Page:William Ernst Trautmann - Industrial Unionism (1908).djvu/20

trated than by proving the facts occurring every day that a rigid enforcement of them results in chaotic and paralyzed suspense of any systematic service, while neglect and violation assures a systematized, well-regulated service in passenger and freight traffic, although at the risk of life and limb of the railway workers.

But suppose a worker is crippled in performance of his duties, although he was forced to disobey rules? The court is called upon to settle his claim. Judges, of course, can only be guided by the letter of the laws and regulations, and they will always ask a railroader who may be on trial for causing a railroad accident; or suing for damages for injuries sustained while in service, whether he had strictly carried out instructions; and a verdict will always be rendered against the worker when it is shown that he had been "derelict in obeying orders."

The idea of "respecting the laws and obeying all rules in the most minute detail" gave the impetus to the inauguration of a method which has been termed "the passive resistance strike," or, in brief, "Passive Action."

The "Passive Resistance" strike consists in every man remaining at work, but giving the most punctilious obedience to all the rules of