke. 
 Estes wokiu? isla.nd miners successfully. Ex- 
 perts reacli you Friday sure. 
 
 To C. C. 
 
 Reveils)toke. 
 Estes delayed at Victoria tying up ccal. All 
 is well. 
 
 To H. C. 
 
 Calgary. 
 Estes delayed at Victoria tying up coal on 
 Island. Will be there soon. All well here. 
 
 Further Evidence of attempts to stop 
 Coal Supply. 
 
 Simultaneously with these telegrams, the 
 following letter was sent by the same exe- 
 cutive officer at Vancouver to one of the 
 officers at Eevelstoke, to whom he had 
 wired in the matter. It confirms the state- 
 ments contained in the telegrams and the 
 representations made by Estes in the press 
 interview above quoted. Moreover, it shows 
 conclusively that, having secured the simul- 
 taneous action of certain organizations by 
 way of sympathetic strikes, the main ener- 
 gies of the Brotherhood and its president, 
 as TDointed out in the account already given 
 of the Vancouver strike, were directed at 
 this time towards effecting a famine in 
 coal, with the intention of completely crip- 
 pling, if possible, the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway, and this without any regard to 
 the injury and loss which might be caused, 
 cither directly or indirectly, to innocent 
 and neutral parties. 
 
 March 18, 1903. 
 
 C. C, Esq., 
 
 Acting Agent Division 97, 
 Revelstoke, B.C. 
 
 Dear Sir and Brother. — Acknowledging your 
 communication of the 16th, I wired Brother T. 
 this morning that Brother Estes would be un- 
 able to reach there before Friday. This is 
 owing to his endeavours to induce the miners 
 at Union, on Vancouver Island, to quit mining 
 ccal, if it is to be sold to the Canadian Pacifi* 
 Railway or allied steamship companies. Our 
 greatest hold will bo through causing a fuel 
 shortage, not alone with the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway but with every one who uses coal. We 
 understand that there is considerable coal be- 
 tween here and Revelstoke, but it is our under- 
 standing that this coal is hardly fit for steam 
 purposes, some of it having been on the ground 
 for upwards of 12 months and exposed to the 
 
 weather. Get me what information you can as 
 to the coal on hand at Revelstoke, North Bend, 
 and Kamloops. These are the main points 
 where coal supplied is kept on hand. 
 
 Yours in E. [quality], U.[nity], 
 
 and P.[rotection], 
 
 (Signed) S. GARNHAM, 
 Acting Agent Division 81, U.B.R.E. 
 
 TJ.B.S.E. and W. F. of M. interested in 
 Coal Supply and Strikers. 
 
 From other telegrams and letters pro- 
 duced before the Commission, it would ap- 
 pear that both Baker and the U.B.E.E. 
 officials were watching the interests of the 
 strikers, and the coal supply during the 
 weeks that followed. On March 23, Baker 
 sent a circular letter from Nanaimo to 
 local unions of the Western Federation of 
 Miners, telling them of the organization of 
 the miners at Ladysmith on March 15 ; 
 giving an account of the strike and its 
 alleged causes, and asking that a word of 
 encouragement be sent from the several 
 locals to the Ladysmith Union. On March 
 25, a telegram was sent from F. J. Ilalton, 
 the secretary of the strikers' executive com- 
 mittee, at Vancouver, to Shenton, at Nan- 
 aimo, which was as follows :— '' Coal com- 
 ing to Vancouver said to be from Nanaimo. 
 Please say.' On receipt of this telegram, 
 Shenton interviewed the management of the 
 Wfestern Fuel Company at Nanaimo, and 
 on the 28th reported to the Nanaimo union 
 that the company had informed him that 
 they had not shipped coal to the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway for three or four years, 
 and that about 150 tons per week were 
 shipped to Vancouver by the company, but 
 only for domestic purposes, and he so in- 
 formed Halton at Vancouver. In his evi- 
 dence before the Commission, Shenton 
 stated that had it appeared as the result of 
 the investigation made in consequence of 
 this telegram that the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway Company were being supplied 
 with coal by the Vfestern Fuel Company, 
 the Nanaimo union would probably have 
 taken steps to stop the supply to the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway from that source. But 
 he would not go so far as to state that the 
 xmion would have violated its contract 
 with the company to effect that purpose, or
 
 52 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSIOlf 
 
 would have declared a strike wlucli might 
 have effected the company's business with 
 other concerns ; but that in regard to coal 
 being supplied to Canadian Pacific Kail- 
 way an effort would certainly have been 
 made to prevent such a supply being con- 
 tinued. 
 
 Organized effort to form an Organization 
 among Miners at Union. 
 
 There appears to be something more than 
 a coincidence in the fact that at this time 
 an organized effort was being made by par- 
 ties in no way immediately connected with 
 Union, but directly connected with Lady- 
 smith and Nanaimo, to bring about the 
 formation of a local organization among 
 the miners at Union. Somewhere about 
 the time of the sending of the circular 
 letter by Baker to the several locals of the 
 Western Federation, asking them to send a 
 word of encouragement to the strikers at 
 Ladysmith, three or four strangers arrived 
 at Union and registered at different hotels 
 there. These persons commenced at once an 
 organizing campaign. They moved about 
 among the miners, sounding them on the 
 question of organization, and on short ac- 
 quaintance suggested the advisability of 
 such a step being taken. Two of these men 
 represented themselves as being members of 
 a delegation sent by the executive board 
 of the Ladysmith union for the purpose of 
 seeing if it were possible to effect an or- 
 ganization among the miners at Union. 
 One man, Higney by name, appears to have 
 been specially active in this work. As an 
 example of his method of proceeding, the 
 following may be quoted frora the evidence 
 of David ITalliday, who was appointed to 
 the position of treasurer of the union v/hich 
 was formed on April 5. In reply to a ques- 
 tion bearing on the subject, he said : 
 
 There were two members sent here from En- 
 terprise Union No. 181, Western Federation of 
 Miners, by the executive board of that union. 
 
 Q. Where is that ? 
 
 A. Ladysmith — by the executive board of that 
 union. 
 
 Q. "Was it by their wish, or by request from 
 here ? 
 
 A. Nio, sir, they v/ere sent by the executive. 
 
 Q. Who v.ere they ? 
 
 A. One was James Higney, I think, land an- 
 other was an Italian, I don't Icnow his name, I 
 never met him. 
 
 Q. When did they get here ? 
 
 A. I could not exactly state. It was a week 
 after they were here before I saw them. 
 
 Q. Can you tell us as nearly as you can ? 
 
 A. About two weeks before the 5th of April. 
 
 Q. Did you have any conversation with one 
 of them ? 
 
 A. A conversation with one of them a week 
 previous to the 5th of April. 
 
 Q. Tell us what that was about ? 
 
 A. H-3 asked my opinion as to how it would 
 be to form a branch of the Western Federation 
 of Minors, if the men would like to become 
 members of that organization. I said T could 
 not state that — T had only been here about two 
 months previcus to that, and that he had a 
 pretty hard nut to crack to form any branch 
 of 3 union un.ier the conditions that were exist- 
 ing here previous to that. 
 
 Q. Yes, what did he say ? 
 
 A. He said he came to investigate individual 
 opinion as to whether or not they wished to 
 form a branch of that organization. 
 
 Q. What was the result ? 
 
 A. The result was that he found most of the 
 men were in favour of forming a branch of the 
 Western Federation of Miners. 
 
 Q. Most of them ? Can you give us siome idaa 
 of the numbers ? 
 
 A. I could not give you an idea of the num- 
 bers. 
 
 Q. That was ycur own honest opinion ? 
 
 A. That was his opinion — not mine. I told 
 him I could do nothing to aid him ; that he 
 would have to do his own work, investigating 
 matters. He only asked my opinion. 
 
 Q. Did Mr. Higney tell you he had an inter- 
 view with Mr. Baker ? 
 
 A. I cannot recollect. 
 
 Q. Did he tell you he had an Interview with 
 people in authority belonging to the Federa- 
 tion ? 
 
 A. Certainly, that he was sent here by tho 
 executive board of the Ladysmith union. 
 
 Q. Would it be right to conclude that he had 
 the approval of the Denver people before he 
 started on this investigation ? 
 
 A. It might be right to conclude so. I sup- 
 pose it would, but I cannot state. 
 
 Having spent about tv/o weeks in pre- 
 paring the field for organization in this 
 way, and believing that it might at that 
 time be possible to effect an organization, 
 Higney sent word to Baker at Nanaimo to 
 come to Union to organize. Baker arrived 
 at Union from jSTanairao on the 4th of 
 April, and on the day following he organ- 
 ized a local union of the Western Federa- 
 tion among the miners at that place, under 
 tlie name of the Cumberland Miner's Union 
 No. 156. 
 
 Organization forced b:/ W. F. of M. Eepre- 
 tative on April 4. 
 
 The means whereby this organization of 
 the miners at Union was effected, reveals.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 53 
 
 in the clearest manner possible, a determi- 
 nation on the part of Baker and his emis- 
 saries to form a union at that place and 
 time at any cost. It reveals, further, the 
 fact that the miners were not allowed the 
 opportunity which should have been given 
 them of fully considering the nature and 
 consequences of so important a step, but 
 rather, that advantage was taken, by Baker 
 and others, of their inclinations and sus- 
 ceptibilities to draw them into a trap from 
 which they might find it difficult to escape. 
 In the first place, the notices calling the 
 meeting at which organization was to be 
 effected, were posted only the day previous 
 to that on which the meeting was held. 
 They did not state for what purpose the 
 meeting was being called, nor do they ap- 
 pear to have been sig-ned by any one. When 
 the meeting assembled on Sunday, the 5th 
 of April, between 200 and 250 were present. 
 No motions were put nominating any one 
 as chairman or secretary of the meeting. 
 Higney constituted himself chairman, and 
 one of the men who had come with him to 
 Union acted as secretary. Baker was call- 
 ed by Higney to the platform, and when the 
 speaking commenced, there was not, as a 
 matter of fact, a single local miner on the 
 platform at the time. A letter was first 
 read to the meeting by Higney, purporting 
 to be from the Ladysmith miners, and call- 
 ing for the sympathetic support of their 
 fellow workers at Union. Higiiey then an- 
 nounced that he had received sufficient 
 names to enable him to send for Baker, 
 whom he introduced to the meeting. Baker 
 then addressed the meeting on the subject 
 of unions, and the benefits to be derived 
 from them. He spoke of the number of 
 unions which he had already organized, and 
 of his intention to complete the work of the 
 Western Federation in that part of the 
 Dominion. On the conclusion of his ad- 
 dress a miner named Barber (who v.-as sub- 
 sequently elected as president of the newly- 
 formed union), moved that a braneli of the 
 Western Federation of Minors be formed. 
 The motion was seconded, and Higney was 
 about to put it to the meeting, without giv- 
 ing opportunity for any discussion, when 
 
 one of the miners arose and moved that this 
 step be not taken, pointing out at the time 
 that if the Ladysmith miners were out on 
 strike that had nothing whatever to do with 
 the miners at Union. This motion wa3 
 seconded. Another motion was made by 
 another miner, who suggested that the mat- 
 ter be left over for a week, that it was a 
 serious affair, and that time should be given 
 • to consider the step, also that a secret ballot 
 should be taken at the pit to decide the 
 issue. Discussion on this point having 
 been aroused, Baker took the matter out of 
 the hands of the chairman, and stepping to 
 the front declared that all the motions were 
 out of order, stating that he had come to 
 organize a branch of the Western Federa- 
 tion in Union, and that all those who were 
 not willing to join the organization should 
 leave the hall. As a result of this proceed- 
 ing a few of the miners left the meeting. 
 The others remained, and the organization 
 was formed without any motion or resolu- 
 tion having been voted upon or even dis- 
 cussed. 
 
 Evidence disclosing- metliods adopted by 
 Organizer Baker of W. F. of M. 
 
 It may be well to quote at length the 
 evidence of a v,dtness who testified pretty 
 fully before the Commission in regard to 
 the actual occurrences and order of events 
 at this meeting, especially as none of the 
 officers of the union took exception to or in 
 any way contradicted it in regard to the 
 material points. On the contrary, there 
 was an evident reluctance on the part of 
 these officers to disclose anything in regard 
 to what had happened at the meeting, and 
 we believe that the statements as here 
 quoted from the evidence of this witness 
 are substantially correct : 
 
 Q. "Will ycu ple^.se tell the Comrnissicners 
 exactly what happened, as nearly as you caa 
 renienibor, from the besiuning to the end of 
 the meeting. When the meeting was r.sscm- 
 bleid. did anybody go oti the platform ? 
 
 A. There were four or five different men ; I 
 only knew one — an Italian. 
 
 Q. From what you have since learned, do you 
 know ? 
 
 A. One of the men Avas Higney. 
 
 Q. He came from Ladysmith ? 
 
 A. Yes, and the secretary, Mr. Hendorson, 
 Peter Baranzoni, from Ladysmxith, and Mr. Baker 
 went ou the platform.
 
 51 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Q. Then Higney, Henderson and Baranzoni 
 went on in the first place ? 
 A. Yes, Mr. Higney took the chair. 
 Q. There was no one voted in the chair ? 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. V>'ho was secretary ? 
 A. Henderson. 
 
 Q. He was not proposed or voted ? 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Then there was not a Cumberland man on 
 the platform ? 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Mr. Baker was invited from the back of 
 the hall to the platform by the chairman ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What was the first thing the chairman did 
 after asking Baker to come to the platform ? 
 
