Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-06-15
The Cincinnati Enquirer's spec al Cor
respondent Gath Thinks he has
Made startling Discoveries
Concerning Last sum-
mer's Riots.

added, 1.-THE railroad outbreaks last summer
do show the existence of brutal mob class,
and no country ever had fuller warning to
grid up its public opinion and organize Its
constabulary and militia. 1t Is very easy
thing for mere tramps and dead rabbits to
conceal their ends under an atfectatlon OF So
cialism.'
The man of finance then asked: could
you suppose that one man got up the whole
of the railroad riots lastsummer, beginning at
nsburg, West Virginia., extending
across to Reading, Altoona and Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, and to Hornellsville, New
York;"
''You mean one socialist, one head-center
of revolution? No"
"Not socialist" said my questioner, ''but
a sDeculatOr? Can you conceive that those
riots were part of a vast jobbng and revo-
lutionary scheme, put up by a man OF imam
cial resources and far-reaching agencles?
At that appalling suggestion | made ST.
lent study of the interlocutor, to see if |
could detect anything wild.
Il have good reason to believe" he said,
that the riots of last year, occurring to-
gether, and for a time blocking the ways be-
tween the east and west, were put on foot by
single person. He was not sociailsG; ne
was not connected with any scheme of labor
reform or Of operatives grievance. He
planned the riots as they happened. paid for
their execution, and partly accomplished his
ends. | am not far enough along In my tes-
timoDy to be able to say more than that, in
my belief. last summers riots were not for
tuitous nor merely catching, but were of de-
sign, and the designer prominent man.
SIGNIFICANT INQUIRY.
On this suggestion my mind alighted on
only two persons l could think of with the
experience and personal resources to plan
such continental piece of deviltry. l shall
not guess aloud either of them. l do recol-
lect that after last summers riots there were
in some places chuckling articles printed
saying that the Presidential fraud led to
the riots. But the riots of midsummer, were
too bold for any politician, such as we had at
that time, to lend his hand to them. If one
man did conceive them, he must have been a
cool hand, expert at using rough agents, with
no great fear of judges and juries, with cleo
trical means of getting and sending informa-
ton, an old principal and instigator of rail-
road rioters, a manager OF business exchanges,
legislatures, banks and magistrates. Is there
a man lett from the times of evil sway with
such incendiary and propitious power? l do
not answer the question, yet the question
which led to mine was put nearly as | have
said.
REVIEW OF THE RIOTS.
Was there not something at least mysteri-
Gus about the riots of last summer, which be-
gan in an obscure place, and did but little
damage at that point, in West Virginia, and
extended up the coal canal toward Cumber-
land and Piedmont, and then, returning to-
turning toward Baltimore, made brief riot
there, and suddenly struck at the center of
the Schuylkill coal trade at the onl conhu-
emit point of all the belt railroads, Pittsburg,
and at Scranton, which Is the center of an
other coal field, and finally, menacing at
Hornelsville, another trunk junction, played
also along the coal lines of New Jersey, and
yielded only to placation and personal fealty
on the New York Central railroad? At that
time great secret stock jobbing transaction
was going on, which had begun in an attempt
to elevate the prices of all stocks. Conducted
by a stranger of nerve and ready wealth, the
tendency of the hour to believe the worst
yielded to his command. In the face of
everything stocks went up, almost without
exception, coal and iron stocks. In the crisis
of the bold scheme a thunderoolt of riot
burst, but the same bold hand held up the
market. In these days of careless thinking
nobody looked two curves ahead, though
some thought, as the railroads had lost mil
lions In time and fire, stocks ought to fall.
If my remembrance is clear, one operator
was forced to let go his hold upon large
piece of property to join his opponents, and
to submit to personal assault.
These things rushed upon my mind as
heard the suggestion made that one man
conceived and put In execution the riots of
1877.
NO SOCIALISM.
Conspiracy has better tools to work with in
this country than socialism. Socialism is the
want OF bread. Conspiracy is the want of
gain. Socialism is not Indigenous here.
Conspiracy is old as Arnold s treason, Burr's
expedition and Black Friday. The daring
gamblers who have won infamy at great
pains are peculiarly American. 1t was from
our side OF the ocean that the old blockade
- i, L.
built In Germany the Theological clocks to
blow up steamships and recover insurance,
and he set them off at the wharf in Bremen.
The record of railroad stock-jobbing, CONSOLE
dating, wrecking, bribing, legislating, etc.,
In the United States for twenty years past is
an astounding series of heartless crimes, none
of which have been punished because the le-
gal talent, the prosecuting arm and the
forces OF public oplnlon-sometlmes bench
and jury-have been retained by the crimi-
nal. "Shew me how l can do this ?" asked
great orator in 1867. "You cannot do it
but at the peril of the penitentiary," replied
the lawyer. eff that is ALL" exclaimed the
gambler, draw up the papers and let us be-
gin"
Socialism in the United States is a mere
opposition, but robbery is always a force
Time is lost by the American press delving
into cellars and back bar-rooms to find some
! some lubbers expoundlng over their wine the
difference between destruction and perfec-
ton and the happy relations of both to an
archy. As long as they drink, harmless
enough! But who pays for the wine? There
are men of great fiscal standing in the United
States who pull all the forces Of society, and
the cheapest of these is socialism.
All the socialists between San Francisco
and Tompkins square, New York, can be
treated to bread, soup, drinks and billiards
cheaper than half a dozen Legislatures, dis
- Il IL L..
Tramps can be hired cheap to do what they
have fondness for-pillaging and insulting
Is it to be supposed that outlawed gamblers,
without any respect In high places or at pri-
vate fresides, would hesitate as soon as the
appalling idea became clear to them to en-
ploy the loose forces of the cities through the
medium of taverns and boozing kens to cover
a private job with the symbolism of a red
flag?
THE JOBBER IN SOCIALISM.
At the outbreak of the French revolution,
ninety years ago, it was found that the self
ishness of rich men welcomed the revolution,
because they thought to further their in
motion repugnant to the Duke of Orleans, in
asmuch as he hoped to obtain the ieuten-
antcy of the kingdom if the king should
withdraw himself
In the twenty fourth chapter of Thiers's
History Of the French Revolution is pic
ture, drawn at full length, of the stock Job
bing class of France in the midst of the per-
lis OF the country. Here is a picture more
true of ten years ago than to-day in Ameri-
ca, but still to some extent true here, although
written for France of another century.
THE compensation for offices, the payment
| for the extensive supplies furnished to the
| State in its war contracts, and the prompti-
tude of debtors in redeeming their liabilities,
had occasioned great accumulation of funds
| in few hands. The war and the brooding
| dread of fresh commissions had deplorably
interrupted commercial operations, led to di-
vers considerable windings up and liquida-
tons, and thus further augmented the mass
Of stagnant capital seeking for safe invest
ment. The funds thus amassed were reck-
lessly abandoned to constant stock jobbing
on the Partisan exchange. Upon that busy
scene appeared those adventurous spirits who
cast themselves headlong INTO all schemes of
| hazard. They availed themselves of all ac-