Chicago City (part 10 of 57)

Carter H. Harrison

The Mayor of Chicago for the fourth time, Hon. Carter H. Harrison, was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, February 25, 1825. Richard A. Harrison, Oliver Cromwell's Lieutenant-General, who led Charles I. to the block, is his earliest ancestor, record of whom is preserved in the family archives. The name was conspicuous in Virginia during the colonial periods, and Carter H. Harrison, his grandfather, and his brother, Benjamin Harrison, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, and father of President William Henry Harrison, are enrolled in the annals of the infancy of the United States. Early intermarriages linked the Harrison family with the Randolphs and Carters of Virginia. Through the former family Thomas Jefferson and John Randolph were of near kin ; through the latter, the Reeves of Virginia, and the Breckenridges of Kentucky. Robert Carter Harrison, grandfather of Carter H. Harrison, located in Kentucky in 1 8 1 2 . His father and grandfather were graduates of William and Mary college. When Carter H. Harrison was -eight months old his father died, but the circumstances of the family were left in an unusually promising condition. When he was fifteen he was placed under the scholastic care of Dr. Lewis Marshall, brother of the Chief-Justice, and father of the famous Kentucky orator, Thomas T. Marshall. In 1845 ne graduated from Yale college. He then studied law, but did not practice. A short time spent on his father's farm, six miles from Lexington, preceded a trip to Europe in 1851, when he visited every part of England and Scotland, and passed into Egypt, and, in company with Bayard Taylor, explored Syria ancj Asia Minor. Taylor's "Land of the Saracen" was the result of the tour. In 1853 Mn Harrison entered the Pennsylvania Law School at Lexington, and finished the course in 1855. In the same year he came to Chicago, at once commenced courting the city, which in after life it so pleased him to call his bride. Real estate transactions from that time forward engaged his attention aside from his political ventures. His political life commenced in 1871, when he was elected a County Commissioner. In 1872 he was nominated by the Democrats to Congress, to represent a strongly Republican district, but was defeated. He reduced the Republican majority so materially, however, that in 1874 he was again placed in the field, and elected by a majority of eight votes. At the time he was nominated he was traveling with his family in Germany, Austria, the Tyrol and Switzerland. He at once came home to represent his district; but in 1875 we°t back, and after traveling through Northern Europe, ended his trip in Paris. His family went to Germany, and he came to Chicago only to be recalled by the death of his wife. While absent he was re-elected to Congress. In 1878 he declined a renomination.

in April following he was elected by a majority of over 5,000. In 1881 he was re-elected by a majority of 8,000. In this campaign, not only the press but the pulpit opposed him. In 1883 he was re-elected by an increased majority. He was nominated in July, 1884, for Governor of Illinois, and in the succeeding campaign greatly reduced the Republican majority ; his opponent being Richard J. Oglesby. In 1885 he was re-nominated and re-elected Mayor of Chicago, but by a decreased majority, his opponent, Judge Sidney Smith, receiving the united vote of all opposing elements and being the strongest and most popular man the Republicans could put forward. A contest followed this election, which was terminated by the withdrawal of Judge Smith, and the virtual breaking down of the prosecution. Mayor Harrison was put forward as a candidate for United States Senator in the memorable contest waged in the Legislature in the winter of 1885-6, and he received a flattering vote. He was strongly urged to become a candidate for Congress in the Third Chicago district in the fall of 1 886, and his many friends have great confidence in his future political career.

The first election held subject to the provisions of the new election law was the Aldermanic and Town election of April, 1886, and the returns of this election were the first canvassed and recorded by the newly constituted canvassing board. Following is the vote by wards for Aldermen :

North Town

Samuel B. Raymond, whose term was for two years from date of appointment ; Daniel Corkery, three years ; Francis A. Hoffman, Jr., one year. (Mr. Hoffman resigned May 9, 1886, and C. J. Cassellman was appointed in his stead). Chief Clerk, Timothy Crean (deceased}; Deputy North Division, Charles W. Andrews, Jr.; South Division, Karl Haerting; West Division,

The salaries of Election Commissioners for Cook county are $1,500 and the Chief Clerk $2,000. Judges and Clerks of Election and Official Ticket-Holders, $3 per day, judges to receive pay for not exceeding four days, including registration and election ; clerks to receive five days' pay. Expenses of city election to be paid by city, but state, county, and general elections to be paid by county.

The law provides that two of the three Commissioners shall be selected by the County Judge, one each from the two leading political parties. The board shall organize by electing one member Chairman and one Secretary, each of whom shall give bond in the sum of $io,ooo. Sixty days prior to an election the board shall choose three Judges of Election, who shall be citizens of the United States, householders, residents and voters in the precinct, of good repute, who can speak, read and write the English language, who are skilled in the four fundamental rules of arithmetic, and who hold no public office whatsoever,, unless that of Notary Public, and who are not candidates at the election for which they are appointed to serve ; two Clerks of Election possessing the same qualifications as the Judges, except that they need not be householders. At least one judge and one clerk shall be selected from each of the two leading political parties. Judges and clerks are exempt from jury service during and for two years after expiration of their term, and after service one year they are not obliged to serve as judges for three years following. The list of judges shall be submitted to the County Court for confirmation, and the Court shall by public notice fix a day for hearing objections to their confirmation. The Judges of Election constitute the Board of Registry for each precinct. The first year they met as such on Tuesday, four weeks prior to election, and again on each of the two following Tuesdays, the first two meetings for registry of applicants, the last for revision of lists. Meantime the clerks are required to canvass the precinct, and the result of their canvass is used by the Board in revising the registry. When that is completed a public register is hung up at place of registry, and the Election Commissioners shall cause copies of the same to be printed for use of voters of precinct, and, if deemed necessary, published in newspapers. Provision is made for registering persons omitted or rejected, on order of the Election Commissioners or of the County Court, after hearing. General registration shall be made prior to each