 A. The first thing Mr. Higney did was to read 
 a communication from the executive board of 
 the Ladysmith men, addressed to the brother 
 workers of Cumberland. 
 
 Q. Where is that letter, why has it not been 
 produced ? Mr. Higney read it at the meeting ? 
 A. Yes, from the executive board of the Lady- 
 smith union, addressed to their brother workers 
 in Cumberland. The letter related the circum- 
 stances leading to the trouble at Ladj'smith, 
 and part of the letter stated that their trouble 
 was our trouble here. It was a pretty long let- 
 ter, two sheets of it altogether. I remember 
 that part of it very well. 
 
 Q. When the chairman had finished reading 
 the letter did he say anything ? 
 
 A. He introduced Mr. Baker to the meeting. 
 He was not able to say much ; he excused him- 
 self on that account. 
 
 Q. And Mr. Baker made a speech ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What was the purport of his speech ? 
 A. It was leading up to unions, and the bene- 
 fit to be derived from it, and that he was going 
 around British Columbia, and that he had or- 
 ganized twenty-four unions altogether. He in- 
 tended to travel through Manitoba, and also take 
 in Ontario, and that, practically speaking, Cum- 
 berland was the last place. I took from that 
 that Cumberland was the last place on the 
 western continent not organized. 
 
 Q. And that he was here for the purpose of 
 organizing ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did he say how he came up here ? 
 A. Mr. His;ney said that he had, during the 
 short stay he had in town, received sufficient 
 names to enable him to send for Mr. Baker to 
 come up. 
 
 Q. The men ready to organize justified Mr. 
 Baker in coming up here ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 His Lordship : 
 
 Q. Did he state the number ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Mr. Eiodwell : 
 
 Q. But that it was sufucient to justify him in 
 sending for Mr. Baker ? 
 
 A. Yes. I heard it was eighty. 
 
 Q. You have heard that it was eighty ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. When Baker finished his speech what hap- 
 pened next ? . , . ,, 
 
 A. After he got through with his address, Mr. 
 Barber, the president of the union, rose up and 
 moved a motion that we join— that we form a 
 branch of the Western Federation of Miners. 
 
 His Lordship : 
 Q. Who was this ? 
 A. Mr. Barber. 
 
 Mr. Bodwell : 
 Q. Where was Barber ? 
 
 A. He was sitting back about three or four 
 seats from the front of the hall — this hall. He 
 made just a few remarks in regard to the or- 
 ganization. I think he said he had been a mem- 
 ber in the Kootenay country. 
 
 Q. And that motion was seconded ? 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 Q. Then v.hat ? 
 
 A. Well, Mr. Higney was going to put the 
 motion v/itliouit giving any one a c'^ancie to speak, 
 and I saw that the motion was going through 
 without oppositioai, and I rose a.nd moved an 
 amendment to the moitlon, that we don't form a 
 branch of the Federation in this place. I added 
 to it also that if the Ladysmith men were out 
 on strike that had nothing Vi^hatever to do with 
 us here. 
 Q. How were you received ? 
 A. They started to hiss considerably, and 
 shouted to put me out. That was the response 
 I received when I moved that amendment. 
 Q. Did anybody follow you ? 
 A. Yes, Richard Conishavi^, senior, made a few 
 remarks. I believe they were deprecating the 
 insulting attitude on the part of the audience 
 towards me. 
 
 Q. Did anybody follow him ? 
 A. Mr. Hunden ; he also got up and spoke in 
 support of freedom of speech. 
 Q. Did anybody support your motion ? 
 A. Yes, Mr. Bickell. Mr. Hunden got up and 
 deprecated also the attitude of the audience 
 about hissing, and shouting to put me out. He 
 considered it was right to give every person 
 in the hall fair play. The ne^^t gentleman who 
 tried to speak was Mr. Conishaw. 
 Q. What did he have to say ? 
 A. He suggested that we leave this matter 
 for a week ; that it was a serious matter, and 
 that we should consider it, and take a secret 
 ballot at the pit. He asked if Mr. Sangster Avas 
 in the hall. He says : Is that not the way you 
 did at Nanaimo ? Every vital question at Nan- 
 aimo is voted by secret ballot ? ' Replying, Mr. 
 Sangster said that things had changed there 
 now—' we have the Western Federation there 
 novi', and we usually get what we want.' 
 Q. At this stage did anything happen ? 
 A. Mr. Baker stepped to the front, excused 
 himself to the chairman, and said that the mo- 
 tion and the amendment was out of order. He 
 was here to organize a branch of the Western 
 Federation in Cumberland, and all those not 
 willing to join the organizaticn he would re- 
 quest to leave the hall. 
 
 His Lordship : 
 Q. Mr. Baker said this — not the chairman ? 
 A. Baker — not the chairman. 
 
 Mir. Bodwell : 
 
 Q. That he was going to organize, no matter 
 how m-any were taken in ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What did the chairman do— was the motion 
 put ? 
 
 A. No, the motion was not put, nor the amend- 
 ment. 
 
 His Lordship : 
 
 Q. He said the motion was out of order, that 
 the meeting was for the purpose of organizing 
 and that these who did not wish to organize 
 could retire ? 
 
 A. Yes. Your Honour. 
 
 Q. You say both motion and amendment were 
 out of order ? 
 
 A. Yes.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 55 
 
 (Mr. Rowe : 
 Q. How was the meeting called ? 
 A. For a mass meeting of miners ; no object 
 was stated in the notice. 
 Q. Was the notice signed ? 
 A. No. 
 
 His Lordship : 
 
 Q. How long notice was given of this meet- 
 ing ? 
 
 A. I believe it was posted on Saturday. 
 
 Q. And the meeting was on Sunday ? 
 
 A. Yes ; the notice might have been on Fri- 
 day night or Saturday ; I believe it was just one 
 day. 
 
 Q. I gather that what Mr. Baker said was 
 that both the motion and the amendment were 
 rut of order, as the meeting was for the pur- 
 pose of organizing, and that those who did not 
 want to organize should retire ? 
 
 A. Yes, those are about the words he used. 
 
 Mr. Bodwell : 
 
 Q. What struck you at the time that Baker 
 should interrupt ? 
 
 A. I came to the conclusion that what he said 
 was correct ; that he was there to organize and 
 came for that purpose. 
 
 Q. Why should he interrupt at that stage of 
 the proceedings ? 
 
 A. There were likely to be expressions of 
 opinion. There were quite a number of people 
 in the hall who were not favourable to the or- 
 ganization at the time. 
 
 Q. Ycu knew that to be the fact ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. After Baker said that some went out, you 
 among the rest ? 
 
 A. Yes, I waited a couple of minutes and then 
 went out. 
 
 Q. Do ycu know, as a matter of fact, whether 
 all the people who had expressed themselves as 
 being opposed to the Linion went out ? 
 
 A. No, some of them did not go out. 
 
 Q. Do you know why ? 
 
 A. I came to the conclusion that the men 
 were afraid, when they saw the treatment I 
 had received by being hissed and shouting to 
 put me cut, that they were afraid of expressing 
 their ojiinion. 
 
 Significance of Organization being formed 
 at this time. 
 
 In estimating the significance of the step 
 taken in organizing these miners into a 
 nnion. the known attitude of the Welling- 
 to.a Colliery Company towards unions 
 among its employees, and the conditions of 
 employment at the time cannot be too care- 
 fully considered. In their evidence heforo 
 the Commission the miners made little or 
 no complaint of the wages they had been 
 earning at the time. Most of them, when 
 questioned on the subject, testified that 
 they were quite satisfied with the scale of 
 remuneration, and admitted that, as com- 
 pared with wages paid in other mines in tho 
 province and elsewhere in America, the 
 
 figures were most favourable. They all ad- 
 mitted that they knew that the company 
 was hostile to the formation of any unions, 
 and that they knew the formation of a 
 union at Ladysmith only a month or two 
 before was responsible for the fact that tho 
 men there were out of work. In fact, tho 
 explanation given by some of the witnesses 
 to questions which were put to them woidd 
 indicate that they were fully conscious that 
 a dismissal of the persons elected to office in 
 the union would be one of the first steps 
 taken by the company after the organiza- 
 tion was effected. This probability, for 
 example, was cited as the reason for the 
 selection for the most part of young men 
 to the chief executive offices in the vinion. 
 There v/as, moreover, not a single reason 
 of importance given by any witness which 
 w^ould satisfactorily account for the for- 
 mation of an organization under the exist- 
 ing circumstances and at this particular 
 time. A desire for ' freedom of expression 
 of opinion,' for ' individual liberty,' for 
 'freedom of liberty,' for the ' riglit to liavc 
 an organization,' were put forward by the 
 union officials as'the reasons which prompt- 
 ed the formation of an organization. On 
 the other hand, there was nothing adduced 
 before the Commission v/hich would point 
 to any general desire on the part of tlie 
 majority for organization, nor does there 
 appear to have been any such desire. And 
 it is clear that Baker and his coadjutors 
 found the task of organization difficult to 
 carry out. Had it been otherwise, the pro- 
 ceedini?:s would hardly have been managed 
 as it has just been shown that they were 
 at the meeting on April 5. 
 
 Were the facts and circumstances sur- 
 rounding the formation of the organization 
 at Union at this time not of themselves 
 sufficient to point to an evident design on 
 the part of the Western Federation of Min- 
 ers to bring about a common imderstand- 
 ing and simultaneous action between the 
 employees of the Wellington Colliery Com- 
 pany at Ladysmith and Union, no room 
 for doubt would be left from the incidents 
 and events which followed this organiza- 
 tion, and which account for the strike at
 
 56 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Union, wliicli took place within the next 
 month. 
 
 Organization followed by Strike in May. 
 
 As liad been anticipated by some of the 
 miners at the time of organization, and as 
 already mentioned, one after another of the 
 officials of the newly-formed union found 
 themselves out of employment very shortly 
 after the organization was formed. By the 
 end of April all of the officers, with the 
 exception of two, were out of work, and 
 had reasonable grounds for supposing that 
 their connection with the union was ac- 
 countable for the fact. On May 1 a com- 
 mittee of three of the dismissed officials 
 intervied the manager of the company, and 
 asked for the reinstateauent of all officials 
 in the order in which they had been dis- 
 missed. The manager's refusal of this de- 
 mand was followed by a strike on the next 
 day. 
 
 Relations of the Ladysmith and Union 
 Strikers. 
 
 The demand and the strike can only be 
 rightly understood in the light of what 
 transpired on the preceding days. The 
 events point to one conclusion only, namely, 
 the desire on the part of Baker and others 
 to bring about a sympathetic strike of the 
 miners at Union with the men who were 
 out at Ladysmith. On April 10 Baker had 
 sent from Nanaimo to the several locals of 
 the Western Federation a letter telling 
 them of the formation of tlie union at 
 Union on April 5, which organization, he 
 says in these letters, was effected ' in the 
 face of stern opposition.' He states that 
 the men at Union were ' well united, and 
 thoroughly in interest with their brothers 
 at Ladysmith.' He asks that all encourage- 
 ment possible should be given the brother 
 workers at Union, because they have to 
 encounter the competition of so large a 
 number of Chinese and Japanese. On 
 April 13 the secretary of the Ladysmith 
 union wrote a congratulatory letter to the 
 men at Union, in which, on behalf of the 
 Ladysmith union, he says ia regard to their 
 
 having formed an organization : ' We feel 
 you have strengthened our hands consider- 
 ably in so doing.' On April 16 he also sent 
 a communication to Shenton, at Nanaimo, 
 stating that he and the president of the 
 Ladysmith imion would attend a meeting 
 of the Nanaimo union on the 18th instant, 
 to lay before that union the situation of 
 the men at Ladysmith in regard to their 
 need of financial assistance. Having heard 
 these delegates on the 18th, the Nanaimo 
 executive board recommended to its regu- 
 lar meeting that an assessment be levied 
 on its members to assist the men at Lady- 
 smith, and that an arrangement should, if 
 possible, be effected whereby a joint execu- 
 tive meeting of the Union, Ladysmith and 
 Nanaimo unions, might take place. In 
 furtherance of this recommendation the re- 
 cording secretary of the Nanaimo tin ion, 
 on April 20, informed the secretary of the 
 branch at Union that representatives from 
 Ladysmith had been at a meeting of the 
 Nanaimo union on the 18th, and that from 
 their representations it 'was evident that 
 assistance was greatly needed; that the 
 Denver executive could not recommend aid 
 until there had been a full meeting of its 
 board. Meantime it was advisable for local 
 unions of the Western Federation of Min- 
 ers to assist Ladysmith. With a view to 
 making some suitable arrangement a meet- 
 ing was being called for the 25th instant 
 to go into the matter, and it was requested 
 that one or more delegates from Union 
 should attend this meeting. 
 
 What representations, other than those 
 relating to the need of financial support, 
 were made by the delegates from Ladysmith 
 at the meeting of the Nanaimo union on 
 the 18th, the Commissioners were not in- 
 formed. All the witnesses, without excep- 
 tion, however, who were asked in regard to 
 the relations between the Union and Lady- 
 smith organizations were emphatic in their 
 denial that the subject of a sympathetic 
 strike at Union was so much as hinted at 
 by any persons in authority. Furthermore, 
 those who v/cre questioned on the matter 
 denied having had any conversation or dis- 
 cussion in regard to it witli Baker.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 57 
 
 The Strike at Union a Sympathetic Strike. 
 
 On April 21, however, four days before 
 the joint delegate meeting, at which repre- 
 sentatives from Union were to be present, 
 was held at Nanaimo, Baker wired the fol- 
 lowing message in cipher from Nanaimo to 
 Moyer, president of the "Western Federa- 
 tion at Denver, Colorado : 
 
 Ladysmith asks Cumberland (Union) out in 
 FvmpTfhy. I approve. Have we your consent. 
 Answer. 
 
