The preponderance of sentiment was everywhere against the officers. In

inflicting a punishment so severe and unusual on a thoughtless youth,

whose insubordinate conduct might have been otherwise chastised with

equally good effect, and especially in denying him even a drumhead

court-martial, they were held guilty of tyrannically exceeding their

authority.

Iams carried out his threat of prosecuting the officers and indictments

were subsequently found against General Snowden, Colonel Hawkins,

Colonel Streator and Surgeon Neff. The trial, however, resulted in the

acquittal of the defendants, the judge and jury being satisfied that

whether the punishment inflicted on Iams fitted the crime or not,

military law permitted its infliction.

After two weeks' service, the military force at Homestead was reduced to

three regiments of infantry, a troop of cavalry and a battery, the

retiring regiments breaking camp on July 27 and 28. Those that remained

were booked for a term of service which was to end only when the

Carnegie mills were in undisturbed operation, an order of things which

was not to be finally established until more than two months later.

Mr. Frick's illness did not stay the hand of Secretary Lovejoy, who

continued to lodge informations against the participants in the affair

of July 6. Pinkerton detectives and a few newspaper reporters who had

been placed on the Carnegie Company's pay-roll furnished the secretary

with the necessary testimony. The first of the workmen to be held

without bail was Sylvester Critchlow, a daring fellow who had done

active duty as a sharpshooter in the mill-yard. Samuel Stewart, a clerk

in the mill, swore that he had seen Critchlow fire at the men in the

barges, and on this evidence the defendant was held liable for first

degree murder and committed to jail pending his trial.

The workmen, for their part, proceeded to carry out their threat of

prosecuting the Carnegie officials. Hugh Ross, himself under bail on the

charge of murder, made information before Alderman King, of the South

Side, Pittsburgh, charging that H. C. Frick, F. T. F. Lovejoy, Robert

Pinkerton, William Pinkerton, J. A. Potter, G. A. Corey, J. G. A.

Leishman, H. M. Curry, C. W. Bedell, Fred. Primer, W. H. Burt, Nevin

McConnell, James Dovey, John Cooper and Fred. W. Hinde "did kill and

murder John E. Morris, George W. Rutter, Silas Wain and Joseph Sotak."

The arrest of Chairman Frick was to be deferred until he should recover

from his wounds. As the Homestead men, for the most part, had been

arrested at such times and under such circumstances as compelled them to

spend a night in jail, before securing a hearing in court on their

application for admission to bail, Ross made special efforts to have the

Carnegie officials subjected to the same experience. This manoeuvre,

however, was defeated. Messrs. Leishman, Lovejoy and Curry, hearing that

warrants were out for their arrest, went at once, in company with a

formidable array of counsel, to the criminal court where Judge Ewing was

sitting, and asked for admission to bail. Judge Ewing said he could not

hear the applications until the defendants had appeared before an

alderman and either waived examination or been held for court; but with

a degree of courtesy probably never before exhibited in a criminal court

he dispatched a messenger for Alderman King, permitted the defendants to

waive a hearing and then went on to consider the question of bail. This

was speedily disposed of. The Judge declined to consider the

representations made by the attorneys of the Amalgamated Association as

to the entrance into the case of the elements of first degree murder.

There was no equality, he held, between the Carnegie officials and the

men in the conflict of July 6. The former were exercising their rights;

the latter were rioters and trespassers, whom it was proper to oppose

with arms. He, therefore, would admit the defendants to bail in the sum

of $10,000.

Messrs. Dovey and McConnell, superintendents of departments in the

Homestead mill, were arrested later and passed the night in jail.

Superintendent Potter and G. A. Corey evaded the constables and

presented themselves before Judge Ewing next morning. Alderman King was

again brought into court and the four men were released on bail in the

same manner as Messrs. Leishman, Lovejoy and Curry. The court ordered

also that Mr. Frick give $10,000 bail and that it be taken at his home.

Judge Ewing was roundly denounced by the workingmen for the lengths to

which he had gone to spare the Carnegie officials the humiliation which

O'Donnell and his companions had been forced to endure. "Evidently,"

they said, "the judges are prejudiced against us and are bent upon

discriminating in favor of our rich and influential antagonists."

Another disquieting circumstance was the verdict arrived at by the

coroner's jury in pursuance of the inquest held on the men who were

killed in the Homestead conflict. In each instance the killing was

charged to an "unlawful assembly," and the jury recommended that "said

unlawful assembly be certified to the September sessions of the grand

jury."

On August 2, Attorney Brennen presented to court a petition signed by

sixty-seven steelworkers of Pittsburgh and Homestead, praying that a

license be issued for the establishment of a voluntary trade tribunal,

in conformity with an act passed in 1883, to arbitrate differences in

the steel trade. The acceptance of the terms of the act must be mutual

between employers and employed. Mr. Brennen entertained hopes that the

Carnegie firm, seeing the willingness of the men to submit to

arbitration, might yet consent to this mode of adjustment. Secretary

Lovejoy settled the matter definitely in the negative by the brief

statement that "The question of recognizing the Amalgamated Association

cannot be arbitrated."

This was the last overture made to the firm on behalf of the workmen.

The latter, however, continued to keep up their courage and maintained

an almost unbroken front, desertions being few and far between. Mass

meetings were held frequently and at these it was invariably agreed that

the mill could not be operated with non-union men, that sooner or later

the firm must yield to the pressure of circumstances and that, with the

help received from the treasury of the Amalgamated Association and from

other sources, the locked-out men could hold out, if necessary, for a

year or more.

There were some who foresaw the collapse of these castles in the air,

but, rather than place themselves under the suspicion of lukewarmness,

they held their peace.

CHAPTER XIII.

[Illustration: BERKMAN & IAMS]

FRICK'S ASSAILANT RAILROADED TO THE PENITENTIARY--THE IAMS

TRIAL--HANGING BY THE THUMBS APPROVED BY A JURY--THE MILLS

FILLING UP--SERMONS TO NON-UNIONISTS--STRIKERS GO THROUGH THE

PLANT--THE RELIEF FUND--GOMPERS ARRIVES AND MAKES AN

INCENDIARY SPEECH--PITTSBURGH AND MAHONING MANUFACTURERS

CAPITULATE--WILLIAM AND ROBERT PINKERTON ON THE DEFENSIVE.

Anarchist Berkman received but a short shrift. He was placed on trial

before Judge McClung on September 19, appearing at the bar without an

attorney and without witnesses. His demeanor was cool and indifferent.

District Attorney Burleigh presented six indictments, charging the

prisoner with offenses ranging from felonious assault and battery down

to carrying concealed weapons.

Mr. Frick was placed on the stand and told the story of the shooting,

and the blood-stained garments worn by the Carnegie chairman at the time

of the attack were put in evidence. Corroborative testimony was

furnished by Mr. Leishman and others.

The prosecution having closed its case, Berkman asked to be permitted to

testify in his own behalf. "I am not guilty," he said. "I have a

defense." A German interpreter was assigned to assist him. The

Anarchist's defense consisted of an inflammatory address covering forty

pages of closely written foolscap. As rendered into English by the

interpreter, sentence by sentence, it was almost unintelligible. It

proved, however, to be a review of the "blood-stained register of

America," beginning with the "murder" of John Brown, cropping out again

in the execution of the Chicago Anarchists who were concerned in the

Haymarket massacre, and culminating in the descent of the Pinkertons

upon Homestead. The statement bristled with denunciations of capitalists

as tyrants who oppress the workingmen, and the inference which it

finally conveyed was that Berkman considered himself a martyr of the

Chicago type whose exploits would serve to rivet the world's attention

on the enormity of the Carnegie Company's crimes against labor.

Strangely enough, it seemed not to dawn upon the mind of this young

fanatic that he and his fellow preachers of anarchy could not possibly

be mistaken as representing the element that toils for a subsistence,

and that a martyr to the cause of beer, blood and idleness must

necessarily be an object of contempt in the estimation alike of the

classes and the masses.

[Illustration: THE CONDEMNATION OF IAMS.]

Judge McClung confined his charge to a few perfunctory remarks and the

jury, without leaving the box, rendered a verdict of guilty on all six

indictments. Sentence was then imposed on each indictment, the

penalties aggregating 22 years imprisonment, twenty-one in the

penitentiary and one in the work-house.

The trial occupied just four hours, attesting that in this case at all

events, justice ceased to travel with a leaden heel.

The Iams episode was not so easily disposed of. Prosecutions were

entered against Colonels Hawkins and Streator and Surgeon Grim on the

charge of aggravated assault and battery, and the defendants were held

under bonds for trial at the September term of court. The trial began on

October 27, before Judge W. D. Porter, and continued for ten days. The

proceedings were watched with special interest by military men, owing to

the issue involved between civil and military law and the prospective

establishment of important precedents. Colonel J. R. Braddocks, of the

Pittsburgh bar, State Senator Edward E. Robbins, of Greensburg, and J.

M. Braden and Albert Sprowls, of Washington, Pa., appeared as counsel

for the defendants; and Frank P. Iams, a cousin of the disgraced

militiaman, and John D. Watson, both of the Pittsburgh bar, conducted

the prosecution.

The defense opened the proceedings by demanding that the indictment be

quashed on the ground that the punishment of Iams was commensurate with

the enormity of his offense against good order and military discipline,

that it conformed to military law, and that jurisdiction in the case

properly belonged to a military tribunal. After some intricate

controversy, Judge Porter denied the plea and ordered the trial to go

on.

Attorney Watson opened for the prosecution, giving a graphic recital of

the torture to which the prosecutor, Iams, had been subjected. Iams

himself was placed on the stand and related his experiences, a fair

conception of which may be formed from the following extract from his

testimony:

"When I was first tied up I asked for a chew of tobacco. Soon I

began to grow tired; my legs cramped; my head ached; my eyes

felt as if they were being pushed from their sockets; the

muscles in the back of my neck seemed as if they were being torn

from the base of the skull. I suffered terrible agony. It seemed

to me that I had been suspended in the air a week before being

cut down. I saw Colonel Streator there. When I was cut down I

was in a dazed condition; everything seemed blurred. The first

thing I remember was when some one gave me some ammonia. I was

lying on the ground; had a terrible headache. Some one gave me

some whiskey. I remained in the guard tent all night."

Attorney Braden endeavored to show on cross-examination that Iams had

prearranged to misbehave in order to secure his discharge; that he had

swallowed tobacco in order to make him sick while under punishment, and

that he had admitted to a friend that the punishment did not hurt him

much, but the lawyer failed to shake the young man's testimony. Before

leaving the stand, Iams stated that if the defendants were convicted it

was his intention to bring a civil suit against them for damages.

Several members of Iams' company were called as witnesses and

corroborated the details of the young man's story. John H. Gladden, an

hospital nurse of the Tenth regiment, testified that he had seen Iams

trussed up by the thumbs, but watched the proceedings only for ten

minutes, as the sight sickened him. Private Kent swore that Colonel

Streator, on hearing it rumored that Iams meant to shoot him on sight,

said that he (Iams) "had better keep out of the way, or he would shoot

him if he could hit at forty yards."

Senator Robbins, whose interest in the case was sharpened by the fact

that he was quartermaster-general of the Tenth regiment, opened for the

defense. He denied that the case had the elements of an assault,

questioned the severity of Iams' punishment, and warned the jury that

the conviction of the defendants must be followed by the destruction of

discipline in the National Guard. Deputy Sheriff Gray was brought

forward by the prosecution to tell the story of the lock-out at

Homestead, the exhaustion of the Sheriff's powers and the fate of the

Pinkertons, so as to make clear the gravity of the conditions with which

the military had to cope. The defense interposed a statement to the

effect that the Governor had exceeded his authority in ordering out the

troops, but this was overruled by the court.

Colonel Streator's story did not materially conflict with that told by

Iams. Colonel Hawkins testified that on the afternoon when Mr. Frick was

attacked he received two communications by signal, one stating that

Frick had been shot by a striker, the other that Frick was dead and that

extraordinary precautions were necessary. He had thereupon ordered all

commanders to be on the alert, to double their camp guards and to send

out three extra patrols. While the camp was in this state Iams had

proposed three cheers for the man who shot Frick. When Colonel Streator

reported the affair, witness had said to him: "Colonel, you know your

duty as a soldier." The situation was critical and prompt measures were

needed.

