Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-20
The Dispersion Of the Army Of the
CommonWeal,
INQUIRIES FOR MISSING PRODIGAIS
What the Movement Cost the CITY
and the DeIuded Men.
THE HARDSHIPS SUFFERED

| dustrial army to the national capital few
| persons realized what suffering his move
ment woul1 entail. When the crowd of So
| called industrials assembled in the little
| Ohio town and got ready to make the march
| they undoubtedly thought that, as their
| leader was reputed to be a man of means,
they would fare well and would want for
| nothing. So sure were they that they were
| going to have a great picnic that some of
| them, il is said gave up lucrative positions
and started on the lark as representing the
unemployed wCrkmen of the country. Some
of them, who fell victims of the police, made
such statements in court when they were
under oath.
One man in the lot, who seemed particu-
| larly anxious to secure his release, was
frank enough to admit just under what cir
cumstances he left his home and lined" as
he said. the army.
L was working in a mine and was max
ing about 50 a day." he said, but there
were other men there who needed the work
worse than did, and / gave up my job. 1
had heard Of the army and thought IL would
| De good opportunity to go east and see the
sights"
This man expressed the sentiments of
| many unmarried men who came with the
| so-cailed army and who had ANTICIPATED
| one long feast rather than the hardships
whicn they were forced to endure 1t is
true that on their march here those who
| came with Coxey Jared better than the
many other contingents from the east and
west After their long and tedious tramp
.hey reached the capital and furnished a
suDgect OF thought for the policemen.
| what are We to dor" was what was
asked on all Sides
| Permitted to Enter the CITY,
Inc police generally favored stopping the
| army at the District line and preventing
| their entering the city, on the grounds tina
they were persons without visible means of
| support and We're liable to become charge
able TO the District as paupers. In other
words, they were tramps and vaerants.
| Had they belonged here they would have
peen arrested and sent down for a period
OF from ten days to three months, and the
| ponce thought as strangers they should
| fare no better.
| And the guardians of the peace would
| probably nave done this had hot the court
| given them a setback when they arrest ed
the Primrose band from Texas To Prim-
rose and his followers the Coxeyiies un-
doIbtedly owe great deal Had the court
heid these men guilty under the vagrancy
| act Coxey and his followers would never
1 nave been allowed to occupy the different
camps within the borders Of the District
| But Judge kimball had given the police a
| black eye" as they termed it. and they
| saw no reason to take prompt measures
with the Coxeyites, for they felt certain
that they would not be sustained. So the
| army" was permitted to enter under the
| banner of peace and the tramps occupied
| the old race course ground at Briehtwood.
Afterward the army occupied the dirty,
| miserable camp I'm South Washington, and
| later moved to the Highlands camp. Other
| so-called armies followed, and although
| their leaders disclaimed any connection
with the Coxey army, Coxey's call had in
| cuced them to come, and ii was only be-
| cause of scarcity of provisions that the
Individuals of the several crowds did not
! combine in one large body.
| When the Leaders Deserted.
When Coxey deserted the poor wretches
and they came Lear starving to death,
many Of them realized for the first time
that they had been deluded. Then, of
course. they We're. as a rule. willing to
/ leave and return home. Many Of them fol-
lowed the example of their leader and de-
| serted, but instead of going with him I'm a
| first-class passenger coach, they had to
| tramp the roads, sleep I'm the woods or
| barns, and take the chances of being shot
| Thep, too, they had to depend upon the
charity of citizens for food. Some of them
| were undoubtedly driven to stealing. In
| fact, there was some stealing done about
here. and two of them found in a potato
| Held helping themselves were shot. While
| the farmers suffered because of the near
| ness of the army to their crops. few Of the
| tramp-thieves were caught.
| During their stay here a great amount OF
| extra police work had to be done, and thus
the citizens were deprived Of the services
| of the police.
| When starvation faced those in camp in
| Maryland and Virginia, especially in the
| Rosslyn camp, the men were sent into the
| city to beg for food for the army. But the
police put their foot down on this part of
the program, and arrests followed. The
leaders had deserted the poor men, and
when they were brought into court the
congressman and array Of lawyers who
| had looked after the case of the leaders
| and the half-starved soldiers of the
army Of peace" had to fight their own
| battles.
Then they were sent down, the prosecut-
Ing attorney, Mr.. Pugh, treating them as
he does any other common Migrants. With
| many Of these poor men IT was their first
prison experience, while others appeared
| and took their sentences with the grace OF
old-timers. A sentence of a few days In
the wtrkhouse to some of them was really
| a punishment, but the sentence was worse
| than the actual service.
| Longing for Home.
| The work that is done by the wearers Of
the check suits would never require much
| exertion, much less give one an appetite,
| and, then, the soldiers were always sure
Of their next meal. "AIeal' is what the
| officials call what is served two or three
| times q day, and to the Coxeyites they
| were probably ''banauets." Real SOUP.
meat and bread, and not the leavings Of
otner peoples tables, were to them some
| thing extra Although they enjoyed what
was set before them and relishei IT, there
| was a longing for home, and most of those
who had served time made a start when re-
| leased to tramp home. Besides the expense
| OF keeping them in the workhouse, the Dis
| trict had to give many of them hospital
treatment, and now the contingent or emer-
| gency fund is being taxed to send them
home.
Gov. Browns raid on the Coxey camp at
Highlands was the worst setback received
| by the unwelcome visitors. The raid in
itself amounted to but little, for the Coxey-
| ties cared nothing about visit to a coun-
| try magistrates Office, nor did a ninety
| days sentence affect them very much.
| Those who had been in the workhouse here
have told their comrades OF their treatment,
and consequently those who had not been
| given a dose of the prison imagined that
the Maryland house of correction at Jes-
sup's Cut was no worse than Intendant
Stoutenburgh's boarding house. But in this
| they were mistaken, for not only was there
a difference, but the difference was so
great that some of them felt almost like
| fainting.
Place They Didn't Like.
| A look in the building revealed party of
prisoners at work In penitentiary style,
while on the outside in the field ofha-S vara