The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-07-27
The Plnkerton System.

ings. Robert Pinkerton took the stand and
laid before the committee statement that
had been prepared. Both Pinkerton broth
ers were present with their counsel, w. ID.
Guthrie.
The statementin substance was The men
employed by us in this strike work are Sc
lected with great care and only after full
investigation of their characters and ante
cedents. Not single instance can be cited
where we have knowingly employed unre-
reliable or untrustworthy men or where
any of our watchmen have been convicted
of crime. When first requested to send
watchmen to protect the Homestead plant
and property OF the Carnegie Steel Company,
limited, we refused to do so unless all our
men should be sworn in as deputy sheriffs
before going to Homestead. We were then
assured that the sheriff of Allegheny county,
Penn, knew that our men were going to
Homestead to act as watchmen and to
guard the property OF the company and pro-
tect its workmen from violence. We were
further assured that the sheriff had prom
ised, Immediately upon any outbreak or
disturbance, to deputize all our watchmen
as sheriffs deputies il it became necessary
for the protection of life and property. On
that condition only did we consent to fur
nish about 300 watchmen. They did not 90
into the state of Pennsylvania as an armed
body or force, and we should not have per-
mitted or assented to this. There was no
intention or purpose whatever of armng
them until they, were on the property of the
less they had been sworn in as the sheriff's
deputies. The sheriif's chief deputy, Gray,
accompanied our men, being on the tug
towing the barges and it was distinctly un-
derstood that he had the authority to duly
deputize them in case of necessity. The
boxes containing the arms and ammunition
were shipped from Chicago and were to be
delivered at the Homestead yards. The in
structions to our men were that they should
not be armed unless previously deputized
by the sheriff.
After statement of the details of the
fight, the communication continued: We
do not shirk responsibility for any of our
acts in this or any other strike. The COM
ing murder trials ought to bring out the
truth and uphold the law. Our actions will
then be shown to have been legal from be-
ginning to end. Whatever may be the pres
ent prejudice against our agency, we shall
patiently await the sober reflection of the
country, in the confidence that the enormity
OF the wrong and outrage done to our men
at Homestead will be ultimately recognized
although the example will in the meantime
have caused incalculable injury to the COM
munty. The principle involved is of far
more Importance than are the merits of the
present controversy between the Carnegie
company and its workmen. We have no
quarrel with organized labor, and they have
no cause of complaint against us except in
so far as they attempt to destroy property
and life and to violate the law. If the own
ers OF mills, factories, mines, railroads and
other valuable property cannot employ
watchmen to protect life and property, then
all capital 20 invested is practically at the
mercy of the secret labor organizations
whose tyranny and despotism exceed any
thing ever known in the history of the
world. These societies intimidate whole
communities by threats of murder and are
determined upon ruin and destruction of
property If their demands, no matter how
unreasonable or impracticable, are not COM
piled with. In the case of the Molly Ma
CURES, they terrorized the public author
tiles and for years were absolute in their
rule of murder and destruction of property
Every large strike has shown that these
labor organizations will murder and de-
stroy property out of sheer wantonness and
revenge.
The statement concluded as follows: 1t
was morally certain from the threats of the
men themselves that the strikers at Home
stead would resort to similar violence and
attempt TO destroy the property of the Car
negle company, If any attempts were made
to supply their places by non-union men.
At the present time thousands of men would
go to Homestead attracted by the high wages
paid there, If they were assured protection
in the right to earn their living. The bust
ness OF watching and guarding private prop
erty is now extensively carried on in large
cities in this country, not only by ourselves,
but by many other reputable concerns.
Thousands of banks, residences, ware
houses offices, stores, ETC., are thus pro-
tected by private watchmen. If men can
not lawfully act as private watchmen in a
large manufacturing plant, then it must
follow that the bank or the private house
or office cannot be protected or guarded.
1t would, we think, surprise the community
II 1t should be declared by congress that
the right to protect ones property and to
hire servants and agents to assist in so do
ing no longer exists in this country. We
were advised by our counsel that we were
not violating any law of the United States
or of the state of Pennsylvania that our
acts were lawful; that we had the right TO
employ and send men to Homestead to act
as watchmen; that if they were attacked
they had right to kill if absolutely neces-
sary in self-defense; that they had the
right to bear arms on the premises of the
Carnegie company in order to protect life
and private property whether or not they
were deputized by the sheriff of Allegheny
county; that we had the right to ship arms
from Chicago TO the Carnegie yards at
Homestead for the purpose of arming our
men If they were deputized by the sheriff;
that in view of the attack on the barges our
men had the right to bear arms and to de-
fend themselves, and that all their acts in
1irlng in self-defense from the barges after
the attack on them were legally Unsuitable
under the laws of the United States and of
the state of Pennsylvania.
Alter recess Robert Pinkerton was called
TO the stand to answer questions asked by
the representatives of the knights of Labor.
10 St'Au ohal tho dlBtS were DOU constructed
for the purposes of protection, and were not
lined with iron or steel and could not resist
small arms. The men would never have
been allowed to start on the expedition if it
had been known that they were to be at
tackled before landing. The barges were
employed because it was believed the men
would be enabled to land without a breach
OF the peace and the landing was made al
night because the sheriff's force had been
resisted in the day time and it was expected
The strikers wOul1 he in had Tba 10 Jo
sire was TO avoid by all means a breach of
the peace Otherwise the men would not
have been permitted to go unless author
lzed by the governor or deputzed by the
sheriff. There were about 80 men on the
barges with about $50 rifles, 300 pistols and
ammunition and clubs The arms were in
boxes and were not to be used by the men
before the latter were deputized. The only
purpose was to put the men upon private
property and then protect it from attack
The men would not have fred except as a
matter of seif-defense. 1t was understood
that the Carnegie company had applied to