CONGRESS. (Tin I'INKKRTONM.) 



Ciller if nrcc~-;iry ; mid liny Nuhcommittcc 



< ominitt. i> lieivle, invt -sted with 



t^r tho purposes aforesaid, and may nit 



. IIH-.I lii -r. --ary lilld during the - 

 Mult-..-. All the cXpcllM^ ..!' Sllell illVe-tii.'ution 



nhnll t'c |>:iil out of the contingent fund of the UHIIM- 

 u|>'M ]iro|T von, -hers cert i tied as correct l>y tin; chair- 

 maii t tin' said committee <>r subcommittee, not to 

 tin- aggregate sum of $2,000, which the clerk 

 ot tin- House of KcpreMcntiitives is hereby directed to 

 turn nvi-r to the chairman of such subcommittee, not 

 -i,<KX)ut a time, taking his receipt there- 

 for, and which .-.hull be accounted for by him to uuid 

 clerk in the manner aforesaid, the same to be iiume.li 

 available. 



Tlit' riot at Homestead, July 6, gave a new in- 

 !<> tliis subject, and various resolutions in 

 I to it were introduced in the Senate and 

 made the occasion of heated discussion. The 

 l>emocrats were disposed to throw the whole 

 blame for the labor disturbances on the pro- 

 tective policy of the Republicans, and the latter 

 eager not to be outdone by their opponents 

 in an appearance of devotion to the cause of 

 labor. Beyond the mere skirmishing for advan- 

 tage in the presidential election, the speech of 

 Mr. Palmer, of Illinois, July 7, was tne most 

 significant contribution to the debate. He 

 .siid : 



" I understand that the Carnegie Company 

 have determined that there shall be changes in 

 their methods; that there shall be a different 

 rate of compensation paid hereafter for certain 

 kinds of labor, and that the contracts shall end 

 at another time of the year, and that they make 

 those conditions peremptory and absolute the 

 reduction of wages and the difference in the ter- 

 mination of the period of the contracts. It is 

 also true that they have, in the exercise of what 

 they claim to be their clear right, attempted to 

 bring a large military force to their establish- 

 ment a military force which has a known and 

 recognized existence in this country. The nrmy 

 raised and commanded by the Pinkertons is as 

 distinctly known in this country as is the regu- 

 lar army of the United States. It is not a new 

 thing. I am astonished to find that it excites 

 surprise now. For years that force has existed. 

 Its number is not always the same. The com- 

 mander in chief of this army, like the barons 

 of the .Middle Ages, has a force to be increased 

 at pleasure for the service of those who would 

 pay him or them, and they have been employed 

 in many places, in many of the States of the 

 Union. They have been employed in New 

 York, and have shed the blood of citizens of 

 that State. -They have been employed in Illi- 

 nois, and have shed the blood of citizens of Illi- 

 nois. At other points in the United States they 

 have been employed. 



" This company claim not only the right to 

 regulate their own business in their own way, 

 but they claim the right to fortify their position. 

 and the right to introduce this armed force 

 within their fortified lines. They claim the 

 right to a free passage from their armed boats 

 on the Monongahela river into their fortifica- 

 tion-.; and hence this struggle, this battle; be- 

 cause battles are not necessarily conflicts between 

 armed men organized by proper authority, and 

 I here was a battle between the men who sup- 

 posed they had a right and this armed force of 

 VOL. xxxii. 14 A 



mercenaries rained and organized by the owners 

 of this establishment. 



" Mr. President, in making this statement I 

 confess I have given no information to the Sen- 

 ate. We know what the facts are. It is claimed 

 on one hand that the dti/ens fired on the merce- 

 naries, and it is claimed on the other hand that 

 the mercenaries fired first upon the citi/.-i. 

 is not very material, to my mind, who fired t In- 

 first shot. These are men who were taken there 

 for the purpose of battle a contingent purpose, 

 I confess, but for the purpose of Bheduiag the 

 blood of these people if they stood in their path- 

 way. Their boats, I understand, were lined ~o 

 as to be impervious to the pistols and muskets 

 that were supposed to be in the bands of these 

 people. 



"But even when that statement is made I 

 have done but little toward reaching a solution 

 of this question. What I desire from any com- 

 mittee of the Senate will be not to tell us the 

 story of this outrage, nor is it material whether 

 the blame for the present condition is cast upon 

 the Carnegie Company or not. It is simply be- 

 cause they are but representatives of new con- 

 ditions of society. It might have happened at 

 any one of a hundred places in the United States 

 where large numbers of men are employed in the 

 service of these enormous manufacturing estab- 

 lishments. It may happen anywhere. It may 

 occur in Illinois, or in New York, or in Pennsyl- 

 vania, or in Ohio. Anywhere it may happen, 

 because in the nature of things these interests 

 oppose each other up to the extent that I shall 

 describe. 



" I speak of the Carnegie Company merely be- 

 cause it happens for the time-Deing-to be an 

 actor in these things. It is claimed for them 

 and by them that they have an absolute right to 

 the management of their own property; that 

 they are not bound to listen to the suggest ion- 

 ot the wishes of any third person ; that the men 

 who have toiled with them and for them for 

 years have no voice whatever, have no interest 

 in the establishment, have no right, and only 

 speak by the permission of those who employ 

 them. That is the broad statement of property 

 rights in the Carnegie Company. 



" The men who resist claim that they have 

 some rights, because if it is true as a matter of 

 law, and if it is to be regarded as true in a polit- 

 ical sense, that these 4,500 men were simply tres- 

 passers there, then, of course, it must be very diffi- 

 cult to condemn t he ( 'arnegie Company, except as 

 to the manner it. svhich they assert their rights. It 

 may be said that it was menacing and insulting 

 that they should organize this force in contempt 

 of public authority. U-cause for a private citizen 

 to attempt to enforce his own rights, however 

 clear they may be, in disregard of the agents of 

 the law, is a contempt of the law; and this at- 

 tempt to maintain their rights hy the aid of this 

 organized force was a contempt of the authority 

 of the State of Pennsylvania. The manner was 

 menacing and insulting. To advance upon a 

 peaceful, quiet city in the manner 1 have de- 

 scribed was an insult to the people who were 

 there. Mr. President, it is difficult for Ameri- 

 can citizens, whether they are in the right or in 

 the wrong, to submit to "be driven by an armed 

 force. I confess that every impulse of my mind 



