Mr. Eagan: "Yes, we needed the soldiers to protect our property."
Commissioner Worthington: "If a settlement could have been reached at that time between the railroads and the strikers, couldn't the soldiers and marshals have been dismissed. They wouldn't have been needed after an amicable settlement had been reached, would they?"
Mr. Eagan: "It was their intention not to recognize the American Railway Union."
Commissioner Worthington: "Then it is true is it that the reason this communication was not received was not because it was not courteously worded or because it was discourteous or insulting but because the General Managers would not recognize the American Railway Union?"
Mr. Eagan: "Well, that's as I understood it." Commissioner Worthington: "What would have been out of the way in your talking with Debs and Howard when they asked a conference with you?"
Mr. Eagan: "I didn't have any authority to talk to them."
Commissioner Worthington: "Then your authority extended to this. You had authority to contract at the expense of the railroad for all the force necessary to crush the strike but had no authority to settle it by peaceful means?"
Mr. Eagan, "Well, yes. I suppose so."
Commissioner Worthington: "When you rebuked the mayor did you think it derogatory to bear a respectful message looking to a peaceful settlement of the difficulty?"
Mr. Eagan: "I believed the American Railway Union was whipped at that time."