San Francisco Street-Car Strike
The strike of street-car employees in San Francisco bids fair to be a long and bitter contest. The carmen ask for $3.00 for an eight-hour day. That the strikers are determined is shown by the fact that they quit work on the morning of the day when the president of the company was to arrive from the East to consider the situation, thus refusing to wait even a few hours for a conference. That the officials of the company are likewise determined is evident by their having made preparations to carry on their work independently of the strikers. Altho Mayor Schmitz, himself a pronounced labor unionist, has said that unwise counsel led to the strike at this time, yet the strikers are backed by the labor unions in general—several of which have given assurance of both moral and financial assistance. The carmen are confident of success, because they have an amount of funds on hand and in prospect to support themselves for some time; and, of course, they expect to be able to induce many of the imported workmen to give up their jobs. In this way they expect that the new force will become so unsatisfactory that the company will be compelled to yield. At best, however, strike wars, like all other wars, are very expensive on both sides; and in any event add to the strife and animosity already so prevalent among human beings in our "perilous times."