PUBLISHERS' NOTE.
At the suggestion of many members of labor organizations, the publishers
of "HOMESTEAD" have decided to set apart five per cent. of the net
profits derived from the sale of the work as the nucleus of a fund for
the erection of a monument in commemoration of the battle of July 6,
1892. A suitable design shown in the engraving opposite page 288 has
been chosen, and it is hoped that the workingmen of the United States
will co-operate to secure the successful execution of the plan. Men and
events of prominence in almost all other fields of human activity are
immortalized by enduring testimonials; but organized labor has
practically nothing to mark its achievements and serve as a reminder to
future generations. A better beginning could not be made than with the
heroes of Homestead, and it is especially fitting that the first impetus
should be given in connection with this history. Such aid as it is in
their power to lend to the formation of a Homestead Monument Association
and the accomplishment of its object is cheerfully tendered by
THE PUBLISHERS.
HOMESTEAD.
A Complete History of the Struggle of July, 1892, between
the Carnegie·Steel Company, Limited, and the Amalgamated
Association of Iron and Steel Workers.
BY
ARTHUR G. BURGOYNE.
ILLUSTRATED.
PITTSBURGH, PA.
1893.
ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, 1893,
BY D. S. MITCHELL,
IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON.
PRESS OF
RAWSTHORNE ENGRAVING AND PRINTING CO.
PITTSBURGH.
INTRODUCTION.
The demand voiced by representative workingmen in the Pittsburgh
district, not only on their own account but on that of their brethren
the world over, for a correct and impartial history of the Homestead
trouble, sufficiently explains the appearance of this volume.
The importance of the theme requires no demonstration. Since labor first
organized for its own protection it has passed through no period more
prolific in soul-stirring events and significant developments than that
extending from July to November, 1892, and including the lock-out at the
Carnegie mills, the battle with 300 Pinkerton guards, the military
occupation of Homestead, the trial of labor leaders on capital charges
and the ultimate collapse of the Amalgamated lodges for lack of funds to
continue the struggle against non-unionism. This was a conflict of far
more than local interest. It was watched with anxiety by both friends
and foes of organized labor on both sides of the Atlantic; it claimed
the attention of leaders of thought in all departments of human
activity; it stirred up the British House of Parliament and the United
States Congress, agitated the newspaper press of both continents, became
an issue in the election for President and is said to have contributed
more largely to the defeat of Benjamin Harrison by Grover Cleveland than
any other influence.
The injection of partisan considerations into public discussion of the
Homestead affair led naturally to a vast amount of misrepresentation,
and even at this late day the causes and character of the struggle are
widely misunderstood. It has been the mission of the author of this
history to sift out the truth, to make clear the motives and methods of
the disputants on both sides, and to recount in detail the events of the
contest without sacrificing historic accuracy to romantic effect.
Personal observations in the course of visits to the "seat of war" while
hostilities were in progress, and subsequent conversations with the
leaders has made the task a comparatively easy one.
Little attempt is made to philosophize on the varying phases of the
labor question as presented at Homestead. It is left largely to the
reader to form his own deductions from the facts set forth and from the
opinions of recognized authorities, not forgetting Mr. Carnegie himself,
which are liberally cited.
That through the perusal of "Homestead" new light may be borne in upon
some of the many who persist in regarding the American workingman as a
mere piece of mechanism, deservedly at the mercy of his employer, is the
earnest hope of
THE AUTHOR.
PITTSBURGH, November 22, 1893.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. CAPITAL IN ITS STRONGHOLD.
Homestead and Its Mills--The Rise and Progress of the
Carnegie Firm--How The "Star Spangled Scotchman"
Made His Fortune--He Labors For Years and Then
Lapses Into Luxury--H. C. Frick's Career as Coke
King and Iron Master--The Fine Art of Crushing
Strikes--Carnegie and Frick Join Hands and the
Latter Becomes the Master-Spirit--Condition of
Organized Labor at Homestead 3-14