The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-10-07
SHALL THE ENFORCEMENT OF
LAW BE ENTRUST TO
A HIRED MOB3

Mr.. EDIToR:-I remember a sen
tence in a speech made by Nation
al President at the banquet given him
in Raleigh last winter. Said he:
"There is no tyranny so degrading as
legalized tyranny, there is no injustice
so oppressive as that which stands en-
trenched behind the forms of law"
Noble truth, nobly spoken. l was
greatly impressed with the force OF
this utterance of President Polk when
I read in the Labor Journal the follow
ing article from the pen of Grand
Master Workman T. V. Powderly.
Many of our people in the South,
where we have few "labOr trades, "
are not aware of this mob of hired
~cutthroats called "Pinkerton's Detec-
tives." They are armed rufians, hired
to 90 about and suppress strikes, etc.,
and without a shadow of law they
shoot and murder. Will you not
publish il for the information Of our
people? READER
BENJAMIN Harrison and Robert
Pinkerton are citizens of the United
States. Both occupy conspicuous po,
sitIons in the public eye. The former
is conspicuous because the people, by
their votes, made him the first man In
the land. The latter is conspicuous,
or notorious rather, because he exer-
cises powers which the people dId not
confer upon him by their votes or by
law. One is bound by a code Of laws
and a Constitution, under the strict
Interpretation OF which he may not
make war without ice consent OF Con.
gress. Living within the Law, he
must take advice from the chosen rep
resentaEives Of the people before call
ing on the army-ot which ne Is the
commander-in in chief-to respond to a
call to action. The same laws which
hold the President IN cheek have
given life to corporations within the
territory of the United States, and
these creatures (of a creator which
owes it's all to the people, have In turn
created Robert Pinkerton, who takes
it upon himself to call on an army Of
men to respond to a call to arms
whenever one of the corporal ,Ons
wishes to have it so. We live un0er
a complex form of Overnment-a
government so elastic as to permit a
private citizen to declare and make
wal whenever a corpOI alton wishes to
intimidate it's workmen. This he
may do whenever called upon by a
railway or a mining company. The
same interests may appeal to the
President for troops, but he cannot,
under the Constitution, respond.
ever the Chief Executive of the
United States the Constitution has IN
influence. Over Robert Pinkerton
the Constitution has no power. He is
free to do as he pleases, and may de-
clare war without the consent of
Congress. Robert Pinkerton is there
fore a larger man, in the eyes OF cor
porations, than Benjamin Harrison.
If one private citizen may muster
troops and arm them, why may moi
other citizens do the same2 If the
civil authorities will quietly allow
Robert Pinkerton to mass his troops
beneath the shadow of State capitols
for the purpose of wagiDg war upon
workingmen who are TOO law abiding
to even carry arms, they will assured
ly permit these anne workingmen to
throw aside their regard for Law and
meet the troops of Robert Pinkerton
on an equal footing. From the people
comes all law in this land. The PEG
pie never sanctioned a law to allow
Robert Plnkerton to arm the worst
element of society, and they (the PEG
ple) have the right to abolish such
forms of brigandsge as IS exercised
every now and then in cases of
strikes. Every petty tyrant has his
army of hirel1ngs, under command of
Robert Pinkerton. In many respects
the present system differs but little
from that in use centuries ago when
each petty king had his band of fol,
lowers who waged war at his order.
In the old days the kings and chiefs
provided food and raiment for their
retainers and rel generous enough
to feed them we'll. The kings of
America are not troubled about such
things, for they stint their workmen
to as near the starvation point as they
can; they use every appliance to get
labor cheap and throw willing hands
out OF employment, so that hungry,
starving men may respond when Rob
ert Pinkerton calls. The call is made
whenever the railways are stopped.
The call is based on the pretsxt that
the community is being incommoded,
that the food supply is cut off, and
that the poor will suffer through ex-
orbitant prices as a sequel to scarcity.
Two years ago n man in Chicago
got up a strike and tied up the wheat
crop of the United States until the
poor of the land paid twenty cents
extra on every sack of -four that they
consumed. No Pinkertons were