this morning at your office I find that in your opinion you have no such right. I therefore most respectfully withdraw my request for the United States troops. DAVIS H. WAITE, A. McD. McCook, Governor of Colorado. Brigadier-General, U. S. Army, Department of the Colorado. The troops were accordingly withdrawn from the scene of disturbance and quartered in a public building. There they remained until Sunday night, the 18th, when, it being apparent that there would be no further disturbance, they were returned to Fort Logan. XI. THE RAILROAD STRIKES OF 1894. RIOTS AT CHICAGO, ILL.-RIOTS AT HAMMOND, IND.-RIOTS IN THE WEST GENERALLYRIOTS IN IDAHO-RIOTS IN NEW MEXICO-RIOTS IN OKLAHOMA-RIOTS AT SACRAMENTO, CAL.-THE CASE OF IN RE DEBS. The great railroad strike of 1894 originated in a movement by the employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company at Pullman, near Chicago, Ill., for higher wages, which the car company declined to grant. This was on the 9th of May, and on the 11th about 2,000 of the employees of the company quit work. A tedious period of idleness ensued and continued for several weeks with no prospect of a successful issue and the workmen were preparing to abandon the strike and go to work, when on the 26th of June the American Railway Union, an organization pretending to represent all railway employees in the West, excepting locomotive engineers, suddenly declared a "boycott" against Pullman cars. On the following day the embargo had extended to all the principal roads entering Chicago, and on the 28th it had reached nearly every road west of that point. On the 29th the boycott against the Pullman cars had resolved itself into a fight between the Railway Union and the associated managers of the railways. The former ordered a strike on the Rock Island, Chicago and Alton, Chicago and Erie, Monon, Fort Wayne, Wabash, Great Western, and Lake Shore, as well as the Union Stock Yards Transit Company, aggregating some 40,000 employees. Thus far there had been no violence, but trains through Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky had been stopped and Pullman cars detached and sidetracked. On the 30th trains were derailed and Pullman cars stoned in the East, and the strike had proceeded westward until it had reached the Pacific coast. By this time few trains were running in or out of Chicago, the mails were being delayed everywhere, trains were obstructed, and commerce interrupted. On June 28th, in response to complaints regarding the interruption of the mails, the Attorney-General had instructed the United States attorney at Chicago to protect the mail trains with United States marshals. On July 1 a special attorney was appointed to enforce the laws relating to the protection of the mails, and that evening seven men were arrested on the charge of obstructing trains carrying United Riots at Chicago, Ill., July 3-8, 1894. States mails. These arrests caused great excitement, which was increased the following day when the United States court at Chicago issued a sweeping injunction against the strikers. To provide for possible trouble the commanding general of the Department of the Missouri was confidentially instructed to make all necessary arrangements to move the entire garrison of Fort Sheridan-infantry, cavalry, and artillery—into Chicago at 4 o'clock, and on the 3d this order was made effective, the officers of the courts having announced their inability to enforce their mandates or to quiet the riots that had broken out all over the city. The following were the orders for the employment of the troops: TO MARTIN, Adjutant-General, Chicago, Ill.: HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, D. C., July 3, 1894—4 o'clock p. m. It having become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, to enforce by ordinary course of judicial proceedings, the laws of the United States, you will direct Colonel Crofton to move his entire command at once to the city of Chicago, leaving the necessary guard at Fort Sheridan, there to execute the orders and processes of the United States court, to prevent the obstruction of the United States mails and generally to enforce the faithful execution of the laws of the United States. He will confer with the United States marshal, the United States district attorney, and Edwin Walker, special counsel. Acknowledge receipt and report action promptly. By order of the President: J. M. SCHOFIELD, The 4th of July was comparatively quiet in Chicago. The troops from Fort Sheridan arrived at 10.15 a. m., and were located at Blue Island, Grand Crossing, at Forty-seventh street, and at the Stock Yards. There was some rioting, but upon the whole the situation was encouraging for peace and good order. The morning of the 5th opened quietly, but about the usual time of beginning work a mob of several thousand commenced operations along the line of the Rock Island by overturning cars, burning station houses, and destroying property indiscriminately. By noon this mob numbered some 10,000 men, was 3 miles long, and moved over an area fully one-half mile wide, burning and destroying everything it could reach. Additional troops were hurried into Chicago from Fort Brady and Leavenworth and camped at Lake Front Park, while the National Guard of the State was ordered to concentrate at Chicago. During the night fires were started in a dozen different places, and a proclamation was issued by the mayor directing the police to disperse the mobs and prevent interference with the railroads. The mob wrecked many locomotives, overturned and burned several hundred cars and some 10 large buildings, while more than 20 men had been killed or injured. The 6th was a repetition of the scenes of the day before on a larger scale. During the twentyfour hours more than 1,000 cars, many of them loaded with merchandise, were burned and destroyed, and the mob held possession of Kensington, Burnside, Fordham, and Grand Crossing. Several