 The next day the following telegram, signed 
 by both Moyer, the president, and Haywood, 
 the secretary of the Western Federation of 
 Miners, was received by Baker at Nanainio : 
 
 Denver, Colo., April 22, 1903. 
 J. J. Baker, 
 
 Nanalmo. 
 We approve of calling out any or all men ne- 
 cessary to win at Ladysmith. Organize Japan- 
 ei.se and Chinamen if possible. 
 
 (Sgd) CHAS. MOYER, 
 
 President W.F.M. 
 WM. D. HAYWOOD, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Deception practised by Canadian Organi- 
 zer of W. F. of M. 
 
 The nse made by Baker of this reply, and 
 the concealment by him from apparently 
 all Canadian officials of the nature or con- 
 tents of the telegrams sent by him to Moyer, 
 in which he stated that Ladysmith asked 
 Cumberland (Union) out in sympathy, 
 point, in our opinion, to a deliberate move 
 on his part to bring about a strike at Union 
 which might strengthen the hands of the 
 strikers at Ladysmith, and at the same time 
 stop the supply of coal to the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway from Union ; and this view 
 is supported by the evidence, amongst 
 others, of Shenton, who expressed his inabi- 
 lity to account for Baker's action in this 
 connection on any other hypothesis than 
 that of deception and the absence of good 
 faith in dealing with the officers of the 
 Canadian unions. 
 
 At the meeting of tlie joint delegate exe- 
 cutive board at Nanaimo on the 25th of 
 April, there Avere present two representa- 
 tives from Ladysmith, three from Union 
 and three from Nanaimo. According to 
 the minutes of this meeting, which extend- 
 
 ed over two days, and the evidence of wit- 
 nesses who were i^resent, the meeting con- 
 cerned itself with the discussion of mea- 
 sures calculated to secure the success of the 
 strike at Ladysmith and the matter of aid 
 to the strikers. The question of a sympa- 
 thetic strike was not brought up by any 
 one, nor does the telegram sent by Baker 
 to Denver, or the reply received by him 
 from the officers there, appear to have come 
 before the meeting in any official way. The 
 assessment of different unions to assist the 
 strikers at Ladysmith, and the taking up 
 of subscriptions to aid them, were the mat- 
 ters discussed. There was also some dis- 
 cussion of the Conciliation Bill which was 
 before the provincial legislature at the 
 time. On the 26th it was decided to send 
 three delegates to Victoria with a view to 
 bring the situation at Ladysmith to the at- 
 tention of the provincial government, and 
 to have pressure brought through this 
 source, if possible, on the president of the 
 company which might lead to a settlement 
 of the dispute on the lines of recognition 
 of the Western Federation of Miners and 
 the reinstatement of men discharged at 
 Ladysm.ith and Union. The delegates ap- 
 pointed at this meeting proceeded to Vic- 
 toria on the 27th, and interviewed the gov- 
 ernment on that day and the day following, 
 returning to Nanaimo on the 29th, wlien 
 they reported the resvilt of their interview 
 to the joint executive board. 
 
 Double dealings with Union Officials. 
 
 While the two telegrams above referred 
 to were not officially discussed at any of tha 
 meetings of the joint executive board, use 
 was, nevertheless, made of the reply re- 
 ceived by Baker in conversations which he 
 had with members of the joint board. It 
 would appear that he made particulnr use 
 of the telegram approving of the calling 
 out of all men necessary to win at Lady- 
 smith. Shenton swore that he himsoif was 
 strongly opposed to calling out any of the 
 men at Union, and that his opposition to 
 stich a course of action was well known to 
 Baker. He testified further that Baker did
 
 58 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 not discuss the matter with him at all, and 
 that until the sittings of the Commission 
 he knew nothing whatever, either of the 
 telegram which had been sent by Baker to 
 Moyer or of the reply. The only way in 
 which he could account for the fact that 
 Baker had not taken him into his confi- 
 dence in regard to these messages was that 
 Bilker knew of his opposition and did not 
 wish to encounter it. He stated, however, 
 that as one of the chief executive officers 
 of the Nanaimo union, he was entitled to 
 the fullest confidence in a matter of this 
 kind from the Canadian organizer, and that 
 Baker's action in not extending this confi- 
 dence was unjustifiable and wrong. 
 
 There appears on the other hand to have 
 been a definite understanding between 
 Baker and the delegates who were present 
 at the joint executive meeting from Union. 
 The telegram from Moyer and Haywood 
 was shown by Baker to these men, and given 
 by him to Barber, the president of the 
 union organization, to take back with him 
 to Union. The impression conveyed to these 
 meiL by this telegram, and Baker's repre- 
 sentations in regard to it, was that they 
 might count on the support of the Western 
 Federation of Miners in the event of their 
 declaring a strike. So strong was this im- 
 pression that when Barber and other officers 
 of the union were questioned as to whether 
 or not the constitution of the Western 
 Federation of Miners had been violated in 
 consequence of the strike having been de- 
 clared at Union, without the previous ap- 
 proval of the executive at Denver, the tele- 
 gram from Moyer and Haywood to Baker 
 was produced by these officers as their 
 authority for the statement that this ap- 
 proval had been secured in advance. None 
 of the officials of the union, however, knew 
 anything of the contents of the telegram 
 sent by Baker to Denver, and to which the 
 telegram they had in their possession was 
 the reply. It was with some difficulty that 
 this telegram was obtained by the Commis- 
 sioners. It had to be secured under sub- 
 po'ua from the telegraph agent at Nanaimo, 
 and when obtained was found to be in 
 cipher. 
 
 Strikers at Union Misled. 
 
 Upon the telegram being deciphered it 
 was felt by the Commissioners that its con- 
 tents should be communicated to the men, 
 in view of the fact that all of the witnesses 
 at Union had testified that there was no re- 
 lation between the strike there and the 
 strike at Ladysmith, and that some had de- 
 clared emphatically that they would in no 
 way have countenanced a sympathetic 
 strike. The officers of the union who had 
 testified were first recalled, however, and 
 questioned again as to whether or not they 
 had had any knowledge of the telegram 
 sent by Baker to which the telegram given 
 Barber was the reply. To which they all 
 answered that they had none. Asked as to 
 whether they would have in any way been 
 parties to a sympathetic strike with Lady- 
 smith, they declared they would i),ot. Asked 
 further as to whether, in the event of there 
 being evidence to show that Baker had been 
 instrumental in seeking to bring about a 
 sympathetic strike, they would feel that 
 they had not been taken into his confidence, 
 and that he had not dealt with them as his 
 relation to them required that he should 
 have done, they replied in the affirmative. 
 
 The telegram — ' Ladysmith asks Cumber- 
 land out on sj'^mpathy. I approve. Have 
 we your consent ', sent by Baker to Moyer 
 on the 21st of April was then read aloud, 
 and so far as the Commission is able to 
 ascertain, this was the first intimation that 
 any of the men at Union had of the nature 
 of its contents. 
 
 Misleading Testimony g^iven before Com- 
 mission. 
 
 Baker's own evidence before the Commis- 
 sion in regard to his connection with the 
 strike at Union would indicate that he re- 
 spected his oath as little as he did the trust 
 that had been reposed in him by the work- 
 ingmen of the province on whose behalf 
 and in whose interest he pretended to be 
 acting. Questioned by the Commissioners 
 at Ladysmith on May 7, as to his knovr- 
 ledge of affairs, Baker replied as follows : 
 
 Q. Can ynu tell us. Mr. Baker, what you know 
 ' tout this Cumberlaiicl (Union) strike.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 59 
 
 A. I simply got a wire saying they were out, 
 and asking me to go up there. 
 
 Q. You had nothing to do with the initiation 
 of that strike ? 
 
 A. No, sir. 
 
 These replies were given with full know- 
 ledge of the telegram which he himself had 
 sent in cipher to the chief executive oifi- 
 cers at Denver, and of all the dealings 
 which he had had with the miners at Na- 
 naimo, Ladysmith and Union. 
 
 It is interesting to note, in connection 
 with this same matter, that, according to 
 tho testimony of witnesses who were exam- 
 ined at Ladysmith, there appers to have 
 been a meeting of Ladysmith miners about 
 the end of April, at which a motion was 
 put requesting that the union men should 
 come out in sympathy. Baker was present 
 at this meeting, and when the qviestion was 
 raised that possibly the constitution of the 
 Western Federation would stand in the way 
 of any action of this kind, he represented 
 to the meeting that there need be no fear 
 of embarrassment or hindrance on this 
 score, as he could secure the consent of the 
 executive at Denver, and that the consti- 
 tutional difficulties would, be overcome. 
 Barber testified that at the joint executive 
 meeting at Nanaimo Baker had given him 
 assurances that the Western Federation of 
 Miners would stand beliind a strike at 
 Union and help it financially, and this he 
 (Barber) had construed as the approval of 
 the Western Federation before the strike. 
 
 Precipitous Proceedings prior to Strike. 
 
 The proceedings preliminary to the meet- 
 ing of May 2, at which it was decided that 
 the men w^ould go on strike, were hardly 
 less mysterious or hasty in their nature 
 than were the proceedings leading up to the 
 creation of the organization. The delegates 
 to the joint executive meeting at Nanaimo 
 had returned but a short time to Union 
 when the committee of three was appointed 
 from the union to interview the manager 
 o£ the company and ask for the reinstate- 
 ment of the officials who had been dismissed, 
 in the order of their dismissal. The mana- 
 ger having refused to accede to tbh demand, 
 notices were forthwith posted f!i different 
 
 places calling a meeting of the union for 
 May 2. There does not appear to have been 
 more than twenty-four hours' notice givfen 
 of this meeting. A little over 200 were 
 present when the meeting assembled on 
 May 2. A resolution was carried that be- 
 cause officers had been discharged after the 
 organization had been formed on April 6, 
 a ballot should be taken on whether or not 
 the men should stop work until such time 
 as the officials and. members who had been 
 discriminated against by the company were 
 reinstated in their proper order, with full 
 recognition of the Western Federation of 
 Miners, This resolution was voted upon, 
 and only 12 ballots opposing the strike were 
 cast. 
 
 It would appear that at this meeting the 
 miners were informed that in the event of 
 declaring a strike they would have the fvill 
 support, financially and otherwise, of the 
 Western Federation. 
 
 Strike declared in Violation of Terms of 
 Constitution. 
 
 Article 5, section 1, of the constitution 
 of the Western Federation of Miners de- 
 clares that : 
 
 It shall be unlawful for a union to enter upon 
 a strike unless ordered by three-fourths of its 
 resident members in good standing voting. Such 
 questions shall be decided by a secret ballot 
 at a special meeting called for that purpose, 
 after having received the approval of the exe- 
 cutive board of the Western Federation of 
 Miners. Should any employer or employees at- 
 tack the rights of the members of the union or 
 its established principles, without allowing the 
 union sufficient time to notify the executive 
 board of the proposed change, then the mem- 
 bers shall have the right to declare a strike 
 to maintain their rights. In this they shall be 
 assisted by the executive board. 
 
 The telegram sent by Moyer and Hay- 
 wood to Baker, and handed by him to Bar- 
 ber, was read to the meeting as proof that 
 the approval of the executive board of the 
 Western Federation, as required by this 
 clause of its constitution, had been obtain- 
 ed. It did not appear, however, from any- 
 thing given in evidence that the clause of 
 the constitution requiring that a special 
 meeting should be called for the purpose 
 had been complied with, for, as already 
 mentioned, the notice calling the meeting
 
 60 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSIOTf 
 
 did not state for what purpose it was being had been made in the telegram to which 
 
 ^^^^®^^- this was a reply, would indicate that the 
 
 The day that the strike was declared the officials at Denver had been previously in- 
 
 secretary wired to Baker at Nanaimo: formed of one important element that would 
 
 ' Cumberland Miners' TJnion No. 156 decid- have to be taken into consideration in any 
 
 ed by unanimous vote to-day to come out on efforts to bring about a successful strike at 
 
 strike. Come up if possible.' Baker, on Union. The fact that in a letter to local 
 
 May 4, wired in reply: 'Will come to-mcr- unions Baker had spoken of the number of 
 
 row evening.' Owing to the fact, however, Chinese and Japanese at Union as a source 
 
 that the Commission had commenced its of discouragement to the union members 
 
 sittings at Ladysmith, Baker did not go to there, and this only after organization had 
 
 Union, but in the course of a few days sent taken place, and before a strike had been 
 
 Shenton in his place. On May 11 he ad- mentioned, would indicate that this diffi- 
 
 dressed a letter to the executive board of culty had been present in his mind. These 
 
 the miners' unions at Ladysmith, Xanairao facts jointly considered make it fairly ap- 
 
 and Union, stating that he was obliged to parent that the Canadian organizer had 
 
 leave owing to pressure of work. He f^Hy informed his fellow members on the 
 
 recommended co-operative arrangements 
 among the three boards and means of 
 speedy communication, stating in his letter 
 that for all the unions this was a common 
 cause. On the day following, the 12th, on 
 board the steamer taking him from Nanai- 
 mo, he wrote a personal letter to the secre- 
 tary of the union at Union, giving his rea- 
 sons for not having been able to go there, 
 and explaining that he had sent Shenton in 
 his place, as he regarded the men in Union 
 as ' too new in organization to be secure 
 against bombardment.' 
 
 Movements largely directed from Denver, 
 Colorado. 
 
