«KMM0NMIHMMM*MiBtt«tt UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN BOOKSTACKS CENTRAL CIRCULATION AND BOOKSTACKS The person borrowing this material is responsible for its renewal or return before the Latest Date stamped below. You may be charged a minimum fee of $75.00 for each non-returned or lost item. Theft, mutilation, or defacement of library materials can be causes for student disciplinary action. All materials owned by the University of Illinois Library are the property of the State of Illinois and are protected by Article 16B of Illinois Criminal Law and Procedure. TO RENEW, CALL (217) 333-8400. University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign MAY 5 2005 When renewing by phone, write new due date below previous due date. LI 62 ANNALS OF THE GREAT STRIKES UN" TZHIIE TJiTITED STATES. A Reliable History and Graphic Description of the Causes and Thrilling Events of the Labor Strikes and Riots of 1877. I ILLUSTRATED BY Hon. J. A. DACUS, Ph.D. Late of the Editorial Staff St. Louis Republican. Chicago : L. T. PALMER & CO. Philadelphia, W. R. Thomas: St. Louis, Scammell &. Co.: Cincinnati, \V. S. Fokshek & Co. 18 7 7. COPYRIGHTED. L. T; PALMER & CO. A. D. 1877. Geo. J. Titus & Co., Kingsbury & Wilsok, Printers. Binders. •^1 H U 3 a. PREFACE. To collect and arrange the facts and incidents con- nected 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 great- est wars of modern times; having achieved order, recon- ciliation and peace between all sections, having demon- strated 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 sud- denly 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. Astonish-' 372560 IV. PREFACE. ing as was the suddenness of the movement, 3'et 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, durino- the reign of general tumult to subvert the very fundamen- tal 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 Ihe 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 hund- red 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 PREFACE. V. 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 per- sons 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 fur- nished by their conduct in rising in majesty in favor of law and order, during the Nation's trials. The Ameri- can 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 jjaake 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, VI. PKEFACE. that in all essential respects, the volume herewith pre- sented for the approval of the American public, is accu- rate 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 prefered, that it possesses real historical value, inasmuch as all the principal events of the critical period through which the country has passecl are here concisely and truthfully recorded. For these reasons the work is com- mended to the consideration of an appreciative public. J. A. DACUS. St. Louis, Mo., Sept., 1877. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Relations Be: wen Capital and Labor. Condition of the Country — The Duty of Patriotic Citizens — The Mis- takes of Capitalists — The Faults of the Workingmen — The Poor Man's Hopes the Rich Man's Protection — The Conditions of Social Order. - - - - - - 15 CHAPTER II. Strike on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. A. Circular to Employes — Ten per cent. Reduction in Wages An- nounced — How the News was Received — A Delegation of Em- ployes — The Officers of the Road will 'not Reconsider — Com- mencement of the Strike — Trains Stopped at Martinsburg — Trouble at Baltimore. ----- 27 , CHAPTER III. A Day of Dread. The Strike Continues — The Governor of West Virginia Confesses his Inability to Suppress Disorders — An Appeal to President Hayes — Proclamation of the Chief. Magistrate — Military Companies Dis- armed by Strikers — The Third Day of the Strike, and the Alarms it brought — Wide Extent of the Disorders — Portentous Mutter- ings. ....... 36 CHAPTER IV. Culmination of the Crisis. Soldiers and Strikers — Fears Realized — From Baltimore to Chicago — Pittsburgh Affected — The Pennsylvania Railway Embargoed — Intense Excitement Throughout the Country — Successful Emis- saries — Immense Extent of the Labor Movement. - 46 5 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Riot and Ruin. Progress of the Great Strikes — Social Disorders — "The Dangerous Classes" — The Commune Comes Upon the Scene — Intense Excite- ment Throughout the Country — Dealings with Death in Baltimore — Alarm Throughout the Country — Proclamations and Orders. CHAPTER VI. The Tocsin Sounds in Baltimore. The Gathering Mob — Thronged Streets and Angry Men — Terrible Exhibition of Passion and Temerity — Soldiers Stoned by Rioters — Sharp Volleys and Sudden Deaths — A Night of Terror — Alarm Bells— The Torches' Red Glare. ... 67 CHAPTER VII. The Internationalists. \ The Baltimore Mob Not Railroad Strikers — The Communistic Tend- ancy in American Cities — Destructive Theories — Danger to the Country Threatened — An Element to be Feared — Some Account of the Origin of the Association. ... 