Train Men At Canton

fo the great delegation of employés Lf the Pennsylvania railroad that called '[im him in Cantón recently Maj. McSsley spoke as follows: ' Tlu-i v are represented in the delejjtionp this afternoon men in the employ f the great Pennsylvania railroad comBJiy and workiiiffmen and citizens from L"city of McKeesport, Pa. I rememft wfth special pleasure the visit I made tü that city two years ago today ,t' the celebration. of its lOOth anniverfey. 1 remember to have had brought I iuy attention then the very reniarkMe progresa, industrial and otherwlge, fliich had been made by that enterprisog city in the first 100 years of its ■ stenee. I did not find everybody 80 wel] ■mployed then as they had been duriug ]] nrevioUB two years, but I found I tre.it industries giving eniployment to I Sousands of workingmen whieh had 1 been built uu nnder the Republican polI oT th.it had uninterrupted existence, for 1 re than a third of a century. (Great I jnplause.) I "I was Riad to note among other things 1 in connection with that city the establiah1 ment of a tinplate works, one of the first, I if not the first, ever established in the 1 United States, giving employment to I buudreds of men and ni huudreds more I n other parts of the country, and th(i I men, to whom this country is indebted I iirobably as rnueh to as auy other one for I the establishment of that industry, is W. I C. Crouenieyer of your city. (Great apI plause.) Prosperity of 1892. "I am glad to meet and to greet the I citizens of McKeesport and wish for it a I return of that splendid prosperity whieh I il enjoyed fout years ago. (TremenI dons applause.) 1 am ateo glad to meet I io mauy of the men employed in the general offices of the Fennsylvania linea west of Pittsburg, here at my home. for I ]mve long known mueh of their efficiency and ftdelity. (Applause.) Considering that they are luit {rail human beings like the res1 of mankind nothing could surpass e wonderful perfeetion, completeness and safety of the system of railway management and operation whicli distinu'iiishes this country above all others and this road among the most conspicuous ni' any in the country. (Great applause.) I its advancoment you have aohieved results that even in my boyliood would have been eon.sidered magical. "You liave practically eliminated distance, subdueu nature, and hrought into contact the uttermost ends of the world. All with a skill, celerity and modest pride that does yon infinite credit. Bnt, busy business men tbat you are, I am glad to see that you have not lost your interest in public affairs and are ileteriiiinod to do all you can for wise anti honest eonduct. Indeed, I do not think that there was ever a time in the history of our country when so many men were nterested in the rightful settlerneut of public questions as this year. And no class of your people are so mueh interestpil in their lighteous settlement %f the men who worfc for wages and salaries. (Great appahise and cries of "You are all right.' ) Your zeal is more commendaable and I thank you for it. Laugll at Coerción. "It has pleased me very much to observe that all along thu line of the railivays ot this country the employés are organizing, and I thank thera for it. (Applause and cries of "We don't need l haaks.") Bnt I want to give you one piece of advice. Don't use these great organizations to coerce your employera to vote the same ticket that you do. (Tremendous c-heers and laughter, asting several minutes.) And 1 also warn you against any attempt to coerce the offleers of your eoinpauy into voting the Republlcan ticket. (Renewed cheers and laughter and cries of 'Hurrah for McKiuley.') "No body of men in the country has a greater interest in the prosperity of the United States, which they always do so much to créate and promote, than the vast army of men in our wonderful railroad services. No enterprises feel depression more quickly than the railroads - those grand arteries of eommeroe and civilization, which have united. developed and transformed the globe. (Cries 'That's right.') No agency "more accurately registers the business of the country than the railroads, and there is none which has so miraculously advanced it. They connect the far West with the extreme East; the remotest North with the distant South, and constantly traverse every intervening part of our eommou country. Kailroatla as Uarometei-s. "Railroads measure by their traffic and their tonnage the business couditions of the cities, villages, couuties and states through which they pass. They are unfailing barometers of every business change, and have never yet failed to meet every demand apon tliem, however sudden, perplexing, or great! They are constantly increasing their facilities, their efficiency, aud capacity, and jn the sharp competition of legitímate business rivalry they have constantly, of their own free volition, steadily reduced the rates for both freight aud passenger traffic. "1 hey not only regisier the domestic trade of the country, but to a very lapge degree the foreign trade, for without their enterprise and liberality the farmer would be deprived of any participation in