Presidential election, and the applicant must personally appear. At all other times there is only one day of registration. Voters may put their names on ballots. As a person's vote is cast his name on registry shall be checked. If challenged, he is sworn to answer questions, and, after hearing, may be allowed to vote or rejected. If rejected, he may afterward produce and deliver his own affidavit that he is a duly qualified voter, supported by affidavit of a registered voter, whereupon his vote shall be received. The affidavits and a record of the facts shall be preserved. No person shall vote who is not registered as a qualified voter. Public notice in newspapers of registration and election shall be given by the board. Election day is made a legal holiday. One year's residence in the state, ninety days in the county, thirty days in the precinct, and citizenship of the United States shall qualify a person as a voter. Each political party may have a challenger at the polls ; also at the registry. During canvass of the votes the challengers and watchers of the canvass, consisting of one person designated in writing by each candidate, shall be admitted. The whole number of ballots shall first be counted, and any excess above the number on the poll list shall be drawn out and destroyed. The different kinds of ballots shall be placed in separate piles, and then counted by tens by one judge, then handed to each of the other judges, who shall also count same, when the third judge shall call off the names and the clerks shall tally each ten votes. The ballots shall, as soon as counted, be strung upon twine in the order read by tens. When canvass is complete each judge in turn shall proclaim in a loud voice the total vote received by each candidate. Quadruple statements of the result shall be made, one of which shall be written in each of the poll books used, and one each sent to the County Clerk, and one to the Comptroller of the city, after attaching one copy of each kind of ballot voted at the election to each return. The tallies shall be sent under seal, one to the Election Commissioners and one to the City Clerk. The poll books which contain two of the statements or returns shall be placed in the ballot-box and locked and sealed with a strip of paper containing the names of all the judges. One judge shall take the ballot-box, and another of opposite politics the key. Then the whole of the ballots, except those pasted to the statements, shall be destroyed, and the meeting of judges and clerks dissolved. Before noon next day the ballot-box shall be delivered to the Election Commissioners, who shall receipt therefor. The key shall also be delivered and receipted for, and the two judges not having the ballot-box and the two clerks shall before noon next day deliver the statements and tallies in their possession to the respective officer to whom addressed, and no judge or clerk shall receive pay until he produce the receipts for the returns as aforesaid. The canvassing board, composed of the County Judge, City Attorney, and the board of Election Commissioners shall canvass and abstract the votes within seven days after the election. A comprehensive list of penalties for election offenses is enacted.

Chapter Xiii

COMPTROLLER GURNEY ON TAXATION - THE TOWN GOVERNMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS TAX AND DEBT PER CAPITA TABLE, SHOWING VALUATION AND INCOME, 1 837 TO 1 886 LIST OF MAYORS

Of City Occupations Population By Divisions Population

" The executive and legislative departments of the municipality are to be congratulated upon the wise distribution of our income for the past year, and upon the general conservative policy of subordinate officers in confining expenditures within the limits imposed by the city Council. There is a growing disposition, however, to go to the Council for appropriations that do not come within the scope of authority plainly defined by the city charter. That instrument provides that appropriations, other than annual, shall not be made except in the event of ' casualties,' and not in any other instance is warranted drafts upon the treasury, except upon the contingent fund, which is held for the payment of claims that cannot be foreseen when the annual budget is under consideration. Aside from the foregoing, demands upon this department otherwise than provided by law, are constant menaces to the credit of the city at home and abroad, and if persisted in will soon lead to the disreputable methods of former years in providing for current expenses. * * * The Revenue Commission, provided for at the last session of the state Legislature, is now at work in an effort to devise laws that shall .place burdens of taxation where they legitimately belong. This is a matter of vital importance to the citizen, and applies with great force to municipal governments, so much so that we are of the opinion that the honorable body you represent should give its active support to every effort that is calculated to compel corpo- rations and other capital to make reasonable contributions to the general welfare. When this is accomplished the unrest of the masses, who are now' compelled to pay from their limited earnings an amount largely in excess of equitable obligations imposed by taxation, will not find that justification for complaint which the present law seems to warrant. For the past six years the reports from this department have urged upon citizens attention to this important question, in the belief that the Democratic doctrine (not in its partisan sense) insists that every tax-paying or other citizen shall stand up07i an equality before the law. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the ' Revenue Commission' will report a system in entire vindication of the rights of the people, accompanied by such swift and certain penalties that wili insure a faithful discharge of duty by those employed in the assessment of property and collection of our revenues."

There are three town governments having limited powers which cover the three city divisions of Chicago. The officials comprise an Assessor, Collector, Supervisor and Clerk in each town, and these, together with two Justices of the Peace, compose the " Town Board" which audits the annual town accounts. The town officers and full sets of constables for service in the various Justice Courts, are elected annually. Separate ballotboxes from the city, state and general elections are used, and the Board of Election Commissioners now canvass the returns. All taxes are levied and collected by the Town Assessors and Collectors. The reference in Comptroller Gurney's last report to inequitable assessments is directed against this system. For many years complaints of unequal assessments have been prevalent. At one time the Citizens' Association took action looking to the abolishment of the town governments and the collection of taxes by a city or county collector who should be required to give an adequate penal bond. A bill for this purpose was drafted and sent to the Legislature, but no action was taken. The collectors of the several towns formerly retained 2 per cent, of collections. This was estopped by a decision of the Supreme Court, but not until the loss to the public treasury had amounted to a large sum. The assessment for 1886 was declared by the Board of County Commissioners to be much too low, and that body ordered a new assessment, as authorized by law, and an* effort was made to have the Town Assessors indicted for malfeasance and making false oath to returns. The Assessors refused to make new assessments and gave as a reason that the law authorizing the County Board to order a new assessment did not provide for the expense of making the same. At this writing the matter is held in abeyance. There are Committees of Citizens in the three divisions of the city organized for the purpose of bringing about a reform in the system of assessments and abolishing the town governments.