76 CHAPTER VIII. The Reign of Anarchy. The Commune in Baltimore — A Paralyzed State Government — An Appeal to the President — A Perilous Situation — Apprehensions felt by the Administration — Another Riot — Clubs and Skulls — \ A Mob of Twelve Thousand People — From the Atlantic to the \ Mississippi — The Country in an Uproar — Precautions — Unparal- l) leled Demonstrations. ----- 88 CHAPTER IX. The Trouble in Pennsyliania. Beginning of the Strikes — The Cause Assigned — The System of " Double Headers " — Formidable Character of the Movement — CONTENTS. Vt Freight Transportation Suspended — No Concessions — Measures of Repression Taken — Dangerous Indications in Pittsburgh. ioo CHAPTER X. A Night of Terror at Pittsburgh. The Culmination — A Sea of Fire — Death-Dealing Volleys — The Spirit of Desolation Lighting the Torch of Destruction — A Horrible Spectacle — A Reign of Terror — The Commune Gains a Brief but Fearful Ascendancy — The City Sacked by a Howling Mob — An End of all Lawful Authority — The Ghouls of Pillage Abroad in the Glare of the Devouring Fires — Millions of Property Resolved into Smoke and Ashes. - - - - 112 CHAPTER XL Given Over to Pillage. The Great Conflagration — Demoniac Satisfaction — The Reign of the Commune — Besieged Soldiers — Abandoned Artillery — The Miser- able Retreat — Pittsburgh Given Over to the Mob — Scenes of Pillage — Citizens at last Aroused — A Vigilance Committee — Re- storing Order. - - - - - - 129 CHAPTER XII. General Movements in Pennsylvania. Difficulty at Erie — Rioters near Bethlehem — Sunbury Strikers — A Rabble at Altoona — Meadville Militia — MauchChaunk Characters — Lebanon Valley Villianies — Marietta Marauders — Wilkesbarre Disturbances — Shenandoah Colliers — Hazards at Harrisburg — Scranton Miners — Hazelton Isolated — The Johnstown Mur- ders. ------- 143 CHAPTER XIII. The Tumult at Buffalo. The Beginning of the Trouble — A Militia Company Arrives — Exasper- ated Strikers — Business Suspended — The Railways all Cease to Transport Freight — Threatening Outlook — Governor Robinson's Proclamation — Military Movements-The Strike Collapses. 154 10 / CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. The Federal Administration. Precautionary Measures — The Rioters Declared to be in a State of Insurrection — Indications of Trouble in other Regions — General Schofield ordered to Washington — Determination to send General Hancock to Pittsburgh — The Rule of the Mob to be Overthrown by the Friends of Law and Order. ... 164 CHAPTER XV. Affairs in Philadelphia. The Call for Troops — Gathering the Militia — Anxious Days — Governor Hartranft and Mayor Stokely — A Street Riot — Dispersing a Meeting — Colonel Thomas A. Scott and the Locomotive Engi- neers — Philadelphia a Nicer Place than Pittsburgh. - 182 CHAPTER XVI. The Strike on the Erie Railroad. The Strike at HornelHville— The Road Completely Blockaded at that Point — The Demand of the Strikers — Action of the Officers of the Road — The Situation at the Home Office, New York — Apprehen- sions of Further Complications. ... i Q 2 CHAPTER XVII. Reckless Slaughter at Reading. The Fourth Pennsylvania Millita at Reading— General Frank Reeder Undertakes to Restore Order — Bold Rioters Tantalize the Citizen Soldiery — Without Orders They Fire into a Crowd of Peaceable Citizens — Thirteen Killed and Thirty-seven Wounded — Not a Rioter Hurt — A Boy Horribly Mangled — Five Police Officers Vic- tims of the Bullets — A Lady Shot, while Engaged at her Sewing Machine — Terrible Anger of the Citizens and Rioters — Threats of the Mob — General Reeder's Sworn Statement. - 205 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XVIII. Jersey Trainmen. Threatened Riot at Phillipsburgh — The Trainmen's Strike — Intense Excitement at Trenton — Governor Bedle Takes Decisive Action — Disagreeable Demonstrations at Jersey City — Militia at Hoboken — Governor Bedle goes to Newark and Jersey City — Guarding a Bridge at Brunswick — Soldiers Sympathizing with Strikers — The Jersey Central Railway — Relieved Soldiers Rejoicing. 223 CHAPTER XIX. New York Agitated. The Excitement in the Great City — "The Dangerous ("lasses" Care- fully Watched — Getting Ready for Contingencies — Numerous Regi- ments of Militia Ordered Out — No Strikes but Serious Apprehen- sions Felt — The Internationals Active — A Great Commuuistic Meeting in Tompkins Square — What They Demanded of Society — Gay Times at the Armories — Ready Warriors without Foes to* Face — Escaped the Danger. - 234 CHAPTER XX. Away from the Metropolis. Rochester's Wave of Trouble — A Slight Shock at Albany — Syracuse Seriously Threatened — Other Places Experience Some Uneasiness The Conclusion of the Blockake at Hornellsville — The Empire State Comes out of the Great Strikes Almost Unscathed. 258 CHAPTER XXI. Onward Through Ohio. Events in the Buckeys State — An Ugly Mob at Columbus — Marching Around and "Shutting Manufactories Down" — Festive Firemen at Collingswood — Marching Through Zanesville — The Breeze at Newark — Cincinnati's Fortunate Escape — A Mayor Harmless but Wise— He Talks Kindly to the Strikers— And They Hear Him Gladly — Trouble at Toledo. .... 