conflicts between the mob and the National Guard and United States marshals resulted in the killing of six or eight of the rioters. The 7th was quiet as compared to the day before, but in the afternoon the police fired into the mob at several places, and at Forty-ninth street a company of the National Guard fired three volleys into a mob estimated to number 15,000. The United States troops patrolled all the railway lines, and were stationed at strategic points—the Government building, Lake Front Park, Blue Island, and the Stock Yards. By this time there were over 100,000 idle men in Chicago, and 180,000 on strike in the State of Illinois alone. Sunday was a quiet day in Chicago, although small affrays occurred at various points about the lines of railways. There was a considerable conflict at Hammond, a small town in Indiana, 20 miles from Chicago-to be mentioned hereafter— in which a company of United States troops were compelled to fire on the mob. On receipt of this intelligence the President at once issued the following proclamation: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas, by reason of unlawful obstruction, combinations, and assemblages of persons it has become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, the laws of the United States within the State of Illinois, and especially in the city of Chicago within said State; And whereas, for the purpose of enforcing the faithful execution of the laws of the United States and protecting its property and removing obstructions to the United States mails in the State and city aforesaid, the President has employed a part of the military forces of the United States; Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby admonish all good citizens and all persons who may be or may come within the city and State aforesaid, against aiding, countenancing, encouraging, or taking any part in such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages; and I hereby warn all persons engaged in or in any way connected with such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 12 o'clock noon on the 9th day of July instant. Those who disregard this warning and persist in taking part with a riotous mob in forcibly resisting and obstructing the execution of the laws of the United States, or interfering with the functions of the Government or destroying or attempting to destroy the property belonging to the United States or under itз protection, can not be regarded otherwise than as public enemies. Troops employed against such a riotous mob will act with all the moderation and forbearance consistent with the accomplishment of the desired end; but the stern necessities that confront them will not with certainty permit discrimination between guilty participants and those who are mingled with them from curiosity and without criminal intent. The only safe course, therefore, for those not actually unlawfully participating is to abide at their homes, or at least not to be found in the neighborhood of riotous assemblages. While there will be no hesitation or vacillation in the decisive treatment of the guilty, this warning is especially intended to protect and save the innocent. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be hereto affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of July in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. [SEAL.] By the President: GROVER CLEVELAND. W. Q. GRESHAM, Secretary of State. The troops in Chicago on the 9th aggregated 750 infantry, 120 cavalry, 60 artillery, in all 930 men, while 500 men were en route from Fort Riley. These were supplemented by a brigade of Illinois National Guard, numbering 2,000, and deputy United States marshals to the number of 750 to 1,000. There was no rioting on the 9th, the strikers seemingly awaiting the result of conferences. The Ninth Infantry from Madison Barracks arrived during the afternoon and were put on duty at once. On the 10th the most prominent of the leaders of the strikers were arrested charged with conspiracy to block the progress of the United States mails. By the 11th it was apparent that the worst was over. Trains were being moved on all of the twenty-two railroads centering in Chicago somewhat irregularly but without molestation; rioting had ceased, and, although there was much feverish excitement throughout the city, a better feeling existed and the troops were not called upon for anything beyond the preservation of order. On the 18th orders were issued returning the Ninth Infantry to Madison Barracks and directing all the other troops in Chicago to take station at Fort Sheridan. The geographical position of the State of Indiana renders it an important factor in any movement involving the trunk lines between the East and West. Every railway track between the eastern seaboard and the lakes must cross its borders, and as a consequence its peace and good order are necessarily affected by any disturbance having its center in railway industries. Early in the Pullman strike the State authorities, apprehensive of impending troubles, were in correspondence with the War Department, and had taken measures to insure prompt communication should the emergency arise. From the middle of April up to the 20th of June there had been a strike among the coal miners and the entire National Guard of the State had been in the field. The State troops, about 1,000 in number, were worn out from their unaccustomed service, and at the best were too few to afford much resistance to a determined mob. In connection with the general strike the employees of all the roads entering Indianapolis had at Hammond, Ind., been ordered out and trains were everywhere blocked. On Sunday, the 7th of July, a large mob assembled at Hammond, a point on the main route from New York to Chicago, 20 miles east of that city, where five trunk lines pass through the town— the Erie, the Monon, the Michigan Central, the Nickel Plate, and the Riot July 7, 1894. |