 With the exception of the telegram, to 
 which reference has been made, and one or 
 two other communications, it was not pos- 
 sible for the Commission to secure informa- 
 
 executive at Denver of the exact situation 
 in view of a probable conflict. 
 
 Ee the Organization of Chinamen and 
 Japanese. 
 
 Evidence was given by the Rev. L. W. 
 Hall, a Chinese missionary at Union, to the 
 effect that while Shenton, whom he had 
 not previously known, was there as the 
 representative of Baker, he (Shenton) 
 had called upon him and introduced 
 the subject of organization among the. 
 Chinese, and that from his conversa- 
 tion he judged that Shenton was de- 
 sirous of having the Chinese organized, and 
 that the Western Federation would support 
 any efforts in that direction. Shenton did 
 not deny having had a conversation with 
 Hall upon this subject, but contended that 
 his visit to Hall's house had not been with 
 the object of interviewing him on that par- 
 
 tion which would throw any further light tieular subject, and that HaU had brought 
 
 on the nature jf the correspondence which 
 took i)lace between Baker and the executive 
 officers of the Western Federation at Den- 
 ver. However, such evidence as was pro- 
 duced would indicate a continuous corres- 
 pondence between the organizer for Canada 
 and the chief executive officers at Denver. 
 
 up the subject himself, and that all sugges- 
 tions and propositions had come from him. 
 He admitted that there had been some talk 
 about guarantees being given by the West- 
 ern Federation, and that he had mentioned 
 this point to Baker on his return to Nanai- 
 mo. He adhered firmly, however, to the 
 
 For example, the mention in the telegram of statement that he had in no way approved 
 
 April 22, from Moyer and Haywood to of, nor was he favourable to the formation 
 
 Baker—' Organize Japanese and Chinamen of a labour organization among the Chinese 
 
 if possible,' when no mention of the subject and Japanese.
 
 BRITISn COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 61 
 
 Review of facts shows Strike at Union 
 brought about by intrigue. 
 
 The formation in the first instance of 
 an organization among the miners at Union, 
 tlirongh the instrumentality of agents sent 
 there for this express purpose and not be- 
 cause of a general desire on the part of 
 those concerned, or even of the existence of 
 conditions which would naturally create 
 such a desire, and in the presence, more- 
 over, of circumstances which at any other 
 time would have led to the rejection of any 
 proposal to form a union — as, for instance, 
 the realization by the miners that the men 
 at Ladysmith were out of work by reason 
 of their having joined the Federation in de- 
 fiance of the company; the request by 
 Baker, assuming to act on behalf of the 
 Ladysmith union, for instructions for* a 
 sympathetic strike at Union; the command 
 of the executive at Denver to call out all 
 men necessary to win at Ladysmith and to 
 organize the Chinese and Japanese; the 
 trickery and deception practiced by Baker 
 in the manipulation of these telegrams, and 
 of the members of several com^mittees with 
 which he had to deal; his own false testi- 
 mony before the Commission in regard to 
 one of the most vital points of the whole in- 
 quiry; his action in forcing organization at 
 any cost, and the action of the ofiicials at 
 Union, with whom he had been in communi- 
 cation, of a like desire to precipitate a 
 strike at that place regardless of the terms 
 of the constitution, and with the evident 
 sanction and approval of Baker and other 
 members of the Denver executive, and the 
 statement of Estes that he would tie up the 
 mines on Vancouver Island; — these facts, 
 together with the circumstances that so long 
 as the mines at Union could be sucessfully 
 worked, the miners at Ladysmith would find 
 it very difficult to cope successfully with 
 the company, and that the company would 
 be still in a position to fulfil its contracts 
 with the Canadian Pacific Railway, lead us 
 inevitably to the conclusion that, as in the 
 case of Ladysmith, the explanation of the 
 cause of the strike at Union is to be found 
 rather in the conditions existing elsewhere 
 
 at the time, than from any general feeling 
 of dissatisfaction in regard to the conditions 
 of their employment among the miners at 
 Union, and that it was the result of a care- 
 fully contrived and skillfully executed in- 
 trigue on the part of persons acting as part 
 of, or in connection with the executive of 
 the Western Federation at Denver, and 
 which, but for the action of this executive 
 and its members, would not have taken 
 place. 
 
 Strikers not Supported by W. F. of M. as 
 promised. 
 
 We feel that the extent of the deception 
 practiced by the officials of the Western 
 Federation, and the harmful consequence 
 to thoses whose acts the Federation has pre- 
 tented to champion, to say nothing of the 
 injuries which have been caused the public 
 as a direct consequence of these strikes, 
 would not be fully realized, if this report 
 did not contain a direct reference to the 
 nature of the treatment which the miners, 
 both at Ladysmith and Union, have re- 
 ceived from the Federation since the strikes 
 were declared. The one reason for joining 
 the Western Federation, alleged at both 
 these places on the part of all the v/itnesses 
 who testified on the matter, was that the 
 Western Federation was a numerous and 
 powerful body, and that they had full as- 
 surances that in the event of its support 
 being required at any time they would re- 
 ceive sufficient financial assistance. Not- 
 withstanding the fact that the strike at 
 Ladysmith had been in existence for over 
 two months at the time the Commission 
 commenced its sittings at that place, and 
 that there appeared to be, even at that 
 time, considerable suffering and need of 
 assistance among the miners and their 
 families, the Western Federation had con- 
 tributed but a few hundred dollars to the 
 relief of the most urgent cases. Not until 
 eleven days after the strike at Union had 
 been declared, was word sent to the miners 
 at Ladysmith that a draft for $1,000 for 
 their relief would be mailed on the follow- 
 ing day. Not having received this draft by 
 the 16th of May, and being reduced to ex-
 
 62 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 tremity, the secretary of the Ladysmith 
 union wired to the secretary of the West- 
 ern Federation at Denver, as follows:— 
 
 Can you support us with $14,000 (less than 
 one-fifth of their usual earnings) per month . 
 Answer at once, yes or no. 
 
 On the ISth a reply was received to this 
 telegram as follows: — 
 
 Baker has not arrived yet. Will answer your 
 message later. 
 
 At the time of present writing, so far as 
 can be ascertained, the Western Federation 
 had done very little more for the relief of 
 destitute families at Ladysmith, and little 
 or nothing by way of assistance to the men 
 at Union. 
 Eesults of Ladysmith and "Union Strikes. 
 
 The mines at Union have never been 
 closed, owing to the employment of a 
 large number of Chinamen and Japanese 
 at tliat place, but virtually all the v/hite 
 labour is still unemployed. The mines at 
 Extension remained closed from the 12th 
 of March, until the 3rd of July, despite the 
 fact that many efforts were made at settle- 
 
 ment between the president of the company 
 and the employees at that place. 
 
 The men not having received the assis- 
 tance from the Western Federation which 
 they were led to expect would be extended, 
 resolved by a majority to return to work, 
 and some 200 of them have been indivi- 
 dually re-engaged on terms not quite as 
 favourable as when they went out. In the 
 same manner the miners at Union, except 
 those whose places have been filled, will 
 probably resume work in a few days. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the.se strikes 
 have been not only barren of beneficial re- 
 sult to the miners, but that they have lost 
 in wages over $350,000, while businc!ss in 
 Ladysmith and Union has been brought to 
 the vanishing point. 
 
 We may add that we are informed that 
 the miners at Fernie, Morissey and Michel 
 have abandoned the Western Federation, 
 and have joined the United Mine Workers 
 of North America and that similar action 
 is being discvissed among the miners at 
 ITanaimo.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 63 
 
 CHAP. VI— GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 AVING now detailed the causes which 
 led up to the strikes, which we were 
 specially commissioned to investigate, and 
 having set forth their inter-connection, as 
 well as the principal occurrences to which 
 they gave birth, we now proceed shortly to 
 discuss the general questions which they 
 raise for consideration. 
 
 Duties of Employers and Employees in 
 regard to Strikes. 
 
 As strikes are intended to cause loss and 
 inconvenience to the employer in order to 
 force him to yield in whole or in part to the 
 demands of the strikers, and as they always 
 cause loss and privation to the strikers 
 themselves; and as they are almost invari- 
 ably followed by loss and damage to many 
 others in the community where they occur; 
 as they are in some cases accompanied by 
 sympathetic strikes and are frequently ac- 
 companied by reprehensible and illegal prac- 
 tices, such as boycotting, blacklisting, pick- 
 eting and intimidation, and sometimes by 
 assaults, riots and loss of life and property; 
 it is the plain duty of the employer and 
 employed, and of the state, to exhaust all 
 possible means to secure their prevention. 
 
 With respect to the employers and the 
 employed, it is their clear duty to the com- 
 munity, whose protection they both enjoy, 
 to meet each other either by themselves, or 
 through the mediation of third parties, and 
 by temperate discussion and conciliation, 
 settle their difficulties as best they can, each 
 making considerable sacrifice, if necessary, 
 to avoid the loss and injury which will 
 otherwise occur to the public. And here it 
 may not be amiss to warn employers of la- 
 bour that the old relation of master and 
 servant no longer obtains, that it has been 
 supplanted by that of employer and work- 
 man, with the probability that it will de- 
 velop in the near future into that of co- 
 contractors. There is no doubt that a con- 
 
 siderable percentage of strikes are caused, 
 not so much by the refusal of the employer 
 to yield to the particular demand, as by the 
 way in which it is done, or by a long course 
 of arbitrary conduct. One of the results of 
 tlie spread of unionism throughout the vari- 
 ous trades has been to put the worlonan in 
 a better position to make terms with his 
 employer; to preserve his independence of 
 character; he is now able to drive a bargain 
 and does not have to accept a dole. For- 
 merly, employers were too often in the habit 
 of regarding their men as so many ma- 
 chines or units of labour, and those of them 
 who felt humane instincts thought they ful- 
 filled their whole obligation if they gave 
 an occasional extra remuneration or bonus, 
 or conferred some benefit which they re- 
 garded as a gratuity. But the worlancn of 
 modern times demands as his due a fair 
 day's pay for a fair day's work, and that he 
 shall get a reasonable share of the product 
 of his toil ; what he seeks is honourable em- 
 ployment, not slavery; he wants fair deal- 
 ing and justice, and not charity or patron- 
 age. 
 
 It is necessary, then, in their own inter- 
 est, and in that of the community gener- 
 ally, that employers bear in mind that they 
 are no longer dealing with submissive and 
 unquestioning units of labour, but with 
 sentient beings who have, equally with 
 themselves, senses, affections, desires, doubts 
 and fears. It is, therefore, especially in- 
 cumbent on corporations, and other large 
 employers of labour who do not come in per- 
 sonal contact with their employees, to place 
 persons of tact and discretion in all the 
 offices of superintendence, and to forthwith 
 dispense with the services of any one who is 
 found to be tyrannical or arrogant in hi;3 
 dealings with the men. Many a strike 
 could have been averted if the employer or 
 his superintendent had taken the trouble t'b 
 reason the whole matter out with his men,
 
 64 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 and had shown them why he was iinahle to 
 accede to the demand. In this connection 
 we may refer to the case of the Nanaimo 
 colliery, operated by the New Vancouver 
 Coal Mining and Land Company. For 
 fifteen years this colliery has been worked 
 with unioli labour, the numbers often reach- 
 ing 800 men, and owing to the reasonable 
 and conciliatory attitude towards each 
 other of the superintendent, Mr. S. M. 
 Robins, and the officers of the union, there 
 was never any strilce during his term of 
 office, which lasted until a few months ago, 
 and on more than one occasion the adjust- 
 ment involved a reduction of wages. 
 
 Eights of Employers and Employees in 
 regard to Strikes. 
 
 With respect to the rights of employers 
 and workmen in relation to strikes and 
 lock-outs, we think much would be gained 
 if those could be clearly set forth in a code. 
 
 It is generally recognized that the work- 
 men are justified in combining together to 
 secure increased wages or shorter hours, or 
 other legitimate changes in the conditions 
 of their employment, and failing assent by 
 their employer, in quitting simultaneously, 
 or, as it is called, going out on strike. And 
 this even though it may occasion the em- 
 ployer great loss and damage, unless some 
 valid contract is thereby violated ; or unless 
 the strike is such as to amount to malicious 
 injury to property ; or is liable to cause loss 
 of life ; or is in furtherance of a conspiracy 
 to injure or restrain trade, some of which 
 acts involve only civil, others both civil and 
 criminal liability. 
 
 On the other hand, we think that public 
 opinion, as well as that of those prominent 
 in labour circles, emphatically condemns 
 the sympathetic strike, the boycott, intimi- 
 dation, the blacklist, and picketing as it is 
 commonly practiced. 
 
 Eights of Union and ITon-TJnion Men. 
 
 It is one of the fundamental rights of a 
 free people that every man shall choose for 
 himself whether he shall belong or not to 
 a union, and that whether he belongs or not 
 he may work without being insulted, mo- 
 
 lested, intimidated or oppressed by any per- 
 son or union whatever. It is also clearly 
 one of the fundamental rights of every 
 employer that he may employ any man he 
 chooses, subject, of course, to any laws that 
 may be regulating the particular business. 
 Tried by this test, the sympathetic strike, 
 which is declared on account of the em- 
 ployment of non-union labour to take the 
 places of other strikers, is irrational and 
 wrong. The original strikers may have the 
 legal or moral right to strike on account 
 of some disagreement with their employer, 
 but they have no right by force to make 
 him keep their places open until they see fit 
 to return, or to beset, boycott or intimi- 
 date men who may see fit to work on the 
 terms which they reject. Then, if they 
 have no such right a fortiori, other union 
 employees who may be working for the same 
 0.* a different employer, have no right to in- 
 terfere or to strike because of the employ- 
 ment of such substitute labour. A number 
 of Protestant workmen might just as well 
 claim a right to force the employer to dis- 
 charge or refuse employment to Roman 
 Catholics as union men claim a right to 
 force the employer to discharge or refuse 
 employment to so-called ' scabs.' Such a 
 claim has no foundation whatever, either in 
 law, reason or morals, and is opposed to the 
 fundamental rights of a free people and 
 amounts to a tyrannical attack on the 
 rights of others ; and therefore we think 
 that strikes solely because of the employ- 
 ment of non-union labour ought to be made 
 punishable by law. 
 
