The Pullman Boycott Part 3

The Chicago Times, in an editorial says: In this Federal injunction, which is in the main eminently just and equally unnecessary, appears a claim in which certain persons named, and all other persons whatsoever are ordered to refrain from compelling or inducing, or attempting to compel or induce, by threats, intimidation, force or violence any of the employes of any of the said railroads, to refuse or fail to perform any of their duties, as employes of said railroads, in connection with the interstate business or commerce of such railroads, or the transportation of pa.s.senger or property between or among the states; or from compelling or inducing or attempting to compel or induce by threats, intimidation, persuasion, force or violence, any of the employes of any of said railroads, who are employed by said railroads and engaged in its service, in the conduct of interstate business or in the operation of any of its trains carrying mail of the United States or doing interstate business or transportation of pa.s.sengers or freight, between and among the states, to leave the service of such railroad. The Times emphatically does not believe that any court whatever has a right to order men to refrain from attempting by persuasion to induce others to leave the employment they are engaged in. There is a natural law that in the end will prevail over the formal law built up by lawyers and courts.

If as Judge Gary says, the law is common sense, this injunction will not stand, for common sense will certainly p.r.o.nounce an orderly and respectful request to a railroad employee to give up his position and join the organized strikers, no crime. It is idle to plead that a discreet and just court will only enforce this injunction against actual law breakers, for there is in it an opportunity for injustice and oppression which makes it wholly bad. The injunction is becoming a menace to liberty, it is a weapon ever ready for the capitalist, and there should be more careful federal legislation limiting its use.

Certainly if the restraining order of Judges Wood and Grosscup be good law there is no sense in maintaining organized labor. Childlike trust in the benevolence and fairness of the employer must be the workingman's future policy if this injunction be made a precedent.

In the meantime the General Manager's a.s.sociation and the subsidized press were endeavoring to impress the public with the belief that the strikers were a lot of disorderly and riotous law breakers of the worst description. To show how much truth there was in these tales, I will give the statement of Capt. J. Hartnett as made after dispersing a mob.

He said: There wasn't a railroad man in the whole outfit, but a lot of b.u.ms who thought they would have a lot of sport at the expense of the railroads. But we soon gave them a hustling, and I want to say this for the strikers, and by that I mean the real railroad men, they are orderly here and as quiet as possible, I have had no disturbance in any district that can be traced to railroad men. It is well known that on occasions like these every loafer turns loose and takes advantage of the strike to start a row, but the genuine railroad men are too sensible to cause any disturbance.

This was true also of all other cities engaged in the strike.

CHAPTER VI.

TROOPS AT BLUE ISLAND.

The Fourth of July dawned upon a scene that would start the blood of the signers of the Declaration of Independence leaping in flames of fire through their veins, if they could but reappear upon this land in the vigorous manhood of their youth; those heroes whose blood baptized the battlefields of Yorktown and Bunker Hill for the glorious cause of liberty and equal rights; and behold the spectacle of this day, they would think that they had fought, bled and died in vain, that victory after all was but defeat.

Military despotism reigned supreme. The great ma.s.ses of the liberty loving people who were wont to celebrate this National holiday of Independence in a manner befitting the occasion, began to think. Their thoughts took them back to the days of English tyranny, and they ask themselves, must this fight be fought again? The thoughts were contagious, and when the American people began to think, their thoughts are dangerous. The battle must and will be fought again, but not with the weapons of '76, but with the weapon the old man can wield as well as the young; the ballot.

Wholesale arrests followed the arrival of the federal troops at Blue Island, free speech was eliminated, any man who pa.s.sed along, who had the appearance of striker or sympathizer was promptly arrested, and that too without a warrant. The remark "that fellow is a scab," was sufficient to send a man to the guard house. A fireman was asked by his landlord, "where have you been lately?" That was enough, he was placed with other shackled prisoners in the guard house, but was released later on. In the morning there was a parade, but the old time patriotism was noticeably wanting, a fireman arrested for refusing to go to work, having a depressing effect. Patriotic speeches were prominent by their absence, and people began to wonder what day was being celebrated.

The bloodcurdling lawlessness and rioting by the strikers at Blue Island, as depicted by the corporation press; when simmered down to facts proved to be as false as other similar reports sent out by the plutocratic press. The so-called rioting amounted to nothing more or less than expression of thought, and I believe if the General Managers, corporation courts, Cleveland & Co., could conceive and put into execution some plan whereby they could put a restraining order on the minds of the striker and deny him the right to think, it would be done.

The gist of the rioting as I said before was simply expression of thought. A man as he watched a train pa.s.s by remarked: "There are d----d few Pullmans anyway." He was promptly arrested. Another remarked that some fellow was a scab, and was also taken in. This and other like remarks were samples of the Blue Island rioting at Chicago.

Upon the arrival of the federal troops, the General Managers a.s.sociation s.h.i.+fted the responsibility from their own shoulders to those of Uncle Sam, and the eager willingness that the representatives of the people exhibited to a.s.sist Sir Duke Pullman and the railroad corporation to subjugate and reduce the working people to a condition of serfdom, was sufficient evidence that the managers knew what they were about. They felt secure in the knowledge that their interest would be well taken care of by the administration, and sought the much needed rest that these weary sessions of plotting and scheming had earned for them.

CHAPTER VII.

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 a.s.sured 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 s.h.i.+eld 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 partic.i.p.ated 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 a.s.sistance 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 n.o.body in Cook county, whether official or private citizen, asked to have their a.s.sistance or even intimated in any way that their a.s.sistance was desired or necessary.

"So far as I have been advised the local officials have been able to handle the situation, but if any a.s.sistance 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 a.s.sistance to enable him to enforce the processes of the United States court and troops were promptly furnished him, and he was a.s.sisted 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 a.s.sistance 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 ill.u.s.trate 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 pa.s.sed 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 const.i.tution. 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 a.s.sistance 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 inst.i.tutions.

"The question of federal supremacy is in no way involved; no one disputes it for a moment but under our const.i.tution federal supremacy and local self government must go hand in hand and to ignore the latter is to do violence to the const.i.tution.

"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 a.s.sistance, 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 const.i.tutions 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."

CHAPTER VIII.

INCENDIARISM AND BLOODSHED.

The 6th day of July was one long to be remembered, as the first act of incendiarism was committed. A conflagration was started along the tracks of the Pan Handle, Baltimore & Ohio; Chicago & Northern Pacific, and Belt Line R. R., which terminated in the burning of whole trains of cars, switch houses and tool-houses belonging to these companies. A splendid tower house belonging to the Pan Handle was saved through the supreme efforts of the strikers, who tore away the burning sidewalks which connected the tool-house with the tower-house. This fine structure was recently built and cost the company $40,000. Upon the authority of the city police and firemen, I can state that the fires were started by a crowd of young hoodlums and toughs living in the vicinity, and the strikers were in no way responsible for them.

There was only a small crowd of these young toughs around the yards, they scattered in different directions and simultaneously fire broke out in different places. One boy was seen to set fire to a bunch of waste, and throw it into the empty cars as he ran, and the dry woodwork was soon a ma.s.s of flames. Between eight hundred and sixteen hundred cars were destroyed by this conflagration and the loss aggregated over $200,000, besides three men killed outright and seven wounded.