PREFACE.
To collect and arrange the facts and incidents connected with the history of the great labor strikes in this country, is an undertaking of so much importance that it must commend itself to the favorable consideration of the American people. The interest in events of the nature and character of those treated of in the following pages cannot prove to be ephemeral. An epoch in the history of the nation is here marked, and from it will be dated the beginning of political discussions, and social movements which are destined to enlist the profound attention of thinking minds throughout the civilized world. These events are phenomenal. The world is witness to a spectacle, the like of which has never before been presented. A Republic still regarded in the light of an experiment, having lately terminated a long and fierce sectional conflict by engaging in one of the greatest wars of modern times; having achieved order, reconciliation and peace between all sections, having demonstrated the greatness and magnanimity of the people; having extorted from the enemies of liberal institutions acknowledgements that self-government was a possibility, having accomplished all these things—this Republic suddenly startles the world; drowns the noise of strife on the Bulgarian plains, and among the Balkans, and draws exclusive attention to a social emeute on this side the Atlantic, unparalleled in the annals of time. Astonishing as was the suddenness of the movement, yet no less surprising was the facility and rapidity with which law, order, and profound peace were restored.
In this uprising of the laborers against their employers, aggravated as it was by the early appearance on the scene, of a vast number of theorists, and dangerous characters, who sought their opportunity, during the reign of general tumult to subvert the very fundamental principles of social order, we have gained a deeper knowledge of the character of the American people. Sudden as a thunder-burst from a clear sky, the crisis came upon the country. Hundreds and thousands of men belonging to the laboring classes, alleging that they were wronged and oppressed, ceased to work, seized railroads, closed factories, founderies, shops and mills, laid a complete embargo on all internal commerce, interrupted travel, and bid defiance to the ordinary instruments of legal authority. Commencing at Camden Station, Baltimore, and at Martinsburg, West Virginia, in three days the movement had extended to Pittsburgh, Newark, Ohio, Hornellsville, Fort Wayne and a hundred other points. State militia forces were encountered and repelled. The whole country seemed stricken by a profound dread of impending ruin. In the large cities the cause of the strikers was espoused by a nondescript class of the idle, the vicious, the visionary and the whole rabble of the Pariahs of society. No standing army was available, and these classes absolutely controlled the country.
During these few days of the reign of the strikes, it seemed as if the whole social and political structure was on the very brink of ruin. From the Atlantic to the Pacific the laws were momentarily subverted; officers, civil and military were for the time being powerless to compel or restrain, yet the outrages committed, such as might have been expected in a time of high excitement and the reign of passion, were confined to a few great cities, in which a large element of vicious and idle persons were to be found.
These are features of the Great Strikes which awaken our profound attention, and demand that the record be made up while the events are still fresh in the minds of the people. No better testimonial to the sterling worth of the American character, no better evidence of their fitness for self-government, can be produced than is furnished by their conduct in rising in majesty in favor of law and order, during the Nation’s trials. The American people are emphatically upholders of the principles of social order and the reign of law. For these reasons the author has undertaken the onerous task of gathering up the scattered facts which go to make up the complete history of the Great Strikes.
In the preparation of this work, the author has experienced no little difficulty, not from the paucity, but from the plethora of materials at hand. Care has been exercised to separate fiction from fact, and every possible endeavor has been made to secure accuracy in statements and details. In all cases, where it has been possible to do so, a careful investigation as to the correctness of alleged facts has been gone into by the author. It is believed, that in all essential respects, the volume herewith presented for the approval of the American public, is accurate and reliable. The brief time which has elapsed since the events treated of occurred, has of course rendered it impossible to make a thorough investigation of minor incidents. The author does not claim for his work a high standard of literary excellence, but the claim is preferred, that it possesses real historical value, inasmuch as all the principal events of the critical period through which the country has passed are here concisely and truthfully recorded. For these reasons the work is commended to the consideration of an appreciative public.
St. Louis, Mo., Sept., 1877.