The Comptroller's last report contained the following comparative statement, showing that the tax and debt per capita of Chicago as compared with other cities is extremely low:

Theodore T. Gurney, City Comptroller, who so- ably supervised the financial affairs of the city for upward of six years, retired from office August 6, 1886, his health being impaired by overwork. He was succeeded by Mr. Charles H. Schwab, junior member of the well-known business house of Selz, Schwab & Co.

List Of City Comptrollers

In accordance with Section 9 of an Act to amend the Act entitled "An Act to reduce the law incorporating the city of Chicago and the several Acts amendatory thereof, into one Act, and to amend the same," approved February 14, 1851, the following named gentlemen have been appointed to, and filled the office of City Comptroller

Samuel D. Ward, S. S. Hayes, Walter Kimball, George Taylor, A. H. Burley, . S. S. Hayes, J. A. Farwell, . Theodore T. Gurney, Charles H. Schwab,

Mayor Colvin held over under the new Charter until July 12, 1876. Thomas Hoyne received a popular vote for Mayor of 33,064, April 18, 1876. The outgoing Council refused to canvass the returns. The new Council canvassed the returns April 8, and declared Mr. Hoyne elected. He was recognized as Mayor by all of the city departments except the Comptroller's. Judge McAllister subsequently decided his election informal, the Mayor and Council not having issued a call for an election.

Nativity Of The Voters Of Chicago

Compiled from the registry books, where the nativity of each person registered is shown by wards. Among the Americans are included such as were born in this country, without regard to the nationality of their parents.

There was a light vote polled by the Poles, Bohemians and Scandinavians, who had no especial incentive to vote, at the next ensuing election for Aldermen in April, 1886, and the total vote polled was 14,127 less than the registration.

The city occupations in 1885 are classed as follows in the report of the Factory and Tenement House Inspectors, which was incorporated in the report of the Health Department made to the City Council, March 29, 1886 :

A summary of the above table shows that it includes 31,186 firms, with 254,149 persons; it does not include 800 boardinghouses, 30 lodging-houses, 2,800 licensed peddlers, 46 employment offices, 950 insurance, real-estate and loan agencies, 14 detective agencies, 40 civil and mechanical engineers, 1,600 law firms, 1,300 physicians, 225 dentists, 63 veterinary surgeons, 173 midwives, the officers and employes of political, religious, benevolent, and other public institutions, nor does it take account of domestic service. Wholesale trade employs about 50,000, manufacturing 75,000, transportation about 25,000 persons, and there are about 20,000 small shops and stores with more than 100,000 persons at retail trade and custom work.

Total City Population And Increase

Showing that the ratio of increase is greater as the city grows larger. Grand total increase in ten years, 296,156. The increase and decrease by city wards between 1884 and 1886 was as follows :

There are 141,855 white males and 144,170 females under 21 years of age; colored, 2,012 males and 1,132 females under that age ; of the Chinese 28 are under 21 ; attending other than public schools, 29,231 ; number between ages of 12 and 21 unable to read or write, 471.

School Census Of 18S6-Continued

The Illinois Legislature passed a bill October 21, 1871, appropriating the sum of $2,950,340, to be known as "The Canal Redemption Fund," which bill was devised and the amount appropriated to reimburse the city for the amount expended on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and to place a portion of the funds at the disposal of the city immediately after the calamity of the great fire. Of the amount thus appropriated, $600,000 were set apart for the construction of the city's* part of the City Hall and Courthouse. A contract was entered into between the county and the city August 28, 1872, for the construction of a Courthouse and City Hall combined, in the public square, the city to pay for and own the west half of the building and the county the east half, the whole to be uniform in its general appearance. Competitive plans were invited ; a number were submitted, and premiums were awarded on three of them. One of these designs, known as the " Eureka," was adopted by the city and county in 1873. The county took steps toward the construction of its portion of the building, but the city, owing to a deficiency of funds caused by the Gage defalcation and other indebtedness, was not ready to co-operate. The right of the county to proceed with its portion of the work was questioned and the matter was referred to the courts, which sustained the

On the 14th of June, 1872, the City Council passed an order authorizing the then existing Board of Public Works to advertise for competitive plans, specifications and estimates of cost, the successful competitor to receive two thousand five hundred dollars from the contingent fund. In accordance with this order, the Board advertised on the 16th of November of the same year, jointly with the Board of Cook County Commissioners, for competitors to submit their plans not later than the 15th of March, 1873, and stated that the Building Committee of the Board of Cook County Commissioners, the City Council and the Board of Public Works of the city of Chicago, should be the judges of the merits of the plans submitted. The gentlemen who were thus constituted judges were Samuel Ashton, John Crawford, Joseph Haines and J. H. Pahlman, of the Board of Commissioners ; S. S. Gardner, M. B. Bailey, Michael Schmitz, David Coey and Mahlon D. Ogden, of the City Council ; and the Board of Public Works, consisting of W. H. Carter, Redmond Prindiville and J. K. Thompson. Disagreements sprang up between the City Council and the County Board. Architect Matz and Architect Tilley both considered themselves under the action, of the Council entitled to the first prize, and consequently the superintendency of the construction of the building ; a long controversy followed, with the result that the claims of neither were recognized. The preparation of all the necessary plans and specifications for the erection of the new City Hall was intrusted to Mr. J. J. Egan, by an agreement entered into by that gentleman with the Department of Public Works, in September, 1877.

June 25, 1877, Aid. Stewart had presented a preamble and resolutions concerning the construction of the City Hall, in which it was set forth that whereas the city had used the $600,000 set apart from the canal redemption fund as a special fund for the building of a City Hall, in anticipation of the collection of revenue for ordinary purposes ; and whereas of the taxes the revenue of which was anticipated, large sums had been collected, and by a fair and equitable apportionment thereof, $160,000 or more were justly credited to the Building, or City Hall fund, and could not be again legally diverted, be it

Resolved, That the Mayor and Comptroller be instructed to hold and retain in the treasury such sum of the back taxes as might properly be credited and apportioned to the City Hall fund.