 Sympathetic Strikes. 
 
 Similarly, other kinds of sympathetic 
 strikes ought to be rigidly repressed, as they 
 are opposed to public opinion, and to the 
 great mass of opinion among the labouring 
 classes themselves, as well as to natural 
 justice and reason. For instance, take the 
 case of a strike by a body of coal miners 
 solely for the purpose of preventing coal 
 being supplied to a railway company which 
 has had a disagreement with some of its 
 employees. Upon what principle can this 
 be justified? Why should the employer of
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSIOIT 
 
 65 
 
 the coal miners be forced to break his con- 
 tract with the railway company ? Why 
 should he be subjected to great loss and 
 damage because of a disagreement between 
 others to which he is not a party, and 
 which arises through no fault of hia own, 
 and wliy should the innocent public and 
 neutral industries be subjected to embar- 
 rassment and loss ? And yet, it appears 
 that it was actually doubtful as to what 
 course tlie Nanaimo branch of the Western 
 Federation would have taken, had their em- 
 ployer been supplying any coal to the rail- 
 way company at the time of the strike by 
 thc! United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees, and one of its officers intimated 
 that it would be well for the coal company 
 to have an agreement with the men which 
 would preclude the possibility of a strike 
 under such circumstances. It may be 
 added on the authority of Carroll D. 
 Wright, Commissioner of Labour at Wash- 
 ington, that the history of the sympathetic 
 strike is practically an uninterrupted story 
 of defeat, and last year the statement was 
 made by John Mitchell, president of the 
 United Mine Workers of America, that he 
 had never known a sympathetic strike to 
 succeed. 
 
 The Strike for Recognition. 
 
 Whether the strike for recognition should 
 be allowed or prohibited is not so easy to 
 determine. It is true that in theory a body 
 of men should have the right to say that 
 they will deal collectively and not indivi- 
 dually with an employer ; and if all that 
 was meant by a strike for recognition was 
 that they would merely refrain from work 
 until the employer saw fit to accede to the 
 demand, such a strike could not be regarded 
 as inherently wrong; but the fact is that 
 strikes solely for recognition are frequently 
 accompanied by the coercion by illegal 
 practices of both employers and any non- 
 union men who may be disposed to take up 
 the work which the strikers have left. 
 
 At the same time it must be remember- 
 ed that unionism and the demand for re- 
 cognition of the union, i.e.. of the right to 
 make a collective bargain, are the natural 
 outcome of the present stage of industrial 
 
 development. In former times the work- 
 man had an immediate interest in the in- 
 struments of production, and in the dis- 
 posal of the finished product, and while all 
 worlvmen were not masters, the masters 
 were all workm.en, and the possibility at 
 least of becoming a master was open- to ap- 
 prentices and journeymen alike. Where 
 the wages contract existed it was a matter 
 of individual bargain between persons who 
 were likely to be associated together in the 
 work of production. Now-a-days the work- 
 m.en, for the most part, arc massed to- 
 gether for the purpose of doing work on 
 material supplied to them by the employer, 
 who is generally a corporation or trust re- 
 presented by a manager and siib-managers, 
 who are selected for their capacity to drive 
 advantageous bargains and extract as much 
 work out of the men as possible. The cor- 
 poration or trust represents the collectivism 
 of the employers, and it is natural and lo- 
 gical that the same spirit should animate 
 the employed. If compelled to contract for 
 himself alone the modern workman would 
 generally have to deal with a purely mer- 
 cenary organization which is in a position 
 to take advantage of his fellow workman's 
 necessities in order to com^pel him to ac- 
 cept terms which a union, dealing on his 
 behalf, might be justified in refusing, and 
 able successfully to reject. The right view 
 of this matter, then, seems to be that the 
 strike for recognition, that is, for the right 
 to make a collective bargain, should not be 
 declared unlawful, but that it is specially 
 incumbent on the authorities, when such a 
 strike takes place, to see that no illega'l or 
 criminal methods are used to reinforce it. 
 
 There is, however, one way for unions to 
 get recognition which is obviously the sur- 
 est and the best way. It is by showing em- 
 ployers by experience that it is to their ad- 
 vantage to deal with unions as such, and 
 that the unions will regard the interests of 
 the employers as well as their owit, remem- 
 bering that the financial burdens and risks 
 of the business fall upon the employers. 
 And here, it may be remarked, lies the essen- 
 tial difference between the legitimate trade 
 unionist and the revolutionary socialist: 
 the former realizes that he has a commoa
 
 66 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 interest with the employer in the successful 
 conduct of the business; the latter postu- 
 lates an irreconcilable hostility and is ever 
 compassing the embarrassment or ruin of 
 the employer, all the while ignoring the 
 fact that capital and labour are the two 
 blades of the shears which, to work well, 
 must be joined together by the bolt of mu- 
 tual confidence, but, if wrenched apart, are 
 both helpless and useless. 
 
 It is also necessary for the unions, in or- 
 der to win recognition, to leave no doubt in 
 the minds of employers that they appreciate 
 the obligation of contract, and in this re- 
 gard we are glad to note that the impor- 
 tance of this is realized by the majority of 
 tlie unions and their leaders, as is illus- 
 trated by the letter of the president of the 
 International Boilermakers' Union, already 
 quoted. 
 
 Definition of rights and duties of Unions 
 needed. 
 
 The majority of workmen feel the neces- 
 sity for some kind of organization, and or- 
 ganize they will, in some form or other, and 
 therefore their right to combine to improve 
 their conditions and to form unions for that 
 purpose ought to be better recognized and 
 regulated by law than it is. It is better that 
 they be encouraged to establish legitimate 
 unions which will be clothed with respon- 
 sibility for the exercise of power, and which 
 will, therefore, be more readily recognized 
 and dealt with by employers, than that they 
 should join secret organizations, some of 
 which are really nothing more than con- 
 spiracies against society in general and em- 
 ployers in particular. 
 
 At the present time nearly all the indus- 
 trial callings in Canada are organized, and 
 some three or four score of them as integral 
 parts of international unions which have 
 their headquarters in the United States. 
 
 International Organizations. 
 
 It is, we think, a very difficult question 
 as to how far the joining by Canadians of 
 these organizations ought to be sanctioned 
 or interfered with. Many of them claim 
 the right to approve of any settlement 
 
 which may be arrived at between the em- 
 ployer and their members as the result of 
 a strike, especially if the members have been 
 receiving strike pay, as, for instance, in the 
 case of the Western Federation of Miners, 
 Article V, section 2 of the constitution, of 
 which is as follows: — 
 
 Any contract or agreement entered into be- 
 tween the members of any local union and their 
 employers as a final settlement of any difficulty 
 or trouble that may occur between them shall 
 not be considered valid or binding until the 
 same shall have the approval of the executive 
 board of the Western Federation of Miners. 
 
 Nor is any contract recognized as valid 
 which conflicts with the rules of the union, 
 which are generally framed to suit the 
 union without the authority or sanction of 
 any law. It is thus plain that a Canadian, 
 when he joins such a union, surrenders a 
 considerable portion of his freedom in mat- 
 ters of contract to a small body of men in 
 a foreign country, and is, to that extent at 
 all events, subject to their dictation. How- 
 ever, so far as we have been able to gather, 
 the control exercised by these foreign offi- 
 cials has, generally speaking, not been in- 
 imical to the interests of the Canadian 
 members either as workmen or as British 
 subjects. They have, generally speaking, 
 stood for the observance of contracts, and 
 appear on the whole to realize the necessity 
 for fair and reasonable dealing with the 
 employers, although the cases of the Bakers' 
 Union and the Garonne, already detailed, 
 are conspicuous exceptions. 
 
 The main arguments advanced by Cana- 
 dian workmen for the necessity of joining 
 these international organizations are as fol- 
 lows : — First, that they are too few in num- 
 bers to form effective organizations of their 
 own. For instance, in the case of the prin- 
 ters, there are only about 2,400 union men 
 in all Canada, whereas in the International 
 there are about 55,000. This body is strong 
 enough to maintain a large benefit fund 
 and a home for destitute and aged printers 
 • in Colorado. Second, there is greater econ- 
 omy in the administration of the interna- 
 tional body, and so a greater margin for 
 benefit funds. Third, membership in such 
 organization practically insures work any- 
 where in North America. AU the member
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 67 
 
 has to do is to present his membership card 
 to any official who proceeds to secure him 
 work, and until he gets it he is assisted by 
 the union. Fourth, in the event of strike, 
 they have the co-operation and financial aid 
 of a powerful body, and the chances of 
 substitute labour coming from the other 
 side to take their places are reduced to a 
 minimum, as of course no members of the 
 union would come over to take their places. 
 The chief objection to the system of in- 
 ternational unions is the liability of Cana- 
 dian workmen to interferences by the offi- 
 cials in matters of contract and settlement 
 of differences with their employers. If, 
 however, parliament were to declare that 
 notwithstanding anything contained in the 
 constitutions or in the rules- of the inter- 
 national bodies, any agreement arrived at 
 by the employer with his employees in set- 
 tlement of disputes shall be valid and bind- 
 ing, we think the most formidable objection 
 to these bodies would be removed. 
 
 Certain Labour Organizations not Legiti- 
 mate Trade Unions. 
 
 There is, however, a class of so-called 
 union developing rapidly in Western Ameri- 
 ca, which is really not a trade union at all, 
 but a secret political organization whose 
 members are bound by an oath so strong as 
 to be considered a shield against giving any 
 but forced testimony before the Commis- 
 sion. The primary object and common 
 end of this class of organization is to seize 
 the political power of the state for the pur- 
 pose of confiscating all franchises and na- 
 tural resources without compensation, and 
 to this class belong the American Labour 
 Union, the Western Federation of Miners 
 and the United Brotherhood of Railway 
 Employees, with an aggregate membership 
 of between 200,000 and 300,000 men. These 
 three, as already stated, are in confedera- 
 tion with each other, the two latter being 
 affiliated with the former, and, as we have 
 just seen, their leaders were engaged in a 
 conspiracy to sweep all the employees of 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway- into the 
 
 United Brotherhood, and all coal miners 
 into the Western Federation, and no doubt 
 with a view to being able to stop all trans- 
 portation and coal mining whenever it 
 might appear expedient in the advance- 
 ment of the common end. 
 
 All these bodies have declared for socia- 
 lism, and the following resolution was, we 
 understand, passed by a vote of 125 to 20 
 at the last convention of the Western Fe- 
 deration of Miners, held at Denver on June 
 4, 1903 : 
 
 ' WheTeas. the natural resoairces of the earth 
 upon which humanity depends are being swiftly- 
 concentrated into the hands of the privileged 
 few ; and 
 
 Whereas, political independence is a bauble 
 and a delusion while the toiling millions bear 
 the yoke of wage slavery in the industrial field; 
 and 
 
 Whereas, no man among the vast army of 
 labouring humanity can successfully assert his 
 manhood while his necessities make him a sup- 
 pliant at the feet of another for a job which 
 he must have to sustain life ; and 
 
 Whereas, the privileged few who own the jobs 
 which the many must have must necessarily 
 own the man ; and 
 
 Whereas, capitalism can never be dethroned 
 and wage slavery abolished until the natural 
 resources of the earth and the machinery of 
 production and distribution shall be taken from 
 the hands of the few by the political power of 
 the many, to become the collective property of 
 all mankind, to be utilized for the use and bene- 
 fit of all humanity ; and 
 
 Whereas, the socialist party is the only poli- 
 tical party in any nation of the world that de- 
 mands that the land and the machinery of pro- 
 duction and distribution shall become the com- 
 mon property of all, and that labour shall re- 
 ceive the full product of its toil ; 
 
 Now, therefore be it resolved, that the dele- 
 gates of the Western Federation of Miners in 
 their eleventh annual convention assembled, re- 
 aflSrm the political policy of the tenth annual 
 convention, believing that the principles enun- 
 ciated by the socialist party will make man the 
 ' noblest work of God,' woman the nueen of the 
 home, and the child the bud and blossom of an 
 eoHiancipated generation.' 
 
 An amendment to the constitution was 
 also passed, obligating the local unions to 
 obey the direction of the executive when 
 called upon by them to go out on strike, 
 which has not yet been submitted to the re- 
 ferendum, as required by the constitution, 
 and as already mentioned a resohition was 
 also adopted at the request of the United 
 Brotherhood of Railway Employees de- 
 claring the Canadian Pacific Railway 'un- 
 fair.'
 
 68 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 The Western Federation of Miners, the 
 United Brotherhood of Eailway 
 Employees and the American 
 Labour ITuion. 
 
