. FEDERA.L REPoaTER,.vol.
62.
.
.,
·. eta!. (circuit Cou.tf,' D;Washingtoh, N. D. August 11, 1894.)
strike, without ,gtilevance of their own, . for the purpose' of cOlllpelling, by obstruction of trav,el and hindrance to tratfic, partie.;; to ope side of II. pendiug contrOvel'sy a.ctual or sup,Posed rights; quitting the service under such ciras made it nacessar:y: toflll tl1eir places in order to continue the' 'oPeration of the toad. Held' that the court should not, by reason of tluHr past services, direct the receivers to. reinstate them, as they had discharged' thep,o reinstatement would displace .compt:ltentand who had .worJ,ied dUring, the strike under abUiiefrom crowds Insympatby with the strikers. Nor was an order forthillrre-emploYlllent in other positions necessary, where without it they would be called upon, to fill as they should occur.
Tb'iswas a petition allU 14 others to be reinstated in tll,eirJormer engineers and'trainmen on the Seattle, Lake.S;ho/:'e & Eastern which had vacated by joining in the strike of railway employes instigated by the American . Railway Union. James Hamilton Lewis, for petitioners. ' . . ",.rq . ".:
HAN,FORD, District Juqge. The petition to reinstate former. of. the 8eattle,.I,.ake Shore & Eastern Railroad in the positions Which they respectively held prior to the late general railroad s.'tl'ike and boYcott, presented to me in their behalf by 001. James. HamiltonLewis,and his argument in support ,thereof, has been duly considered; and I am .constrained to refuse to make any ,order"controlling tlle:dlscretion of the receivers, as prayed for in the petition, for the following reasons: sets forth nO accusation against the receivers or their subordinate officers, nor any grievance whatever. I regard it as an application for employment from men who, by experience and past service, have ,become proficient in the operation of trains upon this road; and, in that light, it merits respectful consideration, so far as to weigh the reasons for and against making the order as prayed. . For answer to the representations made by the petition as to the character and past behavior of these ex-employes who are now asking fobe. reinstated in the positions which they held prior to going out, as they say, "from the employ of the company, out of respect and deference to the order of which, as a fraternity and a brotherwere members," it is sufficient to say that no charges have been made against thttn,and they were for any fault. On the contrary, they all voluntarily quit the service under suchcincumstances its tp not only leave the superintendent free to engage other men to·fiU.their places, but under the necessity of either doing so, or suspending the operation of the road. Fortunately for the road and the communities served by it. the management was not lacking in will or ability to keep the road open. Competent and worthy men were found to fill eyery vacancy, so that
. BOO'l'RV. BROWN.
795
'every scheduled passenger and mail train made its run during the continuance of the strike. While I appreciate the good intentions of the business men of Seattle and others who have joined in making this:appeal, and while I consider that these ex-employes should not be blacklisted, and that it is desirable that they should be employed, I cannot forget that it is impossible to reinstate them without turning out of employment an equal number of worthy men, who not only possess the ability, but also the courage, necessary to handle trains during turbulent times. Mr. Bird, Mr. Brooks, and others now in charge of ngines on this road rank with the most competent railroad engineers in the United States.. They have lived in Seattle for a long time and have families dependent upon their labors for support. For no offense, other than doing honest work, they have been jeered at and' abu.sed by crowds of. people subservient t9 or in sympathy with Debs. The cabs in which they ride show .the scars made by .stones and missiles hurled at their heads. To depdve them of their situations at this time would be an injustice to them, and base ingratitude on the part of their employers. I shall .not· order the reo ceivers to pursue any such policy, and it is not necessary for the -court to make,an order authorizing or requiring the receivers to .employ again any of those who were formerly in the service of the company, for the reason that without such order the superintendent will place all applicants upon the waiting list, and call them to fill places for which they are competent, as fast as vacancies occur, without directions from the court. The officers of this court keep 'no black list. I do not wish my statement to the effect that these petitioners were not discharged for any fault on their part to be misunderstood as an assent on my part to the proposition advanced in this petition that the ex-employes joined in a general' strike without having "any intention of interfering with the successful management of the road," or that such action may be properly regarded as nothing more than a misfortune to themselves, and as involving no degree of culpability. I have only intended to make the point that, as they were not discharged, they are not now entitled to have an opportunity for vindicating themselves, and the court is not called upon to settle any controversy between the receivers of the road and their employes. The action of these men iIi joining a so-called "sympathetic strike," otherwise known in this country as a "boycott," must be condemned as an attempt, without justification or excuse, to destroy the business which had heretofore yielded them wages, and the misfortune which they now complain of is entirely a result of their own folly. A strike by men employed to operate a railway always has for its object the obstruction of travel, and a hindrance to traffic on that line, and means oppression to all who are dependent upon it for means of transportation; and an attempt by the men so employed, when they have no grievance of their own, to dept'ive innocent people of their rights, and to oppress the public, for the purpose of subjecting the parties on one side of' a pending controversy to such an irresistible pressure as to compel
796
FEDERAL REPORTER,
vol. 62.
or supposed:,rights, is necessarily Inlended to inft.ict injury upon others, and must be condemned by all rightminded people as 'an intentional wrong. By joining in a strike undel'''lt1J,ch conditions and for such purpose, these have ablilolved.their employers from all obligations to accord them any preference right to employment over others, by reason of their past They are receiving fair treatment by being placed upon the waiting list. ,SOUTHERN OALIFORNIAltY. 00.
v. RUTHERFORD et aL JUILe
\
(Circuit
Court,
S. D·. Oall:tornia.
30, 1894.)
1B.Tll'B<l'1'ION......PERFOlULUicB·OF DuTY :BY EMPLOYES.
Where. employi3s ot a railroad though remaining In its employ'refuse to thelr.dutles of its trains. so long as PU1lmancars arellaU1¢d" though the company is bound br contract to 'carry 'them, thus iilterruptlng interliltate commerce and. the transmission of, UULlls, and subjecting the company to suits a.nd great and irreparable damage, injunction. will Issue them to perform their duties duriIlg their continuance lD the compants employment.
Suit by the Southern California Railway Company, a corporation of the state of' California, against O. O. Rutherford and othera for infunctitm. :W. J ·. Hunsaker, for complainant.
ROSS, District Judge. Time does not admit of an extended statement facts of the case or of the reasons for awarding the injunction. applied for! The bill shQws, among other things, that the comp13.1nant railwaYcQmpany is one link in a through line of road exten4ingfrom National City, san Diego county, Cal., to the city of Chicago" in the state of TIlinois, engaged in the transportation, interstate commerce and the mails of the among other things, United States; its connecting roads being the Atlantic & Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Railroad Companies. That there isa valid existing contract between the complainant company and its connecting companies and the Pullman Palace Car Company lJY which all regular passenger trains running over the said line of roa.d, including that of the complainant, carrying the mail and passengers, shall carry Pullman cars. That the defendanta jtre in the employ of i;he complainant company, and were employed .byit to, amo:Jigother things, handle and operate its trains so engaged in carrying the Untted States mail .and passengers and,freight National. City, Cal., and Chicago, TIl., and to and frPJP intermediate points, and from the time of their employment up to the time of the commission of the acts complained of by the compll;linant were duly accustomed to handle and operate such trains, inclUding Pullman cars. That subsequently the defendants, although remaining in the employment of the complainant company, refused, and still refuse, to handle or operate any train of cara of the complainant company to which a Pullman car is attached; and because of the discharge by the receivers in pos-