were posted in and about the statehouse, with instructions to protect the legislature from outside interference. Against this the contesting members of the legislature protested, and to their inquiries General Ruger replied as follows:

The Hon. F. A. CONNER AND OTHERS.

COLUMBIA, S. C., December 8, 1876.

GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE: I have the honor to say, in reply to your inquiries, based upon the resolution of which you handed me a copy on yesterday, that the United States troops in the statehouse were placed there by my order for the purpose of executing such orders as might be given; and in this connection I would say, with reference to the inquiries numbered 6 and 7, that if your body should appear at the statehouse for the purpose of entering the hall of the house of representatives, and should be refused admission by those having charge of the doors, and such persons should apply to the officers in command of the troops at the statehouse for assistance necessary to prevent your entering, the present orders to the officers would require them to render such assistance.

I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,

THOMAS H. RUGER,

Colonel and Brevet Brigadier-General,
Department of the South.

Meanwhile the Republican senate and house had canvassed the votes and declared D. H. Chamberlain to have been elected governor, and proceeded to inaugurate him on the 7th, while the Democratic house had procured duplicate returns, which they canvassed, and from which they declared the election of Wade Hampton. Hampton demanded the surrender of the statehouse and the public records, which Chamberlain refused, and during the entire winter of 1876-77 both these gentlemen maintained their right to the office of governor, which both pretended to exercise. The President declined to interfere further than to preserve the peace, and although a small military force was kept up at Columbia, the city was quiet and no occasion arose for their services. Soon after taking office President Hayes invited Messrs. Chamberlain and Hampton to a personal conference, and as a consequence on the 10th of April, 1877, the United States troops were withdrawn from the statehouse, and the State government was soon after peaceably transferred to General Hampton."

There was much opposition in and out of Congress to the policy of the Administration in the matter of furnishing Federal troops to preserve the peace in this and other Southern States during the elections. of 1876, and this opposition became more intense when the results of that election were apparently in doubt for some months. The matter was warmly debated throughout the closing session of the Forty-fourth Congress, resulting in the failure of that Congress to provide the usual appropriations for the support of the Army for the ensuing year, and

a Senate Misc. Doc. No. 45, Forty-fourth Congress, second session; H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 31, ibid; H. R. Report 175, ibid.

was renewed at the first session of the Forty-fifth." Various bills were introduced looking to a limitation of the powers of the Executive in the use of the Army, and especially in forbidding its use by United States marshals as a posse comitatus. The long debate culminated in a rider to the army appropriation bill for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1879, approved June 18, 1878, as section 29 (afterwards section 15), as follows:

SEC. 15. From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section, and any person wilfully violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

a The debate in the House on November 8, 1877, and in the Senate June 6, 1878, is especially interesting in the way of showing the views of leading Senators and members on the question of the use of the Army as a posse comitatus.

IX. THE LABOR STRIKES OF 1877.

RIOT AT MARTINSBURG, W. VA.-RIOTS AT BALTIMORE, MD.-RIOTS AT PITTSBURG, PA.— DISTURBANCES IN OHIO-RIOTING AT INDIANAPOLIS, IND.-RIOTING AT CHICAGO, ILL.-RIOTING AT ST. LOUIS, MO.-DISTURBANCES IN VARIOUS STATES.

Riot at July 14, 1877.

The action of the railroad companies in the summer of 1877, in suddenly precipitating a reduction of 10 per cent in the wages of their employees, was the occasion for a serious conflict between the forces of labor and capital, resulting in the most extensive domestic disturbance which the country has witnessed. In order to respond to calls for aid where violence actually existed, and to guard against danger at threatened places, it became necessary to concentrate troops in six of the States, as well as to move up others in readiness for anticipated calls, so that within six days nearly one-half the Army was in motion or under orders for immediate service. The trouble commenced on the 14th of July on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where some 40 brakemen and firemen stopped work and attempted to prevent the passage of freight trains. On the 16th the crews of Martinsburg, W. Va., the freight trains at Martinsburg, W. Va., refused to work, and drove off the men sent to replace them. The police of Martinsburg were powerless to cope with the situation, and a body of the State militia sent to that point on the morning of the 17th were fired upon and driven back. By this time the strikers, whose numbers had increased to 100, had been joined by several hundred outsiders, and by night the road was effectually blocked at Martinsburg, while the strike had extended to Wheeling and Parkersburg. By the morning of the 18th the whole road was in the hands of the strikers, and the governor, perceiving the hopelessness of contending with the situation with his slender militia forces, called in the aid of the General Government. The legislature of 1875 had prohibited the enrollment of the militia, so that the only military bodies in the State were four companies of volunteers, two of whom were at Martinsburg and in sympathy with the rioters; a third was 38 miles from a railroad; the fourth, of but 40 men, was needed for home protection. The following is the call of the governor: "

His Excellency R. B. HAYES,

President of the United States:

α

WHEELING, W. Va., July 18, 1877.

