A PROTEST FROM GOV. ALTGELD.
It was plain to be seen that the presence of U. S. troops in Chicago had
a bad effect. The people felt disposed to resent this uncalled for
interference of the President. His unwarranted and illegal action in
sending federal troops into the state of Illinois uncalled for by the
civil authorities (waiving all question of courtesy), was a reflection
on the efficiency of the civil authorities to maintain order, and a
direct insult to the intelligence and loyalty to the citizens of the
state. The governor protested against this high-handed proceeding, and
in no mild terms insisted that he was amply able and willing to preserve
order if called upon to do so.
He assured the President that it was not troops the railroads needed but
men to run their trains, and this was the exact truth, as the strikers
were not interfering with the running of trains but refused to run them,
and the companies could not operate their roads without the aid of the
men who left the service.
But they needed a shield to hide their helplessness, and this they found
in the federal troops, therefore it requires but little reasoning to
understand the bad effect on the people, made by the presence of United
States troops, equipped for war in time of peace. This ill feeling,
mingled with curiosity produced excitement. Excitement invited the
presence of the tough and lawless element, which was exactly what the
railroad magnates were striving for, as the strikers had no intention of
interfering with their trains, and they knew that it was necessary to
incite rioting in order to have an excuse for not operating their roads.
Their devilish schemes succeeded only too well. A mob composed of the
tough and hoodlum element congregated at the Rock Island yards and from
Nineteenth to Fortieth Street, overturned box cars and destroyed
everything that came in their way. The mob increased until not less than
ten thousand people participated in the work of destruction, but be it
said to the credit of the _impartial_ press of that city, they announced
that no strikers had taken part in the lawlessness. Mayor Hopkins, who
went in person to the scene, said that from what he had heard, and what
he could see for himself, that no railroad men were implicated in the
depredations, and business men whose veracity could not be questioned
corroborated his statement.
This occurrence was much to be feared by the strikers, as it was not the
first time that such means had been employed to turn public sentiment
from the side of the workingmen.
Realizing this the men did their utmost to prevent it, and by threats
and entreaties tried to persuade the mob to desist from the work of
destruction, but were successful only for a short time. One of the
strikers remarked to an officer at the time: "By Heavens! this won't do,
there is not a striker in that crowd; this is done to injure us, and
those fellows are not trying to stop it," meaning the troops.
The strike had now reached Toledo, Cleveland and Buffalo, and was
rapidly spreading east, the entire country was in a whirlpool of
excitement, and the strikers were jubilant. The general managers with
the combined forces of the federal troops, state militia, and Cleveland
and his cabinet could not operate the roads. One simple word from the
general managers to Pullman would have been more effective in starting
the trains than all the armies and courts in the United States or all
the scabs from Canada, but rather than speak that one word,
"arbitration," they would bankrupt every system of railroads in the
country.
On July 5, President Cleveland received by wire the following protest
from Gov. Altgeld of Illinois:
"Dear Sir:--I am advised that you have ordered federal troops to go into
service in the state of Illinois. Surely the facts have not been
correctly presented to you in this case or you would not have taken this
step, for it is entirely unnecessary and as it seems to me
unjustifiable. Waiving all question of courtesy I will say that the
state of Illinois is not only able to take care of itself, but it stands
ready to-day to furnish the federal government any assistance it may
need elsewhere.
"Our military force is ample and consists of as good soldiers as can be
found in the country. They have been ordered promptly, whenever and
wherever they were needed. We have stationed in Chicago alone three
regiments of infantry, one battery and one troop of cavalry, and no
better soldiers can be found. They have been ready every moment to go
on duty and have been and are now eager to go into service.
"But they have not been ordered out because nobody in Cook county,
whether official or private citizen, asked to have their assistance or
even intimated in any way that their assistance was desired or
necessary.
"So far as I have been advised the local officials have been able to
handle the situation, but if any assistance were needed the state stood
ready to furnish 100 men for every one man required, and stood ready to
do so at a moment's notice. Notwithstanding these facts the federal
government has been applied to by men who had political and selfish
motives for wanting to ignore the state government.
"We have just gone through a long coal strike more extensive here than
in any other state because our soft coal fields are larger than that of
any other state. We have now had ten days of the railroad strike, and we
have promptly furnished military aid wherever the local officials needed
it. In two instances the United States marshall for the southern
district of Illinois applied for assistance to enable him to enforce the
processes of the United States court and troops were promptly furnished
him, and he was assisted in every way he desired. The law has been
thoroughly executed and every man guilty of violating it during the
strike has been brought to justice.