Robert W. Herbert, a newspaper reporter, said that Iams had told him of

his intention to shoot Streator, and that in speaking of General

Snowden, the young man had said, "I will get even with that four-eyed

---- ---- ---- on the hill." One of the hospital nurses swore that Iams

had made himself sick with tobacco, and another that Iams had been

drinking and wanted to be confined in the guard-house. Surgeon Grimm

illustrated for the court's edification the knot, known as a

close-hitch, by which the rope was fastened on Iams' thumbs, and

described it as not being a severe kind of knot. Veterans of the civil

war bore witness that the punishment suffered by Iams was in accordance

with the usages of war and that it was mild considering the gravity of

the offense.

An amusing _lapsus linguae_ marked the evidence of Colonel Norman M.

Smith, of the Eighteenth regiment. Here was the colloquy:

ATTORNEY IAMS.--"You have hung men up by the thumbs in your regiment?"

COLONEL SMITH.--"I have never had occasion, but if I had, I would

_cheerfully_ do so--I mean, I would do so. I wish to strike out the word

'cheerfully.' That was a slip." Whereupon an expansive smile illumined

every face in the court-room.

The closing speech for the defense, delivered by Senator Robbins, was a

fine forensic effort, bearing in the main on the absence of malice and

the necessity of extraordinary punishment when soldiers mutiny in the

field. Attorney Iams, in closing for the prosecution, compared his

relative to the Savior on the cross, and averred that the only reason

why the youth was not permitted to die while suspended by the thumbs was

because the defendants "wanted him alive next morning in order that they

could shave his head and drum him out of camp." Judge Porter charged

squarely in favor of the defense, telling the jury that, "If Colonel

Streator, in punishing Iams, was actuated only by upright motives in an

effort as an officer to maintain order, he should not be punished."

It took the jury twenty-one hours to arrive at a verdict. A few stood

out for conviction on the charge of simple assault and battery, which

had been ruled out by the court, and, to test the matter, an appeal was

made to Judge Porter for instructions. The judge replied with a scathing

rebuke. When the jurors next appeared they returned a verdict of

acquittal, but directed that, in the aggravated assault and battery

case, the costs be divided between Colonel Hawkins and Streator.

While there was much sympathy for Iams, this finding was commonly

regarded as a just one, in view of the supreme necessity of maintaining

discipline in the military service and the wide latitude permitted by

military usage in punishing delinquencies in the field. It is safe to

say, however, that the harsh penalties imposed upon Iams will never

again be resorted to in the National Guard of Pennsylvania without

reference to a court-martial.

While these events were in progress, the mills at Homestead were filling

up rapidly with non-union men. The Tide kept up her daily trips, and the

sight of brawny fellows with bundles, duly ticketed for "Fort Frick,"

became so common on the Monongahela wharf at Pittsburgh that people

ceased to marvel at it and to curse and scoff at the blacksheep. By the

first of August there were over 800 men at work, their board and lodging

being provided within the mill enclosure. Regimental chaplains were

secured to hold regular services on Sunday, with the assistance of a

band which took the place of a choir. Chaplain Hays, of the Fifteenth

regiment, preached the first sermon. His theme was "Saul of Tarsus,"

with which eminent biblical character he managed to connect Private Iams

and the anarchists, denouncing both the latter as liberally as he

praised the scriptural hero. After this sermon, the more illiterate of

the non-unionists were firmly convinced that Saul of Tarsus was the

leading non-unionist of his time besides being a regular martinet in

military matters.

Superintendent Potter now claimed openly that the strike was broken,

that about forty of the firm's old employees had quietly returned to

work and that a majority of the rest were ready and anxious to return.

The advisory board met these assertions with an emphatic denial,

crediting Mr. Potter with making a "gigantic bluff," as Vice Chairman

Thomas Crawford put it, for the purpose of discouraging the strikers.[B]

Mr. Potter, however, invited the advisory board to send a committee to

inspect the mill and verify his representations. The invitation was

accepted and four skilled steelworkers went through the plant and

narrowly inspected the work going on in every department. At a mass

meeting of the strikers, held on August 2, this committee reported

that, while it was true that a large number of men were at work in the

mill, little actual progress was being made, and that the consequent

loss to the firm was heavy enough to justify the most sanguine

expectations on the side of the Amalgamated Association. The chief

officers of the Association were present when the report was made, and

delivered speeches full of enthusiasm and confidence. Every man at the

meeting pledged himself to stay out to the bitter end.

[B] The term "strikers" is used here because, when the

firm invited its employees to return to work, the

lock-out ceased, and the union men were placed in the

position of being on a strike.

An attempt to "evangelize" the non-unionists was made by the

distribution of circulars appealing to their manhood in the name of

organized labor. These bills were dropped into the mill yard from trains

passing over the Pemickey bridge and seemed to produce some effect,

inasmuch as several of the non-unionists left the mill and accepted

money from the Amalgamated Association to take them to their homes.

Unfortunately the ease with which funds were obtained in this way led

many of the worst characters in the mill, after being dismissed for

laziness or misconduct, to make descents on the Association's treasury,

backing up their demands with amazing tales of the difficulties

experienced in trying to operate the mills with green hands, including

accidents of the most appalling description. Many of these fictions

crept into the newspapers and produced a sensation.

The relief fund established for the benefit of the strikers was swelled

daily by contributions from all parts of the United States and Canada,

ranging in amount from one to twelve hundred dollars. Soliciting

committees were sent into the coal and coke regions and elsewhere and

met on every hand with a generous reception. An immense sum was needed

to meet the daily demands of the army of the unemployed. The disbursing

officers, however, husbanded their resources by refusing to give out

cash. To those in need of assistance orders on the grocery stores for

provisions were issued. The amounts given out in this way aggregated

about $3,000 a day.

President Samuel Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor, with

which the Amalgamated Association is affiliated, arrived in Pittsburgh,

accompanied by the other executive officers of the Federation, on August

12 and settled down at once to the injection of new life into the

Homestead campaign. On Saturday, the 14th, he addressed 1500 men in the

Homestead rink, throwing a ferocious vigor into his remarks which verged

on incendiarism. Of the assault on Mr. Frick he said:

"I have been asked for my opinion of the attack on the life of

Mr. Frick. I don't know why I should be asked to go out of my

way to give Berkman an additional kick. I never heard of him

until after he made his attack. The laws of Pennsylvania will

take care of him. I do know, however, that I have heard of

thousands of men being shot down by day and by night, each and

every one of whom was a better man than this despot, Frick. Yet

I have never been asked for my opinion of any of these cases."

Mr. Gompers intimated that a boycott might be declared against the

Carnegie Company, in spite of the decisions of the Pennsylvania courts

construing boycotting as conspiracy, and he added that he would not fear

to come personally within the borders of Pennsylvania and declare it.

A highly encouraging event which took place at this time was the signing

of the scale by the Pittsburgh iron manufacturers. The manufacturers'

committee and the wage committee of the Amalgamated Association had been

holding a succession of conferences, without approaching a settlement

for a period of fully six weeks. Not until the second week in August did

they arrive at an agreement. On the evening of the 11th the stubborn

determination which characterized both sides was suddenly relaxed and

the labor world was surprised with the announcement that the

manufacturers had decided to sign the scale in consideration of a 10 per

cent. reduction in the wages of finishers--the highest priced men

employed in steel mills. They had originally demanded a reduction of

puddlers' wages from $5.50 to $4.50 per ton. This the Association

steadily resisted and with unquestionable justice. Even the _American

Manufacturer_, the biased organ of the employers, was forced to admit

editorially that the puddler, being a handicraftsman and in no wise

affected by mechanical improvements, was not a proper subject for a wage

reduction. Finding this demand hopelessly untenable, the manufacturers

asked instead for a reduction in finishers' wages, and after fifteen

useless conferences, suggested that the matter be referred for

arbitration, as the Amalgamated committee had no power to act. The

arbitration proposal was submitted to the lodges and overwhelmingly

rejected, but the wage committee was authorized to act on a change in

the finishers' scale. It was then decided to submit to the 10 per cent.

reduction. The effect of this settlement was to give work at once to

40,000 idle men in the Pittsburgh district, and as the Mahoning Valley

manufacturers and workmen quickly followed suit, the entire iron

district of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio was relieved from a

situation pregnant with disaster to employers and workmen alike. The

finishers were the only disgruntled ones, and so keenly did they resent

what they professed to regard as unjust discrimination against their

interests that a number of them seceded from the Amalgamated Association

and formed a union of their own.

At Homestead the signing of the scale by the Manufacturers' Association

was regarded as a capitulation to the power of organized labor which

must force the Carnegie Company to abandon its individual fight.

It was the belief that Mr. Frick had been chosen to bear the brunt

of the general battle against the Amalgamated Association with the

understanding that, if he won, all the mills in the Pittsburgh district

would be made non-union; and the compromise agreed upon was accepted,

therefore, as meaning that the other manufacturers had lost faith in Mr.

Frick's ability to win, and that the Carnegie chairman himself could not

rationally continue his fight, now that his brethren had fallen away

from him. Subsequent events proved the baselessness of this supposition.

It was merely one of many straws at which the Homestead men grasped

eagerly in the face of the Carnegie firm's slow but sure fulfilment of

its pledge to fill the mills with non-union workmen and rely solely

thenceforward upon this class of labor.

The making of informations and counter-informations founded on the

Pinkerton affair went on uninterruptedly. Fred. Primer was the first of

the Pinkertons to be placed under arrest. He was held for court by

Alderman King on the strength of testimony showing that the first shot

on July 6 was fired from the barges. Primer, attended by the attorneys

for the Carnegie firm, was hurried before Judge Ewing, who promptly

released him on his own recognizance, stating very plainly at the same

time that whatever trouble occurred at Homestead was of the workmen's

own making and that no one else should be held responsible for the

consequences. The court also held Edward Burke in $10,000 bail on the

charge of murder preferred by Secretary Lovejoy. Burke had already

acquired some notoriety by an altercation with Sheriff McCleary on the

occasion of the Sheriff's last visit to Homestead before the arrival of

the troops.

The reader has been informed of the inspiriting effect produced upon

Sheriff McCleary by military protection. One of the first results

thereof was the enlistment of a corps of deputies to take the place of

the Homestead police, the latter officials being so thoroughly in

sympathy with the strikers that they devoted their attention chiefly to

the apprehension of non-union men who happened to stray out of the

works. The sight of a non-unionist was always sufficient to incite an

uproar and on several occasions riotous demonstrations were caused by

the appearance on the streets of men who had the hardihood to leave the

mill and walk abroad. The Sheriff kept adding to his force of deputies

according as the military guard was reduced, until when the last of the

troops left Homestead, there were enough civil officers employed to deal

with any ordinary disorder.

The congressional investigation which was begun at Pittsburgh was

resumed at Washington on July 23. Robert and William Pinkerton appeared

to testify, and a committee of the Knights of Labor, consisting of

Messrs. Hayes, Wright and Devlin, was also present and submitted to the

investigating committee a series of questions to be put to the

witnesses. The Pinkerton brothers presented a written statement, giving

a history of their agency and an account of its methods. They upheld the

character of their employees for trustworthiness and reliability, denied

that it was customary for their men to carry arms or that the men ever

wantonly or recklessly fired a shot or used weapons without being sworn

in as deputy sheriffs or otherwise properly authorized, and alleged that

the men sent to Homestead were to have been deputized and that Colonel

Gray was understood to be authorized to deputize them.

When the sub-committee charged with the investigation came to sum up and

prepare a report, it was found that the members were hopelessly divided,

so that the work done, as far as it was likely to affect congressional

action, might be considered as wasted. Some of the members, however, did

not hesitate to give publicity to their individual views. Mr. Bynum held

that if the Carnegie firm could legally bring in 300 Pinkerton guards,

it would be equally justified in bringing in 10,000--that is to say, a

full-sized army equipped to levy war. He spoke in very severe terms of

Sheriff McCleary, describing him as a "poltroon," whose conduct during

the riot was simply cowardly.

The House judiciary committee later received a supplementary statement

from the Pinkerton brothers, replying to attacks made upon Pinkertonism

by Senator Vest and Grand Master Workman Powderly of the K. of L.

In this document many crimes were charged to members of secret

labor organizations, and it was claimed that the organizations

themselves, instead of showing sincere solicitude for law and order, by

disciplining and controlling the guilty ones, were disposed to applaud

outrages committed in their name and to elevate the criminals, when

caught, to the dignity of martyrs. "Notwithstanding the protestations

of the leaders at Homestead," said the Messrs. Pinkerton in conclusion,

"no reasonable man can for a moment doubt that if the troops and deputy

sheriffs were withdrawn, the non-union men now working in the mills

would be murdered, and for no offense, no wrong, no injury to anyone."

[Illustration: PEMICKEY TRACK IN THE MILL YARD.]

CHAPTER XIV.

