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Page 9
Unfortunately the sheriff could not make out what they meant, and
supposed they were defying him.
He therefore proceeded to read them the Riot Act.
This is an act which in the name of the commonwealth orders the persons
assembled to disperse and go to their homes.
If the rioters fail to obey they are liable to imprisonment and
punishment according to the laws of the State, and the sheriff or person
authorized to read the Riot Act is bound to arrest all persons who
linger around after the act has been read to them.
When a riot has assumed such a serious character that armed men have had
to be called out to subdue it, the Riot Act is generally read, and then
the soldiers or sheriff's deputies charge the mob, being careful not to
fire on them or wound them unless necessary in self-defence or in
performance of their duty.
In this instance the sheriff utterly misunderstood the rioters, and as
they crowded around him, trying to make out what it was that he was
reading to them, he lost his self-control, and imagining the men were
defying and threatening him, ordered his posse to fire.
It was a frightful affair. Ninety well-armed men firing into a crowd of
defenceless laborers. Twenty-three strikers were killed, thirty-six
seriously wounded, and about forty more injured.
As you may suppose, our whole country is mourning over this catastrophe.
It would seem difficult to find where the real blame lies. The sheriff
thought he was doing his duty, his posse but obeyed his orders, and the
poor sacrificed miners had no idea what the sheriff was reading to them,
nor any intention of offering violence.
The whole neighborhood became so excited over the affray that the
Governor of Pennsylvania immediately ordered some of the state troops to
Hazleton to prevent further trouble.
The sheriff and his posse are to be arrested and tried for killing the
strikers.
The Mayor of Hazleton declares that the shooting of the miners cannot be
excused; that if the rioters refused to go home after the Riot Act had
been read to them, the sheriff should have ordered his deputies to fire
over the heads of the mob; and then, if they still continued rebellious,
it was time to think about punishing them.
The Riot Act states that persons lingering one hour after the act has
been read shall be seized and arrested, and those who arrest them shall
not be held liable for any injuries the rioters may receive; but this is
only after an hour has elapsed. According to the accounts that have
reached us, the sheriff ordered his men to fire immediately after the
reading of the act.
The great coal strike is, however, at an end.
A fresh agreement has been offered, which both miners and owners have
decided to accept.
By it the men go to work at sixty-five cents per ton until January, when
a new scale of wages is to be used. This scale will be settled by
arbitration between this and January.
The masters and men are to meet in joint conference, and both sides
promise to abide by the decision of the arbitrators.
It is said that Mr. de Armitt will not pay the sixty-five-cent rate, but
will only give fifty-four cents till the new rate goes into effect in
January. The leaders have determined to continue the strike in his mines
if this report proves to be true, but in the other collieries the miners
will go to work.
G.H. ROSENFELD.
INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.
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