"If the marshall of the northern district of Illinois or the authorities
of Cook county needed military assistance they had but to ask for it in
order to get it from the state.
"At present some of our railroads are paralyzed, not by reason of
obstruction but because they cannot get men to operate their trains. For
some reason they are anxious to keep this fact from the public and for
this purpose are making an outcry about obstructions in order to avert
attention. Now, I will cite to you two examples which illustrate the
situation: Some days ago I was advised that the business of one of our
railroads was obstructed at two railroad centers, that there was a
condition bordering on anarchy there--and I was asked to furnish
protection so as to enable the employees of the road to operate the
trains. Troops were promptly ordered to both points. Then it transpired
that the company had not sufficient men on its line to operate one
train. All the old hands were orderly but refused to go. The company
had large shops in which worked a number of men who did not belong to
the railway union and who could run an engine. They were appealed to to
run the train but flatly refused to do so. We were obliged to hunt up
soldiers who could run an engine and operate a train.
"Again two days ago appeals which were almost frantic came from
officials of another road stating that at an important point on their
line trains were forcibly obstructed and that there was a reign of
anarchy at that place and they asked for protection so that they could
move their trains. Troops were put on the ground in a few hours' time,
when the officer in command telegraphed me that there was no trouble and
had been none at that point, but the road seemed to have no men to run
the trains and the sheriff wired that he did not need troops, but would
himself move every train if the company would only furnish an engineer.
The result was that the troops were there over twelve hours before a
single train was moved although there was no attempt at interference by
anyone. It is true that in several instances a road made an effort to
work a few green men and a crowd standing around insulted them and
tried to drive them away, and in a few other instances they cut off
Pullman sleepers from trains. But all these troubles were local in
character and could easily be handled by the state authorities. Illinois
has more railroad men than any state in the Union, but as a rule they
are orderly and well behaved. This is shown by the fact that so very
little actual violence has been committed. Only a very small per cent of
these men have been guilty of any infractions of the law. The newspaper
accounts have in many cases been pure fabrications and in others wild
exaggerations.
"I have gone thus into details to show that it is not soldiers that the
railroads need so much as it is men to operate trains, and that the
conditions do not exist here which bring the cause within the federal
statutes, a statute that was passed in 1881, and was in reality a war
measure. This statute authorizes the use of federal troops in a state
where ever it is impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States
within such states by the ordinary judicial proceedings. Such a
condition does not exist in the state of Illinois. There have been a
few local disturbances but nothing that seriously interfered with the
administration of justice or that could not easily be controlled by the
local or state authorities for the federal troops can do nothing that
the state troops cannot do.
"I repeat that you have been imposed upon in this matter, but even if by
a forced construction it were held that the condition here came within
the letter of the statute, then I submit that local self government is a
fundamental principle of our constitution. Each community shall govern
itself so long as it can and is ready and able to enforce the law, and
it is in harmony with this fundamental principle that the statute
authorizing the president to send troops into states must be construed.
Especially is this so in matters relating to the exercise of the police
power and the preservation of law and order. To absolutely ignore a
local government in matters of this kind, when the local government is
ready to furnish assistance needed and is amply able to enforce the law,
not only insults the people of this state by imputing to them an
inability to govern themselves or an unwillingness to enforce the law,
but is in violation of a basic principle of our institutions.
"The question of federal supremacy is in no way involved; no one
disputes it for a moment but under our constitution federal supremacy
and local self government must go hand in hand and to ignore the latter
is to do violence to the constitution.
"As governor of the state of Illinois I protest against this and ask the
immediate withdrawal of the federal troops from active duty in this
state.
"Should the situation at any time get so serious that we cannot control
it with the state troops we will promptly and freely ask for federal
assistance, but until such time I protest with all due deference against
this uncalled for reflection upon our people and again ask the immediate
withdrawal of the troops. I have the honor to be,
Yours respectfully
JOHN P. ALTGELD,
Governor of Illinois."
To the above communication President Cleveland answered as follows:
"To the Hon. John P. Altgeld, governor of Illinois. Federal troops were
sent to Chicago in strict accordance with the constitutions and laws of
the United States upon the demand of the post office department that
obstructions of the mails should be removed, and upon the
representations of the judicial officers of the United States that
process of law federal courts could not be executed through the ordinary
means, and upon abundant proof that conspiracies existed against
commerce between the states. To meet these conditions, which are clearly
within the province of federal authority, the presence of federal troops
in Chicago was deemed not only proper but necessary, and there has been
no intention of thereby interfering with the plain duty of the local
authorities to preserve the peace of the city.
GROVER CLEVELAND."