 It is obviously against the public in- 
 terest that any body of Canadian workmen 
 should be subject to be called out on strike 
 by a foreign authority over whom neither 
 our legislatures nor courts can exercise any 
 control, and that whether they have any 
 grievances against their employers or not. 
 Whether the wheels of Canadian industry 
 shall run or shall rust ought not to de- 
 pend upon the decrees of a secret coiincil 
 at Denver. With regard to these organiza- 
 tions we think they ought to be specially 
 declared to be illegal, as their leaders have 
 shown that they care nothing about the 
 obligation of contracts or about the in- 
 terests of their employers, against whom 
 they are ever fomenting discontent ; that 
 they ignore the constitutions and rules of 
 their own organizations whenever it suits 
 them to do so ; that they at all times preach 
 the doctrine of confiscation of property 
 without compensation, and that society is 
 divided into two classes, the toilers and the 
 spoilers ; that they justify the use of the 
 boycott and the sympathetic strike; that 
 they do not disapprove of violence and in- 
 timidation; that they are wholly indifferent 
 to the loss and damage which they inflict 
 upon the public; and that they recklessly 
 allow suffering and privation to befall the 
 families of their misguided followers, with 
 regard to whom they are constantly guilty 
 of deception and concealment. 
 
 There is an additional reason in the case 
 of the United Brotherhood of Railway Em- 
 ployees, which is that it is the aim of this 
 body to force all classes of railway em- 
 ployees, from the highest to the lowest, to- 
 gether into one organization, in opposition 
 to the wishes of virtually all of the existing 
 railway unions. The great majority of the 
 railway men have no such desire. They 
 have their own class organizations which 
 contract on their behalf with the company, 
 and with v/hich they are satisfied, as, on the 
 one hand tlieir grievances are passed on by 
 
 a committee of their own number who fully 
 understand them, and, on the other hand, 
 they deal directly with those ofiicials of 
 the railway who are in control of the de- 
 partment to which they belong. It is ob- 
 vious that a committee of car labourers or 
 freight handlers could not deal as intelli- 
 gently with a trouble arising among the 
 conductors or engineers as the latter can 
 themselves; in fact the latter (who are, ac- 
 cording to one of the sympathetic strikers, 
 the aristocrats of unionism) would not sub- 
 mit to have their movements dictated by 
 the former. To allow an organization like 
 the United Brotherhood of Railv/ay Em- 
 ployees to gain any foothold among the em- 
 ployees of a great railway system like the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, would be to in- 
 troduce the bitterest dissensions among 
 them, and at the same time make it im- 
 possible to carry on the proper management 
 and discipline of the railway, which is just 
 as necessary as in a ship at sea. The best 
 evidence that the United Brotherhood of 
 Railway Employees is not wanted by rail- 
 way employees as a whole, is that the en- 
 gineers, conductors, firemen, trainmen, &c., 
 of the Canadian Pacific Railway, although 
 appealed to, refused to come out in aid of. 
 Ox to render financial assistance to that or- 
 ganization. Moreover, this body has not 
 gained any official recognition from any 
 railway company, so far as we are aware, 
 nor could this be expected, as a glance at 
 its constitution will show that it is not a 
 trade union at all, but in reality a one-man 
 despotism. 
 
 Incendiary and Scurrilous Literature. 
 
 Another reason for parliamentary con- 
 demnation of these organizations is that it 
 might serve to stop the distribution of their 
 incendiary and scurrilous literature. As 
 examples of the kind of matter which is 
 periodically put forth in the journals of 
 these bodies, we may quote the following 
 extracts. 
 
 In an editorial in the official organ of the 
 Western Federation of Miners, the Miners*
 
 LRITISTJ C0LU2IBTA LABOUR COMML'^SION 
 
 69 
 
 Magazine for April, 1903, at page 46, the 
 
 following statement appears: — 
 
 Organized labour has been fighting on the in- 
 dustrial field to maintain a wage compensation 
 that enables the human family to obtain some 
 of the necessaries of life, but organized labour 
 is arousing from the hypnotic spell of fake 
 leaders, and moving towards the political battle- 
 field where capitalism will be assassinated for 
 once and forever. 
 
 Commenting on the statement of the 
 
 Governor of Colorado that ' If a man wants 
 
 to work^Jie has a perfect right to do so, and 
 
 the troops are there to see that everybody's 
 
 rights are protected ', the editor says, at 
 
 page 10 : 
 
 These mouthings of the governor convict him 
 as an official assassin of labour's rights, a ser- 
 vile tool who has disgraced the executive chair 
 by turning over to the corporations the power of 
 his office, to be utilized for the aggrandizement 
 of watered stock gamblers. 
 
 At page 17 he quotes with approval the 
 following from an editoral in a Denver 
 paper : — 
 
 Now, the situation is this : the miners of this 
 state do not propose to submit to such oppres- 
 sion. They are advocates of law and order, and 
 they will not long permit it to be violated even 
 by the state's chief executive. There is a grave 
 danger in pushing oppression too far, and it is 
 certain that the miners are now in a mood to 
 strike back. They will preserve their liberties 
 and retain their rights if it is necessary to 
 pass through the Red Sea of revolution in order 
 to do so. The colonists had leas occasion to 
 rebel against the authority of King George than 
 have the miners of Colorado to resist the op- 
 pression of Governor Peabody. 
 
 Again at page 23 : 
 
 The man who will scab on strikers will scab 
 on his honour, if it is possible for a scab to 
 have any honour. 
 
 Commenting on the following state- 
 ment of John Mitchell, president of 
 the United Mine Workers of America, 
 * I do not believe that in our country 
 there should be an irreconcilable con- 
 flict between labour and capital. Not- 
 withstanding the fact that I have gone 
 through quite a number of strikes, I have 
 not yet abandoned my opinion that if the 
 representatives of capital and the represen- 
 tatives of labour can be brought together, 
 and if they can sit down in honest confer- 
 ence, if they will look one another straight 
 in the eye and tell one another the absolute 
 truth, I believe when that is done that the 
 day of conflict between capital and labour 
 shall end ' the editor says, at page 40 : 
 
 There can be no reconciliation between the 
 capitalist and the labourer, and no one is in a 
 better position to realize this fact than Mr. 
 Mitchell. 
 
 At page 59 appears the following letter, 
 with no signs of disapproval from the edi- 
 tor: 
 
 Park City, Utah, March 5, 1903. 
 Editor Miners' Magazine : 
 
 The United States government is arming 100,- 
 000 more mmrderers to assassinate labour, and 
 still some toil worn fools sleep on ! 
 
 Come, ye uniformed butchers to the slaughter 
 your Neroes prepared for us ! We welcome you 
 with bloody arms to the graves your tyrants dig 
 for labour ! The star-spangled banner of bar- 
 barism that floated over the blue-bellied Hes- 
 sians in the CcBur D'AI-enes hath no terrors for 
 patriots who will die, as they have lived, for 
 liberty. '' 
 
 The army reorganization bill is a notice 
 served on labour that liberty is sentenced to 
 death ; and that unless labour prefers peace at 
 the price of chains and slavery, it must arm it- 
 self for labour's Gettysburg, and give battle to 
 tyranny for victory or deatli. The enemy's ad- 
 vance guard is already thundering at the gates 
 of labour's Lexington. Do your pickets sleep 
 and your soldiers dream ? Can none at you see 
 the crimson dawn of the American Thermidor, 
 and the stalking phantom of Robespierre ? Your 
 laws defied, your rights denied, your last liber- 
 ties assailed by the Go'ths and Vandals of pluto- 
 cracy, and still ye cower in submission to the 
 galling yoke of Caesar ! Peace — with hunger ! 
 Liberty — to starve ! 
 
 Famine for your wives, whoredom for your 
 daughters, slavery for your sons, and chains 
 and bayonets for you ! This is the terms of sur- 
 render your enemy proposes ! Let your answer 
 be the answer of Sumpter to the guns of Beau- 
 regard ! 
 
 SALTAIRE. 
 
 At page 68 appears the following: 
 
 Then let them march to the polls as free men, 
 not as slaves, and cast their ballots for the 
 emancipation of the wage slave, a ballot that 
 will not disgrace the gubernatorial chair with 
 a despot, who is the willing tool of plutocracy, 
 who, at the beck and call of a corporation hire- 
 ling send'g out his peanut S'Oldiers to awe honest 
 la.bour into servile siubjection for demanding 
 their right to organize and to petition for a 
 little more wages to keep the wolf from the 
 door. A ballot that v/ill banish forever master 
 and slave. A ballot that will not disgrace ' Old 
 Glory' by floating over corruption and p'oiticoit 
 soldiers, who would murder their brother in toil 
 if it would win an encomium from' their master. 
 If I had the power of the Almighty I would 
 gather them all up and place them under my 
 heel and griud them into the dust of o^blivion. 
 Fraternally, 
 
 W. T. HUBBBLL, 
 Globe Miners' Union, No. 60, W. F. of M. 
 
 The following appears in the editorial 
 New Year's Greeting in the Januarj^ num- 
 ber: 
 
 We believe that organized labour throughout 
 the wpst is approaching a crisis. The merging 
 of railroads and coalition of millionaires in the
 
 70 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Industries of manufacture are the signals that 
 that would warn the forces beneath the banner 
 of unionism to prepare for the fray. ' In times 
 of peace prepare for -war.' There is ^generally 
 a luW before a storm, and the temporary calm 
 sometimes gathers the force of a cyclone to 
 render impotent a weak and staggering resist- 
 ance. The question arises : what shall the 
 members of the Federation do to neutralize the 
 ominous portending shadows that point to a 
 measuring of strength between labour and capi- 
 tal ? We would suggest that every member 
 who is employed contribute to the treasury of 
 his local one day's pay each month for a period 
 of one year. By doing this organized labour 
 will be placing in its arsenal some of the am- 
 munition that is necessary to cope with capital 
 on the field of battle. 
 
 At page 10 : 
 
 Conservatism in a labour organization is rapid- 
 ly becoming a synonym for cowardice. 
 
 At pag'e 19 : 
 Discontent is an indication of intelligence. 
 
 At page 35 the following editorial para- 
 graph : 
 
 Dick Adams, who won corporation gratitude 
 for his distinguished services as a hired thug 
 during the Coeur D'Alene trouble of 1892 and 
 1899, was killed a few weeks ago in the Bunker 
 Hill mill. According to the account in the Idaho 
 State Tribune ' he was caught by a set screw In 
 the line shaft and wound up and instantly killed. 
 His neck was broken, .his head nearly severed 
 from the body, bis arms and legs broken and 
 the body badly crushed. Throughout the min- 
 ing states and territories of the west there are 
 many miners who know and have heard of this 
 cold-blooded hireling, and some who have felt 
 the sting of his sneers and Jeers, and It Is safe 
 to say that among the miners few tears will 
 be shed over the tidings that he met an untime- 
 ly end. When he ceased to be useful in carry- 
 ing out the cruel mandates Issued by Standard 
 Oil brutality, he was given a job like any other 
 wage slave, and in the performance of his duties 
 In the mill he met his death. His remains have 
 been shipped to Oregon for Interment, and it 
 may be that Rockefeller and the other mining 
 magnates of Idaho will pass the hat around for 
 a collection to place a slab at his grave that 
 will bear the following Inscription : ' Here lies 
 our servile tool.' 
 
 In the May number, in commenting on 
 the appointment by the Governor of Color- 
 ado of a commission to inquire into and re- 
 port on the labour troubles, President Moyer 
 and Secretary Haywood of the Western 
 Federation of Miners say, over their own 
 signatures at page 4 : 
 
 An arbitration commission that was appointed 
 laat October by President Roosevelt have just 
 bMUsli't in their verdict, which is an insult to 
 the honour and dignity of organized labour. 
 
 At page 27, oommenting on the Anthra- 
 cite Commission's report, the editor says : 
 The courts are recognized to-day by organ- 
 ized labour as partial to capital. Nearly every 
 labour law that passes a legislative body is de- 
 
 clared unconstitutional. What justice can be 
 expected from tribunals which, upon the slight- 
 est pretext, grant injunctions to corporations 
 which shackle the power of orgianized labour 
 in its struggle for justice. 
 
 At page 36 the editor says : 
 
 The minister of the gospel who Is not in sym- 
 pathy with organized labour should be placed 
 on the ' scab ' list. 
 
 At page 49 a contributor says: 
 
 Don't you know that the next strike must 
 be won by a national or International strike to 
 show capitalism and ourselves how omnipotent 
 unified, consolidated labour is ? Stop every 
 wheel in America ; silence every telegraph ; 
 stop every train ; hold every ship at anchor ; 
 close every market ; silence every press for ten 
 days ! Euirope will follow our example, and 
 It will be the last strike of labour. The next 
 strike will occur at the baHot box, and the war 
 will be over forever. 
 
 There is not food enough to feed the world 
 longer than ten days without our work in pro- 
 duction and distribution ; not jails enough to 
 hold us ; not soldiers enough to guard us ; not 
 police enough to arrest us, and not judges 
 enough to ' enjoin ' us ! The universal ten days' 
 strike is the means to the end ! 
 
 These examples have been taken at ran- 
 dom out of the only numbers of this pub- 
 lication that have been handed in to the 
 Commission, but they are enough, we think, 
 to show its character. 
 
 The Incorporation of Unions. 
 
 We think, then, that legitimate trade 
 unionism ought to be encouraged and pi-o- 
 tected, and that organizations of the class 
 just dealt with ought to be prohibited and 
 declared illegal, and that there ought to be 
 strict enforcement of the law relating to 
 the administration of voluntary oaths. We 
 would, therefore, suggest that provision be 
 made for the incorporation of trade unions 
 with a model constitution ; that among 
 other things it should be provided that no 
 strike should be declared without at least 
 30 days' notice to the employer except in 
 cases where the employer is attempting to 
 change the conditions of employment to the 
 disadvantage of the employer without 
 giving similar notice ; that there should 
 be at least a two-thirds majority of 
 those present in its favour at a meeting 
 called epecially to consider the question ; 
 that the matter should be decided by ballot ; 
 that no strike be declared which shall be in 
 violation of any contract not already vio- 
 lated by the employer ; that all strikes.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 71 
 
 lockouts and disagreements with the em- 
 ployer shall be settled without the inter- 
 ference of any person residing outside of 
 the Dominion unless by mutual consent. 
 
