Timely Advice

This article from the July 23, 1877 edition of the St. Louis Dispatch advises the Missouri Pacific Railroad to "set the example to other roads to promptly acquiesce in all reasonable demands" by the workers in order to peacefully end the railroad strike.

Timely Advice

The exciting scenes that have and are now transpiring on several of the Trunk Roads east of the Mississippi can be averted in St. Louis and on all roads west of the Mississippi by prompt action, dictated by reason and common sense.

The Dispatch is a firm advocate for the preservation of law and order, yet we cannot ignore the facts that are now presented to railway managers in St. Louis. To illustrate:

A delegation of railway employees of the Missouri Pacific Railroad have called at the office of the president and general superintendent and presented a resolution in substance, that the wages be restored to the prices paid prior to January 1, 1877, and respectfully ask an answer by 4 o'clock. The same character of resolution was adopted by the employes of the Tunnet and Transit Company, and, if we are informed correctly, was promptly acquiesced in by said company.

The Missouri Pacific Railroad is one of the most prompt paying roads in this state and is controlled by men of liberal views. The dull season is nearly over and by the 1st of September the grain to be moved on this road will give them an immense business. We therefore trust that in view of the fact that their employees have asked for an advance in a dignified and respectful manner, that this road will set the example to other roads to promptly acquiesce in all reasonable demands, more especially in view of the important fact that all other interest, transfer, insurance exchanges and order itself are at stake. The railway employes on the other hand should remember also that if they make unreasonable demands which the companies cannot but refuse, their action will only tend to create a mob spirit, which will not only take from them the sympathy of the general public, but take the control of their actions from themselves and place it in the hands of a mob who have no sympathy with them or their profession.