Three Thousand Pack the Armory to Cheer Debs and Denounce Pullman

Armory hall was packed last evening by an audience of nearly 3,000 persons, composed of all classes, among whom were about a dozen women, gathered to hear a presentation of the workingmen's side of the great railroad strike. W. G. Armstrong, delegate to the Pacific Coast Federation of Labor, presided, and there were with him on the platform, besides the speakers, about a score of the most prominent labor union leaders in the city. The First Regiment band played selections before the meeting and between the speeches.

Mr. Armstrong reviewed the condition of laboring men throughout the country and gave a brief sketch of the origin of the strike and of the role of the American Railway Union. He said that Pullman, and not Debs, was responsible for the strike. At the mention of Debs' name there was immense applause. He described the abject condition of the Pullman employes and said that a man was fined for sitting on his front porch in his shirt sleeves or for letting his children play in the back yard. The laboring men were endeavoring to bring wages back to the standard of ten or fifteen years ago, which had been gradually pulled down by the capitalists. He alluded to the resolutions adopted by the Chamber of Commerce denouncing the strike, and said that the American Railway Union was as law-abiding an organization as the Chamber of Commerce.

A. G. Siebert, president of the Bricklayers' Union, was the next speaker and described the ignoble conditions under which the Pullman employes were allowed to work and dwell on the estate of this great American lord, saying that they were not permitted to buy the necessaries of life anywhere but from the Pullman stores. But Pullman had met his match in Debs. [Applause.] He accused the Democrats of servility to the money power and Mayor Phelps of breaking his campaign pledges. The only weapons labor had to redress its wrongs and secure its rights were the strike and the boycott, and they are the weapons of civilization as opposed to the barbarous tyranny of greedy wealth. He then apotheosized Debs, styling him a genius, a liberator and the greatest labor leader that had ever arisen in this country.

T. K. Holmes, president of the Tacoma branch of the American Railway Union, read a very eloquent speech. He declared that the action of the California state militia in refusing to disperse the strikers was a noble deed, and he called for three cheers for them, which were given heartily. He denounced the bank wreckers, stock jobbers, gold barons, trust lords and legislative corruptionists, and said even the president of the country, chosen by the votes of the masses, stands as the servant of the classes. He roasted Pullman for oppressing his workmen and giving the profits in charity, and said this present movement, if the masses be goaded too far, may grow until it shall eclipse the French revolution in terror. The workingmen of the United States are combining in one vast brotherhood, and they ask only a fair share of the product of the machinery that the genius of workingmen has created. A profound sensation was created by the speaker's closing remarks.

Chairman Armstrong then read a telegram to President Biondo, of the local branch of the American Railway Union, from Debs, saying that various industrial organizations had resolved to strike on Wednesday; that many new points in Texas and Ohio had resolved to strike, while all the old ones were loyal, and advising the strikers here to stand sound, as good news was coming in from all over the country.

G. A. Lafayette, president of the Western Central Labor Union, was the last and longest speaker and got into a wrangle with Matt Branigan, a fellow union bricklayer and strike sympathizer, who called Lafayette a liar for saying he was a labor union leader. A sensation ensued and, amid cries of "Put him out!" Branigan was escorted to the door. Lafayette read a set of resolutions giving sympathy and moral and financial support to the American Railway Union, counseling them to no overt acts nor over-demonstrative manifestations; deprecating the action of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce; indorsing Debs; denouncing lawlessness; and requesting the press to publish the resolutions as written. Lafayette ridiculed the scare about the stealing of the guns, denied the truth of strike news and denounced scabs as traitors.

Chairman Armstrong again requested those sympathizing with the strike to wear the white ribbon of peace, and the meeting adjourned.