The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1894-07-06
4 STRONG


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The ease and celebrity with which
detachment Of regular troops-consistini
Of Just ninety lnfantrymen from For
Acknowledgment a mob Of three
thousand property d~estroyers in Chicago
yesterday shows how wholesome ant
effectual the federal authority can bt
when applied to that class Of troubles
The sheriff Of Cook county with hun
dreds of deputies has been powerless tc
deal with the scenes of disorder and
violence the past week, but the moment
the liability of conflict with United
States forces arises that moment the
boastful and blatant strike agitators and
leaders have important business else
where. 1t is no unreasonable or unnat-
ural inference to assume that the fact
that the officers and men of the Fifteenth
Infantry are not dependent upon the
suffrage Of those engaged in these dis
~turbances, nor their sympathizers in
other sections Of the country, for llveli-
hood or employment may have had
much TO do with their remarkable sue
cess in. quelling the demonstration re-
ferred to. The rioters have reason to
believe these men mean business, and
they are known to carry guns that not
only shoot well, but which have a g
dency to go off under orders-regardl .ss
Of the consequences to follow. II the
sheriff and his deputies had dared to act
with such promptness and decision they
could not be elected next time; and,
besides, some Judge, who also desires
reelection, might sustain a prosecution
against them for the crime Of shooting
down honest workmen who find It neces-
sary to burn bridges and wreck railroad
trains In defense Of their rights and
"liberties." No, the sheriff is not such a
fool. He doesn't propose to bring down
upon himself the loss of his own fat office
nor risk a term In Jail to prevent the
Judge from losing his also, by the exhibit
tion of any such mshness. What a sad
commentary on our form Of government
Ia this, and yet no intelligent observer
can deny the truthfulness OF the criti-
cism. The time has come when there
must be a material change or revision
of the organic law Of the country. The
trainers OF the constitution Of onel
hundred years ago had no %conception
OF such a state Of affairs as now exists
under the government they founded.
The conditions prevailing In their time,
and in all the history before, furnished
no parallel TO the present situation. 1t
never entered the minds of these patrl-
OTIS that the day would come when such
u class Of men as Pennoyer, Waite, Att
geld aud Stone, OF Missouri, with the
demagogues who strut the halls
Of congress, would be tolerated In their
open encouragement and defense OF the
spirit Of lawlessness, until the boosted
OF our institutions has been con-
verted into a license which now threat
ms the legal rights and personal safety
every citizen In the republic. In a
constitutional convention held today
he Hamiltonlan idea would have a
greater influence and a larger fol-
owing than that OF Philadelphia. It
las been demonstrated over and over
lgain in the past few months that the
are utterly incapable OF a~frording
adequate protection to the peace and
property OF their W citizens. and I'M
Ter modern systems the Intercommuni-
and interdependence among the
causes any sort OF commotion IN
me state to be felt in another. untIl it's
influence, like the present example. is
to spread over the entire country
rhe American Railway Union is a ma
ional organization which has now as +,
umed the aspect Of a national enemy. |
nd Il must be subduea by the national
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