The County Board having adopted the design for a building, the plan of which represented a dome in the center, between the county and city wings, the City Council on August 9, adopted a resolution directing the Corporation Counsel to serve legal notice on the County Commissioners, and, if necessary, to enjoin them from erecting any dome or any part of one on the city's portion of the public square. August 27 Mayor Heath reported to the Council that there was then in the treasury $74,- 018.88 to the credit of the Building fund, and $16,434.70 to the credit of the City Hall fund, all of which might be applied on the construction of the new City Hall. September 3 the Council adopted a resolution acknowledging the obligation of the city to make good as fast as possible the entire City Hall fund, amounting in the appropriation bill of 1874, to $661,000. Under the supervision of a joint committee, assisted by Mr. Rolph, Secretary of the Building Inspection Department, and L. D. Cleveland, Superintendent of Buildings, work on the building was commenced. New plans were procured from Mr. Egan, at a cost of $4,000. Mr. Tilley did not forego his claim to be the City Architect, and made a demand upon the city and county jointly for $72,400.30 for his "Eureka" plan, and $37,500 for compromise plans, acted on by the Council January 13, 1876. Mr. Tilley asked payment of $20,000 on account, and the Committee on Public Buildings in a report to the Council, October 17, 1877, denied that his claim was just or legal on the ground that the architects of the city and county could not agree, and that the County Board refused to concur in the proposed compromise. December 3, 1877, the Committee on Public Buildings announced to the Council that they had made contracts for the foundation of the building at an estimated cost of $50,804, and that the building would be constructed without a dome, thereby saving the city from an unnecessary expense, of $500,000. March 18. 1878, the Council authorized the Department of Public Works and the Building Committee to advertise for bids for the mason, cut stone and iron work for the building.

The contract for excavating for the foundations was with John Stockley ; for the foundations with Mortimer & Tapper; for iron work with P. J. Sexton ; for mason work with John Angus ; for stone with Tomlinson & Reed.

August 12, 1878, the Council adopted a resolution directing the Mayor to obtain from Tomlinson & Reed, the stone contractors, a proposition setting forth for what consideration they would substitute Lemont limestone for Bedford stone in the

August 15 Tomlinson & Reed submitted a communication stating that they would demand to make the required change, the sum of $979,584 for the entire work, or the sum of $501,891 in excess of the contract price of their contract, which was $477,- 693. They maintained that this proposition did not invalidate their original contract, and represented that if the change was made they must have an extension of time in order to make the necessary arrangements with Edwin Walker, who owned the only quarry from which Lemont limestone of the necessary thickness could be procured.

August 19 the Committee on Judiciary to whom the proposition was referred, reported, recommending that it be rejected, and the communication placed on file. The report was concurred in.

Work on the building was suspended for a time, and the Bedford stone was denounced by members of the County Board and the press, as worthless, liable to discolor and chip to pieces under the effects of our climate, and it was maintained by many that the City Hall would be an unsightly pile, and would not in any manner be similar to or a fitting annex to the county's portion of the building. Tomlinson & Reed had agreed in their contract to do all of their stone cutting in Chicago unless in the event of a general strike among the stone cutters. It was charged that they were avoiding this provision of their contract. The labor unions took up the matter and discussed it at their meetings and brought it before the Council. This added to the general dissatisfaction, and demands were made on all sides for an entire cessation of work on the building. May 12, 1879, a committee appointed at a mass meeting of citizens to make an examination of the stone being used presented a communication condemning it to the Council. This communication was referred to a select committee composed of Aldermen Lawler, Grannis, Stauber, Ballard and Meyer, appointed by the Chair. May 26, Aid. Lawler, of this committee, reported, asking that they be allowed to call to their assistance two architects, two builders and two stone cutters, but the request was not granted. Aid. Ballard, however, presented a resolution, which was adopted, authorizing the Mayor to appoint a committee of five experts to assist the building committee in investigating the condition of the new building. The Committee on Buildings met with these experts and after a thorough examination, a majority of the com- mittee reported to the Council that no serious defects had been found, and recommending the acceptance of the work as far as it had progressed. Aid. Riordan as a minority of the committee submitted a counter report. September 1 the Committee on Public Buildings reported, recommending that the proposition of Tomlinson & Reed to substitute granite columns from the same quarry as the columns for the county building were taken, in lieu of the blue Bedford stone columns, for the sum of $108,500, be accepted. September 8, after a contest in the Council, the recommendation of the committee was agreed to by a vote of 19 to 16. This action was vetoed by the Mayor at the next meeting. Tomlinson & Reed then proposed, on account of their inability to furnish blue Bedford stone large enough for the columns, to deduct $21,797.28 from their contract price of construction. November 24 the Council passed an order for the payment of $1,000 to the experts for their services. In a message to the Council May 10, 1880, Mayor Harrison, referring to certain combinations discovered as existing between city contractors, had the following to say in reference to the proposed substitution of granite for blue Bedford stone for the columns and pilasters :

Still another combination was discovered and routed. This was on the substitution of granite for Bedford stone for the columns and pilasters on the new City Hall. In the early part of last summer the City Hall contractors proposed to the building committee to furnish granite columns and pilasters for the sum of $108,000 in addition to their existing contracts, and subsequently the committee recommended the acceptance of the proposition to the Council. The recommendation was concurred in ; but, being satisfied that the. matter had been hastily considered, I sent in a veto. The Council then adopted a resolution directing the Commissioner of Public Works to enter into negotiations with the contractors, and, in accordance therewith, he held several interviews with the gentlemen, but finding that they were disposed to adhere to the figures recommended by the Council, he declined to make terms with them, and discontinued the negotiations. The Commissioner and myself took the ground that granite pilasters were not desirable, considering the difference in price, and that the dark Bedford stone in contrast with the granite columns would look as well, if not better, than granite pilasters. The result was that on the 4th of December last the Commissioner and myself succeeded in entering into an agreement with the contractors to furnish granite col- limns of the same quality and exactly like those on the county side for $37,000, thus securing a saving to the city of $71,000 - the difference between $108,000 and $37,000. The same rate of payment would have procured granite pilasters for $23,000, which, added to the columns ($37,000), would make $60,000 - a saving of $48,000 to the city, over the contract directed by the Council.