[Illustration: POLITICIANS AT WORK]

A SUPPRESSED CONGRESSIONAL REPORT--SYMPATHY STRIKES PROVE A

FAILURE--GOMPERS AS A BOYCOTT WIELDER--THE SLAVS WEAKEN--PLANS

OF THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE--SMOOTH MR. MILHOLLAND

ENLISTS HUGH O'DONNELL--HONEST JOHN McLUCKIE REFUSES TO BE

MUZZLED--THE MILHOLLAND SCHEME FALLS THROUGH--OUTBREAKS AT

HOMESTEAD--THE SEARCH FOR PINKERTON GUNS--MR. FRICK REVISITS

THE MILL.

For reasons which were never fully disclosed, the House committee on

Homestead, which entrusted to Representative Oates the preparation of a

report to the general judiciary committee, rejected the report when

completed and decided to let the whole matter drift over to the next

session of Congress. Mr. Oates found that the differences between the

Carnegie Company and its men might have been adjusted, had Mr. Frick

stated to the conference committee the "bottom facts" prompting the

demand for a reduction of wages, but the officers of the company invited

trouble by failing to exercise "patience, indulgence and solicitude,"

and that Mr. Frick, in particular, was "too stern, brusque and somewhat

autocratic." He condemned the employment of Pinkertons and argued that

the company might have prevented bloodshed by relying solely on the

constituted authorities for protection, although he conceded the

inefficiency of Sheriff McCleary. He condemned also as unlawful the

action of the workmen in turning away the sheriff and in hanging in

effigy Messrs. Frick and Potter, denied the right of the Amalgamated

Association to bar non-union men out of employment, and held that the

men of Homestead had no legal right to resist the Pinkerton invasion and

were answerable accordingly to the Pennsylvania courts. In conclusion,

Mr. Oates found that congress had no power to dispose of the questions

involved. A satisfactory arbitration law could not be enacted and it was

a debatable question whether or not congress could do anything to

regulate or suppress Pinkertonism.

On August 3, Vice-President Morton appointed a committee of senators,

composed of Messrs. Gallinger, Pfeffer, Hansbrough, Felton, Sanders,

White and Hill to investigate the Pinkerton corporation. Action by this

body was deferred until after the Presidential election, the chairman

being a stalwart Republican and averse to the opening of proceedings

which might furnish campaign material to the Democrats.

It was not long until the backbone of the sympathy strikes declared at

the Carnegie mills at Lawrenceville, Duquesne and Beaver Falls showed

signs of weakening. At Lawrenceville, the company took precautions

similar to those taken at Homestead. An eight-foot board fence was built

round the mill yard and no person was admitted without a pass from the

superintendent. The strikers placed pickets on guard, but, despite their

vigilance, several hundred non-union men were spirited in and on August

1, the plate mill was started. One hundred and fifty uniformed policemen

and the entire force of city detectives were detailed, at the request of

the firm, to protect the mill property at this time. After one day's

service the majority of the officers were withdrawn, but enough were

left on duty to guard all entrances and approaches to the mill. For the

accommodation of the non-unionists, who dared not venture out, cots were

set up in the carpenter shop, a rough-and-ready cuisine was improvised,

and beer was brought in from the neighboring breweries. The force of

"scab" employees increased rapidly, and in a short time, the watchers

without began to lose heart and relax their vigilance. Nevertheless the

Lawrenceville strike was prolonged for a year, or twice as long as the

strike at Homestead, although the Lawrenceville men had signed a

contract with the Carnegie Company and had no grievance of their own.

When the strike was ultimately declared off, few of the men who went out

were employed again by the firm and many of them found themselves

reduced to poverty.

The Duquesne strike was of short duration. The men had been hastily

organized and the new-born spirit of unionism among them was not strong

enough to inspire and maintain mutual confidence. A report that

non-union men had been secured and that the mill would be started on

August 4 caused a stampede, several hundred of the strikers discarding

their allegiance to the Amalgamated Association and rushing pell-mell

to the mill when it opened up, fearing that their jobs were slipping

away from them, perhaps forever.

Enraged at this defection, the strikers who held their ground, aided by

a large body of men from Homestead, who had camped at Duquesne on the

previous night, took possession of the mill gates and beat back those

who were returning to work. Deputy sheriffs who were on the ground sent

to General Wiley for assistance, which was promptly rendered, six

companies of the Sixteenth Regiment being sent to the scene of

disturbance on a work train. Eleven of the rioters were captured and

taken to Pittsburgh, where they were held for a court trial. On the

morning of August 8, the mill was again opened for work and the

strikers, thoroughly disheartened, resumed their jobs in a body, every

man, with the exception of those arrested for riot, getting his old

place.

The strike at Beaver Falls, where 900 men are employed, with a weekly

pay-roll of $12,000, lasted four months. It was free from disorder, the

mill being shut down from the time the strike was declared. The

financial loss to the town was so heavy and affected the business people

so severely that it was deemed useless to stay out, and, when the firm

re-opened the mill, the three Amalgamated lodges formally abandoned the

strike and marched back to work in a body.

Sentiment at Homestead was kept warm by the unflagging efforts of the

Amalgamated officials and of President Gompers, of the Federation of

Labor. Mr. Gompers clung tenaciously to his idea of imposing a universal

boycott upon Carnegie products, and the Homestead men accepted the

suggestion with enthusiasm, believing that by this means the firm could

be brought to its knees. Hugh O'Donnell was one of the most earnest

advocates of the plan and stated through the press that it was bound to

furnish a solution for the Homestead problem. As a preliminary step, the

strikers issued a printed appeal to workingmen not to "work up the

material shipped from the works of the Carnegie Steel Company during the

present strike."

At a conference of the general officers of the Federation with Mr. Weihe

on August 12, the boycott plan was considered and finally negatived,

probably because of the well-known attitude of the Allegheny County

courts towards persons concerned in this form of conspiracy. As Mr.

Gompers and his colleagues had been holding up the boycott as a panacea,

their backdown was regarded with much disfavor by the strikers, but a

few red-hot speeches at a mass meeting on the following day, including

the famous address by Mr. Gompers, an extract from which appears in the

preceding chapter, put the rank and file in good humor again. There are

times when oratory covers a multitude of sins.

Once out of range of the orator's power, however, the strikers had to

meet and tacitly admit the force of some discouraging circumstances.

Grumblings were heard even at the expense of Hugh O'Donnell and Burgess

McLuckie. O'Donnell left Homestead mysteriously late in July and it was

rumored that he had been detailed to confer with Republican leaders in

the east with a view to bringing political pressure to bear on Messrs.

Frick and Carnegie. The actual history of O'Donnell's mission is given

here for the first time in print.

It has already been explained that C. L. Magee, of Pittsburgh, in

addition to being interested as a Republican leader in the settlement of

the Homestead troubles, was still more profoundly concerned in the

affair by reason of his being Sheriff McCleary's bondsman. Mr. Magee was

well aware that attempts to influence either Mr. Carnegie or Mr. Frick

were a waste of energy. The next best step, in his opinion, was to

influence the men of Homestead themselves, and, above all, to put a stop

to the speech-making of Burgess McLuckie and others in opposition to the

McKinley bill, to "free trade in labor" and other sins charged to the

account of the Republican party just when the Republican party was least

able to stand assaults. In pursuance of this purpose he communicated

with John L. Milholland, of New York, chairman of the Republican

committee on industrial affairs, advising him to arrive at an

understanding with O'Donnell and McLuckie. Milholland, recognizing the

critical nature of the situation, at once proceeded to Homestead, and

induced O'Donnell to accompany him to New York. The young Homesteader

left without confiding his plans to anybody. A reporter of the _New York

World_, however, recognized Milholland, discovered what was on foot and

informed the _World_ by telegraph, whereupon the management of that

journal detailed a special man to meet and shadow the travelers when

they reached Philadelphia and also succeeded in placing a confidential

agent in Milholland's office as stenographer, with instructions to watch

developments in the Homestead affair.

The upshot of the conference in New York, to which O'Donnell was a

party, was that the young labor leader pledged himself to use his

influence to silence the anti-tariff orators of Homestead, and

particularly McLuckie, and the Republican National Committee, in return,

guaranteed an early settlement of the wage trouble, to the satisfaction

of the workingmen.

On his return, O'Donnell told Hugh Dempsey, Master Workman of D. A. 3,

K. of L., of his agreement and enlisted Dempsey's aid in bringing

McLuckie to terms. Dempsey sought out the sturdy burgess, took him into

the parlor of a hotel and laid the Milholland scheme before him.

"It rests with you, John, to settle this whole trouble," said the Master

Workman.

"How so?" asked McLuckie.

"Well," said the other, "All you need do is to write a few lines over

your signature, stating that you have been misquoted and to quit making

Democratic speeches, and the Republicans will give you anything you want

and settle the wage question, besides."

McLuckie's eyes blazed and his big fist came down on the table with a

bang. "So," he said, "you want me not only to sacrifice my independence,

but to write myself down a PUBLIC LIAR! If any other man made such a

proposal to me, Hugh, I would knock him down."

"Don't be unreasonable, John," the Master Workman argued. "Remember what

is at stake. Remember that it is in your hands to stop misery and

bloodshed and restore happiness to Homestead."

"Yes, at the price of my own character," rejoined the big Burgess,

hotly. "Say no more, Hugh. Come what may, I shall never denounce myself

to the American people as a liar and a hypocrite."

Here the conversation ended and the two men left the hotel. Just then

Hugh O'Donnell came out of a hotel across the street, and seeing

McLuckie and Dempsey hastened to join them.

"What do you think he has been asking me to do?" said McLuckie, with a

contemptuous glance at Dempsey, and then he recounted the interview at

the hotel.

O'Donnell laughed. "Why, John," he said, "it was I that asked Dempsey to

talk to you. If you are as sensible a man as I take you to be, and are

anxious to render real service to your friends here, you will do as the

National Committee wants you to, and you'll never regret it."

McLuckie answered with bitterness that O'Donnell was mistaken in him,

that his manhood was not for sale to the politicians, and that he would

treat as an enemy any man who met him with proposals the acceptance of

which would place him in a dubious light before the American people.

The endeavor to silence McLuckie and make him recant did not end here.

The Burgess was warned by members of the Advisory Board that his

anti-tariff talks were damaging the cause of the strikers; nevertheless

he declined to put a bridle on his tongue and let slip no opportunity of

speaking on the text, "Protection for the manufacturer and free trade in

labor," with incidental references to the connection between high

tariff, high fences and Pinkerton thugs.

Shortly after the meeting with O'Donnell and Dempsey, President Weihe

assigned O'Donnell and McLuckie to speak at a labor meeting in Boston.

Funds for the trip were supplied by the Boston people and O'Donnell was

the purse bearer. When the men arrived in New York, O'Donnell urged

McLuckie to go with him to Milholland's office, but without success.

After the Boston meeting a reporter of the _Boston Herald_ was detailed

to accompany the men back to Homestead. Arriving in New York, O'Donnell

again broached the subject of visiting Milholland, but McLuckie was

obdurate. At this point, according to the Burgess' own story, O'Donnell

left his two companions, promising to meet them at the depot in time to

catch a morning train. McLuckie and the _Herald_ man were on hand, but

O'Donnell failed to keep his appointment. The day wore on without any

sign of O'Donnell's coming. Finally McLuckie informed the _Herald_ man

that, as O'Donnell carried the purse, he was unable to pay his fare to

Pittsburgh. The reporter advanced the necessary cash and they left New

York without an inkling of the whereabouts of their missing companion.

It was afterwards ascertained that O'Donnell had hunted up Milholland to

notify him of the impossibility of dealing with McLuckie and had

probably forgotten his fellow-travelers in the excitement attending his

"con-fab" with the great manipulator of industrial affairs for political

purposes.

O'Donnell's course in these negotiations may be excused on the dual

ground of inexperience in politics and a desire to benefit his townsmen

by securing somehow a termination of the strike favorable to the

wage-workers. He was dealing with sharp and not over-scrupulous

practitioners, who dealt largely in promises and cared little about

performance and less about any damage that might be sustained by

O'Donnell himself, provided that their immediate aims were accomplished.

The sole reward obtained by the young leader was seven months'

confinement in the Allegheny County jail and abuse at the hands of rival

leaders at Homestead. William Roberts was especially severe in his

condemnation of both O'Donnell and McLuckie, crediting them with being

partners in an unauthorized political move, which was sure to be barren

of results. Mr. Roberts himself entered the employ of the Democratic

National Committee as a stump speaker before the campaign was over, and

remained an ardent low-tariff Democrat until the rejection of his

application for a position in the Internal Revenue Collector's office at

Pittsburgh convinced him of the error of his ways and led him to take

the stump for protection.

