By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did this organization--"Kights of Labor"--did they by any resolution
or by-law discountenance any interference with men that wished to work?
A. There is no combination to resort to any violence whatever.
Q. Was there anything condemning anything by the men?
A. There was nothing under the organization. The constitution and
by-laws is the one safe basis of any society, and from their
constitution and by-laws there is nothing whatever but that it is a
law-abiding organization.
Q. Do you know of any resolutions being passed by any of those lodges
and by this association, condemning interference with men who wished to
work?
A. I do not, neither do I know of any resolution that urged anything of
that kind.
Q. Were you present at this meeting out here at the silk-works?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What resolutions were passed there?
A. I do not know but very little about the resolutions. I went there in
company--at the time, I held the position of chairman of the county and
central committee, and was secretary of the Hyde park executive
committee, and we went there in company with others of that executive
committee--over to the silk-works meeting, with the understanding that
there were delegations there from all over the county.
Q. You are secretary of the executive committee of what?
A. Of the miners.
Q. Of those Knights of Labor?
A. Oh, no, sir; it was a committee appointed in this mass meeting of
members and non-members. I went over there to that meeting, with the
understanding that there were delegates to be there from all over the
county. I do not know that our committee was notified officially of
this meeting, only it was spoken all over the street, and I presume
there was notice in the local press, that there was to be a meeting
held. When I went there, there was a few thousand people there, and
after a while the meeting was called to order by some gentleman, a
stranger to me, and some gentleman, I forget his name, was elected
chairman. He was also a stranger to me, and the meeting was
orderly--there was a few disorderly men there, but the average of the
meeting was an orderly meeting, with the exception of those few that
may have been aggravated by seeing these men they termed blacklegs
working in their places in the shops. I was told that the meeting was
called by the Lackawanna Coal Company, to receive the report of some
committee, but I never heard of any committee reporting. I did not take
any part there, more so than going round, and when I would hear some
one making remarks there, to try to quash him of all such remarks,
until a letter was brought there by somebody and read--a letter
purporting to be written, as I understood at the time, by W. W.
Scranton, and in that letter, it was read there, that Scranton stated
something, that the men should live on mush and milk, or something to
that effect. I was so far off I could not hear the letter, and that
drove these men around there to a rage.
Q. Did you understand that this letter had been written by Scranton?
A. I never thought that was the letter. That was my impression. The
impression it left on me was that it was written by some men to
accomplish their object--to inspire the men to violate the laws.
Q. Do you know of any resolutions passed at that meeting? Do you know
the purport of those resolutions?
A. I do not know of any resolutions.
Q. When this meeting adjourned, what was the general understanding of
what was to be done?
A. The meeting adjourned. There were a few that got up a cry to go and
drive all the blacklegs out; and the meeting adjourned, and the men
started and went up in the direction of the shops.
Q. What do you mean by the shops?
A. The manufactories, you know.
Q. Different manufactories?
A. Yes; and that is the last I saw of the meeting. I could see these
men running. I saw these men running up the hill. I didn't follow them.
I took the railroad up.
Q. You did not go up with the crowd to the shops?
A. No; I didn't see anything.
Q. How large a crowd ran in that direction, about?
A. I think, maybe, those that went up there might have been three or
four thousand people there in the meeting, more or less. I could not
make an estimate. There was a large crowd.
Q. What class of men were those that talked about driving the blacklegs
out of the shops and mills? Were they men from these shops, formerly?
A. They were strangers to me. I was not much acquainted with this city.
Q. Did the miners join in with that crowd?
A. It was not a meeting of miners; it was a public meeting. You could
not say it was miners or mechanics.
Q. You could not tell whether there was any miners joined that crowd or
not?
A. Oh, no.
Q. A mass meeting of all classes of laboring men?
A. A general meeting.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Was there any liquor there, or anything to inflame--any drinking
going on?
A. Oh, no; not to my knowledge.
Q. You didn't see anything of that kind?
A. Didn't see any man there under the influence of drink.
Q. Do I understand you to say you are a member of the executive
committee of miners?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you go there in your official capacity?
A. No, sir; we just met, and agreed to go there together.
Q. To hear some report?
A. Yes, sir; we went over there as a matter of curiosity, being a
member of the executive committee of the Hyde Park miners.
Q. What did you expect this report from?
A. We were informed there would be delegates from different places?
Q. They were to make a report?
A. Yes; to know the general situation of the men all over the different
parts of the county.
Q. What were they to report about?
A. With regard to what was the condition of the standing of men in
different places. That is what we expected they would report.
Q. The condition in what respect?
A. In regard to what was the condition of the lines that were striking,
or any sign of a break, or anything of that kind.
Q. That is, whether they were all standing solid in the strike?
A. Yes; exactly.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did your committee intend to make a report at that meeting, also?
A. No, sir; but we could have made a report in behalf of the Hyde Park
men, the men that we represented in committee. If there was any
difficulty, we could see that the men at our side were all solid. That
is the general phrase of a report, if the men are all solid--all solid.
Q. All stand united?
A. That meant united.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What wages did you get the last month that you worked?