September 19, 1880, the Council passed an order directing the superintending architect, Alexander Kirkland, to report concerning the condition of the walls of the new building, and in accordance with this order Mr. Kirkland reported the walls to be in good condition, and that the settling of the building was bringing the floor levels even with those of the county building on account of a wise precaution of allowing four inches for settlement when the walls of the city building were going up. July 31, 1882, Commissioner Cregier, of the Department of Public Works, reported to the Council that the amount of money paid and to be paid, to contractors for extras in the way of work and material was to John Angus for extra brick work, and Tomlinson & Reed for extra stone work, $4,860.38 ; extras claimed by Tomlinson & Reed, but not allowed, $4,368.50. In addition there was a claim made by John Angus for $55,000 for losses occasioned by loss of time, by reason of orders of the city suspending work, and by changes of plans. March 12, 1883, Aid. Hildreth presented and the Council adopted a resolution requesting the Law Department to draft and present to the state Legislature an act exempting a tax for construction of city halls from the two per cent, limitations. In April, 1883, Aid. Geohegan introduced a resolution instructing the Commissioner of Public Works to negotiate with the County Board for an offer to purchase the new City Hall. It was referred to the Committee on Public Buildings, and afterward placed on file.

In a report to the Council March 16, 1885, Supervising Architect Kirkland, of the City Building Department, gave the following figures on the cost of the City Hall :

In connection with the construction of the County Building there were charges made of extravagance on the part of the County Board, and the "Farmer" Harms' claim and Egan's claim became quite celebrated legal cases. Later on Contractor P. J. Sexton had claims of $180,000 against the county and about $55,000 against the city, which he won after carrying on a legal fight in various courts, and in estimating the total cost of the county Courthouse the $180,000 claim should be included.

The removal of the various city departments from the " Old Rookery" at the corner of Adams and La Salle streets, .which had been occupied since its construction after the great fire of 1871, began January 1, 1884, an<^ continued until May, when all were installed in new quarters. The "Rookery" lot was leased to a syndicate for a long term of years, and an immense office building is in progress of construction thereon.

Chicago, Etc., Etc

One of the most startling and bloody episodes in the history of any American city was the Chicago Haymarket massacre, on the night of May 4, 1886, in which, by the explosion of a dynamite bomb, thrown by Anarchists, seven police officers were killed and sixty wounded, and many attendants at the Anarchist meeting in the old Haymarket, at the intersection of West Randolph and Desplaines streets, were killed and wounded by the return fire of the police. For several years prior to the labor riots of 1877 secret meetings of armed groups of Socialists, as all would-be extremists in social reforms were then called, had been held in Chicago. The Socialists endeavored to take advantage of the labor troubles to incite riot, and the city police force by their prompt action in dispersing an incendiary meeting in the Voerwaerts Turner Hall incurred the enmity of the Socialists. In the spring of 1879 the Socialists united, Anarchists and all, in support of a ticket in the municipal election, polling over 10,000 votes for Dr. Ernst Schmidt for Mayor, and Frank Stauber, a Socialist Alderman, for City Treasurer, and electing several representatives in the City Council, as has already been shown. It is but fair to the Socialists to state that their leaders maintain that their ends and aims are entirely dissimilar to those of the Anarchists, but as the latter are all primarily Socialists and hold that Socialistic doctrines are similar to their own, and that they are only different from the Socialists in that they believe in the adoption of violence and extreme measures, the more speedily to bring about so-called social reforms, they are grouped together for the purpose of convenience in the narration of the Anarchist movement, and its culmination. While the Socialists number many intelligent men having definite and to some extent reasonable views of changes in the social system which they would like to see inaugurated, the doctrines of the Anarchists, as developed by the harangues of their leaders, tend only to chaos and the complete subversion of government, and the rights of property. There were armed groups of Anarchists in Chicago, similar to the Communists of Paris, calling themselves Socialists, in 1878. Among them at this time were several companies of the Lehr und Wehr Verein, the Bohemian Sharpshooters, and independent groups. They paraded the streets with arms and carried red flags, and their agitators made incendiary speeches in the Lake Park, Market Square, and at Greif's Hall, 54 West Lake street, and other places of similar resort. The dangerous character of the Lehr und Wehr Verein has been known in Chicago for at least seven years. Its officers are in the main exiled foreign political agitators, and its membership is composed in the main of a low and ignorant class of Germans, Austrians, Bavarians, Hungarians and Bohemians, with a few fanaticists from other nationalities. On the night of July 1, 1879, Captain Frank Bielfeld marched out of the West Twelfth Street Turner Hall at the head of ten Lehr und Wehr Verein men, turning east on Twelfth to Union, going south 100 yards or so, and then returning. Lieut. Callahan saw them, and went to the hall, where he met Harry Rubens, attorney, representing the Lehr und Wehr Verein, who said that was enough, meaning that he was willing to have the eleven arrested as per an arrangement he had made with Mayor Harrison for the purpose of trying a test case on the charge of violating the militia law. Only Bielfeld's name and address were taken, and Rubens became responsible for his appearance before Justice Walsh at the West side Police Court the morning of July 2, 1879. Bielfeld took a change of venue to Morrison and gave his own recognizance for $100 to come in at 4 P. M. At that hour Prosecuting-Attorney Cameron, Rubens, and Bielfeld were present. The case went over for five days. Bielfeld said the society proposed to "turn out in citizens' dress without any distinctive marks." At that time many people anticipated bloodshed on the Fourth, and not a few left the city to be out of danger. The same day - July 2 - when the case came up Bielfeld denied the charge, but the justice bound him over in $300 bail. Late that afternoon an application was made to Judge Barnum for the release of Bielfeld on habeas corpus. In granting the application Judge Barnum, in a lengthy opinion, declared that about every section and clause in the militia law was uncon- sti.tutional. This being a habeas-corpus case it was impossible to carry the matter to the Supreme Court. Soon afterward, however, a man by the name of Dunne, being summoned to appear as a petit juror before Judge Barnum, then sitting in the Criminal Court, pleaded his exemption, he being a member of the National Guard, not amenable to jury service. The court overruled the point, and the juror refusing to serve, he was fined, and from that decision an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, sitting in November, 1879, at Mount Vernon, where the case was argued by Mr. Charles A. Gregory on behalf of the juror, and by Harry Rubens on behalf of the people. The Supreme Court sustained the constitutionality of the militia law, upsetting all the points of the Communists' lawyers and overruling Judge Barnum's positions, one by one.