Smarting under the criticisms to which he was subjected, Hugh O'Donnell

went before the advisory board demanding that he be supported by a vote

of confidence or else be permitted to resign. McLuckie seconded the

request for a vote of confidence, and O'Donnell received his

vindication.

The conduct of the Hungarian laborers caused the advisory board no

little uneasiness. These unfortunates, always poorly paid, had, for the

most part, no savings to fall back on and were quickly reduced to

destitution. It was hard to expect them to starve for the sake of

vindicating union principles, but at the same time it was looked upon as

important to hold them in line with the other strikers, because a break,

even among the lower class of workmen, would be very damaging to the

union cause. The fear of a break among the Huns was a continual source

of anxiety.

Mr. Frick, having recovered in a remarkably short time from the effects

of his wounds, returned to his duties on August 5. A few days later,

Messrs. Potter and Childs appeared on the streets of Homestead for the

first time since July 6. They were on their way to attend a magistrate's

hearing and had to pass through a crowd of several hundred men at the

headquarters of the mechanics and laborers. Both officials were cool and

seemingly unconcerned. They were not molested in any way, the men merely

gazing at them in silence as they passed.

Although the Gompers boycott turned out to be only a flash in the pan,

the boycotting spirit found a foothold even among the children in

Homestead. An amusing illustration of precocity in this regard was

furnished in the little chapel at Munhall station on the Sunday after

Mr. Gompers' arrival. Mrs. Agnew, the wife of a foreman at work in the

Carnegie mill, and her daughter had charge of a Sunday school in this

modest place of worship. With the echoes of Mr. Gompers' speech still

ringing in their ears, a number of sober-faced boys assembled as usual

for instructions, but, before the exercises had fairly commenced, every

lad present arose and solemnly marched out. One of the urchins, when

questioned, said that he didn't propose to be "teached by der wife an'

daughter of no blacksheep." Happily, as soon as the F. of L. issued a

no-boycott manifesto, Sunday school took up again at Munhall and went on

without further mishap.

The life of the men at work in the mill was by no means a pleasant one.

They were closely confined, not daring to go out, for some time after

the mill was first manned, unless on Saturdays, when those who cared to

go to Pittsburgh were taken down on the Tide and allowed to remain away

over Sunday. By the middle of August about 200 non-unionists were lodged

in the company houses near the mill under protection of the military.

The first of these that undertook to bring in his household goods, found

that even military aid was insufficient. A crowd of strikers met the

teamster who was hauling the goods at the ferry-boat and threatened him

with severe handling if he again ventured to haul the property of a

blacksheep through the streets of Homestead.

[Illustration: THE PEMICKEY BRIDGE.]

The first and only real outcropping of trouble between the workmen and

the militia arose from conflicts between the crews of freight trains

passing over the Pemickey bridge and a detail of soldiers stationed on

the obnoxious Little Bill. The soldiers reported that trainmen or

strikers concealed on the trains had fired upon them and they were

instructed, if again assailed, to return the fire. On the evening of

August 18, wild excitement was caused by the noise of a fusillade on the

river front of the mill yard. If the statement of the militiamen on

board the Little Bill is true, five revolver shots were fired at the

boat from a freight train, the first shot coming from the engine and the

others from the cars. The fire was returned from the boat and when the

train reached the other side of the river, the batallion stationed on

the hill above the B. & O. railroad, under the command of Captain Fred

Windsor, also opened fire, the rattle of musket balls against the

freight cars sounding like the patter of a hail storm. The men in the

mill were panic-stricken, believing that the events of July 6 were about

to be duplicated, and there was also a hub-bub among the strikers, but

the arrival of the provost marshal's guard quickly restored order. The

conductor of the freight train stoutly affirmed that the shots which

alarmed the soldiers on the Little Bill were merely torpedo explosions,

and this was very probably the case, since it is in the last degree

unlikely that a few men on a slowly moving freight would undertake to

cope with a large number of soldiers on the boat and on shore. The

soldiers were at all times consumed with anxiety to do some genuine

fighting, and on this occasion the fire-eaters in the Fifteenth and

Sixteenth regiments made no secret of their disappointment when they

found that the incipient skirmish on the river was not to be followed by

a "go" with the strikers.

Two days previous to this affair, the provost guard, under Major

Crawford, had a brush with the townspeople which came within an ace of

developing into a pitched battle. Frank Tracey, a non-union laborer, was

arrested for larceny, and four of his brother blacksheep were taken with

him to Alderman Oeffner's office by the arresting officer. Tracy was

committed to jail amid the cheers of a crowd which had gathered in and

around the magistrate's office. When the four non-unionists came out,

the mob surged around them and some of the more violent suggested

lynching or a ducking in the river as fit treatment for the "scabs."

Clubs and stones were picked up, and the situation began to look serious

when Major Crawford appeared at the head of a squad of men, with fixed

bayonets and guns at half cock, and forced the crowd to disperse. Some

of the citizens derided the soldiers as "pale-faced boys," and a stout

young woman shook her fist under the line of military noses and

threatened to extinguish the entire National Guard. Nevertheless, the

non-unionists were enabled to return to the mill in safety and the last

murmurings of the tumult were silenced by policemen and deputy sheriffs

after Major Crawford left the scene.

Other outbreaks of similar character spurred to renewed vigilance the

militia and the Sheriff's deputies, who had fallen into the habit of

lounging and dozing in shady places, and within a few days after Major

Crawford's collision with the mob, large numbers of non-union men

succeeded in moving their goods from the ferry into the company houses

without suffering molestation.

Pinkerton detectives began a systematic search for guns on August 28,

but without result. The Winchesters taken from the guards on the barges

had been smuggled into a safe place of concealment where even the

Pinkertonian eye that "never sleeps" was unable to discover them.

On August 31, Mr. Frick visited the mill for the first time since the

beginning of the wage trouble. He was accompanied by a detective, but

needed no protection, as the strikers showed no disposition to grow

wrathy over his presence. Mr. Frick made a complete inspection of the

mill, pronounced the various departments to be in excellent working

order and informed the reporters that the strike was a thing of the

past.

CHAPTER XV.

[Illustration: TREASON]

PROGRESS IN THE MILL--A QUARTET OF ARISTOCRATIC

NON-UNIONISTS--SICKNESS BREAKS OUT--MORE ARRESTS--JACK

CLIFFORD SUSPECTED OF TREACHERY, BUT IS HELD WITHOUT BAIL FOR

MURDER--167 TRUE BILLS RETURNED--SUPREME JUSTICE PAXSON IN THE

SADDLE--HE ORDERS ARRESTS FOR TREASON AND IS GENERALLY

CONDEMNED--SNOWDEN FAVORS THE GALLOWS FOR HOMESTEADERS--JUDGE

AGNEW ON TREASON--PAXSON INSTRUCTS THE GRAND JURY AND

PRONOUNCES THE HOMESTEAD MEN TRAITORS--CARNEGIE IN SCOTLAND.

During the month of August, the mill continued to fill up rapidly with

non-union recruits. Among these there was an admixture of worthless

characters, who went to Homestead only for the novelty of the thing or

for the purpose of securing a few square meals and perhaps a little

money from the Company without imposing any special tax on their

energies. Men of this type rarely spent more than a day or two in the

mill. Once their curiosity or rapacity was satisfied they deserted,

threw themselves into the arms of the strikers, represented themselves

as having been deluded by the firm's agents and in the majority of

cases secured pecuniary aid from the Amalgamated Association. The

strikers invariably welcomed desertions and did not always trouble

themselves to inquire minutely into the circumstances prompting the

sudden change of heart on the part of the deserters. The stories told by

the latter to the advisory board eclipsed Munchausen's wildest flights,

winding up, as a rule, with the assurance that, owing to bad treatment

and breaches of faith regarding the wages to be paid, almost the entire

corps of non-union men was preparing to quit work.

The exodus of idlers and incapables did not, however, in any way impair

the progress which Superintendent Potter and his new hands were making,

despite the reports to the contrary circulated among the strikers. The

force of employees increased rapidly and as the wages offered were

considerably higher than the average earnings of clerks and young men

just beginning a professional career, many representatives of those

classes were attracted into the Carnegie Company's service. Among the

persons of education and refinement thus enlisted were four once

prominent brokers on the Pittsburgh oil exchange, Messrs. Linn L.

Dilworth, C. D. Leslie, John McLaughlin and J. L. Agnew. Mr. Dilworth

was set to work running an engine, Mr. Leslie became foreman of the cold

saw department, and Mr. Agnew was placed in the armor-plate department.

Mr. McLaughlin, who was at one time considered the "highest roller" on

the Oil City and Pittsburgh floors, accommodated himself to the duties

of a subordinate position at fair wages.

The completion of the last piece of armor-plate for the government

cruiser Monterey, on September 3, made it plain enough that the works

were being operated in earnest and that the expectation that the firm

would be unable to execute its contracts with the government, as long as

green hands were employed, was destined to be defeated. In any case,

there was a special clause in the government contracts providing for an

extension of time in the event of labor troubles, so that the firm had

nothing to fear from that quarter. The answer of the strikers when

confronted with the circumstances was that the material turned out was

necessarily defective and must be rejected by the government. This

claim, however, was not substantiated.

About this time sickness began to spread among the non-unionists. The

Company physicians had their hands full and a large number of men had to

be conveyed to the Pittsburgh hospitals. John McGeorge, a resident of

Allegheny, was taken to his home and died there, and McGeorge's son, who

had been working in the mill with his father, was also stricken down.

The attending physician diagnosed the malady in these cases as typhoid

fever and assigned as the cause the impurity of the water used for

general consumption in the mill. At first the Company hushed up the

rumors of the presence of what seemed to be an epidemic among the men,

and it was not until many deaths had occurred that the matter was

publicly ventilated. Of the mystery involved in this affair and the

manner in which it was solved an account will be given in another

chapter.

Weekly mass meetings, at which the men were assured that the company was

only "making a bluff" and that, sooner or later the old hands would have

to be reinstated, the Amalgamated Association recognized and wages kept

up to a decent figure, kept life in the strikers' organization for an

astonishingly long time. The loyalty of the workingmen to one another

and their cheerful confidence in the power of unionist principles and

unionist methods to overcome all obstacles were almost sublime. General

officers of the Amalgamated Association took part in all these

assemblages and distinguished themselves by inculcating a spirit of

moderation and respect for the law. Other orators gave full rein to

opinions surcharged with bitterness and resentment, and Mr. Frick, the

Sheriff and the Common pleas judges came in for many an unmerciful

scoring. John Oldshue, leader of the Slavs, figured in every meeting,

interpreting for the benefit of his countrymen and delivering

exhortations on his own account.

With the exception of an information for murder lodged against Edward

Burke, who was already in jail on charges of riot and unlawful

assemblage, Secretary Lovejoy's program of prosecutions remained

untouched throughout the month of August. At the beginning of September,

Mr. Lovejoy warmed up to his work again and caused warrants to be issued

for the arrest of Hugh O'Donnell, Hugh Ross, Matthew Foy and William Foy

for the murder of Detective John W. Klein. All the defendants were

already under $10,000 bonds on the charge of killing T. J. Conners and

Silas Wain, and the apparent design was to multiply the amount of bail

until the resources of the union leaders were exhausted and confinement

in jail could no longer be avoided. Matthew Foy was arrested at once.

O'Donnell surrendered two weeks later, on his return from New York.

Elmer E. Bales, Harry Bayne and Oscar Colflesh were also arrested on

charges of riot and conspiracy.

At the hearing on the conspiracy charge against Hugh O'Donnell, George

W. Sarver, David Lynch, William T. Roberts and William McConegy, before

Alderman McMasters, a sensation was created by the testimony of George

S. Hotchkiss, an assistant superintendent in the employ of the Pinkerton

agency. Hotchkiss swore that he had held several conferences with Jack

Clifford, of the Homestead advisory board, and obtained from Clifford

information incriminating O'Donnell and others. The nature of Clifford's

revelations was not made known, objection to the admission of

second-hand testimony being raised by attorney Brennen for the defense

and sustained by the magistrate; but the report went out that Clifford

had turned informer and caused consternation among the strikers. The

members of the advisory board, however, defended their associate and

explained that he had conferred with the Pinkerton man solely for the

purpose of "pumping" him. Subsequent events bore out this assertion. The

five men heard before 'Squire McMasters were held for a court trial.