272- 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. Insolence in Indiana. The Strike Inaugurated at Fort Wayne — Trackmen and Trainmen — Indianapolis Taken in — Terre Haute Yields to the Popular Up- rising — Miners at Brazil — Mayor Cavin of Indianapolis Indisposed to Interfere — Governor Williams not Certain that it is any of his Concern Except to Keep the Peace — United States Judges and Bankrupt Railroad Receivers — Freaks of the Strikers — They Cap- ture a Railroad. - - - - - - 289 CHAPTER XXIII. Chances for Chicago. The Tidal Wave Reaches the Illinois Metropolis — The Bad Elements Restive — The Tramps Marching in by Hundreds — Chances for Plunder — The Commune Commences — Boastful Manifestos — Ab- surd Demands — The Social Atmosphere Grows Misty — Precaution- ary Measures by Civil and Military Authorities — Noisy Demon- strations of the Internationalists — Citizens Philip Van Patten and George Schilling. ..... 307 CHAPTER XXIV. Pistols and Clubs. It Comes at Last — Riotous Roughs — Socialists Serving Satan— A Well Organized Police Force — The Military all Ready — Hot Heads at Halstead Street — Resisting Arrest — The Police Persist, are Resist- ed and resort to Pistols and Clubs — Intense Excitement — A Scene of Bloodshed and Death — At the Viaduct — Triumphant Law — Roughs Retire — Dead in the Streets — Then Peace. - 327 CHAPTER XXV, Anxious Days Elsewhere in Illinois. At the State Capital — Peoria Strikers — Miners in the Southern Section — The Braidwood Troubles — Troops Sent Down — Matters at Mat- toon — Effingham Idlers — The Trainmen at Many Points — Shutting up Shop in Various Provincial Towns — Peace Restored. 343 CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER XXVI. Blockade of the Great Bridge. t Excitement in East St. Louis — Scenes on " Bloody Island " — Council of j the Trainmen — A Night at Heims Hall — Hite's Thrilling Oratori cal Flight — "Oppressed Labor" — "The Exectutive Committee " — Bold Jack Benson — Organized for Business — Across the Great Bridge — Trains Stopped — Slight Dissension Among the Strikers — Blue Coats in the Early Morning — General Jeff. C. Davis Moves Over — Resigning Potentates — Governor Cullom— -General Bates — Exemplary Conduct of the Strikers — The Last Scene. - 352 CHAPTER XXVII. Demonstrations in St. Louis. The Strike in the West — East St. Louis sends Emissaries Across the Great Bridge — The Workingmen Aroused — The Valley Metropolis Shaken by a Mighty Wave of Excitement — Marching Mobs — The Internationalists — Vox et Prceterea Nihil — Black Bummers — Dis- graceful Scenes — The Mob — Demand of the Pacific Railroad Em- ployes — Oliver Garrison, General Manager — How he Broke the Back-bone of the Strike — Measures for Protection. - 36s CHAPTER XXVIII. "The Storming of Schiller's flail." " To Arms ! " — Down with Lawlessness — The Giant of Communism rather Ghostly — Governor Phelps — Mayor Overstolz — General A. J. Smith — The Mighty Executive Committee — More Phantom than Fact — An Important Undertaking — Seven Hundred Armed Men — They March to Storm the Hall of " The Workingmen's Party of the United States " — Schuler's Hall Captured — The Vanquished Commune — A Grand Parade — Prevention better than Cure. 3S7 CHAPTER XXIX. Minor Incidents of the Missouri Strikes. Interest in the Strikes — Kansas City — The Sedalia Trainmen — The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway — Hannibal and St. Joe — "Strike Smashers" — The General Tumult — Growing Quiet — The Decline — The End — Peace, - - - 406 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXX. San Francisco 's Problem. The Workingmen's Sympathies for Strikers — A Mass Meeting — The Hood lums on the Alert — Concocting Mischief — Race Riots — Incendiarism — Chinese Wash Houses — The Hoodlum's Aversion — Destructive Conflagration — A Vigilance Committee — Chasing the Roughs — A Bloody Scene — The Aroused Citizens Crush the Mob Spirit — Peace Restored. - -' - - 413 CHAPTER XXXI. The South and the Strikes. All Serene in Dixie — A Slight Ripple in Texas — Speedy Restoration of Peaceful Relations — "Old Virginia Never Tires" — Southern Men Offer Services to Restore Order in Northern States — The Era of Sectional Harmony — Law and Order. ... 428 CHAPTER XXXII. Minor Developments of the Strikes. How a Strike was Averted on the Union Pacific Railroad — Concessions to the Men— A Settlement at Memphis Tennessee — Declaration of the Supreme Council of the Labor Union — Order of Melakhto — Rights and Privileges — Sympathizers with the Strikers — The En- gineers' Brotherhood at Pittsburgh — Views and Opinions. 