The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-19

VI at ~ tIuCk SloEe. IN ne bc6iiittie
Governor Shacklett had called in the mine
owners and talked plainly to them. He
told them frankly that he hoped the strikers
would win by proper means, and that there
was no doubt that the men had the SYM
pathy of most of the State, regardless of
any worked-up sentiment or leaning oward
unionism. He pointed out that the only
remedy labor has for low prices is by de-
creasing the supply, exactly as in the case
Of wheat. and that any man or body or
men. In his opinion, were perfectly Justif1a-
BILE in walking out at pleasure in the alb
sence of time contracts.
The president of the coal company talked
of competition and the prices of their prod
uct. giving figures and data regarding the
expenses of their business and cost put
into the coal outside of labor, but the Gov
ernor interrupted him:
ITO my mind" he said, that is entirely
irrelevant. 1t may be that you cannot sell
coal for more than 81 a ton, and that the
men want $40 a day for their work, which,
Of course. you could not pay with your
product at that price. But IL a man, or
your men, refuse to work for what you can
afford to pay you will have to get other
workmen, suspend operations, or get more
for your coal. The State is not regulating
supply and demand among its citizens,
and as long as 1 am Governor the power
of the State is not going to be used to in
terfere between two parties to a contract"
Precisely" replied the suave president;
I'VE had no idea of asking so much; but
what we want to know is this: If we find
men who are willing to work at a price we
are willing to pay will the State protect
them from the assaults of the strikers.
which we know will come as soon as the
new men appear? We helped elect a Gov
ernor to protect the property of citizens
and the persons of the poor workingmen
and rich banker alike We are a little
anxious to know whether we chose the
right man or made a costly mistake to be
r~ectified in the future"
Governor Shacklett's face turned enough
to be presented squarely to the capitalist,
and his eyes looked into those of his inter-
rogator as they often looked at one who
threatened when he should have argued.
'As long as I am Governor" he slowly
said, "the laws of the State shall be en-
forced exactly as they have been during
the past week, with exactly the same en-
ergy and care. and In exactly the same
way in one city or county as in another. I
recognize no special rights, and am slow to
recognize special conditions. Assault and
battery is the commonest Of misdemeanors,
and / imagine every peace officer and mag
istrate knows hoy to handle offenders"
Then / understand that you will wait
until the law has been broken before taking
steps to secure the rights of respectable
citizens, including the right to work for a
living?" The president was losing his tenn
per and his hold on the situation at the
same time.
II am not infringing on the rights Of a
court of equity" replied the Governor, with
some Impotence of tone; and the usual
way to execute the criminal law against
assault is to arrest and punish the offender,
which l shall certainly cause to be done
whenever my attention is called to the lax
ity of the proper county officers The i'm
patience had given way to nnu in his
tone. and the mine owners five minutes
later were in the corridor of the Statehouse.
Governor Shacklett sat in the same posi-
| ton after they left that he had been occu-
plying when they were announced, his head
pushed back upon the leather of a chair
and his feet on a pile of letters on the table.
4HiO06h iaiA-OPNhNo SyNo AS PNOASo o. OhO
of his predecessors looking down upon him
from the wall, and wondered how that
other Governor would have handled such a
situation. 1t struck the last Governor of
Illinois that some of the first who occupied
the ~gubernatorial chair would have been a
little confused to nave received a message
from a distant part of the State, dated ten
minutes before, asking for five companies
e - n. = -
the peace on account of a strike. He smiled
slightly to himself. and his eye wandered
to the picture of Oglesby, and from that to
the portrait of Cullom, and then he thought
of Lincoln. He was really resting. and al
lowed his mind to fit lightly over the affairs
of the day and the times, and now it
seemed to rest upon the career Of the war
President, with whom Springfield was so
closely connected. Governor Shacklett
smiled again as he compared his little
strike of two hundred men-he had grown
to consider it as a part of the office supplies
turned over to him-with the great conflict
that pressed down upon Lincoln and finally
pushed him into his grave. Shacklett re-
manned there until his private secretary
came in softly to discover why the carriage
had been kept waiting SO long, and then,
as he sprang to his feet, he said:
Mckee. whenever you're in doubt in pol
itics or craftsmanship read up on the life
of Lincoln. It's the Bible of the really
successful politician who aspires above the
Legislature. That and a good wife are to
a Governor what Haines's Treatise is to the
country justice of the peace. BY the way.
Mckee, 1 wish you'd wire Mrs. Shacklett
tina I'd like her to get back as soon as
she conveniently can-there's that trip to
Kankakee coming on, you Know"
ITO be Concluded Tomorrow
Alaska Returning Big Dividends.