Q. Yes; I mean the military. I will say in explanation that in our resolution we are required to inquire into the necessity of calling out, and the conduct of the troops; and as a public man you would be apt to know, and able to give an expression of opinion that would be of value?
A. I could only give my judgment about it, I suppose, not being in the service.
Q. That judgment could be expressed as a citizen, and would be formed from facts, I suppose, coming to your knowledge?
A. It seemed to me at the time that the military need not have been called so soon. I was under the impression at the time, strongly, that the mayor, with policemen, might have quieted the trouble—and, perhaps, would have done so if the military had not been brought so promptly on the scene—and it seemed to me, also, that bringing Philadelphia troops from a city that Pittsburgh has always felt a kind of rivalry toward, was calculated, perhaps, to inflame feeling here rather than to allay it. I remember there were rumors that Saturday evening—whether authenticated or not, I do not know—that the Philadelphia men had said that Pittsburgh troops had failed here, and they would clean out the rioters. I don't know whether they said it or not; but if they did not say it, it shows just as well the feeling of jealousy with which their presence was regarded, and they asserted that feeling during that whole Saturday night, that in attacking those Philadelphia troops they were cleaning out Philadelphia men. They had come here to interfere in what might have been settled by local authorities, and from that point of view it seemed to me injudicious.
Q. Do you believe that the local authorities could have preserved order, and finally quieted the strike, without any loss of property?
A. I believe that they could have preserved order until the Governor would return, and I think that his presence would have prevented any outbreak. The fact that the Governor's proclamation calling out troops was gravely doubted here—everybody knew he was out of the State a long distance—had, perhaps, a good deal to do with the disorderly feeling. I do not believe that the local authorities could have eventually put down the riot; but I think they could have preserved order here, and kept things in tolerable order until the Governor himself had arrived here. I think if Governor Hartranft had been here on that evening, the collision could have been avoided.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. I see, in this editorial you speak of, the "sympathy being with the strikers and their friends?"
A. There is no doubt that the sympathy of the people here was strongly with the strikers, before any act of violence was committed.
Q. Before the burning of the property?