466 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. Relations Between Capital and Labor. Condition of the Country — The Duty of Patriotic Citizens — The Mis- takes of Capitalists — The Faults of the Workingmen — The Poor Man's Hopes the Rich Man's Protection — The Conditions of Social Order. Republican government in this country, has just been subjected to a strain greater than any which our system lias been before required to sustain. It is true, that great armies were not organized to meet in the shock of battle ai in the civil war between the North and South. Nor were powerful sections arrayed against each other. But the phases assumed by the recent conflicts are far more threatening to social organization and political stability, than was the terrible contest waged between sections from 1861 to 1865. In that collision, the North represented the idea of the organic unity of the several' States of the Federal Government, the South the idea of State Sovereignty, but both represented the principles of social order, and contended for the reign of law. But we have witnessed an uprising of no mean magnitude, which represented nothing in common with the funda- mental principles of Republican institutions. The history of the Great Strikes of 1877, affords materials for thought, a basis for the most profound reflections. 16 THE GREAT STRIKES. The causes which produced the results, so startling to the friends of liberal institutions, have not ceased to operate, and as a consequence the records of the events connected with the inception, progress and culmination of the disorders, must prove to he an interesting study to all thinking minds. The very foundations of American society have been disturbed ; the whole political struc- ture has been made to sway to and fro, as if about to be overthrown. The strength, the fearful power, which stopped the wheels of commerce, closed the marts of trade, and threatened to engulf all wealth, institutions, social organization, — everything in the vortex of ruin, was not the offspring of a conspiracy, was not generated by elaborate planning, and did not result from mature deliberation. And in this very fact, the man of calm reflection discovers, not far ahead, the rocks on which the ship of State is likely to be driven— on which every hope of mankind may be wrecked. If it had been a deliberately planned and concerted movement; if those engaged in it had exhibited evidence of organization, then its failure would have given a better promise of enduring peace and order. But the spontaneity of the movement shows the existence of a wide spread discon- tent, a disposition to subvert the existing social order, to modify or overturn the political institutions, under which such unfavorable conditions were developed. Some- where, there must be something radically defective either in the system, or in the manner of its control. Such spontaneous demonstrations by large masses of the people, as have been witnessed in the United States in the year 1877, do not take place without a sufficient RELATIONS BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR. IT cause. To discover that cause and take measures for its removal, is one of the first and most important duties required of the patriotic citizen. Theories in abundance have been advanced ; oracular assertions that this or that measure of the general gov- ernment is responsible for the existing unrest, have been made ; the convenient talk about shrinkage in values ; the failure of the government to furnish the people with a sufficient supply of legal tender treasury notes ; the payment of the interest on the National debt ; the pro- tective tariff ; the demonetizing of silver, all these have been assigned as the cause of " hard times," and to the " hard times," as the immediate cause, the scenes described in this work are attributed. But are these sufficient to furnish an explanation satisfactory to the student of social science ? Never before in this country — perhaps in no other country in the world — have so vast a number of men taken part in riots and strikes for increased wages. It was an impulsive, perhaps an imprudent out- burst, and certainly it was characterized by violence and lawlessness, that cannot be palliated or excused. The supremacy of the law is an essential condition of social order, and without social order, the right to private prop- erty, the right to personal security cannot be assured. Social disorganization means political death. "With the reign of anarchy commence the miseries of the people without distinction of class. In the throes of expiring society, all alike become victims. But social disorders cannot take place in the midst of a prosperous community. The alarming movements of the present year are the logical results of the condition of society. They are but evidences of deep sufferings 18 THE GKEAT STRIKES. among a large class of the people of this country. Some- where great wrongs have been committed, and society must pay the penalty for crimes. The study of the natu- ral causes that govern the rate of wages, is a study of the causes that distribute wealth to the mass of mankind. Capitalists cannot afford to oppress laborers, because such oppression endangers their own security. It is a fact that in those countries where the highest wages are paid we find the highest