Tacoma Railway Men Refuse to Call Off the Strike
At a packed American Railway Union meeting, speakers from Seattle and Fern Hill insist the Pullman boycott is still on—and Debs wires that the men must be reinstated first.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
TACOMA, July 18. [Special.] — The American Railway Union held a largely attended meeting today, and seemed much encouraged by the assurance that many of the brotherhoods who had taken out trains would again quit work on their return to this city. They claim that several have already done so, not being satisfied with the conditions under which they have to work. It is also claimed by the American Railway Union that the engineers went to work on the strength of a false rumor to the effect that all the engineers on the system would do so. On the contrary, they say that not 10 percent of the Brotherhood engineers on the Northern Pacific system have returned to work. Governor [illegible], Populist Reese of Seattle, W. H. Boyer of Fern Hill, and Dr. McCoy of this city addressed the meeting today.
Debs wired Chairman Crehan of the American Railway Union tonight: “We will never declare the strike off until the men are reinstated. Stand firm, regardless of us.” The telegram also stated that all important railroad centers in the Mississippi Valley are still out. Among other telegrams received tonight by Crehan were: “Ellensburg—Brace your point up. All solid here. Pay no attention to false rumors.—Frank Tilla” and “Spokane—Things much brighter here today. Full particulars to you tomorrow.—F. A. Dotlin.”
Sam Wilson, chief deputy for Eastern Washington, brought here today all persons arrested in the eastern part of the state charged with interfering with the Northern Pacific.
“We will never declare the strike off until the men are reinstated. Stand firm, regardless of us.”
The 1894 Pullman boycott was a national confrontation, but Tacoma’s meeting shows how deeply it reached Washington. Then as now, the question was not just wages but whether workers would be taken back without punishment—a demand that still shapes strikes and union recognition fights.
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