Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-07-13
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So many different stories are told concern
ing last weeks trouble at the Ely mine, which
resulted in calling out the state militia, that
it is difficult to make up ones mind as to the
actual condition of things which existed there
Our report of the campaign" is made up
from sources presumed to be reliable, but in
formation of later date leads us to think that
the stories which have gone abroad of the
riotous deeds of the miners are overdrawn. A
representative of the Montpelier Waterman,
who visited the scene Of the trouble, pictures
the outraged miners as showing a very remark
able spirit of forbearanco and sef-control. 1t
was evidently an ugly-tompered crowd that
visited poor old Smith Ely and scared him out
of town, but Gen. Thomass sturdy courage
warded of violence, and Mr.. Ely's abuse of
Superintendent Cain, and his declaration that
the mine belonged to the men and that he was
willing they should take it and get their pay
out of it, did good deal toward pacifying
them. The quitting" of the company's store
is said to have been done at the invitation of
their agent, Mr.. Sergeant, who, in reply to
the demand of the men for goods, said Come
in and help yourselves, and in the men
walked and took the goods, which were duly
charged to them. The Seizure" of the pow
der magazine is represented as having been
no more than the placing of a guard over the
explosives in the interests of safety aud good
order. The act most nearly approaching a
deed of violence seems to have been the driv-
ing out of town of Superintendent Cain and
his family-Mr Cain stoutly facing the foe
with rifle as the team containing his wife
and children and household goods was driven
to West Fairlee.
There is no doubt that a lot of wild rumors
gained currency and that many people really
feared that the villages of Ely and West Fair
lee would both be sacked and burned Sher-
i'll Parish lost his head badly, and seems to
have taken counsel of his fears at a safe dis
lance, and Gov. FarnhRm, who has worked
faithfully to bring the mining company out of
its troubles, was undoubtedly thrown into
panic by the threatening situation However
these things may be, nobody questions that
Gov. Barstow did his plain duty-neither
more nor less-in calling out the troops under
the representation of the state of affairs
which was made to him, and if any troops
were to be called out it was better that there
should have been enough of them to discourage
all resistance rather than that there should
have been just enough to aggravate the mi
ners and provoke a conflict. The Governors
course was sagacons, prudent and conserva-
tive throughout, and it is far better that the
state should pay bill of $4,000 for the calling
out of the militia, than that there should have
been any real rioting, bloodshed and loss of
human life.
1t is entirely safe to say that there is no
well-minded man in the state whose sympa.
thies-the one point Of righting wrongs by
violence and pillage aside-are not with the
the miners in this case Had the mining
company become bankrupt through positive
disaster and i'll luck the case for men who
have wives and children to feed, and not oven
bread to give them, would have been bad
enough, but in this case there were 300 i'm
poverished men who knew that they had been
defrauded Of their just dues by weak misman-
agement and gross extravaganza. 1t is no
wonder that those sturdy Irish and Cor
nish miners miners grew ugly when their
children cried for bread and they remembered
E. Ely-Goddard's round of extravaganza and
vulgar dissipation. Gov. Barstow and his
troops acquitted themselves well in their cam
paign, but best of all when they distributed
their rations to the hungry men, women and
children, and insisted that promptmeasures be
taken to pay them their just dues. We imagine
that several salutary lessons have been taught
by this little episode in our state afTairs-and
VIC may add, by the way, that only once be-
fore in the history of the state have the mill
tia been called out by the governor, and that
was in 1916, when they were summoned to
suppress the riot among railway laborers at
Bolton.