Shortly after O'Donnell and his companions had been disposed of,

Clifford was arrested on a second charge of murder, preferred by the

industrious Lovejoy, and committed to jail. He was also held for

conspiracy, but gave bail on this charge. Next day his application for

bail on the murder charge was brought before Judge Ewing, as was also

that of Matthew Foy. Foy, against whom there was practically no

evidence, was released on $10,000 bail. The testimony against Clifford,

however, was very damaging. Captain John Cooper, of the Pinkerton

agency, swore that when the Pinkerton barges approached the mill landing

at Homestead, he saw Clifford among a crowd of strikers with a pistol in

his hand, and heard him shout, "You ---- ---- ----, don't come ashore,

or we'll kill all of you." Clifford, he said, was the man who approached

the barges with a white flag and arranged for the surrender. Samuel

Stewart, a clerk in the employ of the Carnegie Company, testified that

he saw Clifford attach a fuse to a piece of dynamite fixed in an iron

pipe and hurl this crude bomb at the barges, and that he noticed a

revolver sticking out of the defendant's pocket. On the strength of this

testimony, Clifford was committed for trial without bail. Judge Ewing

refused to hear evidence as to who fired the first shot and said in his

opinion: "The parties on the shore had no duties to perform except to go

away, or as good citizens, to put down the crowd that this defendant,

Clifford, was with. There is no question--there _can_ be no question--of

self-defense about it. I say that we will not go into it, especially in

this preliminary matter."

On September 21, the grand jury returned true bills in all the Homestead

cases presented to that body, 167 in number. The following is the list:

Murder of Silas Wain--James Close, Charles Martz, George

Diebold, ---- Sanderson, Edward McVay, Peter Allen, Sr., Jack

Clifford, Matthew Foy, Hugh O'Donnell, John McLuckie, Sylvester

Critchlow, Anthony Flaherty, Samuel Burkett, James Flannigan and

Hugh Ross.

Murder of T. J. Conners--James Close, Charles Martz, George

Diebold, ---- Sanderson, Edward McVay, Peter Allen, Sr., Jack

Clifford, Matthew Foy, Hugh O'Donnell, John McLuckie, Sylvester

Critchlow, Anthony Flaherty, Samuel Burkett, James Flannigan and

Hugh Ross.

Murder of J. W. Kline--Jacob Stinner, Edward Burke, Jack

Clifford, Hugh O'Donnell, Matthew Foy, William Foy and Hugh

Ross.

Aggravated Riot--Hugh O'Donnell, G. W. Brown, Thos. H. Baynes,

Isaac Byers, Harry Buck, Mark E. Baldwin, M. Cush, Frank Clark,

Isaac Critchlow, Thos. J. Crawford, John Corcoran, John Dally,

John Dierken, Jas. Dunn, John Edwards, Thos. Godfrey, W. H.

Gaches, Jas. S. Hall, U. S. Grant Hess, ---- Hennessey, Reid

Kennedy, Thos. Kelly, Geo. W. Laughlin, H. H. Layman, Robt. G.

Layman, Jack Lazear, Paddy McCool, David Maddigan, Owen Murphy,

John McGovern, Wm. McLuckie, Punk, alias Pete McAllister, ----

McLaughlin, William Oeffner, Dennis O'Donnell, John Alonzo Prim,

Jack Prease, P. J. Rorke, Richard Scott, David H. Shanian,

Newton Sharpe, John Sullivan, Oden Shoemaker, ---- Taylor,

George Holley or Wilkinson, Joseph Wayd, Peter Moran, Lewis

Lewis, Patrick Fagan, W. H. Williams, Mike Naughton, Patrick

Hayes "and certain other evil-disposed persons with force and

arms, then and there, in manner and form aforesaid did make an

aggravated riot, to the great terror and disturbance of all good

citizens of the commonwealth, to the evil example of all others

in like cases offending, contrary to the form of the act of the

general assembly in such case made and provided, and against the

peace and dignity of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

Aggravated Riot--Peter Allen, Joseph Akers, Thos. Antes, Oliver

P. Antes, Charles L. Atwood, E. G. Bail, Harry Bickerton, Wm.

Bakely, Jack Bridges, Samuel Burkett, Ed. Burke, James Close,

Jack Clifford, Thos. Connelly, Sylvester Critchlow, Robert

Dalton, George Diebold, Fred. Gunston, Anthony Flaherty, James

Flannigan, Matthew Foy, David Inchico, Evan Jones, E. C. McVay,

John Murray, Peter Nan, Hugh Ross, Benjamin Thomas, ----

Sanderson, H. Troutman, W. Edward Williams, Oliver C. Coon, W.

Mansfield.

Conspiracy--Hugh O'Donnell, Thos. N. Baynes, E. Bail, Isaac

Byers, Wm. Bayard, G. W. Brown, Thos. J. Crawford, George

Champeno, Isaac Critchlow, Miller Colgan, John Boyle, Jack

Clifford, Dennis Cash, Oscar Colflesh, Wm. Conneghy, Mike

Cummings, Wm. Combs, John Dierken, Pat Fagan, W. H. Gatches,

Matthew Harris, Reed Kennedy, David Lynch, John Miller, O. S.

Searight, John Murray, John McLuckie, Hugh Ross, Wm. T. Roberts,

George Ryland, D. H. Hannon and George W. Sarver.

Having exhausted its catalogue of murder, riot and conspiracy charges,

obtained true bills against 167 strikers, and buried the leading spirits

among the Homesteaders beneath an avalanche of bail bonds, Mr. Frick now

proceeded to play what he considered to be his trump card. The Supreme

Court of Pennsylvania, of which at this time Hon. Edward Paxson, a close

friend of C. L. Magee, was Chief Justice, came to Pittsburgh to hold its

annual session. It was deemed possible that the Homestead affair might

come before this body in some shape, after the lower courts disposed of

it, but to nobody aside from the members of the Carnegie Company and

their attorneys did it occur that the superior judiciary would, of its

own motion, undertake to deal with the labor trouble at first hand.

This, however, was what Mr. Frick counted on as the culminating stroke

which was to break the back of the Homestead strike. The step from the

alderman's office to the supreme court room was one which probably no

other individual or corporation in the state would have dreamt even of

suggesting; but Mr. Frick managed to take it seemingly with as much

ease as his secretary exhibited in getting a ward constable to lock up a

few dozen of workingmen for riot or conspiracy.

The blow fell on the morning of September 30. The Chief Justice and his

six associates met in the supreme court chamber of the county court

house and held an hour's conference, at the expiration of which Judge

Paxson sent for District Attorney Clarence Burleigh, and P. C. Knox,

Esq., principal counsel for the Carnegie Company. When these two

gentlemen arrived another hour was spent in consultation. Judge Paxson

then sent for County Detective Harry Beltzhoover, whom he instructed to

subscribe to an information made before him (Paxson) and to arrest the

persons named therein. The information was worded as follows:

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,

_versus_

David H. Shannon, John McLuckie, David Lynch, Thomas J.

Crawford, Hugh O'Donnell, Harry Bayne, Elmer E. Ball, Isaac

Byers, Henry Bayard, T. W. Brown, George Champene, Isaac

Critchlow, Miller Colgan, John Coyle, Jack Clifford, Dennis M.

Cush, William McConeghy, Michael Cummings, William Combs, John

Durkes, Patrick Fagan, W. S. Gaches, Nathan Harris, Reid

Kennedy, John Miller, O. O. Searight, John Murray, M. H.

Thompson, Martin Murray, Hugh Ross, William T. Roberts, George

Rylands and George W. Sarver.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, County of Allegheny.

Before me, the subscriber, Edward H. Paxson, chief justice of the

supreme court of Pennsylvania and ex-officio justice of the court of

oyer and terminer of Allegheny county, and a justice of the peace in

and for the county of Allegheny, in the state of Pennsylvania,

personally came Harry Beltzhoover, county detective, who upon oath

administered according to law, deposeth and says that heretofore,

to-wit, on or about the first day of July, A. D. 1892, the defendants

above named, being inhabitants of and residents within the commonwealth

of Pennsylvania and under protection of the laws of the commonwealth of

Pennsylvania and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said commonwealth

of Pennsylvania, not weighing the duty of their said allegiance, but

wickedly devising and intending the peace and tranquility of the said

commonwealth to disturb and stir, move and excite insurrection,

rebellion and war against the said commonwealth of Pennsylvania, did at

the borough of Homestead, and in the township of Mifflin, both within

the county of Allegheny and state of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere within

the state of Pennsylvania and beyond the borders of the state,

unlawfully, falsely, maliciously and traitorously compass, imagine and

intend to raise and levy war, insurrection and rebellion against the

commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in order to fulfil and bring into

effect the said compassings, imaginations and intentions of them, the

said defendants, afterward, to-wit, on the first day of July, A. D.

1892, and at divers other times at the borough of Homestead and in the

township of Mifflin, with a great multitude of persons, numbering

hundreds, armed and arrayed in a warlike manner, that is to say, with

guns, revolvers, cannons, swords, knives, clubs and other warlike

weapons, as well offensive as defensive, did then and there unlawfully,

maliciously and traitorously join and assemble themselves together

against the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and then and there with force

and arms did falsely and traitorously and in a hostile and warlike

manner, array and dispose themselves against the said commonwealth of

Pennsylvania and did ordain, prepare and levy war against the said

commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the end that its constitution, laws and

authority were defied, resisted and averted by the said defendants and

their armed allies, contrary to the duty of allegiance and fidelity of

the said defendants.

All of which the deponent states upon information received and believed

by him, and he therefore prays that a warrant may issue, and the

aforesaid defendants may be arrested and held to answer this charge of

treason against the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The law under which the proceeding was brought is the Crimes act of

1860, under which the penalty for treason is fixed at a fine not

exceeding $2,000 and imprisonment by separate and solitary confinement

at labor, not exceeding twelve years.

[Illustration: ONE OF THE TRAITORS.]

It was announced that Judge Paxson would hear in person the application

of any of the accused strikers for bail; that when the cases came before

the grand jury he would instruct the jurymen as to what constitutes

treason under the statutes of Pennsylvania, and that, if the cases

should be brought to trial, he would sit on the bench in the court of

oyer and terminer and try them himself. In short, Edward H. Paxson,

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, was master of the

situation. The court of last resort had been by a Frickian turn of the

wrist, converted into a court of preliminary resort, intermediate resort

and all other known varieties of resort, and the strikers were led to

understand accordingly that with Paxson armed to the teeth and ready to

bring them to bay at all points, they might as well throw up the sponge

at once and be done with it.

Detectives Farrell and Mills, assisted by a half dozen deputy sheriffs,

were detailed to capture the defendants named in Beltzhoover's

information. The task was not an easy one, for most of the reputed

"traitors," realizing the difficulty of procuring bail, went into hiding

and their friends took care to throw the officers off the track. Five of

the men--Thomas Crawford, George Rylands, T. W. Brown, W. H. Baird and

John Dierken--were caught on Friday, the day on which the warrant for

their arrest was issued.

On Saturday, Attorneys Brennen and Cox went before Judge Paxson with a

petition for the admission of the accused to bail. Messrs. Burleigh and

Knox were called in, and, after a consultation, the Chief Justice made

an order authorizing the release of any of the defendants on $10,000

bail at the discretion of any judge of the oyer and terminer court.

Judges Kennedy and Porter heard the applications, but rejected the

bondsmen offered except in the case of William Baird.

Despite the supposedly sacred character of the supreme bench, criticism

of Judge Paxson's extraordinary action was freely indulged in by the

members of the Pittsburgh bar and reproduced in the public press. Hardly

a voice was raised in commendation of the Chief Justice's arbitrary

interference, and the consensus of legal opinion, as mirrored in the

newspapers, was to the effect that the disturbance at Homestead, being a

purely local affair and directed against a private corporation, could

not be construed as treason against the state.

The boldness with which this view of the case was stated by competent

authorities gave much encouragement to the strikers, and at the regular

weekly mass meeting, on Saturday, October 2, Vice-President Carney, of

the Amalgamated Association, and other orators were emphatic in their

claims that the treason charge was trumped up as a measure of

intimidation and would fall to the ground if ever put to the test of a

court trial. The strikers were, therefore, advised to stand their

ground, and the Carnegie Company was warned that, when all the members

of the advisory board were imprisoned, there would be other men to take

their places, and that if all the men in Homestead were cast into jail

the women would still be there to keep up the fight for the rights of

organized labor. These sentiments were received with clamorous approval.