typa of civilization, and a more equal distribution of wealth. Where a large majority of the people are poor, the few who are rich cannot be assured of protection. It is in the power of those above to lift up those below ; but it requires time for the opeiation of moral and natural causes, while it is but the work of a day for the lowest to drag down the highest. The first ripple of disturbance to the industry of the country is felt soonest by those nearest to destitution, and the prob- lem is how to remove that small number from want, and thus ensure social security. This cannot be done except as wealth is more bountifully distributed to them through higher wages. The part of wisdom, it seems, should dictate such a policy by the owners of capital. The American people are not yet ripe for anarchy, because perhaps a majority of the adult population either have homes, or cherish the hope that they will have homes, and because of this interest in the government, they are the staunch friends of order, and the upholders of law. But neither government nor social order can be maintained when the majority of the people are homeless and hope- less. The poor man's hopes are the rich man's protection. The condition of Mexico may be cited as an illustration of the position here taken. A country containing a pop- RELATIONS BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR. 19 illation of upwards of nine millions of souls is owned by less than a hundred thousand proprietors." What has been the result of this ill-distribution of wealth ? The answer is, fifty years of anarchy. The poverty of the masses is fatal to the security of the wealthy proprietors. In Mexico wages are at least fifty per cent, less than the average in the United States. That country has sunk beneath, even the contempt of the most enlightened nations. But the evil results of low-paid labor should be antici- pated in good season, before it inundates and overwhelms the nation, and destroys every hope of a successful republic- It is cheap labor, more than any other fact, that most endangers our institutions — cheap labor serving corporate wealth, intent upon nothing but more wealth. Here is where capitalists make the gravest mistake, and the great strikes of the present year should be taken as a whole- some warning. Capitalists consider their direct interest in the cheap labor they hire, and not their indirect inter- est in the dearer labor that buys what wealth wishes to sell. The number of laborers who can buy, must be laro-e or many of those who produce to sell will have little or nothing to do. Buyers are as important, in order to have prosperity, as sellers ; and those who buy are those who have something with which to pay. Poverty demoral- izes, destroys self respect, and in time will make the honest laborer a dangerous member of society, by lower- ing his opinions. And this lowering of the opinions of the laboring class with respect to the mode in which they should live, is perhaps the most serious of all evils that 20 THE GREAT STRIKES. can befall them. Let them once accept the alternative presented by Henry Ward Beecher, and undertake to exist upon " bread and water," and become contented with such a condition, and they may bid a long adieu to anything better. It does not require a very profound observer to arrive at the conclusion that the best inter- ests of society, the interest of the capitalists themselves,, require that the rate of wages should be elevated as high, as possible, — that a taste for comforts and enjoyments,, should be widely diffused, and if possible, interwoven with national habits and prejudices. But justice compels to the declaration that such has- not been the policy of the managers of the great corpor- ations in this country. They have persistently sought to reduce wages of the laborers, while at the same time there has been a gradual increase in salaries paid to the managers and their assistants. Thomas A. Scott while receiving one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars in salaries per annum, for managing property interests- which in part belongs to himself, cannot very consist- ently insist upon a sum less than four hundred dollars per annum, as the proper compensation for the services of a man whose peculiar employment requires that he must be vigilant, prompt, and constantly exposed to dan- ger. Then again, the system of watering stocks of rail- roads and other corporations, debars the managers from the privilege of pleading a failure to earn interest as an excuse for cutting down the wages of labor. Perhaps- Wm. H. Vanderbilt is not able to secure ten per cent, interest on the stocks of the New York Central Railroad. But it must be remembered that the par value of the stocks of the New York Central Railroad, exceeds RELATIONS BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR. 21 «eighty- two thousand dollars per mile, or upwards of fifty- live thousand dollars per mile more than the cost of 'the road — more than the actual cash investment. It is