Owing to unlawful combinations and domestic violence now existing at Martinsburg and at other points along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad it is

a See also Documents Nos. 99, 100, and 101.

impossible with any force at my command to execute the laws of the State. I therefore call upon your excellency for the assistance of the United States military to protect the law-abiding people of the State against domestic violence and to maintain the supremacy of the law. The legislature is not now in session and could not be assembled in time to take any action in the emergency. A force of from two to three hundred should be sent without delay to Martinsburg, where my aid, Colonel Delaplaine, will meet and confer with the officer in command.

HENRY M. MATHEWS,

Governor of West Virginia.

In response to this appeal the President directed Col. William H. French, Fourth Artillery, then commanding at Washington Arsenal, to proceed with every available man of his command, equipped as infantry, to Martinsburg, W. Va., there to report to and confer with Colonel Delaplaine, aid to the governor of the State.102 At the same time similar instructions were sent to the commandant at Fort McHenry, 103 These troops left without the slightest delay and before dark on the 18th were underway. In order that the laws should be strictly complied with, the commander of these troops was instructed that a proclamation by the President was about to be promulgated, commanding the insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their places of abode, and that such proclamation would doubtless have been published at the scene of disturbance by the time of the arrival of the troops, but if not, he should delay action until its publication. 104 The proclamation, in accordance with section 5300 of the Revised Statutes, was issued on the night of the 18th, and was in the following words:

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, the governor of the State of West Virginia has represented that domes. tic violence exists in said State at Martinsburg and at various other points along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in said State, which the authorities of said State are unable to suppress;

And whereas, it is provided in the Constitution of the United States that the United States shall protect every State in this Union, on application of the legislature, or of the executive when the legislature can not be convened, against domestic violence;

And whereas, by laws, in pursuance of the above, it is provided (in the laws of the United States) that in all cases of insurrection in any State (or of obstruction to the laws thereof) it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such State, or of the executive when the legislature can not be convened, to call forth the militia of any State or States, or to employ such part of the land and naval forces as shall be judged necessary for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection or causing the laws to be duly executed.

And whereas, the legislature of said State is not now in session and can not be convened in time to meet the present emergency, and the executive of said State, under section 4 of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, has made due application to me in the premises for such part of the military force of the United States as may be necessary and adequate to protect

said State and the citizens thereof against domestic violence and to enforce the due execution of the laws;

And whereas, it is required that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force for the purpose aforesaid, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective homes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States, do hereby make proclamation, and command all persons engaged in said unlawful and insurrectionary proceedings to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 12 o'clock noon of the 19th day of July, instant, and hereafter abandon said combinations and submit themselves to the laws and constituted authorities of said State;

And I invoke the aid and cooperation of all good citizens thereof to uphold the laws and preserve the public peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and second.

By the President:

F. W. SEWARD,

Acting Secretary of State.

R. B. HAYES.

Colonel French arrived at Martinsburg early on the morning of the 19th, where he found more than 100 engines and 1,500 freight cars standing idle and blocking every approach to the town. He reported his arrival as follows:

ADJUTANT-GENERAL, Washington:

MARTINSBURG, W. Va., July 19, 1877.

Proclamation printed; now being circulated. After 12 o'clock, if the insurgents have not dispersed, the troops under my command will proceed to enforce the orders of the President. At present everything seems quiet, and I doubt whether anything more than a demonstration will be required. Whatever action I may determine upon will be after consultation with and full concurrence of Colonel Delaplaine, aid to the governor.

FRENCH, Colonel, Commanding.

Having circulated the proclamation of the President, which was supplemented by a printed notice to all concerned, warning all persons engaged in the interruption of travel on the Baltimore and Ohio road that the United States troops must not be impeded, and that whoever undertakes it does so at their peril,105 he proceeded to carry out his instructions. In the course of the day the block at Martinsburg was untangled and several trains were sent forward under military escort. On this day, however, the strike extended over the entire length of the line, and affairs in West Virginia were no longer of consequence. Moving eastward, the next considerable railroad point was at Cumberland, Md., some 20 miles from the West Virginia line. Here were workshops, roundhouses, car sheds, and various property of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company to immense value, which it was