No little surprise was created by the publication of a statement from

Major-General Snowden setting forth that he was originally responsible

for the treason prosecution. During his sojourn at Homestead in command

of the militia, General Snowden said, he had suggested to the Carnegie

attorneys, Messrs. Knox and Reed, that the advisory committee was guilty

of treason. The lawyers pooh-poohed the idea, but evidently thought

better of it, for three weeks prior to the issuance of warrants by Judge

Paxson, Mr. Knox met the General in Philadelphia and asked his help in

the preparation of briefs. General Snowden responded that it would

hardly be wise for him, while serving as commander of the state forces,

to appear as counsel for the Carnegie Company. When the brief was

prepared, however, it was sent to him to be passed upon and received his

indorsement. General Snowden did not hesitate to say for publication

that, in his opinion, death would be rather a mild penalty for members

of the advisory committee.

Perhaps the most significant deliverance of the hour on the subject of

the treason charge was that embodied in a letter written to the

Pittsburgh _Commercial-Gazette_ by the veteran jurist, Hon. Daniel

Agnew, ex-chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Judge Agnew

declared that the Homestead affair was riot and not treason. "It is

easy," he said, "to distinguish treason from riot. It lies in the

purpose or intent of the traitor to overthrow the government or subvert

the law or destroy an institution of the state. Riot is a breach or

violation of law, but _without a purpose against the state_."

Those of the Homestead men charged with treason, who were not already

held for murder, managed, for the most part, to find bail. Many

continued in hiding. Burgess McLuckie, tired of running after bondsmen,

had betaken himself to Youngstown, O., and, acting on the advice of

Attorney W. T. Anderson, of that city, refused to return without a

requisition. Honest John was lionized by the Youngstown people,

delighted them with his speeches about high tariff and high fences and

could have found a body guard any time to defy the Carnegie Company, the

Supreme Court, the militia and all the other powers in Pennsylvania.

On the morning of Monday, October 10, the grand jury of Allegheny County

assembled in the criminal court room, which was thronged with attorneys

curious to watch the development of Judge Paxson's program. At 9.30 A.

M., the Chief Justice entered accompanied by Judges Stowe, Kennedy,

McClung and Porter, of the county courts, all of whom took seats on the

bench while Judge Slagle sat with District Attorney Burleigh behind the

clerk's desk.

The gravity of the occasion was felt by everyone and dead silence

prevailed as Judge Kennedy opened the day's proceedings with a few words

to the jurors stating that, in view of the unusual nature of the treason

cases, Judge Paxson had "kindly consented" to instruct the jury.

The Chief Justice began his charge by explaining that his intervention

was due to the supreme importance of furnishing an authoritative

interpretation of the law in the Homestead cases and that he acted at

the invitation of the county judges. He then entered upon a review of

the conditions and events at Homestead. "The relation of employer and

employee," he said, "is one of contract merely. Neither party has a

right to coerce the other into the making of a contract to which the

mind does not assent. The employer cannot compel his employee to work a

day longer than he sees fit nor his contract calls for, nor for a wage

that is unsatisfactory to him. It follows that the employee cannot

compel his employer to give him work or to enter into a contract of

hire, much less can he dictate the terms of employment. When the

negotiations between the parties came to an end, the contract relations

between them ceased. The men had no further demand upon the company,

and they had no more interest or claim upon its property than has a

domestic servant upon the household goods of his employer when he is

discharged by the latter or when he voluntarily leaves his service, nor

does it make any difference that a large number were discharged at one

time; their aggregate rights rise no higher than their rights as

individuals. The mutual right of the parties to contracts in regard to

wages, and the character of the employment, whether by the piece or day,

whether for ten hours or less, is as fixed and clear as any other right

which we enjoy under the constitution and laws of this state. It is a

right which belongs to every citizen, laborer or capitalist, and it is

the plain duty of the state to protect them in the enjoyment of it."

The organization and plan of campaign of the Advisory Committee were

reviewed at length, its chief object being stated as "to deprive the

company of the use of its property and to prevent it from operating its

works by the aid of men who were not members of the Amalgamated

Association." Then followed a narrative of the Sheriff's preliminary

manoeuvres and of the Pinkerton expedition, as viewed from a strictly

Paxsonian standpoint. After recounting the details of the battle at the

mill landing, the surrender of the Pinkertons, and the occupation of

Homestead by the military, the Chief Justice went on to say:

"We can have some sympathy with a mob driven to desperation by hunger as

in the days of the French Revolution, but we have none for men receiving

exceptionally high wages in resisting the law and resorting to violence

and bloodshed in the assertion of imaginary rights, and entailing such a

vast expense upon the taxpayers of the commonwealth. It was not a cry

for bread to feed their famishing lips, resulting in a sudden outrage,

with good provocation; it was a deliberate attempt by men without

authority to control others in the enjoyment of their rights. * * * It

is much to be feared that there is a diseased state of public opinion

growing up with regard to disturbances of this nature, and an erroneous

view of the law bearing upon these questions has found lodgment in the

public mind. This is evidenced by the accounts of portions of the press,

and it finds expression in the assurances of demagogues who pander to

popular prejudices and in the schemes of artful politicians."

Proceeding to the law in the case, the Chief Justice held that when the

Carnegie Company employed watchmen to guard its works, "it mattered not

to the rioters, nor to the public, who they were, nor whence they came.

It was an act of unlawful violence to prevent their landing on the

property of the company. That unlawful violence amounted at least to a

riot upon the part of all concerned in it. If life was taken in

pursuance of a purpose to resist the landing of the men by violence, the

offense was murder, and perhaps treason."

The legal definition of treason was then read and its supposed

application to the Homestead conflict pointed out as follows:

"A mere mob, collected upon the impulse of the moment, without

any definite object beyond the gratification of its sudden

passions does not commit treason, although it destroys property

and attacks human life. But when a large number of men arm and

organize themselves by divisions and companies, appoint officers

and engage in a common purpose to defy the law, to resist its

officers, and to deprive any portion of their fellow citizens of

the rights to which they are entitled under the constitution and

laws, it is a levying of war against the state, and the offense

is treason; much more so when the functions of the state

government are usurped in a particular locality, the process of

the commonwealth, and the lawful acts of its officers resisted

and unlawful arrests made at the dictation of a body of men who

have assumed the functions of a government in that locality; and

it is a state of war when a business plant has to be surrounded

by the army of the state for weeks to protect it from unlawful

violence at the hands of men formerly employed in it. Where a

body of men have organized for a treasonable purpose, every step

which any one of them takes in part execution of their common

purpose is an overt act of treason in levying war. Every member

of such asserted government, whether it be an advisory

committee, or by whatever name it is called, who has

participated in such usurpation, who has joined in a common

purpose of resistance to the law and a denial of the rights of

other citizens, has committed treason against the state. While

the definition of this offense is the designing or

accomplishment of the overturning of the government of the

state, such intention need not extend to every portion of its

territory. It is sufficient if it be an overturning of it in a

particular locality, and such intent may be inferred from the

acts committed. If they be such that the authority of the state

is overturned in a particular locality, and a usurped authority

substituted in its place, the parties committing it must be

presumed to have intended to do what they have actually done. It

is a maxim of criminal law that a man must be presumed to have

intended that which is the natural and probable consequence of

his acts. Thus, if a man assaults another with a deadly weapon,

or aims a blow at a vital part, the law presumes that he

intended to take life. Aliens domiciled within the state, and

who enjoy its protection, owe temporary allegiance to it and are

answerable for treason."

In conclusion, Judge Paxson said: "We have reached the point in the

history of the state when there are but two roads left us to pursue; the

one leads to order and good government, the other leads to anarchy. The

great question which concerns the people of this country is the

enforcement of the law and the preservation of order."

While the events narrated in this chapter were in progress, while the

workmen of Homestead were being taken to jail in batches and charge

after charge heaped upon them, and while the Supreme Court of the state

was engineering the last grand _coup_ by which the revival of an

obsolete offense was to be made instrumental in winding up the strike at

Homestead, Mr. Andrew Carnegie was busily at work reaping encomiums for

his philanthropy, which at this particular time found vent in the

donation of a memorial library to the town of Ayr, in Scotland. The

corner-stone of this edifice was laid by Mrs. Carnegie two days after

the treason warrants were issued at Pittsburgh. An address of thanks was

made by the mayor, to which Mr. Carnegie replied, part of his remarks

being as follows: "I feel more strongly bound than ever to devote the

remaining years of my life less to aims ending in self and more to the

service of others, using my surplus wealth and spare time in the manner

most likely to produce the greatest good to the masses of the people.

From these masses comes the wealth which is entrusted to the owner only

as administrator." A few groans and cries about Homestead were all that

reminded the audience which heard this generous-spirited speech that, at

the very moment when Mr. Carnegie was speaking, the wealth-givers in his

own employ were being hunted down as traitors, locked up in jail and

supplanted by cheaper workmen.

[Illustration: THE FERRY AT MUNHALL.]

[Illustration: JOHN McLUCKIE.]

CHAPTER XVI.

[Illustration: THE FIRST BREAK]

MORE PROSECUTIONS--THE SOLDIERS WITHDRAW--A NON-UNION HOTEL

DYNAMITED--HOMESTEAD FIGURES IN PARADES AND GIVES A DEMOCRATIC

MAJORITY--SLAVS WEAKENING--THE "LOCAL NEWS" PREDICTS

DEFEAT--GOMPERS AGAIN--SHERIFF McCLEARY IS HARASSED AND

INCREASES HIS CORPS OF DEPUTIES--LAWYER JONES IN

TROUBLE--SCHWAB SUCCEEDS POTTER AS SUPERINTENDENT--HOMESTEAD'S

LAST RIOT--STRIKER ROBERTS HINTS AT DEFEAT--MECHANICS AND

LABORERS GO BACK TO WORK.

As an offset to the activity of Secretary Lovejoy, Burgess John McLuckie

went before Alderman F. M. King on Wednesday, September 21, and lodged

information for aggravated riot and conspiracy against H. C. Frick,

George Lauder, Henry M. Curry, John G. A. Leishman, Otis Childs, F. T.

F. Lovejoy, Lawrence C. Phipps, John A. Potter, G. A. Corey, J. F.

Dovey, Nevin McConnell, William Pinkerton, Robert Pinkerton, John

Cooper, C. W. Bedell, Fred Primer, W. H. Burt, Fred Heinde and others.

In the information for conspiracy the defendants were charged with

conspiring to "depress wages" and to incite riot by feloniously

importing a force of armed men. No arrests were made on these

informations. Blank bail bonds were signed by the Mellon banking firm

and filled in by the defendants.

Sheriff McCleary, while he no longer experienced trouble in procuring a

sufficient number of deputies at $2.50 a day, to patrol every street in

Homestead and enforce order when necessary, found it a hard matter to

induce these emergency policemen to attend to their duties. Non-union

men coming out of the mill at noon for dinner, were repeatedly

assaulted, the intractable element among the strikers caring little for

the presence of the sheriff's officers. Early in September, Mr. McCleary

quietly investigated the methods of his underlings, and ascertained that

many of them were simply taking a holiday at the county's expense. The

force was then reorganized, the loafers being summarily discharged. It

was only now that the sheriff's pent-up feelings found vent. He was

utterly disgusted, he said, and had come to the conclusion that, even if

the salary of the sheriff were increased to $15,000 a year, the man who

sought the office would be an idiot. The show of authority which Mr.

McCleary made had a visible effect and when the deputies bestirred

themselves order was sufficiently restored, for the time being, to

elicit from Provost Marshal Mechling the opinion that, if the sheriff

kept on attending to business, the troops would be withdrawn within two

weeks.

Adjutant General Greenland was very severe on the sheriff, whose

incompetency, he said, was productive of continual harassment to the

troops. In General Greenland's opinion, it was in the sheriff's power,

with twenty-five deputies under his personal direction, to keep the

peace at Homestead and enable the militia to withdraw.

The improvement in the work of the deputies had such a marked effect

that, in the third week of September, the Fifteenth regiment was ordered

home, and, on the last day of the month four companies of the Sixteenth

regiment broke camp, leaving but four companies on the ground, one of

which was posted on the hillside across the river from Homestead. Two

weeks later, on October 13, the last of the militia received orders to

leave, the first intimation of the good news being conveyed to the men

when the band struck up "Home, Sweet Home" at the morning reveille.

Tents were struck and baggage packed in short order, and at 10 A. M. the

last vestige of the encampment was removed, and with a cheer that

re-echoed among the hills the boys in blue marched to Munhall Station

and were soon on the way to their homes in the oil country. The

Homesteaders watched the departure without showing much feeling,

although many of them, doubtless, experienced a consciousness of relief

now that, after ninety-five days of military surveillance, the town was

restored to the hands of the civil authorities. Henceforward the

preservation of the peace was exclusively in the hands of the sheriff's

deputies, thirty in number.

