Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-11

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| terms of employment. When the nego tia
| tlons between the parties came to an ent
all contract relations between them ceased
the men hab no further legal demand upor
| the company, and they had no more inter
est in or claim upon its property than has
domestic servant upon the household good
\ OF his employer when discharged by the
| latter or when he voluntarily leaves his
service, nor does it make any difference tina,
large number were discharged at one time
| their aggregate rights rise no higher thar
/ their rights as individuals.
Relations of Employer and Employe.
The mutual right of the parties to con
tract in regard to wages, and the character
of employment, whether by the piece or by
the day, whether for ten hours or less, is as
fixed and clear as any other right which We
enjoy under the Constitution and laws o
this State. 1t is right which belongs to
every citizen, Iaborer or capitalist and 1t is
the plain duty of the State to protect him in
the enjoyment of it.
As before observed. but a small portion Of
the men were affected by the proposed read.
Justment of wages. The larger portion oi
them, who were members of what Is known
as the Amalgamated Association of Iron ana
Steel w orkers, were not affected at all. Nor
number, who were not members of this as
soc1ation. Upon the failure to arrive at an
adjustment of the wage difficulty, the COM
pany proposed to operate its works by the
~
the Amalgamaued Association. 1t had the
right to do this under the law Of Pennsylva.
mia. This right was resisted, and the fact OF
its resistance, and the manner of 1T, are now
part of the history of the State; 1t 1s Il
chapter which every good citizen would glad
ly see obliterated. 1t Is a part of the history
of these events that the lodges composing
the Amalgamated Association proceeded 20
organize what has been widely known as the
Advisory Committee; that this committee.
organized by the appointment OF o cnalf-
man, and proceeded at once to take cnarse
of affairs at Homestead; that among its hrsS
acts was to order the mechanics, labor ers
and other employees of the works, amounting
to about 5, ,000, whose wages were not aHecteo
by the proposed change, ana VINO hao en-
tered in to new agreement with the COM
pany, upon the terms of their old CONTRACT.
to break their contracts, and to refuse 20
work until the Amalgamateo Assocta1ion
was recognized and its terms agreed TO.
Where the Illegal Acts Commenced.
Up to this point there had been no breach
of the peace; the men had the right to re-
fuse the work and to persuade their friends
to refuse also. The law has no quarrel with
labor associations SO long as they act peace
ably and respect the rights of others;
on the contary, while they keep within tho
law, they have the sympathy of all good
citizens in every honest, manly effort to i'm
prove their condition. But the state or
Pennsylvania will not permit these. or any
other organizations, to trample upon the
law and deny the rights of other la aborers
not members of such associations. 1t Is al
legged that the Advisory Committee did more
than induce Others not to accept employ
ment from the company; that it allowed no
persons to enter the mills of the Carnegie
Steel Company; and even permitted no
strangers to enter the town of Homestead
without its consent; that it arranged and
perfected an organization of a military char
acter consisting of three divisions. with
commanders captains. etc., the captains to
fr 1aa ,farC orpd
latter to report to the Advisory Committee.
That girdle OF pickets was established by
which the works and the town were guarded
like military encampment; that these
plckets arrested every man who attempted
to approach either the town or the works
until he could give an account of himself
which was satisfactory to the Advisory
Committee; that all discussion OF the wage
question was positively prohibited; that all
these and many other things were done to
deprive the company of the use of its prop
erty and to prevent it from operating its
works by the aid of lnen who were not men,
bers of the Amalgamated Association.
1t was in this state of affairs that the CON-
pany, apprehending injury to its property
and its possible destruction, applied to the
lection. That officer made an effort to Sc
cure 100 deputies to go to Homestead on the
afternoon of July s. He succeeded in get
ting about dozen, who, under the charge
OF a deputy sheriff, attempted to enter the
works of the company in order to protect
them. They We're driven OF with threats,
and the authority of the Sheriff defed.
The Battle of the Barges.
On the morning of July the company at
to place 800 watchmen into the
works. The men were selected by the aid
of the Pinkerton agency and were in charge
of deputy sheriff. Their business and
their only business was to protect the pro p.
erty of their employers. The landing OF
these men on the grounds of the company
was resisted by large crowd of men. many
Of whom were armed: guns pistols and can
non were discharged at the watchmen, and
the fire was returned by portion of the lat
ter. An attempt was made to destroy them by
the rioters by the use of dynamite and by
burning oil. Finally, after a number had
been killed and wounded ON each side, the
watchmen surrendered to the Advisory
at that time the only authority
permitted TO be exercised at Homestead.
Their treatment afer their surrender has
few chapters to equal it in savage warfare,
the humane efforts of a
portion of the committee to prevent it.
This outbreak was SO serious in its charac-
ter that the Governor of the State, and Com
strict line of his duty, and after call for
aid from the High Sheriff OF Allegheny
county, ordered out the entire National
Guard of the State for its suppression. Since
then We have had for many weeks the hu.
spectacle of a business plant sur
rounded by the army of the State for its
protection at an expense OF several lun-
ired thousand dollars to the taxpayers-and
the business of the country disturbed to
some extent, and for what2
We can have some sympathy with q mob
driven to desperation by hunger, as in the
days of the French Revolution, but we can
nave none for men receiving steady employ
nent at exceptionally high wages in resist
ing the law and in resorting to violence and
0loodshed in the assertion of imaginary
tights, and in entailing such a vast expense
Upon the taxpayers of the Commonw ealth.
1t was not cry ''of bread or blood'' from
lips, or an ebullition of angry pas
'ions from sudden outrage or provoca-
ion: it was deliberate attempt from men
without a grievance to wrest from others
heir lawfully acquired property and to con-
,rol them in their use and enjoyment of it.
A Weak Spot in the Government.
The existence of such state of things in
government of law indicates a weak spot
somewhere. 1t is not in the law itself; that
S sufficient for the preservation of order;
Ill that is needed is its proper enforcement.
TO accomplish this it is only necessary that
everyone connected with its administration
shall do his duty. This duty is as solemn
md imperative with a juror in the box as
With the judge upon the bench, and am |
glad to be able to say, as result of my ex- |
per!ence in the criminal courts, that have |
seldom known a jury to faltcr in the per-
lormance of duty when that duty has been |
clearly and fairly presented to them, If |
Jurors fail in this respect the courts can ac- |
comDlish nothing, and the result is an archy
1t is much to be feared that there is dis |
,ased state of public opinion growing up |
with regard to disturbances of this nature |
and that a confused, If not erroneous. view /
of the law bearing upon these questions has /
'ound lodglnent in the public mind This is |
evidenced by the comments of a portion of |
he press and in the utterance of dema-
,ogues who pander to the mob and the polf. |
icians who hunger for votes. 1t finds ex-
preston in sympathy for men, W no, withouta a
'ecognfzed grievance, trample upon the
aw and the rights OF Others and yet have
10 sympathy for the outraged law or the
lered in his effort to seek honest om,ior |