The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-09-03
AN A%CCOUNTFROM MR.. ALLEY
He Tells Some Things About the Rail-
road Strike Well Worth Remembering
Rabbi Messing Speaks for the Hebrew Vote
and Mr.. Potter Gives a Good Report Of Po-
litical Affairs en- the Pacific Coast.

many years At the head OF the Brotherhood or
Engineers in this State, is one OF
the stanchest supporters Of General Harrison.
and no one condemns in stronger terms than he
tho attempts Of pot-house politicians to question
General Harrison's actions at the time Of the rail-
road strike in 1877. To a Journal reporter Mr..
Alley said yesterday: "When / see a man like
Leon Bailey talking in the way that he does, l
feel that it is my place, as a man who knew
many of the inside circumstances Of the strike,
TO protest. The demagogues are on tbs lookout
for witnesses, and it is only natural that they
should come across one or two men who still re-
tain a sufficient amount of the prejudice, created
by q strike in which they were defeated. to
make statements which are stretched to the Ut
most limits, If they are not prevsricatious. Some
OF them need but little inducement to make the
statements. when partisan spirit prompts them,
while others may be moved by anticipation Of
party reward or revenue"
ssDid you consider General Harrison's conduct
at the time of the strike as indicating that he
was ct all hostile to the interests of laborinc
menl7
Not for one moment He did what any good
citizen ought to do; he had the courage 20 stand
Just as Myself and others did. Though an active
participant in the strike. / confined myself en-
tirely within the limits OF the law. I at one
time addressed some seven or eight hundred ex-
cited railroad men on a public stage, suggesting
the appointment of a COMMITTEES Of one from
every department in the railroad service to meet
aud draft a petition to the judges Of the
chancery court, who had appointed the re-
ceiver, asking-in fact almost demanding-the
restoration of the 10 per cent reduction. Isug-
gsssed that we protect the cOmpanys property
until 8 P. NJ. Monday night. when we wanted an
answer, yes or no. That was acted upon at
once, and, IS the papers OF the next day said,
drought order out of chaos"
DO YOU think workingmen generally con-
denim the action OF General Harrison at the
timer
81 know they do not Why in the world
should tbeyl No man has stronger fealty for
labor organizations than l have. and no one has
spent more time nor been a stronger advocate
of cur interests as wage-earners. No one will
accord to smpioye and employer alike that which
Is Justly cue TO both quicker than / will But do
not let nv party zeal or prejudice govern my ac-
ton. whe1 justice is demanded on either side.
Albert G. Porter, Franklin Land
ers. Conrad Baker and General Harrison on
equal terms in this matterl Did not Dir. Nc
Donald, in q card over his own signature, cay
that they were OF one Accord We're they not q
touncilsl Did not the chairman and one of the
committee make sworn ~afidavits that nothing OF
the kind was said by General Harrison, as is at
tributed TO him by these irresponsible politi-
eiansl Are not these a~fidavits sustained by the
statements of a number OF credible citizens
who were conversant with all that was occurringl
Did not Governor Williams issue a proclama-
ton condemning the action taken by the
st-ikersl Did he not call on all good citizens, as
well as the officers. TO assist him in maintaining
orders And is that to his discreditf Would you
not have called Kim a cur had he refused
10 execute the laws he had sworn TO enforced
Would not any good citizen have been . coward
had he refused to aid in this matter, when ru-
pors were afoat that a mob was coming 70
destroy the cityf Baltimore and Pittsburg
were burning, millions of dollars worth Of prop
erty was destroyed, and the poor man was taxed
20 pay for it afterwards. Marion county would
have been bankrupted had the mob obtained
she ascendency here. and we to-day would have
been paying heavy taxes 10 wipe out the debt
that would have been saddled on us. General
Harrison showed his manliness and courage
vnen he stood MP between the innocent and the
rfotous elements that threatened the community,
just as he had done before when traitors threat
ened our common country. Those who are now
attacking him should be ashamed. 1t seems
queer that all those who are attacking the sol-
der are, from the President and his party down
TO the lowest ward striker, arrayed on one side,
and those who defend the soldier are the Re-
publIcans. liz you wish TO make comparisons
cake this man Bailey's record, even for the last
eighteen months, when he defended men who
had committed the greatest crime in the cal
endar-that Of debauching the ballot-box. and
that too when be held the Office Ct assistant
district attorney under the government. When
he should have been by all rights of honor and
his Office prosecuting these men. be was defend
ing them
What about the statement that the strike
was not sanctioned by all the organizations OF
OF railroad menf"
sWell, sir, the whole strike was not gotten up
hv .pu oroapix,tiOn hat ly %hi-ty raroa IN
the b. & 0. who belonged to no organization.
1t spread from that The fremen who took
part here, it was claimed by Sayrs. did so as in
dividuals and not az members of the Brother
hood. Sayre, nevertheless, as a grand officer OF
that organization, brought od;um on the order
for which he WAS held responsible by the next
national convention. But be saved himself by
stating that he took part as a p~eace-maker, to
keep the members of the order out Of trouble.
That not only saved him censure at their hands,
but also enabled him to keep out Of prison. The
fact is that / held in my possession the only evil
dence that would have convicted him. 1t was in
mia own handwriting, directing me what to do.
/ destroyed It while he was making q speech,
fearing there might be q traitor or detective in
orr midst who would make it public, and cause
bis conviction, and ruin the order. / tore it into
small bits, dropped it into a ~spittoon, and when
/ was called on / simply stated that whatever
evidence l had was destroyed aud there need be
no fear for him or the order. There were eighty
hvo men witnesses of the transaction. So you
sec IutT6 was UlOI6 Dcullu Wis u1lIoI tuhn III
public was aware of; and all the trouble was
caused by those who acted without any authori-
ty from the organization. l am not blaming
these men now for what they did"
do you hear many expressions from the
laboring elementr regarding Gen. Harreon2'
Yes. and they are always favorable to him.
They recognize him as q man who can be trusted
by the people not to be swerved from duty either
by demagogues, friends or foes. The laboring
class, as q matter of fact, is becoming so intelli-
gent these days that it 10 an insult TO them to
appeal TO their prejudices, aud will be treated
as such. They are also intelligent enough to
perceive that these ~agftators who are now try
ing TO hand over the labor vote to the Demo-
cratic party are running the labor interest. IL
will &c an unfortunate thing for organized labor
II these men are successful in their infarious
schemes. In their zeal TO serve their party they
have almost ruined the pleasures of Labor day.
which Is looked forward 20 with so much pleas
ure, by making it a political gathering. headed
by INSCRIPTIONS politicians. / feel satisfied
that no intelligent man will be hoodwinked by
this gang, which Is selling out the labor interest
for money or party reward. | want to warn
those who have the Republican principles at
heart to observe that these men are all Demo.
Gratis. They shut out OF their convection all
Republicans in order that they might pass reso-
lutions against the Republican party. They
then had nothing but Democrats appointed on
the for Labor day"
The Hebrew Vote.
During the campaign a great deal OF talk ID
heard about the Irish-Americsn, the German