An outrage which caused considerable indignation about this time was the

attempt made by unknown desperadoes to blow up the Mansion House, a

hotel situated at the corner of Fifth avenue and Amity street, in the

most populous quarter of Homestead. The establishment was conducted by

Mrs. Marron, a widow who had been induced to come from Pittsburgh in

order to provide boarding for employees of the Carnegie firm. She

secured 40 boarders from among the clerks and non-union steelworkers

employed in the mill. On the night of October 6, when the occupants of

the hotel were sleeping, an explosive of some kind was thrown through a

window of the dining-room on the ground floor. The missile exploded with

great force, tore a hole through the floor and penetrated the cellar.

Beyond the wrecking of an empty room, however, no damage was done. Mrs.

Marron naturally laid the blame for the occurrence on the strikers, but

they stoutly disclaimed responsibility and contended that the damage had

been done by a natural gas explosion and not by a bomb thrown with

intent to kill and destroy. Another theory which found favor among the

men was that some wily foe to organized labor had done the mischief in

order to discredit the cause of the strikers and hasten the end of the

strike by altering the drift of public sympathy. Mr. Frick offered

$1,000 for the arrest of the supposed dynamiter and $100 additional was

offered by the advisory committee, but the reward was never earned.

The night of October 8 was made memorable by Homestead's share in the

greatest Democratic parade held in Pittsburgh during the presidential

campaign. Preparations for this event had been in progress for some

time. In previous years Homestead had been a Republican stronghold,

giving heavy majorities for high tariff candidates, but as has been

signified in the preceding pages, political sentiment in the town had

undergone a complete revulsion, and the men were determined to make this

fact conspicuous in the Pittsburgh demonstration. Under the command of

David Lynch and Charles Guessner, 600 of the strikers marched in the

parade, and were greeted with cheers all along the route. When the

Homestead men arrived opposite the court house, they halted and gave

three rousing cheers for Hugh O'Donnell and others of their associates

who were confined in the county jail. Passing down Fifth Avenue, the

Carnegie offices were reached. Here the marchers gave vent to their

feelings in a chorus of groans.

Some of the transparencies carried in this notable procession spoke

volumes for the influence of the Homestead trouble as a political

factor. One bore a picture of a rooster and the inscription:

"The cock will crow in '92

Over Fort Frick and its Pinkerton crew."

On another appeared the query, "Who protects the 2,200 locked-out men in

Lawrenceville?" and the response, "Ask McKinley," while on the reverse

side was the defiant invitation:

"Show us a man in a Pittsburgh mill

Who had his wages raised by the McKinley bill."

The maker of this couplet may have been weak in the matter of rhythm,

but the deadliness of his low tariff logic challenged and received

admiration from the crowd.

Yet another legend worth noting was: "The Three (Dis) Graces--Protection

for Carnegie, Persecution for his men and Pinkertons for support." At

every glimpse of the mottoes quoted, the mob of on-lookers cheered

lustily and it looked on that October night very much as though

Pittsburgh, the headquarters of high tariff sentiment, had become

suddenly inoculated with free-trade virus. There could be no mistaking

the opinion of the crowd as to Mr. Frick and the Pinkertons. Evidently

the friends of these worthies had accepted discretion as being the

better part of valor and remained at home.

The eclat with which the Homesteaders performed their part of the

political display in Pittsburgh encouraged them to repeat the

demonstration still more energetically in their own town. October 23 was

fixed as the date on which the cession of Homestead to the Democracy was

to be celebrated. On that evening the town was profusely decorated,

Chinese lanterns, bunting, starry flags and red fire contributing to the

picturesqueness of the scene. The parade, held in honor of Cleveland and

Stevenson, was headed by the best known Republicans in the district,

including such notables as Thomas J. Crawford, W. T. Roberts, Captain O.

C. Coon and William Gaches. Prominent among the emblems carried was a

live sheep painted black, beside which stood a man arrayed as a negro

wench. On the float occupied by this group was the motto, "This is

Protection." As the float moved along the street, men, women and

children strained their lungs with the cry of "Carnegie's Blacksheep!"

The success of the Homestead demonstration was the "last straw," and

Republican missionaries visited the benighted town no more.

The Hungarians continued to grow more and more restless as they saw the

number of men in the mill increase and the chances of their getting back

their jobs diminish correspondingly. All these foreigners belonged to

the laboring class and it was especially hard for them to stand the

strain of a long period of idleness. Arnold Frank, a representative of

the race who continued in the employ of the Carnegie Company, devoted

himself to quiet missionary work among his compatriots and took frequent

occasion to inform the newspapers that a break in the ranks of the Slavs

might be looked for at any time. Mr. Frank claimed to be the recipient

of daily applications for jobs from Hungarian strikers and that these

men were sick and tired of hardships endured for the benefit of an

organization which did not even admit them to membership. Slav leaders,

who were loyal to the Amalgamated Association, rebutted Mr. Frank's

statements, alleging that their fellow-countrymen received their full

share of strike benefits and were just as steadfast as any other class

among the strikers.

Another cause of disquietude was a sudden change of base on the part of

the Homestead _Local News_, which was originally the mouth-piece of the

advisory board. In its issue of October 15, the _News_ editorially

reviewed the situation, setting forth that there were now over 2000

workmen in the mill, 200 of these being former Homestead employees, that

recruits were daily being received and preparations being made to

accommodate a large additional number of non-unionists; and that

businessmen and intelligent members of the Amalgamated Association

privately admitted that the battle was lost. In conclusion the article

held these two conclusions to be indisputable: "First--The Carnegie

Company is gradually succeeding. Second--The great Homestead strike is

gradually dying out." The treachery of the _News_, as the men regarded

it, provoked unbounded indignation among the strikers. Nevertheless the

truth of the statement made by the paper was privately conceded by many

Homestead people, and especially by the store-keepers, whose capacity

for doing business on trust was being taxed to an extent threatening

some of them with bankruptcy. The sympathies of these people were

entirely with the Amalgamated Association; but, on the other hand, the

prospect of heavy loss to themselves, in case the strike should be a

failure, stared them in the face, and the apparent success of the

Carnegie Company in manning its works boded ill for the prospect of

their recouping themselves.

One assertion made by the _News_, viz.: that 200 former Homestead

employees had returned to work, was stigmatized as an absolute falsehood

by the union leaders, who insisted that not one union man had forsaken

his allegiance.

Two days later, a quartet of unionists, including a heater, a mechanic,

an engineer and a laborer, applied for and obtained work. This was the

first break in the ranks of the strikers that was openly made and

admitted at Amalgamated headquarters.

A visit from Gompers at this time was a positive godsend. The

pugnacious chief of the Federation arrived in state on October 21 and

was met by a brass band and almost the entire population of the town.

A procession was formed and the welcome visitor was escorted to the

rink to the inspiring strains of "See, the Conquering Hero Comes." All

representatives of the press, with the exception of the correspondent

of the Pittsburgh _Leader_, were excluded from the meeting which

followed, the preference given the _Leader_ being due to the reputation

exclusively enjoyed by that journal for giving fair treatment to

organized labor. Thomas Crawford presided over the assemblage. Mr.

Gompers made a vigorous speech, in the course of which he said:

"On a former occasion I explained the purpose underlying this

contest, but a new feature has since developed. The militia has

been withdrawn and the civil authority prevails. But we see the

judges on the bench trying to distort the laws against the

people of Homestead and against justice. Judge Paxson, holding

the most honored position on the bench of this state, recently,

in charging the grand jury regarding the men of Homestead,

impressed upon their minds that these men were guilty of

treason. When that charge was published in the press of the

country it not only shocked the laboring men, their wives and

children, but even the lawyers who could not or would not depend

on his action.

"I am not a lawyer, but I don't think it necessary to be one to

know what constitutes treason and what patriotism. Shall

patriotism be measured by the yard-stick of the Carnegie firm or

be weighed as their pig iron? Is it because these men in those

latter days like those in Boston harbor, declared they had some

rights and dared maintain them that they shall be declared

traitors? The men who lost their blood and limbs on the field of

battle to maintain and preserve this country and knock off the

shackles of millions of slaves can not be construed as traitors,

Judge Paxson's charge notwithstanding. Now some of your men are

in prison, others out on bail, but you are now out three and

one-half months on strike with your ranks practically unbroken.

I would not ask you to stand out one moment longer than your

rights demanded, but are there not some acts of the Carnegie

firm that show you that you are working in a winning cause?

Because you are here in Homestead you don't know the great

victory you have won. In all great lock-outs there are certain

inconveniences to suffer and these must be endured, but if you

were to end the struggle to-day you have won a victory. There

are employers fair and unfair, and when they think of offering a

reduction of wages to their employees in the future the fight

you have waged will have some effect in the carrying out of this

resolve. Don't you think your stand will have its effect on the

workmen of this country? Not only here, but throughout the

civilized globe, this fight will have its effect. The fraternity

of the wage-workers of the civilized world is at hand. Be true

to yourselves, one to the other, open and above board; and above

all confer with those who are leading you and have your interest

at stake and act with them jointly. No matter whether they may

appear the enemies of our constitution or our country's

institutions, it matters little. We propose to defend our

country, its flag with its stars and stripes, in the face of

those who would tear it down, for it represents our sovereign

rights. We want to maintain the rights of the people and their

manhood and we can only do this by organization--ready to stand

by one another, ready to defend our constitution, the people of

this country, the wage-workers and especially those of

Homestead."

President Sheehan and Vice-President Carney, of the Amalgamated

Association and others followed with brief addresses, declaring the

fight to be practically won by the strikers and exhorting them to stand

firm to the end. The men were much encouraged by these exhortations and

comforted themselves with the reflection that when so many competent

authorities predicted victory, the expectation of defeat must be merely

the chimera of a diseased imagination.

Towards the end of October assaults on non-unionists became very

frequent. Men were waylaid and beaten while going to and from work, and

the non-union boarding houses were bombarded with bricks and stones.

The attacking parties were seldom arrested, the deputies being rather

disposed to keep under cover than to do aggressive detective work. A

detail of coal and iron police was brought in to assist in quelling the

disorders, but without improving the state of affairs to any perceptible

extent, as many as six non-unionists being attacked with slung-shots and

other weapons in a single evening, despite the vigilance of deputies and

policemen combined.

At length Sheriff McCleary, perceiving that a dangerous crisis was

threatened, added 50 deputies to his force and thus succeeded in

checking the tendency to lawlessness. Ninety-one of the non-union

workmen were also sworn in as deputies.

The sheriff attributed the spread of insubordination mainly to the

influence of Hon. D. R. Jones, an attorney who had at one time been

president of the Miners' Union and who had served two terms in the

legislature. Mr. Jones was called in to defend James Holleran, who had

resisted arrest for disorderly conduct and been aided by a number of

strikers at whose hands the deputy sheriffs received rough usage. At

the hearing, which was held before 'Squire Oeffner, Mr. Jones said that

"the person under arrest and all others not only exercised a right but

performed a sacred duty in resisting unless the officer had a warrant

for the arrest." The defendant was held in $500 bail for court, but

his friends construed Attorney Jones' remarks as exonerating Holleran

and all others who undertook to resist a deputy venturing to make an

arrest without a warrant. In this way, the sheriff contended, the

disorderly element was incited to misconduct and Mr. Jones should be

held responsible. Application was made before Judge McClung by the

sheriff's attorney asking that Mr. Jones be summoned to explain his

action in court. An order was made accordingly and Mr. Jones in response

set up the defense that his utterances had been misrepresented and

misunderstood and that he had not aimed at kindling disaffection and

lawlessness. This explanation was accepted and the matter dismissed.

The prevalence of disorder caused a meeting of protest to be held by the

leading professional and businessmen of Homestead, and resolutions were

adopted calling upon the sheriff, in case the trouble continued and he

should be unable to suppress it, to apply to the Governor for aid. The

members of the advisory board also condemned the disposition to defy the

law and used their best efforts to put a stop to the misdeeds of the

rougher element.

William Gaches, treasurer of the strikers' organization, was kept busy,

day in and day out, receiving and disbursing funds for the relief of the

strikers, although as time wore on, the golden stream of contributions

began to dwindle unpleasantly. A goodly lift was given to the relief

fund by the celebration of "Homestead Day" in Chicago, on October 29,

when each of the 90,000 union workmen in that city was expected to

contribute a day's wages. The receipts from this source were estimated

by the newspapers at $40,000. Even that sum, however, was only a

stop-gap. A mint of money was needed to support the 4,000 idle men at

Homestead, and, however generous the subscriptions from abroad, it was

impossible that the enormous expense of maintaining this army of

unemployed persons could be kept up much longer.

