The morning call., 1892-07-08
4 PRIVATE WAR.

The depl0Table 1ccuTr6nces at Homestead,
Pa, viii have tue effect Of determining the
question whether citizen Of the United
states can carry uu a private war against
other citizens with the aid Of mercenaries.
or the facts there Gems 10 be no question.
Difference havius arisen between the
managers Of Cauagie's iron works and
theiE hands on til subject Of wages, the
men we're locked out. In order to pre-
vent the running 4 the works with non
union labor the kmen beseged them so
Gem pletely thatn0 enc could enter them from
the outside without their knowledge a
body Of PinkeTton men, 200 strong, all welr
armed and equipped for action. were en-
ployed BY Carneg5 agents, and attempted
70 enter thu works 10y way of the river.
They we're opposed by the workmen; FIRE
was Cpened on ben sides, and a desultory
battle took place, astng all day. until the
men surrendered. They were
aou q as prisoners to Jail, aud many Of
tnem ere mai ted on the way. Order
gss rest7r and II is supposed that
sae ienage gain resumed. The Gov
emo i Pen ania refuses TO interfere
Until le Sher- las exhausted his power Of
Gait on the posse to maintain the peace.
% q tiers stand al this hour.
ii be said that the attack of the work
men 2on the PInkertons was unjustifiable,
SO ais was the presence Of the latter on the
scene Of action, armed and equipped for
battle The PinkertOns are mercenaries
Ike iha Hessians whom George III hired to
Eight battles against the colonies. They
stand ready to wage war for coin. And
their presence at spot where discord
exists Invites outbreaks In war a body of
armed men is held to answer not only for
what Il has done, but for what it may do.
S1laleTs do not always wait for the enemy
70 IRE the first shot. If his appearance
warfan the belief that he intends TO fire,
Il IS considered jus tfiable to anticipate his
action. If the Carnegie wOrkmen had re-
solved ID resist the introduction Of non
union men into the Homestead works by
force 81 arms they would not be likely to
wa u1il the Pinkerton men had got the
crop o. hem.
Int he controversy between the mill
ow..oEs and the mill workers it is not neces-
sary that outsiders should enter. But it is
perfectly clear that no party to a labor
controversy should be permitted TO hire
men to carry on a private war against the
ether party. We're it otherwise, the coun-
try would be heading straight toward a
military despOtism; for rich men could levy
force against which undiseiplined and
impecunious crowds would be powerless.
II Mr. Carnegie can hire 2G0 Pinkertous to
carry on war against his recalcitrant work
men, he can hire a much greater number
and, by ombining together, dozen Of the
great corporations might raise an army
which would dominate the country as the
German army dominates the German en-
pire. The bare possibility Of such a danger
should arouse the people to serious contem-
plation of the pass in which we stand.
The Pinkertons say that they were en-
gagged to serve as Natchmen, and the right
of a property-owner to hire watchmen to
guard his property is indisputable But
watehmen are not enrolled 10 companies
under military officers as the Pnkertons
were. Waterman is not garrison. 1t is
his business, when an attack is threatened
upon the property he is set to watch, to
notify the authorities and call upon them
to do their duty in maintaining the peace
That Carnegie agents do not seem to have
done. They appear to have taken the law
into their own hands, and to have acted as
If they were in the field, with an enemy
camping over against them to attack them.
To admit that Carnegie had right to place
them in this position is to acknowledge
that any citizen may wage private war on
his neighbors
The whole b&5iaes5 is shocking. 1t car
ries us back to- the days of the Montagues
and Capulets1n Ital. and Of the houses of
York and Lap2aster in England, when
feudal potentaSes fought with each other
with the hele Of retainers, and national
authority was dissolved 10 anarchy. The
slaughter OF men who were fighting for
their food is sad enough; but the sequel. 1t
IS TO be ieSred, will be sadder still. IL has
been said that the tree of liberty must be
watered with blood. But the tree of indus
try, when washed in blood, Is apt TO die
and. Ia dying. 1t leaves behind it trail of
suffering, agony ana starvation. The Car
neges will yield this time They iii not
attempt to wade through corpses to enforce
their scale of wages. But in war the bel
!igerent who can hold out longest wins in the
end, and that would not be the poor wage
Garner. who depends upon his daily toll for
his faniiy's bread