This decision in effect was that armed bodies of Communists had no right to go out on parade. The Supreme Court reversed Judge Barnum's decision and remanded the cause. In deciding this case the Supreme Court said : " Whether bodies of men with military organization or otherwise, under no discipline or command of the United States or a state, shall be permitted to parade with arms in populous communities, is within the regulation and subject to the police power of the state.. In matters pertaining to the internal peace and well-being of the state its police powers are plenary and inalienable. It is a power coextensive with self-protection, and is sometimes termed, and not inaptly, the law of overruling necessity. Everything necessary for the protection, safety and best interests of the people of the state may be done within this power."

In the fall of 1879 the Bohemian Sharpshooters held a picnic at Silver Leaf grove, near Douglas park, and being exasperated by troublesome "hoodlums" they fired a volley, under the orders of their captain, Prokop Hudek, into the crowd of people outside the park, wounding several. Prokop Hudek and the entire company of Bohemian Sharpshooters were marched from Silver Leaf grove between files of police to the old Madison street police station, at the corner of Union street. Great excitement prevailed ; a mob gathered, and threats were made openly to lynch the leaders, and strenuous efforts on the part of the police were required to disperse the exasperated people.

Another test case, similar to that of Frank Bielfeld, was that of Herman Presser, which went to the state Supreme Court and thence to the federal Supreme Court, where, in January, 1886, the militia law was affirmed. The claim set up on the part of the armed Socialists was that the Federal Constitution proclaims that " the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," and that " Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances." The Federal Supreme Court said of the first amendment :

" The amendment is a limitation only upon the power of Congress and the national government, and not upon that of the state. It was so held by this court in the case of United States vs. Cruikshank, 92 U. S., 542, in which the Chief-Justice, in delivering the judgment of the court, said that the right of the people to bear arms is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent on that instrument for its existence. The second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed ; but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress."

The United States Supreme Court recognized the right of peaceable assemblage as an attribute of national citizenship and one that will be protected by Federal authority where the express and only purpose of the meeting is to "petition for a redress of grievances." In such case the meeting must be in entire subordination to the police power of the state, and the assemblage must be made at a proper time and place, the power of the state being absolute, the Federal Supreme Court saying in the Presser case: "To deny the power would be to deny the right of the state to disperse assemblages organized for sedition and treason, and the right to suppress armed mobs bent on riot and rapine."

From the time of the arrest of Presser, armed parades of Socialists ceased ; but their groups drilled in secret and became versed in the use of dynamite bombs, and other Anarchistic means of subverting law and order. For six months prior to May 1, 1886, a labor agitation for eight hours' work, beginning on that date, was carried on throughout the country. One of the leading labor agitators of Chicago was George Schilling. The recognized leaders of the Anarchists were August Spies, A. R. Parsons and Samuel Fielden. From newspaper comments on secret meetings of Anarchist groups, and the utterances of their organ, the Arbeiter Zeitung, edited by Spies, and the Alarm, edited by Parsons, it became known to the police that the Anarchists would probably attempt to seize upon the opportunity of expected labor disturbances on the 1st of May to precipitate an outbreak against capital, and the law and order of the city. It was undoubtedly the design of these reckless and misguided plot- ters to take advantage of the labor troubles to organize mobs and incite riot on a large scale, or "revolution" as they termed it, and to attempt to demoralize and put to flight the police and the militia ; to secure possession of and sack the city, and they professed to believe that once this was done, a general revolution would be precipitated upon the country. The collapse of the effort and the punishment meted out to the leaders, marks an epoch in the annals of the Union, and is an evidence that the government will be maintained and treason be put down, in whatever guise it may appear. A majority of the Anarchists in Chicago and elsewhere in the United States are not citizens, and many have been naturalized only for a brief period.

There had been for some weeks a great strike of the employes of McCormick's Reaper Works on Blue Island avenue, or the "Black Road," as it was called by the laboring men. Some of the one thousand or more employes were turbulent, and here the Anarchists first made an effort to inflame the working men to violence. On the afternoon of May 2 a company of Anarchists, recruited mainly from the Bohemian district in the vicinity of Eighteenth street and Center avenue, marched down the "Black Road" with the American flag reversed. They were joined by many of the strikers and a meeting was held on the open prairie in front of the McCormick works, at which Spies made an inflammatory speech. At its conclusion the mob charged the works, where a number of non-union men were employed, and demolished a portion of the works and injured a number of the employes. There were six police officers on duty, and they bravely tried to hold the mob of nearly 3,000 men at bay, but they were overcome, and then turned in an alarm for the patrol wagons. Upon the arrival of the wagons about thirty officers charged the mob and dispersed it, one striker being killed by a revolver shot, and several being injured. That night an Anarchist circular, printed in both English and German, was distributed throughout the city. The English portion was as follows:

" Revenge, working men ! to arms ! Your masters sent out their bloodhounds - the police. They killed six of your brothers at McCormick's this afternoon. They killed the poor wretches, because they, like you, had the courage to disobey the supreme will of your bosses. They killed them because they dared ask for the shortening of the hours of toil. They killed them to show you, ' free American citizens,' that you must be satisfied and contented with whatever vour bosses condescend to allow you, or you'll get killed. You have for years endured the most abject humiliation; you have for years suffered immeasurable iniquities ; you have worked yourselves to death ; you have endured the pangs of want and hunger ; your children you have sacrificed to the factory lords - in short, you have been miserable, obedient slaves all these years. Why ? To satisfy the insatiable greed to fill the coffers of your lazy, thieving master. When you ask them now to lessen your burden he sends his bloodhounds out to shoot you, kill you. If you are men, if you are the sons of your grandsires who have shed their blood to free you, then you will rise in your might, Hercules, and destroy the hideous monster that seeks to destroy you. To arms we call you ! To arms ! Your Brothers."

The German portion differed from the above mainly in the following passage: "Why? Because you dared ask for the shortening of the hours of labor." In the German copy it ran: "Because you dared ask for all that you believed to be your rights." Instead of being addressed, as in the English, to American citizens, it was directed to the followers of Anarchy and Socialism.

Another circular was distributed calling a meeting at the Haymarket for the night of May 4, and urging working men to arm and go in full force. In the Ar better Zeitung appeared the letter " Y," meaning Ypsilon, which was the signal for the armed Anarchists to turn out, and in the department of the paper known as the "Letter-Box" the word " Ruhe," signifying that the time for revolution was at hand. There were probably 300 armed Anarchists at the meeting and about 2,000 people in attendance altogether. It was evidently the intention of the Anarchist leaders to incite the unemployed working men to violence, disorganize and disperse the police, and lead a mob in a march of unobstructed pillage and destruction through the city. A truck was used as a speakers' stand ; it was 10 o'clock ; Spies and Parsons had spoken, and Fielden was haranguing the crowd. A platoon of seven companies of police, numbering 180 men, under command of Inspector John Bonfield and Captain William Ward and Lieutenants Bowler, Stanton, Peuzen, Hubbard, Beard, Steele and Quinn, wheeled into the Haymarket from Desplaines street, and Captain Ward commanded the lawless and incendiary speakers and their followers, in the name of the law to disperse. The police were in two ranks, open order. Fielden had started to descend from the truck when a whizzing sound was heard and a dynamite bomb, thrown from an adjacent alley, descended between the two ranks of policemen and exploded with a deafening detonation. This was immediately followed by a volley from the revolvers of the armed Anarchists. The police wavered, but although the front rank had almost to a man been mown down, they rallied, and at the command of Captain Bonfield closed up and returned the fire by repeated rounds from their revolvers, Captain Bonfield leading the example by taking a revolver from one of the fallen men, and with his own, firing with both hands. In the face of this murderous fire the Anarchists could not rally, and they broke and ran in all directions. Several of their number were killed and many wounded, but the exact number cannot be stated, for the reason that, as in the riots of 1877, and the McCormick outbreak, many were helped away and secreted by their friends. The wounded policemen were removed to the County Hospital, and the police patrol wagons were kept busy all night in caring for the dead and dying.

By the brave and steady action of the police Chicago was saved from a still more bloody riot and the possible loss of countless lives and the destruction of millions of dollars worth of property at the hands of a mob of reckless Anarchists, who made the boldest attempt at the subversion of the law and public authority since the days of the Paris Commune. The following day the Mayor issued a proclamation commanding* the people not to assemble in crowds until the prevalent disorders were over. The Arbeiter Zeitung was suppressed ; the office raided by the police, as also were Greif's and Zephf's halls and many other Anarchist headquarters. Gre.it quantities of dynamite bombs and arms were seized and destroyed, together with red flags, banners, and Socialist and Anarchist literature. Eight Anarchist leaders were arrested and indicted for murder, and twenty-six others for conspiracy and treason. Those indicted and tried for murder were August Spies, a German by nationality, editor of the Arbeiter Zeitimp and one of the leading Anarchist agitators ; A. R. Parsons, an American - brother of the Confederate general, Lew Parsons - Commander-at-Large of the Anarchists, whose wife, an Octoroon, was also a violent agitator ; Samuel Fielden, English by nationality, a carpenter by trade, and a noted agitator ; Oscar Neebe, German, laborer in a brewery and circulator of the Arbeiter ; Adolph Fischer, German, compositor on and circulator of the Arbeiter ; Louis Li nog, German, carpenter by trade, circulator of the Arbeiter ; George Engel, German, Anarchist agitator, and Michael Schwab, associate editor of the Arbeiter. The day following the outbreak the citydetectives arrested Rudolph Schnaubelt for complicity in the murderous attack on the police, but at this time it was not known that the bomb-throwing was the result of a great conspiracy, and after questioning Schnaubelt and coming to the belief that he was not concerned in the bloody deed, he was released and he speedily disappeared from the city. Subsequently it transpired that in all probability it was Schnaubelt who threw the bomb, at the command of Engel or Spies. A. R. Parsons disappeared the night after the riot, and was not arrested. He came into court and gave himself up on the day set for the trial.

After four weeks spent in an attempt to obtain a jury, during which time twelve or fifteen panels were exhausted, the Anarchists were finally brought to trial in the Criminal Court, before his Honor, Judge Gary. The jurymen selected were Major James H. Cole, F. E. Osborne, S. G. Randall, A. H. Reed, J. H. Brayton, A. Hamilton, G. W. Adams, J. B. Greiner, C. B.Todd, C. A. Ludwig, T. E. Denker and H. T. Sanford.

