The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-07-27
THE GREAT RAILWAY STRIKE.

The great labor riots that have struck |
terror to the hearts of dwellers on the
eastern half of the continent, devastated
homes, destroyed property, and sacri-
feed life, have deep and broad founda-
tion, and one that cannot be easily
shaken. Begotten and born of the "pri-
NAL sin of selfshness," fostered by
greed and enhanced by gain, the oppres-
sion of the laboring classes has at length
aroused a spirit of stubborn resistance
which eliminated, first, in an ordinary
"strike'' of railway employees, second,
In the forcible detentions of trains, and
last, in violent and frenzied riot, which
stopped at nothing because it was un-
lawful, and brought citizens and mill
tary into open and deadly conflict. On
the one hand, the railway companies
claim that the remuneration given en-
ployes was fail and indeed liberal for
the times; on the other, laborers claim
that the pittance paid would not supply
theirfamilies with the barest necessities
of life, while double duty was imposed
upon them in running double trains.
Whichever side is right in this special
case, it is clear that something is radi-
cally wrong in the aggregate, when
railroad kings can, like Vanderbilt,
build up colossal fortunes in few years
and die, leaving an estate of millions to
oftentimes profiigate heirs, while those
who furnish the muscle to keep in mo-
tion all of the vast and intricate ma
chinery that drew these millions to-
gether are compelled to submit to one
reduction after another in wages until f.
nally outraged beyond endurance, driven
by penury and pursued by grim want
over the very thresholds of their poor
homes, they take their lives in their
hands and for while offer frenzied re-
sistance to the cruel might of wealth
that so oppresses them.
This concentration of wealth among
the few, leaving the toiling masses a
constant prey to grim want and anxiety
lest their supply of bread shall be cut
of, is all wrong. The law ain the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread"
is a dead letter, as far as the aristocracy
of earth are concerned, and just so sure
as one shirks his portion of labor it is
doubled upon another. Having never
known the pressing hardship of want,
or earned themselves by the straining of
a muscle a single loaf of bread, men
who control millions are unable to ap-
preciate or understand the hand to- hand
conflict for bread that is going on all
around them, and become accustomed
to the gaunt and poverty-stricken ap-
pearance of the laborer's family, if, in
deed, they give to them a passing no.
tice. Habitually grinding the poor into
the very dust, they become hardened to
the misery around them, or take no no.
tice of it, eager at any time to add to
their accumulations, which, gotten un-
der the spur of selfishness, are ill-gotten.
There is no effect without cause. And
when such dire effect as the following
extracts from Mondays dispatches is
seen, we instinctively feel that the great
underlying cause, though lightly re-
garded by the people before the out
break, was of magnitude correlative to
the effect.
Speaking of the scene at Pittsburg on
the evening of July %, the dispatches
tell US that cannon shots were fired al
the 600 military cooped up in the round
house by the 10000 persons, including
women and children, who were aiding
and urging the strikers. Pillaging
sGneantime fourished, though private
property was untouched. At 4:45 eight
men were killed by the soldiers, anC
their comrades swore vengeance ovel
their dead bodies, declaring that not one
of the military should escape. At tha
hour two or three hundred cars were
burned, and the mob were threatening
to burn every car between Pittsburg anC
East Liberty stock-yards, five miles dis
tant. The wires were cut at East Lib
erty. Up to that hour, three hundred
and fifty persons were killed and abou
one hundred wounded. At 7:15 many
infuriated men still surrounded the
round-house, and the soldiers had taker
refuge in the pits, which was an admir-
able defense. Nobody was allowed t
pass the dead line at the peril of life
The mob had lost the cannon, and wer,
trying to recapture it from the soldier
by running cars between it and tn,
building, so as to form defense agains
the soldiers rifles. Many cars wer
burned with grain and provisions. Th
loss is roughly estimated at $4,000, ,OOO
It was then rumored that the compan!
would accede to the strikers demands
The soldiers were denied food ant
couldn't sleep, and were getting desper
ate. At o'clock the cars before tn
transfer office, laden with combustibl
material, were fired and burst, spread
ing the flames everywhere. The Phila
delphia troops thereupon, at 7:40, left th
round-house and fired upon the crowd
The walls of the main Office soon sfte
fell, and the soldiers were driven bacl
into the shop. At 7:45 the militar.
formed solid column and went dow
Liberty street with Gatling gun il