 To protect the union it ought to be made 
 an offence for the employer to discriminate 
 against, or discharge any member of an in- 
 corporated union for the reason only that he 
 is, or intends to become a member of such 
 union; and, generally on this subject, it 
 would appear to be just to enact that no 
 person should be refused employment or in 
 any way discriminated against on account 
 of membership or non-membership in any 
 labour organization, except such as may be 
 declared illegal by competent authority ; 
 and on the other hand, that there should be 
 no discrimination against or interference 
 with an employee who is not a member of 
 any legal organization by members of such 
 organization. We think that the incorpora- 
 tion of such unions with adequate protec- 
 tion, would meet with the approval of the 
 majority of the intelligent and reasonable 
 leaders in labour circles. It has been urged 
 as an objection that they would be merely 
 targets for law suits, and that their benefit 
 funds would be liable to be seized to make 
 good any judgments against them. As to 
 this, it could be provided that purely benefit 
 funds should be vested in trustees nomin- 
 ated for that purpose, and they should not 
 be liable to answer any judgments, other 
 than such as may be rendered in litigation 
 relating to such funds ; and if this were 
 done we cannot see how any valid objection 
 can be taken to the proposition that a union 
 should be liable for any violation of con- 
 tract or any legal wrong it may commit 
 equally with any other organization. In 
 fact it is a mistake to suppose that an un- 
 incorporated body can not be sued for 
 wrongs done by the action of the body as a 
 whole. Lord Lindlay says, in the Taff Vale 
 Case, (1902, Appeal Cases, at page 443) : 
 
 I have myself no doubt whatever that if the 
 trade union couM not be sued in this case in its 
 registered name, some of its members (namely, 
 its executive committee) could be sued on behalf 
 of themselves and the other members of the 
 Eociety, and an injunction and judgment for 
 damages could be obtained in a proper case in 
 an action so framed. Further, it is, in my opin- 
 ion, equally plain that if the trustees in whom 
 
 the property of the society Is legally vested 
 were added as parties, an order could be made 
 in the same action, for the payment by them 
 out of the funds of the society of all damages 
 and costs for which the plaintiff might obtain 
 judgment against the trade union. 
 
 On the other hand, an employer would be 
 very much more willing to deal with an in- 
 corporated union than with an unincor- 
 porated body, as he would be dealing with a 
 body that had a legal status, and generally 
 some corporeal substance, and not with a 
 shadow; and those workmen who desire re- 
 cognition of their unions would have much 
 more reason to expect it if their unions 
 were incorporated than if they were not. 
 
 It is also objected that the unions might 
 be subject to repeated litigation, and ex- 
 hausted by a series of appeals by wealthy 
 employers. As to this it could be provided 
 that if the union were successful in the 
 first instance there should be no appeal ex- 
 cept by leave of the judge appealed from, 
 or of the Court of Appeal, and that either 
 could, in any case in which it might appear 
 to be just, require the appellant to pay all 
 costs in any event as a condition of the 
 leave to appeal, for which course there is 
 ample precedent in the practice of the Ju- 
 dicial Committee of the Privy Council. 
 
 There would, of course, be nothing to 
 prevent members of the incorporated unions 
 from retaining their international mem- 
 bership if they chose to do so. 
 
 The TJnion Label and the ' Unfair ' and 
 ' Scab ' List. 
 
 Further, we see no reason why incor- 
 porated unions should not be given the 
 right to use the union label on the products 
 of their manufacture. And here is an illus- 
 tration of the difference between methods 
 which are right in principle and those which 
 are wrong in principle. There is no reason 
 why a union should not be allowed to ad- 
 vertise its products by means of the label, 
 and in this way bespeak the patronage of 
 the public. On the other hand, the publica- 
 tion of the ' unfair ' and ' scab ' list is 
 wrong in principle. Why should any per- 
 son or union be allowed to publish or pla- 
 card any other person or body of men as 
 * unfair ' or as ' scabs ' ? Such action tends
 
 72 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 manifestly to a breacli of the peace and 
 argues a contemptuous indifference to, and 
 a high-handed attack upon the rights of 
 others. There is no reason why the unions 
 cannot confine themselves to the publication 
 of ' fair ' instead of ' unfair ' or * scab ' 
 lists — a ' white ' list, and not a ' black ' list. 
 A case was brought to our attention of a 
 contractor who employed union men and 
 paid the union scale, and of the owners for 
 whom he was building, who were posted up 
 by the Trades and Labour Council of Van- 
 couver as ' unfair,' and placarded as such 
 on different streets in the city. It was also 
 stated in the placard that a number of la- 
 bour organizations endorsed the action of 
 the Trades and Labour Council, but we have 
 every reason to believe that this statement 
 was made without the authority of several 
 of the organizations mentioned. The pla- 
 card in question is Exhibit 72a to this re- 
 port. Exhibit 76, a calendar advertising 
 the Gurney Foundry Company, of Toronto, 
 in large type as ' unfair ' was also brought 
 to our attention. Other examples of the mode 
 in which the ' unfair ' and * scab ' list are 
 used will be found in Exhibits 72 (b), 75, 
 76, 77. If the posting up of others as 
 * unfair ' or as ' scabs ' is not prohibited 
 then, as the appetite gro^vs by what it feeds 
 on, other wrongs, such as boycotting and 
 intimidation will occur with increasing fre- 
 quency and boldness until the employers 
 will be driven into combination for the pur- 
 pose of retaliating in kind, and it will not 
 be long before society gets into the explo- 
 sive condition which precedes riot and civil 
 war. We think, therefore, that the use of 
 the union label should be recognized by law, 
 and that it should be allowed to incorporat- 
 ed bodies, but that it should be made a spe- 
 cific offence to use or publish the epithets 
 ' scab ' or ' unfair ' in connection with the 
 name of any person or organization. 
 
 /The Boycott, Intimidation and Picketing. 
 
 We have already alluded to the boycott, 
 intimidation and picketing. The two for- 
 mer are condemned by the best type of la- 
 bour leaders, and indeed by all right think- 
 ing people. We may note, in addition to in- 
 
 stances already cited, a case that was espe- 
 cially brought to our attention. A widow 
 who was keeping a boarding house (it being 
 her only means of living) was waited on by 
 three union boarders, who informed her that 
 unless she turned away some six or eight 
 non-union boarders they would withdraw, 
 and on her refusal they did withdraw. The 
 men who did this were no friends of union- 
 ism, for, as Junius would say, the man who 
 is truly loyal to unionism will neither ad- 
 vise nor submit to arbitrary measures. Yet 
 not only was this action lauded and de- 
 fended by some exponents of unionism, but 
 it was further explained to us that a * scab ' 
 is a murderer. To such as are imbued with 
 this spirit, which savours rather of the 
 bigotry of the middle ages than of enlight- 
 ened unionism, we would commend the 
 words of Coriolanus: 
 
 What's the matter, you dissemtious rogues, 
 That, rubbicg the poor itch of your opinion, 
 Make yourselves scabs ? 
 
 With regard to picketing, some evidence 
 was given to show that this Was done in the 
 case of the railway strike, accompanied by 
 acts of intimidation, and there is no doubt 
 that a number of assaults on both striicers 
 and ' scabs ' took place, resulting in one case 
 in the death of a striker, which are directly 
 attributable to the existence of the strike. 
 All of which demonstrates, if it needed de- 
 monstration, that a strike is a very serious 
 disturbance of the social peace and pros- 
 perity, and is to be prevented by all m.eans 
 possible. 
 
 Preventive Measures by Parties. 
 
 With regard to preventive measures by 
 the parties themselves, obviously the sim- 
 plest and best way is for the contending 
 parties to settle their differences by com- 
 promise and mutual concession, either with 
 or without the mediation of others, both 
 keeping in mind the fact that there may be 
 good reason for the other's stand, and that 
 they both owe a duty to the community 
 v/hich protects and sustains them, not to 
 inflict any more damage and inconvenience 
 upon it than is absolutely necessary. It is 
 also too often forgotten by employees that
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 73 
 
 tlaey have families to support, and that they 
 have no right to plunge the community into 
 a state of strife which a strike invariably 
 causes unless they are forced to do so by 
 the m«st compelling necessity ; and by em- 
 ployers, especially those who are in control 
 of exclusive franchises and natural mono- 
 polies, that they do not own their franchise 
 or property in any absolute sense, but that 
 they enjoy their beneficial control by the 
 sanction and approval of the society in 
 which they live, and that they are therefore 
 under a special obligation to society to see 
 to it that their management does not, by 
 arbitrary and vmreasonable conduct, be- 
 come a public nuisance. 
 
 Preventive Measures by the State. 
 
 As to the best method of minimizing the 
 danger of strikes and lock-outs by legisla- 
 tion, we think the most effective means will 
 be found in compelling publicity at the 
 earliest stage of the trouble. 
 
 Greater Publicity. 
 
 ISTo strike or lock-out should be allowed 
 except upon giving at least 30 days' notice, 
 (some of the unions prescribe 3 months), 
 where the other party is not attempting to 
 change the terms or conditions of the em- 
 ployment, and the intending strikers or em- 
 ployers should be comi)elled to file a sworn 
 statement, fully and accurately setting forth 
 the reasons for the intended strike or lock- 
 out in the office of the Registrar of the 
 Supreme Court of the province, and of the 
 Minister of Labour at Ottawa, at least 3 
 weeks before the day fixed for the strike or 
 lock-out. The statement should also be 
 served upon the opposite party, who should 
 be required to file a sworn answer thereto 
 within. 10 days of its receipt. On the other 
 hand, where the other party attempts to 
 change the terms and conditions of the em- 
 ployment, provision could be made requir- 
 ing statements to be filed either before or 
 after the strike or lock-out takes place, ac- 
 cording to the nature of the case. In this 
 way the press and the public will at once 
 become authoritatively informed by both 
 sides of their position at the outset of 
 
 the trouble, and public opinion will at once 
 begin to act upon the parties, and no doubt 
 in many cases, before the day fixed for the 
 strike or lock-out arrives, better counsels 
 vt'ill prevail. It would also afford an oppor- 
 tunity for settlement by means of concilia- 
 tion or arbitration before the parties came 
 to arm's length. If a law to this effect had 
 been in force there would have been no 
 strike on the part of the longshoremen or 
 teamsters or the steamshipmen's associa- 
 tion, as the only excuse they could have 
 given for their actions was that they were 
 being brought in contact with so-called 
 ' scab ' freight, or, at any rate, if they did 
 venture to put such a ground for a strike 
 before the public they would have soon 
 found that they had taken up an untenable 
 position. Similarly if an employer were to 
 order a lock-out solely on the ground that 
 the men had joined a union not prohibited 
 by law, we think public opinion would soon 
 make it unmistakably appear that such a 
 lock-out would not be justifiable. 
 
 Boards of Conciliation. 
 
 There is no doubt that the establishment 
 of boards of conciliation will go far in the 
 direction of avoiding strikes and lock-outs. 
 The weight of opinion in Great Britain and 
 in the United States, both among employers 
 and employed, seems to be that conciliation 
 ought to be the method invariably resorted 
 to in the settlement of industrial disputes, 
 and that a general scheme of compulsory 
 arbitration would be productive of moro 
 harm than good, the chief grounds of ob- 
 jection being that it is a very serious inter- 
 ference with the freedom of contract, that 
 it is generally a compromise Vvhich is not 
 Siitisfactory to either party, being arrived 
 at in the last result by an umpire who may 
 not fully appreciate the position of one or 
 otlier of the parties, and that it is seldom 
 loyally accepted and lived up to by both 
 parties. 
 
 We would strongly recommend both em- 
 ployers and employed to enco'arage and 
 practice the spirit of conciliation, and we 
 think it v/ould be a good plan, in the case 
 of the larger industries, if both would re-
 
 74 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 cognize the possibilities of disputes, and 
 make it a rule periodically to appoint some 
 person or persons on each side to form a 
 permanent conciliation committee to con- 
 sider any differences that cannot otherwise 
 be settled to the satisfaction of both parties. 
 These persons could, in the event of failure 
 to agreCj if both employer and workmen 
 assented, be converted into a board of ar- 
 bitration by the appointment of an umpire ; 
 or a board of arbitration could be consti- 
 tuted of other persons altogether, and the 
 conciliators on each side could present the 
 case to the arbitrators. 
 
 Compulsory Investigation. 
 
 Compulsory investigation may also some- 
 times be employed with advantage. We 
 have no doubt that the present investigation 
 was a large factor in hurrying the railway 
 strike to an end,- and we believe that a 
 method providing an expeditious mode of 
 compulsory investigation by persons to be 
 nominated by the parties and an umpire 
 would satisfactorily dispose of a good many 
 labour disputes. 
 
 Compulsory Arbitration. 
 
 The weight of opinion as expressed before 
 the Commission was against compulsory ar- 
 bitration, and while we do not think that a 
 law applying this method of settling dis- 
 putes to industries generally would meet 
 with general approval, there are special 
 cases in which it would seem to be the ne- 
 cessary final resort. , 
 
 It does not need any argument to show 
 that public service undertakings, such as 
 railways, telegraphs, telephones, steamships, 
 the supplying of power, water and light, 
 and particular industries, such as coal min- 
 ing, must be carried on without interruption 
 if the whole industrial business of the com- 
 munity is not to be seriously damaged or 
 ruined. 
 