Mr. Frick was a steady visitor to the works and made arrangements for

elaborate improvements. He rather surprised the strikers by removing

John A. Potter from the superintendency and substituting Charles M.

Schwab, who had been serving as manager of the Braddock mill. As Mr.

Schwab was known to be a genial and amiable gentleman, and Mr. Potter

was the reverse of popular, the strikers formed the conclusion that the

removal of the latter was intended to placate them, and perhaps to serve

as a means of hastening desertions from the Amalgamated ranks. Mr.

Potter lost nothing by the change, inasmuch as he was appointed chief

mechanical engineer of the Carnegie Company, a transfer which was

equivalent to a promotion.

The first week of November was marked by a feeling of unusual uneasiness

among the Amalgamated men. Dissatisfaction was rife among the

mechanics and desertions from their ranks began to multiply rapidly.

Superintendent Schwab labored industriously among the old hands, holding

out extraordinary inducements to tempt back to work those whose superior

skill rendered their services almost indispensable.

The Federation officials sought to buoy the men up and revive the

determined spirit which had been exhibited in the early stages of the

conflict. Mr. Gompers taxed his powers of oratory to the utmost. William

Weihe, Chris. Evans, David Lynch and others made stirring appeals; but

all without avail. Disaffection had found a lodgment and it was too late

now to prevent the stampede which every one felt was soon to come.

Such was the condition of things when election day, November 8, was

ushered in. The grand effort by which Homestead was to discard

Republicanism as a rebuke to advocates of one-sided protection was to be

the last combined effort of any kind that the workingmen of the devoted

town were to make. Hugh O'Donnell, then confined in the county jail, was

the only Homesteader of prominence that refused to go over to the

Democracy. Hugh was, of course, debarred from voting, but he made up for

this deprivation by sending out for publication a letter in which he

said: "All the enemies of the locked-out men at Homestead are Democrats

from Governor Pattison down, including General Snowden, Chief Justice

Paxson, the New York _Sun_ and other Democratic papers."

The election returns gave Homestead to the Democrats by an average

majority of 137. David Lynch, who was a candidate for the legislature,

received the highest vote, his majority being 300. The strikers were

jubilant over the result and held high carnival on the day after

election.

On Sunday, November 14, Homestead saw its last riotous demonstration.

The affair arose out of an altercation between two colored non-unionists

and a striker. The striker knocked down one of the negroes and was

joined in an instant by a crowd of men, women and children, eager to

lend a hand. The negroes drew revolvers and fled, firing into the crowd

as they ran. At City Farm Lane, six more negroes joined the fugitives,

and the whole party ran to their boarding-house and barred themselves

in. An angry mob surrounded the house, tore down the fence and was about

to burn the place, when a posse of deputies and borough officers

arrived and placed the negroes under arrest. While the prisoners were on

their way to the lock-up they were assailed with stones and clubs, and

it was only by drawing revolvers and threatening to fire that the

deputies succeeded in protecting themselves and the poor wretches in

their custody. The striker who was concerned in the beginning of the

outbreak and one of his companions were also placed under arrest. These

men, as well as most of the negroes, were pretty severely wounded.

The usual Saturday afternoon meeting on November 13 was marked by

symptoms indicating only too plainly that the end was near at hand.

William T. Roberts, fresh from a campaigning tour in the East, made an

address substantially conceding that the cause of unionism at Homestead

was on its last legs. He spoke of the desertion of the finishers from

the ranks of the Amalgamated Association as an assault on the integrity

of organized labor inspired by the Carnegie people for the purpose of

defeating the Homestead men and added, "In view of the confidence you

have placed in me, I don't propose to come here and tell you that

everything is rosy when it is not. If you think with this combined

opposition in your own ranks you can fight it out to the end, I am with

you." The men, being asked what they wished to do, shouted with one

voice, "Fight it out to the end!" There were few among them, however,

that did not comprehend the intent of Mr. Robert's words. The first

doubt of ability to go on with the strike had been openly expressed by

one of their own leaders and listened to without protest. This was the

beginning of the end.

Another circumstance showing that a crisis was at hand was the

convocation of the advisory boards of Homestead, Lawrenceville and

Beaver Falls at the Pittsburgh headquarters of the Amalgamated

Association, to consider the question whether or not the strikes at

those places should be declared off. It could not be ignored that

enthusiasm was flagging, and the flow of contributions falling off to a

degree that was positively perilous. The committeemen, nevertheless,

could not nerve themselves to face the consequences of ordering a

discontinuance. Had they done so the failure of the strikes would

undoubtedly have been charged up to their account by the majority of

their fellow-workmen, and they would be in the position of making a

thankless sacrifice.

The reader has already been informed of the manner in which the

Lawrenceville and Beaver Falls strikes came to an end. At Homestead, the

mechanics and laborers were the first to weaken. These men, to the

number of about 2000, met on the morning of Thursday, November 18, and

appointed a committee to wait upon the Amalgamated men and submit the

proposition that the strike be declared off and the mechanics and

laborers be released from further obligations. The Amalgamated men met

in the evening, with President Weihe in the chair.

The proposition of the mechanics and laborers was rejected by a vote of

106 to 75.

A ballot was then taken on the advisability of continuing the strike and

resulted in an affirmative decision by a vote of 224 to 129.

A committee was appointed to notify the mechanics and laborers that they

could act as they liked, but that the Amalgamated Association would not

be responsible for their actions.

Next morning the mechanics and laborers reconvened, received the report

of the committee of the Amalgamated Association, and agreed unanimously

to return to work, but under no circumstances to accept tonnage jobs, as

by so doing they would trespass on the rights of the Amalgamated men.

The meeting adjourned quickly, and the men proceeded at once to the mill

and put in their applications for reinstatement. More than half of the

mechanics were turned away, as the number of vacancies was limited, but

the laborers were all put to work or assured of employment in a few

days. So great was the rush of returning prodigals that two clerks were

required to make out passes for the applicants. Chairman Frick was on

hand to supervise the re-employment of the old men and enjoyed, in his

undemonstrative way, the successful culmination of his plans to break up

unionism in Homestead.

CHAPTER XVII.

[Illustration: CAPITULATION]

THE LAST MASS MEETING--STRIKERS SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY--COST

OF THE HOMESTEAD DISPUTE TO CAPITAL, LABOR AND THE STATE--FEW

OLD HANDS GET WORK AND POVERTY STALKS ABROAD--NOBLE SERVICE OF

RELIEF COMMITTEES--THE COMING OF SANTA CLAUS--CONGRESSIONAL

INVESTIGATIONS WIND UP WITHOUT ACCOMPLISHING ANYTHING--A BATCH

OF USELESS REPORTS--THE KEARNS ANTI-PINKERTON BILL BECOMES A

LAW IN PENNSYLVANIA.

The secession of the mechanics and laborers was all that was wanting

to complete the discouragement of the tonnage men. The usual mass

meeting was held in the rink on Saturday, November 20, but the leaders,

perceiving that a crisis was imminent, decided to exclude all who

were not members of the lodges and only about 500 strikers took part

in the secret deliberations which followed. Addresses were made by

Vice Presidents Lynch and Carney, of the Amalgamated Association.

Thomas Crawford, Chairman of the Advisory Board, was not present,

and the information was conveyed to the meeting that he had resigned

in order to take a position in a mill at Uniontown, Pa., and that

Richard Hotchkiss, Secretary of the board, had been appointed to

fill the vacancy. The discussion turned mainly on the necessity, now

self-evident, of abandoning the strike and declaring the Homestead mill

open to union men. It was manifestly the sense of the meeting that this

step should be taken, but the men recoiled from it, and, after a debate

lasting four hours, action was deferred until the following day.

It was a mournful little band that assembled in the rink on Sunday

morning. In that memorable meeting-place which had again and again

resounded with triumphant oratory and with the plaudits of sanguine

multitudes, less than 300 dispirited men now came together to register

the confirmation of their defeat. There were some who argued

passionately against capitulation. To yield, they said, would be to

hasten the disintegration of the Amalgamated Association. Better go

naked and starve than sacrifice the principles on the vindication of

which the men of Homestead had staked everything. But this reasoning was

of no avail. A standing vote was taken on the question of declaring the

mill open and the proposition was carried by 101 to 91.

There was no outburst when the result was declared. The men sat and

stared at one another for a few seconds, and then dropped out of the

hall in twos and threes, some of them giving vent to their feelings in

bitter denunciations of the action of the majority.

The news caused little excitement through the town. It was no more than

had been expected, and, for the most part, the people were glad of it,

for it had long been understood that the continuance of the unequal

struggle with the Carnegie Company meant an increased burden of debt and

poverty.

It was among the outside sympathizers that the keenest regret was felt

over the failure of the strike. Messrs. Powderly, Devlin, Wright and

other high officers of the K. of L. deplored the collapse, and here and

there K. of L. men took occasion to lay the blame on the shoulders of

Samuel Gompers and his associates in the management of the Federation.

Hugh O'Donnell gave his opinion of the ending of the strike in the

appended letter to the Pittsburgh _Leader_:

"EDITOR LEADER:--In reply to your request for an expression of

opinion concerning the action of the men at Homestead in

declaring the strike off, I can say but little at the present

time. Owing to the fact that, certain of my acts in that most

memorable struggle are _sub judice_, I am not in a position to

criticize the acts of my late associates. Great battles are

rarely, if ever, fought as planned. The world has never

witnessed before so much suffering and sacrifice for a cause.

The action of the three thousand laborers and mechanics who came

out with our men on pure principle alone is unexampled in the

history of labor struggles.

"But to the men in the Lawrenceville and Beaver Falls mills too

much praise cannot be given. Their loyalty and steadfastness to

the principles for which they were contending should never be

forgotten. Out of consideration for them I regret that the

Homestead struggle should have terminated in the manner in which

it did.

HUGH O'DONNELL.

"Allegheny county jail, November 21."

Secretary Lovejoy contented himself with assuring the newspapers that

the surrender would have no effect on the cases of the strikers under

arrest, as far as the Carnegie firm was concerned.

On Monday the Advisory board disbanded and the dissolution of the

workingmen's once great and powerful organization was complete.

The battle for the preservation of the integrity of this body had been

fought at a fearful cost. The outlay on the side of the Carnegie Company

has never been made known, but it cannot have fallen short of $250,000.

The workmen, in the course of twenty weeks of idleness, lost $850,000 in

wages, and the expense to the state of maintaining the militia at

Homestead was about $500,000. In round numbers then, the total cost of

the strike to all parties involved, allowing for the pay of deputy

sheriffs, the expense of court trials and the relief funds, may be set

down at _two million dollars_, an enormous sum to be paid for the

gratification of Mr. Frick's desire to get rid of unions and unionism.

Inasmuch, however, as but a small portion of this amount came out of the

coffers of the Carnegie Company, Mr. Frick had no reason to feel

dissatisfied. His victory was in reality, a cheap one. Had he not

precipitated a bloody conflict by shipping Pinkertons to Homestead and

in this way secured the support of the entire military force of

Pennsylvania, there is no telling how long the strike might have been

continued and how heavy the loss that might have been inflicted on the

firm by the stoppage of operations.

[Illustration: DISCUSSING THE SURRENDER.]

The last restraint having been removed, hundreds of men who had been

active among the strikers now thronged the mill office and besieged the

officials with applications for positions. Superintendent Schwab began

receiving the applicants at 9 o'clock on Monday morning. At that hour

about 500 men were in line. The men were admitted in groups of five and

those who were not black-listed as dangerous rioters received permits

authorizing them to file their applications with the superintendents of

the various departments. The line of waiting ones kept constantly

growing and it was not until 4 o'clock that Mr. Schwab and his

assistants were enabled to wind up their labors. Unfortunately the

number of vacancies was so small that but few of the old employees could

be accommodated by the superintendents, and fully 2,500 men were left to

keep the wolf from the door as best they could, without the assurance of

early employment. The prospect confronting these unfortunates was

disheartening in the extreme. Most of them were already embarrassed in

consequence of their long idleness. Rent and taxes were unpaid, the

endurance of grocers and butchers was exhausted, and with winter at hand

and no money in sight to purchase the necessaries of life, what was to

become of these destitute workingmen and their families?

The Amalgamated Association came at once to the relief of its own

members, a large number of whom were on the blacklist, by voting the

payment of $6 a week to each as long as he should be out of employment.

The ordinary financial resources of the lodges would not have justified

this step, but contributions continued to come in and the special

necessity for relief now exhibited was recognized by union workingmen

everywhere.