Arizona silver belt., 1892-07-23
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The following facts were brought out by the Congressional investigation of the Homestead riot;
 X week before the mills closed an ugly disposition manifested itself among the workmen.
 About June 18th or 26th effigies of Chairman Prick and Gen'l Supt. Potter were found hanging in tho mill yard, June 2sth the disaffected workmen stopped and turned back several fore men who had gone to the works to at tend to their duties. Sheriff McCleary was notified week before the men went out, of the state of affairs at the Homestead mills, and that there would likely be trouble, but it appears that he made no preparation at that timo to protect the works.
 June 18th Chairman Prick wrote to Robt II. Pinkerton, at New York, to engage 300 guards for service at Home stead mills ''as measure of precaution against interference with our plant to start to the operation of the works July 9th, 1s92.n It was not asked that these men be armed unless the occa- sion demanded it.
 July 4th the sheriff was notified by the Carnegie company that he must protect their property,
 On the 5th inst he sent twelve dep uties to the works and they were driven away by the strikers and their friends.
 On the morning of July 9th, before daylight 300 Pinkertons under the command of Deputy Sheriff Gray ar rived at Homestead and attempted to land on the company's property, In response to alarm signals by the strik- CTS, several thousand people assem- bled on the river bank, armed with guns, revolvers, clubs, etc.
 The mob broke through the fence into the property of the company. Their actions and language were vio- lent.
 Who fired the first shot is disputed.
 Alter the surrender of the Pinker- tons and during the march to Home stead tho prisoners were shamefully abused and many pf them seriously in j1fed by the mob.
 From the time the Pinkertons sur rendered, July 6th, until the occupa- ton by the troops, July 18th, Home stead and the property of the Carnegie company was in complete possession ofthe, strikers, and mob law ruled
 The reductions proposed by the com pany affected the earnings of 325 to 100 men, of a total of $500. The hours of labor were reduced by the new scale, fis two of the three mills from 12 hours to hour shifts.
 One of the chief points of difference was as to the time of the year when the contract should expire, the com pany wishing to change it from the 1st afJuly, as heretofore, to January 1st
 The earnings of the worl1ulen are governed by the market price of bill lets. The minimum price in the scale does not affect the pay of the men ex- cept when the price of billets reaches and goes below that figure.
 The company has between s, ,0O0, 900 and &, GOO, 900 invested at Homestead. The plant is the finest of it's kind in the world, and makes the largest output to tho crew.
 The employees of the Carnegie Steel Company are better paid than men in similar positions anywhere in the world.
 -n the 26-inch mill a roller earned s2s5.O5 in twenty-four days. In the 1l9-inch plate mill when the price oi billets was S25, the minimum under the old scale), rollers S13.25 per day screw men, S1O.s5; shearmen, Sl2.2G and ss.02; tablemen, S9.43 and so on down to sweepers who received $51E per day.
 The men average 27o work days in a year,
 The prosperous condition of the workmen at Homestead is shown by the testimony that they have on de posit with the Carnegie company Sl40,0 drawing per cent interest saved from their earnings.
 The company has also loaned money in sums of $500 or less, to those work men who wanted to build homes. Tn, company holds mortgages, for money thus loaned, of s42, ,OO0.
 The Mckinley tariff has had no effec whatever on wages in the steel mills The Mckinley bill reduced the tarii on billets.
 NJ McLuck.e, one of the leaders O the Amalgamated Association declare, that the Mckinley bill, by reducini the tariff on billets, had injuriously af sected wages. He charged that tn reduction on billets was gigantic con spiraey between the company an, members of Congress to injure tn workirgman.
 If this is so, the free trade paper will have to revise their arguments.
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