 No gain that can possibly accrue to 
 either of the parties in this class of case 
 by means of a strike or lock-out can possi- 
 bly be commensurate with the loss inflicted 
 upon the general public, which may easily 
 cause, in some instances, the total extinc- 
 
 tion of a particular industry, or its transfer 
 to another district or country. We there- 
 fore think that, notwithstanding the objec- 
 tions that can be raised to compulsory ar- 
 bitration, this mode of settling disputes 
 ought to be resorted to in this class of case 
 whenever the strike or lock-out has reached 
 such dimensions as to seriously affect the 
 public, and when all other means have been 
 exhausted or would appear to be of no 
 avail. 
 
 We would, therefore, suggest that the 
 Governor in Council be armed with author- 
 ity in the cases mentioned to notify the par- 
 ties by proclamation that unless the dis- 
 pute is settled by a day to be fixed, it will 
 be referred to the court which shall have 
 power to summarily investigate and try the 
 same, and give a decision and award which 
 shall be binding for a period not to exceed 
 one year. This jurisdiction should not be 
 open to be invoked by either party, and 
 should only be exercised by the Governor in 
 Council whenever it shall. appear that the 
 strike or lock-out has reached, or is likely 
 to reach such dimensions, or has lasted, or 
 is likely to last so long as to seriously affect 
 the general welfare of the public; in short, 
 the only ground on which the jurisdiction 
 should be exercised is that of public neces- 
 sity. Had the recent coal strikes in Koote- 
 nay lasted another two weeks there is no 
 doubt that 75 per cent of the mining and 
 smelting industries of the province would 
 have had to close down and several thou- 
 sand men would have been thrown out of 
 employment. Such a crisis would be im- 
 possible under the proposed law. 
 
 When the trouble exists in more than one 
 province, the court referred to should be the 
 Exchequer Court of Canada, as its jurisdic- 
 tion and process is binding over the whole 
 of Canada, but all judges of the highest 
 Provincial Courts of First Instance should 
 be made ex officio judges of the Exchequ^ 
 Court for this purpose. The reference 
 should be made to the court, and not to any 
 particular judge, and on receipt of the order 
 of reference the Kegistrar of the Supreme 
 Court or other highest Court of First In- 
 stance in the province should determine the
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 75 
 
 judge by lot, and in this way the parties 
 would not be able to speculate on the per- 
 sonality of the judge who would try the dis- 
 pute. We think that' such an enactment 
 would have a legitimate coercive influence 
 on the parties, and that the proclamation 
 would generally be productive of a settle- 
 ment withovit the necessity for a reference. 
 From and after the day fixed, the continu- 
 ance of the strike or lock-out should bo 
 made unlawful. 
 
 Labour Leaders. 
 
 The testimony shows that it is of the ut- 
 most consequence to the workmen them- 
 selves that they exercise extreme caution in 
 their decision to join any given organiza- 
 tion. There can be no doubt that the de- 
 signs and aims of the or^ianizations, which 
 we have suggested should be declared illegal, 
 were to a large extent concealed from the 
 men by their leaders. Workmen ought not, 
 in their own interests, to leave themselves 
 open to the charge that they are, as some 
 employers claim ' slaves of the union,' and 
 yet the evidence shows that it would not be 
 a wholly incorrect description of the posi- 
 tion of those who were engaged in the 
 strikes in question. If workmen are not 
 careful in the selection of their leaders, if 
 they do not choose straightforward and 
 fair-minded men as the officers of their or- 
 ganizations, the case for recognition is 
 hopeless. Looking at the evasive and equi- 
 vocating way in which the testimony of 
 some of the leaders was given, and at the 
 extraordinary trouble that was taken by 
 them to keep their followers in the dark as 
 to their real designs, it would be a miracle 
 if any organization led by such men could 
 ever maintain peaceful relations with any 
 employer, no matter how friendly he was 
 disposed to be, or how far he might go in 
 his concessions. If the experience of the 
 business world should unhappily demons- 
 trate that unionism is sjTnbolical of tyr- 
 anny and treachery, the position of the 
 worlanen will become hard indeed, unless 
 some other institution is devised which will 
 better maintain the equilibrium which 
 
 ought to exist between them and their em- 
 ployers. A special obligation is therefore 
 placed upon the upholders and leaders of 
 unionism to see to it that it is not over- 
 whelmed with that just scorn and oppro- 
 brium which is certain to happen unless it is 
 animated by the dictates of justice and rea- 
 son. No institution which habitually vio- 
 lates the fundamental rules of right and 
 wrong can last long in any civilized society. 
 
 That the workmen should be careful in 
 the selection of their leaders is also shown 
 by the fact that in at least two or three in- 
 stances their purchasability was proved be- 
 yond doubt. The man who was the chief 
 organizer for Canada of the United Broth- 
 erhood of Eailway Employees is shown to 
 have betrayed the secrets of the union to the 
 employers for hire, at the very time that he 
 was being paid by the union for bringing in 
 new members, and while he was administer- 
 ing the oath which binds to secrecy. The 
 evidence is also clear that paid hirelings of 
 the railway company worked their way into 
 the union, took a leading part in its delib- 
 erations, initiated new members, and duly 
 reported all that took place to their master. 
 
 It is obvious from these facts that it is 
 not beyond the bounds of possibility that 
 the legitimate desire of a body of working- 
 men to establish a proper union may be 
 used as a means to forward illegal and un- 
 worthy ends by plausible leaders who are 
 in the pay of foreign capitalists, and that a 
 union may be persuaded into a strike by un- 
 principled men for no other purpose than 
 to cripple or destroy a Canadian industry 
 for the benefit of its rivals. It was further 
 shown that the United Brotherhood pursued 
 just as reprehensible tactics as the company, 
 inasmuch as private telegrams between offi- 
 cials of the company were disclosed to the 
 union, arrangements made with an em- 
 ployee of a foreign telegraph company to 
 reveal information, copies of confidential 
 documents abstracted, waste paper baskets 
 ransacked, and the house of the local super- 
 tendent watched, and all with the express 
 approval and encouragement of the presi- 
 dent of the Brotherhood.
 
 76 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 Interference of Foreign Officials. 
 
 As will be seen by the evidence already 
 detailed, the question of bow far there 
 should be legislation directed against 
 foreign interference with Canadian work- 
 men comes up squarely for consideration. 
 , The evidence presents two classes of in- 
 terference: one, that of procuring and in- 
 citing to quit work by the foreign agitator 
 in person; and the other, the case of offi- 
 cials of international or other organizations 
 who remain in the foreign country, but 
 who procure and incite by means of other 
 officials within Canada, and who assume the 
 control and direction of Canadian work- 
 men until the termination of the dispute. 
 As has already been said, it should not be 
 tolerated that Canadian industries should 
 be subject to the dictation of foreigners who 
 know no law, so far as such industries are 
 concerned, but their own desires, and whose 
 business and avowed object it is to keep up 
 unceasing friction between the employer 
 and employed, and who are not trade union- 
 ists, but socialistic agitators of the most 
 bigoted and ignorant type. We therefore 
 think that it is necessary for Parliament 
 to interfere in the direction of making it 
 an offence, punishable, in minor cases, on 
 summary conviction before a county judge 
 or iKilice or stij)€ndiary magistrate, by fine 
 or imprisonment, and in graver cases, on 
 conviction by indictment, by imprisonment 
 only, for any person not a British subject, 
 and who has not been residing in the pro- 
 vince for at least one year, to procure or 
 incite any employee or employees in Can- 
 ada to quit the employment without the 
 consent of the employer; or for any person 
 within Canada to exhibit or publish, or in 
 any way communicate to any employee or 
 employees the contents of any order, re- 
 quest, suggestion or recommendation, (or 
 any document purporting to be a copy 
 thereof), by any person or persons ordina- 
 rily resident without Canada, that he or 
 they quit the employment as aforesaid, 
 whether such order, request, suggestion or 
 recommendation, or copy thereof is signed, 
 or purports to be signed by such person or 
 
 persons on his or their own behalf, or on be- 
 half of any other person, or of any associa- 
 tion of persons, whether incorporated or 
 not. 
 
 The testimony before us showed practical 
 unanimity on the part of the intelligent and 
 strong minded members of the labouring 
 classes that foreigTi agitators and their me- 
 thods were not wanted, in fact, as one of 
 them put it, they regarded it as an insult 
 that such proposals should be made to them 
 by any outsiders. 
 
 Violation of Contracts. 
 
 The testimony shows that it is necessary 
 to penalize the wanton violation of con- 
 tracts as well as the sympathetic strike. 
 The older unions for the most part show a 
 commendable appreciation of their obliga- 
 tions in this regard, but some of the recent- 
 ly organized bodies have shown little or no 
 such appreciation, which is probably due 
 to the fact that while they felt a new sense 
 of power their was no sense of responsibili- 
 ty. "We would, therefore, suggest that the 
 courts be clothed with power to disincor- 
 porate any incorporated union and to de- 
 clare illegal any unincorporated organiza- 
 tion which is shown to have violated any 
 contract without colour of right, or to have 
 gone out on sympathetic strike. This, of 
 course, would not authorize the court to 
 give such a judgment where any reasonable " 
 justification is given in defence of the con- 
 duct impugned. 
 
 Blacklisting. 
 
 It was alleged by counsel for the United 
 Brotherhood that the Canadian Pacific 
 Company was privy to a blacklisting 
 scheme, in common with other railway com- 
 panies in North America, and some evid- 
 ence was given to show that certificates of 
 service, called ' clearances ', did not always 
 fairly state the cause of dismissal. Time 
 did not admit of full investigation into 
 this matter, and the charge respecting 
 blacklisting to other railway companies of 
 the names of employees who had been en- 
 gaged in a strike, was vigorously repudiated 
 by the officers of the company.
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA LABOUR COMMISSION 
 
 TJ 
 
 Some evidence was also given to show 
 that employers were beginning to move in 
 the direction of combining to boycott and 
 blacklist men participating in strikes, and 
 one witness swore that before he could ob- 
 tain lumber from a saw-mill he had to sa- 
 tisfy the Builders' Exchange that certain 
 strikers would not be employed on the 
 building. Neither could this matter be 
 fully investigated, but assuming that em- 
 ployers are combining in this way, it is the 
 natural counter move to the ' unfair " list, 
 the boycott and the sympathetic strike, and 
 equally reprehensible and wrong, and ought 
 equally with them to be declared unlawful. 
 Employers should also be required, if ask- 
 ed, to fully and accurately state the cause 
 of dismissal in the ' clearance ', and not 
 leave it open to be inferred that the em- 
 ployee was guilty of some misconduct 
 which would debar him from securing 
 other employment when the real cause was 
 such as to leave it at least open to question 
 as to whether or not the dismissal was 
 wrongful. 
 
 Hours of Labour. 
 
 During the sittings of the Commission a 
 strike took place among the operators in the 
 saw-mills and planing mills in Vancouver 
 and New Westminster, which we were ask- 
 ed by them to investigate, but we were un- 
 able to do so. The demand was for a short- 
 ening of hours from 10 hours to 9, with 
 Saturday afternoons off and without reduc- 
 tion of pay, and a memorandum was handed 
 in to show that the product is sold on the 
 average at about three times its cost. As the 
 employers have not filed any statement, we 
 cannot pretend to pass on the merits of this 
 dispute, but we think that much good would 
 result by legislation moving in the direc- 
 tion of the shortening of hours. In these 
 days, when tlie human energies are strained 
 
 to their utmost amid whirling dust and 
 machinery, long hours are a crime against 
 nature. The machine should be the servant 
 of man, and not man the slave of the ma- 
 chine. One of the most legitimate modes 
 in which a legislature can aid in improving 
 the condition of the workmen is by the 
 shortening of hours. Of course this ought 
 to be done gradually, and after carefully 
 taking into account the conditions of the 
 particvilar industry in other countries eo 
 as not to transfer it elsewhere, or drive it 
 out of our own country. If it could be 
 brought to pass that the workman would 
 have to work only long enough so as to 
 make his work a pleasurable exercise, in- 
 stead of an exhausting toil, and at the same 
 time secure a comfortable living, society 
 will have advanced a long way towards the 
 millenium. 
 
 These then are the opinions and conclu- 
 sions which we have formed after the per- 
 usal of some two thousand pages of evi- 
 dence and a large mass of documents and 
 correspondence ; and while the inquiry 
 might have taken a wider scope and been 
 more searching and thorough than the time 
 allotted us permitted, yet we do not 
 think it likely, that we should have 
 reached any different conclusions on the 
 points of importance. At the same time 
 we feel quite free to admit that, while much 
 good can be accomplished by wise legisla- 
 tion, the labour problem, so-called, is iu' 
 capable of final solution, and that it will 
 be with us as long as human nature remains 
 what it is, and present civilization endures. 
 
 Dated at Victoria, 
 
 this eighth day of July, 1903. 
 
 (Sd.) GOEDON HUNTER, 
 ELLIOTT S. ROWE. 
 
 Commissioners.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
 
 ^^30 Canada. Royal 
 
 BTA"^ Conraission on Tn- 
 1903 dus . Disputes in 
 
 FFitish (Jolumbia - 
 Report of the Royal Com. 
 
 r006 357 849 6 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FAC 
 
 AA 001 097 259 4 
 
 HD 
 5330 
 B7A^ 
 1903
 
 1