The San Francisco call., 1905-05-11
ANSWER OF PRESIDENT.

hlNO w I@Il OI
The President said that he would
read ii at once, and after doing so
said:
Il have read the petition you have
presented to me, the conclusion of
which is a request for a hearing before
any action be taken by the Federal au-
thorities relating to the Chicago situa-
ton. AS yet no suggestion of any kind
has come to me from any source that
l should take any action. OF the mer-
its of the case, / am wholly ignorant.
/ have no knowledge of what the sit
uation is or of what steps should prop
erly be taken to end it. | feel, how
ever, that in view of the one state
ment, or series of statements, in your
letter, / ought to say this: l regret
that you should in the letter have
spoken at all of the use of the Federal
army as you have there spoken. No
request has been made to me for ac-
ton by the Federal Government, but
at the same time, Mr.. Shea, as you
have in this communication to me
brought up that fact, / want to say one
thing with all the emphasis in my
power. In upholding law and order,
in doing what he is able to do to sup
press mob violence in any shape or
way, the Mayor of Chicago, Mayor
Dunno, has my hearty support. l am
glad to be able to say this to you, gen.
tlemen, before 1 say it to anybody else.
Now let me repeat that I know
nothing of the facts Of the situation.
know nothing of the rights or wrongs
of the points at issue What I have to
say is based purely upon what / regard
as the unfortunate phrasing Of let
ter presented to the President of the
United States. / have not been called
upon to interfere in any way, but you
must not misunderstood my attitude.
I'm every effort of Mayor Dunno to
prevent violence by mobs or individ-
uals, to see that the laws are obeyed
and that order is preserved, he has the
hearty support of the President of
the United States, and in my Judgment
he should have that of every good citi-
zen of the United States.
Now, gentlemen, 1t has been a great
pleasure to see you and am glad to
have had the chance to say this to
you
Quinn, who knew the President in his
youth, said: Mr.. President, what
prompted us to come to you with this
statement is that for the past two or
three weeks there has been a continual
howl for the Federal army. have
known you long enough to know that
you would not respond to q sided
demand; that you will not respond
until you have thoroughly investigated
the case"
NO APPEAL FOR TROOPS.
The President replied: Mr. Quinn.
as yet the Mayor of Chicago has not
made any appeal to the Governor, and
therefore, of course, the Governor has
made none to me: and as yet nothing
in the situation has demanded action
by me-"
President Shea Of the Teamsters'
Union then said: Let me explain that.
The Governor has been requested by
the committee of the employers to de-
mand Federal troops; the statement
has been made in the papers. I inn
mediately telegraphed Governor De-
neen that we would allow him to ap-
point a commission.
Regardless of that, want to make
our position known to you in regard to
mob violence. Every time mob con-
gregates, every act of violence per-
formed by either a union man or a
sympathizer reacts to our detriment.
believe that we are skilled workmen
enough in our particular craft to
demonstrate to the business men of
Chicago that it is to their interest to
employ us. There fs nothing at stake
but the unemployment Of citizens of
Chicago who have been forced out of
their positions. Violence meets with
the condemnation of the officials, both
local and national, of our Organization.
It does not meet with the sympathies
of our organization. ] simply want to
say that we will be fair, to preserve
the business interests of Chicago: that
the prosperity of our employers is our
prosperity"
The President replied to this saying:
"Mr. Shea, / can only repeat what !
have said. ( am believer in unions.
] am an honorary member of one union.
But the union must obey the law Just
as the corporation must obey the law,
just as every man, rich or poor. must
obey the law. AS yet no action has
been called for by me, and most GER
tainly if action is called for by me. !
shall try to do exact Justice under the