Railroading and Labor Migration Class and Ethnicity in Expanding Capitalism in Northern Minnesota, the 1880s to the mid 1920s Acta Wexionensia No 123/2007 Humanities Railroading and Labor Migration Class and Ethnicity in Expanding Capitalism in Northern Minnesota, the 1880s to the mid 1920s Jimmy Engren Växjö University Press Railroading and Labor Migration. Class and Ethnicity in Expanding Capi- talism in Northern Minnesota, the 1880s to the mid 1920s. Thesis for the de- gree of Doctor of Philosophy, Växjö University, Sweden 2007. Series editor: Kerstin Brodén ISSN: 1404-4307 ISBN: 978-91-7636-567-0 Printed by: Intellecta Docusys, Göteborg 2007 Contents Tables and Figures ................................................................................................ 8 Preface .................................................................................................................. 9 1. Introduction..................................................................................................... 11 2. Previous Research and Points of Departure ....................................................14 The Study in the historiography of Minnesotan and American Labor History .................................................................................................... 23 Points of departure.................................................................................. 33 3. Theoretical perspectives..................................................................................37 Class, ethnicity and generation ...............................................................37 Class ....................................................................................................... 40 Ethnicity ................................................................................................. 43 Generation ..............................................................................................47 Hegemony............................................................................................... 49 Hegemony and its relation to power, culture and ideology ....................53 Organic intellectuals ............................................................................... 55 The problem of ethnicity and class in a model based on hegemony.......55 4. The political economy of Minnesota 1850-1920 ............................................ 61 Statehood and new economics................................................................ 63 Capitalist development and Worker Responses...................................... 68 The Progressive era ................................................................................ 71 The Iron Ore Country, Lake County and St Louis County.................... 81 The coming of the railroad ..................................................................... 92 5. Class and Ethnicity at Work, the 1880s ......................................................... 97 The construction of the railroad, the work force and the division of labor in the 1880s.............................................................................................97 Recruitment, force size and track work ..................................................99 The company’s work force in 1884 ...................................................... 103 Conditions at Work............................................................................... 106 The ethnic composition of the work force ............................................ 111 A Survey of the Work Force in 1885.................................................... 113 The Train Roll ...................................................................................... 115 The Miscellaneous roll ......................................................................... 120 Construction workers, car repairers and painters.................................. 124 The Sawmill.......................................................................................... 127 The Ore Dock ....................................................................................... 128 The track roll ........................................................................................ 129 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 135 6. Organization of Work and Ethnic Division of Labor in 1920...................... 142 The men in power................................................................................. 145 The Station Roll.................................................................................... 145 The Ore Dock ....................................................................................... 151 Locomotive Roll................................................................................... 157 The Enginemen in Lake County ........................................................... 160 The tale told by two investigations....................................................... 162 The Winter Track Force in Lake County, 1920.................................... 163 The winter trainmen in Lake County, 1920.......................................... 167 5 The Winter Yardmen in Lake County, 1920 ........................................ 169 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 170 7. Changing labor relations on the D&IR, 1900-1920 ......................................173 Rules and Regulations for Employees .................................................. 175 The chain of command and the problem of Authority.......................... 175 Hiring and promoting workers.............................................................. 179 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 183 The Trainmen, Yardmen and Enginemen and the D&IR, 1900-1918 .. 184 Agreements, 1900- 1903....................................................................... 185 Agreements, 1905-1906........................................................................ 187 Agreements, 1918................................................................................. 191 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 194 8. Welfare Capitalism and Americanization on the D&IR: Safety and Unity through work..................................................................................................... 197 Welfare Capitalism............................................................................... 197 Early Welfare Arrangements on the D&IR, 1885 to 1900 ...................201 The Railroad YMCA, Nationwide Ideas and Development ................. 205 The YMCA, a bourgeois institution working for class peace............... 211 The YMCA on the D&IR ..................................................................... 212 The YMCA and the community of Two Harbors...................................... 223 Analysis ................................................................................................ 229 The Program for Labor Relations at United States Steel Corporation.. 234 Health Care on the D&IR ..................................................................... 235 From Workers to Co-owners ................................................................ 236 The Safety First movement on the Ore Train ....................................... 240 Analysis ................................................................................................ 246 Beyond the railroad and into the workers’ homes ................................ 248 Employees and safety ........................................................................... 251 The caring company, familiarity and capitalist work ethics ................. 254 Company morals and the relations between labor and Capital............. 259 Analysis ................................................................................................ 261 Athleticism and sports in the 1920s...................................................... 262 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 265 9. The Class Based, Ethnic Opposition to Anglo-American Bourgeois Hegemony268 The Growth of a labor movement and its relationship with politics during the 1890s and the first decade of the 1900s ......................................... 272 Politics .................................................................................................. 275 The rise of Populism in Lake County in the 1890s............................... 281 Radicalism in Two Harbors, the Public Ownership Party and the road to Socialist dominance.............................................................................. 290 The Socialist Period in Two Harbors, 1911-1919................................ 302 The elections of 1919 and 1921............................................................ 317 Culture and Politics .............................................................................. 323 The saloon as social problem and social possibility ............................. 323 Everyday Radicalism............................................................................ 327 Class and Ethnicity on May Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day ... 336 Analysis ................................................................................................ 347 6 The war, the company and the workers ...............................................