President Cleveland, unwittingly, confirms this fact. On page 232 of his
article he quotes approvingly the letter written to Edwin Walker,
special counsel of the government and regular counsel of the railroads,
by Attorney-General Richard Olney, as follows: “It has seemed to me that
if the rights of the United States (Railroads?) were vigorously asserted
in Chicago, the origin and center of the demonstration, the result would
be to make it a failure everywhere else, and to prevent its spread over
the entire country.”
That is the point, precisely the point, and Mr. Cleveland admits it. It
is not the “obstruction of the mails,” nor disorder, nor the violation
of law, that arouses Mr. Cleveland’s government and prompts it to
“vigorous” assertion of its powers, but the “demonstration,” that is,
the strike against the railroads; and to put this down, not to move the
mails or restore order—a mere pretext which was fully exposed by
Governor Altgeld—was the prime cause of Federal interference, and to
“make it a failure everywhere” all constitutional restraints were
battered down, and as a strike-breaker President Cleveland won
imperishable renown.