It is intended, however, to indicate clearly
that, although the award is not such as the railroads had hoped
for, nor is it such as they felt would be justified by a full
consideration of all the facts, yet having decided to submit this
case to arbitration and having been given ample opportunity to
present the facts and arguments in support of their position,
they now accept without question the conclusion which was reached
by the board appointed to pass upon the matter at issue."
A comparison of these statements shows how the balance of power
had shifted, since the days when railway policies reigned
supreme, from the corporation to the union. The change was amply
demonstrated by the next grand entrance of the railway
brotherhoods upon the public stage. After his victory in the
Western territory, Chief Stone remarked: "Most labor troubles are
the result of one of two things, misrepresentation or
misunderstanding. Unfortunately, negotiations are sometimes
entrusted to men who were never intended by nature for this
mission, since they cannot discuss a question without losing
their temper .... It may be laid down as a fundamental
principle without which no labor organization can hope to exist,
that it must carry out its contracts. No employer can be expected
to live up to a contract that is not regarded binding by the
union."
The other railway brotherhoods to a considerable degree follow
the model set by the engineers. The Order of Railway Conductors
developed rapidly from the Conductors' Union which was organized
by the conductors of the Illinois Central Railroad at Amboy,
Illinois, in the spring of 1868.
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