St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-07-07
CONSIDERED IN CABINET.
Gov ELTGELO war BE GIVEN FULL
OPPORTUNITY
To HANDLE CHICAGO MOBs.

The Regulars May Look After
Mails and Government Props
erty Only-0en. Miles Has Had
Absolute Authority in Dealing
With Disturbances - startlin e
| Inadequacy of the Army.
WASHINGTON, July cat the cabtl
net meeting today the entire situation
was very carefully gone over in the
light Of recent developments, and par
t-cularly of the correspondence between
the president and Gov. Altgeld. AS q
result, it Is believed that there is now q
stroug disposition to afford the governor
ample opportunity to make good his
claim of entire ability to cope with the
| resent difficulty in his. state. Not
that the regular troops will be retired
from the field, for they will still con-
tinue their guard over the mail trains
and the government property; but the
militia will be given full opportunity to
contend with the diSorderly mobs out
side of the railroad tracks and govern
ment property, and the regulars pIoba-
bly, will be kept in waiting to reSpon d
TO any call to aid them. The war de-
| partment officials were somewhat con-
cerned at the silly story that came fro m
Chicago to the effect that Gen. Miles
dare not order his troops to fire upon
the disorderly mobS without first seek
! ing express permission from the presi-
dent. Probably this idea arose from
the fact that the troops have so far
acted with such
EXCELLENT DISCRETION
| and moderation that it has not been felt
necessary to 20 to the lengths of shoot
| lug any one.
The concern felt by the department
officials on this score is not for the
troops, but rather for the deluded riot
9rs, who would be sure to suffer if they
acted on the theory that the troops will
not shoot in case OF need.
AS matter OF fact, Gen. Miles is
| clothed with the widest measure of dis
erection in dealing with the disturbance.
He has consulted fully with the presi-
dent, with Secretary Lamont and with
Gen. Schofeld, and has full power to
act as he sees fit. He Is firm believer
| in the efficacy Of the cold steel of the
| Springfield bayonet In setting GRO wd
on the run, and so far the soldiers have
not found 1t necessary to go further
than that. But II the time comes when
| the regulars are placed on the defen-
sive. then it will fare Ill with any crowd
that faces them, for the big Springfield
bullets, the Calling projectile and the
deadly bullet-charged shells of the steel
! tieldpieces will doubtless mark such
havoc as to make bloody page in Chi
cago's history.
1t is solely from compassion for the
excited and
MISLED RIOTERS
that Gen. Miles has withheld the fatal
word Fire" O.
The situation in the far West, and es-
pecially in the Pacific slope, is still,a
matter of grave concern to the eXecu-
tive. Applications have come for re-
lief from the complete blockade at Sac
ramento, Cal, but the way is not yet
clear to extend a helping hand. The
militia seems to have proved to be al
most worthless, tainted by sympathy
for the lawless element, that stops them
from the performance of duty. The
only available troops are at the Pre-
sldlo, San Francisco, and the war de.
partment hesitates to order them away
and leave the valuable government
property at San Francisco exposed to
attack. 1t is hoped that the situation
at Los Angeles will show such signs of
amelioration in day or two that the
troops there can be released, in which
case they will be speedily transferred
| to Sacramento.
One result of the great strike has
been to show IN startling manner the
inadequacy of the United States army,
| which has been reduced to a mere
skeleton. At present 10000 men are
expected to police the whole country.
The Northwestern forts are depleted
to small handfuls Of men, and there is
no adequate reSer We force. Gen.Scho-
field has been obliged To exercise the
most subtle ingenuity in disposing
| HIS SMALL FORCE
so as to make one man as efficient as
ten, and today it would be difficult to
transfer single command in the West
without exposing the great transcon-
| tinental lines of traffic to indefinite
interruption. The general says that it
would require an army of 100000 men
TO quell the disturbances and break up
at once the blockades at the many
points where they exist, and that is why
he is obliged TO attack them in detail,
always an unsatisfactory military pro-
cedure.
Officials at the postofflce department
take a cheerful view of the situation.
The backbone of the strike will be
broken tomorrow night, despite today's
developments in and about Chicago"
said General Superintendent White, of
the railway mail service.
1.-The force has not been sufficient.
With the increase of deputies, of police
men and troops, both national and state,
there will be tomorrow an adequate
| force for quelling the disturbances at
Chicago and maintaining order. That
done, the strike will be practically over,
as Chicago is, Of course, the storm
center of the movement. don't mean,
however, that the strikers will return
to their places"
A batch of new men engaged bv a
local representative of the Baltimore &
Ohio road to work on its Western lines.
as substitutes for the striking en-
ployes, left for Chicago today, and more
are expected TO follow at once.
| Where Shall Go?