distant markets and the merehants unable to offer their goods at prices within the means of any of their customers. Whatever wrongs they have perpetrated, and ín a Bystetn so great and extensive doubtless there have been some, ia s]jite of their efforta to prevent exlortion rather than oa account of their purpo.se to prevent il. they are now and ahvays have been common curriers and I believe that almost without exception the aim of their managera is to obligo aud not impoae upon the public. "No departmeñt of human industry ín the United States bas made greater advancement in the last thirty years than that which you represent. In lgjgg the number of miles of ruilroad in operation in thia country was 35,087. In 1887 150,000, and in 1893, 178,000 miles, but 1 believe we have not been building r.mny, if any. miles of railroad, sinee then. We hare, at any rale, fully onei.ali of the railroads in the world. Exceeds ïünglanii's Trafïic. "The traffic of our railroads is greater than that of any country. A single example will suEnce fo Ilústrate tnis. England is our acknowledged competitori i.nd its foreign trade is llie greatesi of ; ny country in the world. The vessel tonnage entered and cleared in the forpign trade of Londoa during 1890 was 13,480,7C0 tons, and of Liverpool 10,041,800 luns, 'i total for these two great Bbi'pping porta of 24,442,586 tons. The aggregate trafiic on uur railroads in our domestic trade lor L801 was 704,398,409, or more tha.i twenty-niñe times as great] "For wIk.i. tberefore, should we chiefly contend? '!'!■■ advancr ment and protect.ion of thisLimcKiic traffic or ita [" in "tlio 'ttffw !.■'■■ ' " . ' traffic. Wlis lever the proHrty of tliis country is bllghted the raifroads of the I country aro the first to feel it. [Criea of I 'That's riRht.'] If producía are not carI ried by railroad transportation there is I no injtl'iynK'iit domandèd for the operaI tives on railroad l'nu-s. "Let ns seek to lii'st lacrease trade at I fcouic and gvadually so improve our chant marine as to give us greater advantage in the commerce of the high seas. We will neglect neither, but by a wise protective tariiï and reciprocity system increase both. [Great cheering.] Iiicrease Undor Protection. "The Pennsylvania lines in 1805 had a freight traffic of 2,555,706 tous, and in 1887 of more than 30,000,000, a rate of increase onder the beneficcnt and undisturbed policy of the Republican party of moro than 1100 per cent. (Great applause.) So with the othcr great railway system, the New York Central showing a rate of increase of 700 per cent. and the Erie 500 in the same period. All steadily advanced, and kept full pace with the increased prosperity of the country. This is the system, this policy of protection, this governmental policy, which we must agaln restore in the United States of America. (G heers and cries of "Hurrah for McKiuley.") Will uot the votes of the progressive and industrioue railroad men be cast that way? (Great applause and cries of "Yes, yes.") In 1895 the traffic of the Pennsylvania road had rea.eb.ed the enormous volume of 37,120,747 tons, but I observe that while it was enabled to etnploy 873,000 operatives in 1893 it had but 749,000 at work in 1895. You know better than I can teil you that it was business that caused this army of 124,000 to be uo longer cmployed, and that it was poor business that caused a reduction ratker than au ad vanee of wages. (Cries of "That's right.") "The great manufactories, the mines, and the farms were not 'running on full capacity,' aud the railroads in consequence, were uot doing as much or as profitable business as they ought to have been doiug. Which policy do you like best, the old or the new? (Loud cries of "We want the Republican poliey.") Decide this question for yourselves and then vote that way. (Cries of "We will vote all right.") Worse than Free Trade. "Your spokesman has made au able and excellent argument against the policy of the free coinage of silver as it affects your business, and I need not attenipt to enlarge upon it. Free silver would prove equally as disastrous- aye, even more disastrous - than free trade has proven to the people of the United States. (Cries '"We have had enough of that.") We want neither free silver nor free trade in the United States, and I know that men so familiar with home business methode as yourgelves will not be affected by the false theories of this latest delusion of dishonest finance. (Cries of "We are for sound money every time.") "I thank you, gentlemen of Pennsylvania, representing every branch and department of industry, for the cali which you have made upon me here today, and I thank you for your messages, gracious messages, which you have brought, that you will stand this year for American honor, American public faith, American prosperity and the full employment of every idle man in the United States. (Trernendous enthusiasm.) "Wliat we want in this country is a full 100-cent dollar (renewed cheering), and then we want, af ter that, the free opportunity to earu it. "1 thank you for this cali, and it will give me great pleasure to meet each one of you and shake you by the hand."