Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-09-30
All About the Homestead Strike.


gressional committee that investigated |
the strike; Hon. George Tcknor Curtis,
the eminent constitutional lawyer, and
General Master Workman T. V. Pow
derby, of the Knights of Labor. Mr..
Powderly gets the last word.
The contract between the Carnegie |
company and its employees expired June
30. The company proposed to reduce
the wages of the men in some of the de-
partments, also to change the time of
renewing the contracts from the last day |
of June to the last day of December. |
The reduction of wages was to take
place because, as represented by Presi-
dent Prick, of the company, overproduc-
ton during the year had reduced the
price of the products made until the
company was losing money. Further,
improved machinery put into the mills
since the three years contract was signed
in 1889 had doubled the output in GER
tain departments with no increase of
labor to the workmen. In these depart
ments, in order to equalize matters, he
desired to reduce the rate of wages. The
workmen, however, deny that the out
put was doubled with no increase in the
number of laborers, and thus that point
remains a disputed one. At any rate
the workmen declined to sign the new
contract.
Mr.. Oates believes that Mr.. Prick was
actuated by desire to sit on trades
unions in general, and that he met the
men throughout In "stern, brusque and
autocratic" manner that did not sweeten
their tempers. Mr.. Oates says:
If the business of his company, on account
of a fall In the market price of the products of
| the works, required reduction of the wages
| of the employees, he should have appealed to
their reason and shown them the true state of
/ the company's affairs. am persuaded that If
! he had done so an agreement would have been
reached and all the troubles which followed
would thus have been avoided
Further, Mr.. Oates says congress has
no power TO interfere In the Homestead
labor troubles or in any other labor
troubles, and that a compulsory arbitra-
ton law is not practicable.
Mr. Curtis, from the lawyers side Of
the affair, calls attention to the fact
that the Pinkertons were not armed
when they went up the river to Home
stead. The arms and ammunition were
packed in boxes to be delivered at the
Homestead yards He writes:
Klein, one Of the Pinkerton watchmen. had
been killed by the strikers and about five other
men shot and wounded before the Pinkerton
men began their fire in self defense. Then it
was impossible TO shoot those firing from the
shore at the barges, because the strikers had
made breastwork for themselves by placing
women and children in front and firing from
behind them.
Mr.. Curtis declares that the first duty
of the legislative power is to emancipate
the individual workman from the tyr.
amy of his class. He sells himself into
slavery when he joins a trades union
"The coercion of nonunion men should
be made crime and punished with SO
verify" The law points in the case Mr.
Curtis puts thus:
First,-That the owners of the mills had
I perfect legal right to employ any necessary
number of men to defend their property.
y Second-That all the acts Of the PinkertoI
:. men at Homestead were lawful; and that a
4 watchmen they had right 10 bear arms OF
the premises Of the Carnegie company in orde
u TO protect life and property, whether the.
= were were not deputized by the sheriff o
Allegheny county; and that the agency hai
= the right to ship arms for such purposes fron
), Chicago TO the Carnegie yards at Homestead
/ and that In view of the attack on the barge
n the watchmen had the right to bear arms an
e defend themselves; and that all their acts
y, firing In self defense from the barges after th
, attack on them were legally justifable unde
I the laws of the United States and the state {
s Pennsylvania.
10 Third-That the killing of Klein by one
e more of the riotous strikers was a murder.
q Fourth-That all who stood by sympathi,
ing with and encouraging the strikers, or M
L exerting themselves TO prevent the striker
n who were armed from firing on the barge
were accessories to the murder.
y. Then Mr.. Powderly takes up the tall
u We are to infer from his story that it
Il the workmen who built up the thrivin
u town of Homestead and made the pro
" perity of the mills; it was they who or
70 ated the great steel plant, and Mr.. Ca
i negie and Mr.. Prick or their money ha
Us little or nothing to do with it. Manufa
re turing has changed altogether, says M
he Powderly. 1t is now in the hands I
Il great corporations. Bodies of organize
Sc workmen stand in the same relation
lr the men as the corporation does to IL
Vt investing capitalist. Every law, ever
Id right, every concession which the worl
is ingmen now enjoy has come to the
through the labor organization" II
Knights of Labor demand compulsol
W. arbitration law.
en- Il should be a law in every state that in d
n puted cases the employer should be obliged
select two arbitrators and the employees tw
g. these four 20 select the fifth. This arbitrati'
of commission to have access to all books pape
- and facts bearing on the question at iss
" from both sides.
es Mr.. Powderly gently informs b