Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1894-09-04
Mr.. Humc and the "Industrials

Mr.. Eumc and the "InduStrials
Governor O'Ferrall, of Virginia, hav-
ing recently given his statement of the
removal of the Coxeyites from Alexan-
dria county, in his State, the GAzETTE's
Washington correspondent on Saturday
showed it to Mr.. Frank Hume, one of
the supervisors of the county referred
to, and asked him what he thought of
it. Mr.. Hume replied as follows
We'll, l will tell you all 1 know
about it, and that is as much as any
body does.
About the 18th of June Mr.. r. h.
Phillips, supervisor of Washington dis
trict, of Alexandria county, stated to
the board that large number of un-
employed men were camped at the
south end of the Aqueduct bridge, part
ly on government and partly on pri-
vate property that he considered said
unemployed men without visible means
of support and that they were menace
to the good order of the county, that
the county officials would be unable to
cope with them, &C., and a request was
made calling on the Governor to assist
the county officials iu eXpelling the un-
employed. No answer was received
from the Governor On July 26 l re-
ceived the following telegram:
LYNCHBURG, Va, July 26, '94.
Hon. Eank Hume, Washington, d. c.:
Meet me at Metropolitan Hotel to-
morrow as early as you eau. Signed,
+. TAYLOR SCOTT.
This telegram was received by my
bookkeeper and l, being in Alexandria
attending court, was notified by tele-
phone that the Attorney General was
here and desired specially seeing me,
that he wished me to remain at the
courthouse where he desired confer
ence with the Judge, sheriff aud some
friends. Judge Tebbs, of Loudoun,
was holding court and was notified.
He with Mr.. Anthony Armstrong, Col.
Frank Smith, Richard Veitch, the
sheriff, and myself met the Attor-
new General about 2:30 o'clock in the
courtroom. The question of how to
get rid of the men camped at Rosslyn
was the subject under discussion. The
law was examined and possible hitch
was raised from the fact that a certain
number OF acres of land at the south
end of the Aqueduct bridge had been
ceded by the State of Virginia to the
federal government, on which part of
the so called army was camped. Could
the State by force compel these men to
leave? In view of this / then made
the following proposition That before
any expense was Incurred the sheriff
should accompany me to the camp and
have a conference with the leaders and
try by persuasive means to get the peo-
pie to leave. 1t was then about $3.50
O'Clock. p. m. "When can you CO."
asked the Attorney General? Now" 1
stated and this was agreed upon.
I started with the sheriff, carrying the
code Of Virginia with US for the camp
of the industrials. We reached there
about o'clock p. M, saw the leaders
and explained to them in firm way
that they must vacate Virginia soil,
and read to them the laws regarding
vagrants. They replied that the camp
was unhealthy, but it was the best they
could do that so far as sending troops
to oust them from the camp and out of
Virginia, there was no use for force !;
that the sheriff could move them of
alone, and if any of their men offered
resistance they themselves would act as
posse to carry out the law. In a con-
versation with two o. their leaders,
both intelligent men, Calvin and
Thomas, they stated they desired to &c t
| fbair hot fa1t
ly responsible for bringing them to
Washington, and that they felt it their
duty to get them home and not desert
them; that they, as well as their men,
were deceived, and the whole move
ment was failure, and hoped would
make some arrangements by which they
could get away These men acted in a
manly way and my sympathy was
aroused. stated to them that would
; do my best to get them away, telling
them at the same time that desired to
break them up as all organized body
On returning to this city, l, on the fol
lowing morning, had conference with
the District commissioners and stated
to them that in myjudgment the cheap
est, and in my opinion the only way to
get rid of these people was to senC
them to their homes. AS to cost, one
of the commissioners remarked that the
State of Virginia should bear part Of
the expense, to which / entered de
murrer, and stated that these people
were not Virginians and had not ever
come through that State. This meetin!
did not result in any final conclusion.
: left the commissioners and went imme
diately to the Secretary of War, wh'
kindly gave me prompt audience. :,
stated the situation to him and he full,
. aud promptly agreed with me tina
, these people should be gotten away
go and see the District Commissioner
D and tell them it is desirable t
S get these people away, viii
send my private secretary and have th'
commissioners go with you and confer
with certain Senators in regard to th'
,s contingent fund of the District for th'
:. purpose" Ireturned and, after shor
interview, the three commissioner
wpnt with mr. t0 tbo