Wichita eagle., 1888-08-12
THE DOLLAR A DAY" LIE.
A Refutatioa of the Current Democratic
SANDER of General Harrison-It De-
velops Really One OF the Brightest
Pages In BIS Life History.

velops Really One OF the Brightes
Pages in Bis Life History.
The one campaign falsehood which tht
Democratic party has started ont with l.
this: that in a speech at Indianapolis dur
ing the great railroad strike OF 1871. he sait
"a dollar day was enough for laborinc
| man"
Instead of being true it IS the exact CD
posite of truth; and il refuting it spleu
did opportunity is given to show up really
one Of the best events in the life Of q great
public citizen.
The railroad strike of 1871 viii be reInem
bered because Of the mob at Pittsburgh and
the immense destruction OF property the
strikers perpetrated Over S4.0o0O1-
worth was burned and large amounts loot
ed. This spread westward and reached In.
dianapolis. Here. says the Indianapolis
Journal, the history begins:
On July u no trains left this CITY. the
Union station was in the hands OF the
strikers. and Mayor Caven was HELPLESS.
In the city was United States armory con
tanning three hundred thousand stand OF
arms, large supplies Of ammunition and
several batteries Of cannon There were
only twenty soldiers 10 protect these sup
plies, which were scattered through sew
er2l buildings. If the mob, which hourly
grew more threatening. should attack the
armery there was practically nothing TO
/ prevent the strikers from forming them
selves into force that could destroy more
millions Of property. and that would require
an army to put il down The situation was
perilous, and the mayor on the 9th issued
the following proclamation:
ITO the law-abiding citizens Of Indian
apolis: You are requested to meet en-
masse IN front Of the new courthouse on
Washington street this evening at : 80 TO
: consult as TO measures for public safety
Let your nun bers be so large and the ad-
/ dresses of such character that it VIII be
demonstrated that the people Of this city
are largely on the side of law and order;
/ measures for organization for the prOtec-
ton Of lie and property viii also De
adopted
The attendance at this meeting included
nearly every citizen Of influence of 1ndi-
annapolis. i committee of public safety,
composed Of one member from each ward,
was the practical result Of the assemblage.
Democrats and Republicans alike joined in
the movement, and the committee was COM
posed Of men Of both parties. One Of its
members was the Democratic United States
d meeting of the committee, held inmedi-
ately after the mass-mesting, declared this
city must be protected from mob violence by
thorough investigation.
But the meeting IN front Of the court
house took action looking not only to the
protection OF property, but TO the settlement
Of the strike. On motion Of Franklin Lam
ders, who was afterwards the unsuccessful
Albert 6. Porter, q committee of ten was
appointed ''of the most prudent men that
could be selected to confer with the COM
mittee Of the strikers in friendly spirit
and ascertain Just what their demands are:
what they propose to do; also to consult
with officials Of the various railroads and
see what their determination isl The pur-
pose Of this committee was to see whether
concessions might not be made on both
sides and the strike peaceabIy settled. The
members Of the committee were Franklin
Landers, Benjamin Hdyyis0n, Albert G.. Por-
ter, DR.. P. Il. Jameson. Hiram B. McCune,
DR.. ". c. Thompson, Governor Williams,
Ex-Governor Baker, Mayor Caven, Colonel
B. c. Shaw, I. b. King, John R. Elder,
General I. A Morris, General Foster and
a 7. Sinl1er. When the committee Of
mediation met on the next day the
railway employees were represented by
". Il. Sayer, grand secretary of the Broth
erhood OF Locomotive Engineers.
ACTION OF GENERAL HARRIsoN-wHAr HE
DID SAY.
Here is an extract from the report Of the
meeting published at the time in the Indian
apoIis Journal:
''GeneraI Harrison cOunseled obedience TO
The IdIc. but at the same time reTy strongly CT
pressed the opinion thTt tn. 1ragcs lCere too lolr
and desired reiy mlc, that they should be rdsssd
he vas willing to use his influence with
those IN authorItyin favor Of the desired IN
crease"
Meanwhile al railroad traffic continued to
be blocked The merchants OF the city
could 90 DO trade, and there were daily
scenes Of violence at the Union Station.
The fear Of the destruction of property was
growing. With this terror upon the city, a
meeting of leading citizens was held on
July %, il the United States courtroom. IN
the post-ofice building. General Cobun.
who presided, declared that d reign of
terror prevailed, that there was the great
est apprehension Of danger to property and
personal safety, and that riots must be pre-
vented. Remarks in like strain were made
by Judge Newcomb, Judge Gresham, Major
Gordon and others and on motion of Judge
Gresham a committee was appointed 10
confer with the committee appointed 5y the
public mass meeting. The result Of this
conference was the appointment Of the fol-
lowing committee on public safety: Joseph
f Mcdonald, General BsWdmla Harrison,
Hon. Conrad Baker, General John Love.
General T. 4. Morris, General Daniel
and General ". Q. Gresham.
Nearly every one Of those present at the
first meeting Of this committee enrolled
their names as volunteer nilitiamen, in
response TO Governor Williams proclama-
ton, which had Just been issued. The
= Blue Jeans" Governor had been thor
OuEh denaEogue when a candidate for the
0tnce n the previous year, ana be had heen
very dIlatory IN taxing any action 10 sup
press the rioting in the capital. but at last
the threatening situation compelled him TO
move. The proclamation shows the peril
ii the hour was very great.
HARRISON ASKED TO COMMAND,
After issuing his proclamation Governor
= IlIa1s decided 70 appoint a commander
Il the volunteer militia. and. at tie sug-
yestion Of the committee of Pablo safety,
selected General Benjamin Harrison, the
present Republican candidate for Presi-
tent, IS that commander. The following
vas, accordingly. sent 20 General Har-
-sCn:
STATE OF INDIANA EXECUTIVE DEPARr-l
GESE, TNDIASAPOLIS. July e, 1877.
DEAR SIR: I have 70 request taat you xtu
.SsC1ce command OF al tae military forces Or
-1-iZed and 70 be organized a. the capital for
&c preservation Of order AID The protection of
-fe AID property during the existing emsr-
e1cy. JAxES ,. WILLIAMS. Governor.
II reply General Harrison declined the