June 19 the counsel for the defense of the Anarchists filed an application with State's-Attorney Grinnell for a separate trial of each of the defendants, Spies, Fielden, Schwab and Neebe. The application stated that the defendants were afraid that the jury would get the acts of each of the four men mixed up, to the injury of the cases of the other three - Engel, Lingg and Fischer. Judge Gary denied this motion on the ground that they had been jointly indicted for conspiracy and murder.

The prosecution in this noted trial was conducted by State's Attorney Julius S. Grinnell and Assistant State's Attorneys George Ingham and Frank Walker, and the defense by Col. W. P. Black, Salomon & Zeisler, and Mr. Foster, of Iowa. After many weeks of interminable delay, spent in challenging jurors and the exhaustion of every device known to crafty lawyers to gain the slightest advantage, the trial of the Anarchists finally opened by the taking of evidence on Friday, July 16, the court room being crowded by hundreds of people, many ladies among the number. Several of the policemen wounded at the Haymarket were also present, among them Officer Reed, who was shot in the leg ; Steele, who was shot in the back ; Barber, who was shot in the foot and who has to depend on a crutch to get along, and Officer McMahon, who was shot in two places in the leg.

The first witness was Felix C. Puschek, a draughtsman, who submitted plans fur use in the trial, of Neff's hall, 58 Clybourne avenue, of the Haymarket ; of Zeph's hall, 120 West Lake street, Greif's hall, 54 West Lake street, and other Anarchist meeting places. Police Inspector Bonfield next takes the stand and relates how the police attempted to disperse the unlawful assemblage of armed Anarchists, and details the circumstance of the bomb-throwing, already related. He also identifies the following circular, by which the meeting was called :

"Attention, working men ! Great mass-meeting to-night, at 7 o'clock, Haymarket square, between Desplaines and Halsted. Good speakers will be present to denounce the late atrocious act of the police, the shooting of our fellow working men yesterday afternoon. Working men, arm and appear in full force.

Some of the Anarchists indicted for conspiracy turned state's evidence. Gottfried Waller, a Swiss by nationality, a cabinetmaker by trade, formerly a Socialist and a member of the Lehr und Wehr Verein, testified that the latter organization comprised various armed groups of Anarchists ; that the letter " Y " in the Arbeiter Zeitung meant for the armed sectibn to meet at Greif's hall ; that he acted as chairman of the meeting of seventy or eighty persons, Engel, Fischer and Breitenfeld, the commander of the Lehr und Wehr, being present. The witness testified that Engel unfolded a plan whereby if a collision between the strikers and the police should occur, the word " Ruhe" would appear in the Arbeiter as a signal for the Lehr und Wehr and the Northwest group of Anarchists to assemble in Wicker Park with arms. They should then storm the North avenue police station, and proceed thence to other stations, using dynamite and shooting down all who opposed them, and should cut the telegraph wires to prevent communication with the outside world. Engel said the best way to begin would be to throw a dynamite bomb into the police station, and that when the populace saw that the police were overpowered, tumult would spread through the city, and the Anarchists would be joined by the working men. This plan, Engel said, had been adopted by the Northwest group. It was decided to appoint a committee to keep watch of affairs in the city and to call a meeting for the next night in the Haymarket. Fischer was directed to get the handbills calling the meeting printed. Those present at the preliminary meeting represented various groups throughout the city. Fischer announced that the word " Ruhe" would mean that a revolution had been started. Engel put the motion, and the plan was adopted. The Committee on Action was composed of members from each group ; the witness knew only one - Kraemer. The members of the armed groups were known by numbers, and witness' number was 19. Witness testified that he had had bombs in his possession given him by Fischer. Others present at the meeting were Rheinwald, Krueger (afterward killed by the police), another Krueger, Gruenwald, Schrader, Huber, Huebner, Hermann, two Lehmanns, and Schnaubelt. Witness went to the Haymarket meeting armed with a revolver. August Krueger was known as "the little Krueger" and Rudolph as "the big Krueger." The witness finally acknowledged that a preliminary meeting had been held on Emma street the Sunday before the meeting at Greif's hall at which Engel's plan was discussed and adopted.

Bernhard Schrader, a native of Prussia, five years in this country, a carpenter by trade, testified that he was a member of the Lehr und Wehr Verein ; was at the meeting at Greif's hall the night of May 3, and he corroborated Waller's testimony throughout. Besides those mentioned by Waller, Schrader named Hadermann, Thiele and Danafeldt, as attendants at the meeting. He saw Balthauser Rau distributing the "Revenge" circulars at a meeting of the Carpenters' Union on Desplaines street. Witness was present also at the Sunday meeting on Emma street. It was here agreed to cripple the fire department, in case they were called out, by cutting their hose. Witness went to the meeting at 54 West Lake street in response to the signal "Y" in the A r better Zeitimg. He was at the Haymarket, but did not know who threw the bomb. The Northwest group of the Lehr und Wehr were armed with Springfield rifles. Witness' number in the organization was 3,312.

Lieut. Edward Steele testified that when the police entered the Haymarket somebody cried out : " Here come the bloodhounds. You do your duty, and we'll do ours.'.'

Lieut. Michael Quinn testified that he heard this exclamation and that the man who made it was Fielden, just as he ceased speaking on the wagon. About the instant the bomb exploded, Fielden exclaimed: "We are peaceable !"

Lieutenant Stanton testified that the bomb exploded four seconds after his company of eighteen men entered the Haymarket. Every member of his company except two were wounded, and two - Degan and Redden - killed. The witness was wounded in eleven places. Officers Krueger and Wessler testified to having seen Fielden shoot at the police with a revolver.

Luther V. Moulton of Grand Rapids, testified that February 22, 1885, August Spies was on a visit to Grand Rapids and he there questioned him about the objects of his organization.

Spies said the ballot-box would not bring about reform ; that force was the only agency to be depended upon : that there were men enough in Chicago to take the city, and when the city was taken the rest of the country would fall into line. George W. Shook, also of Grand Rapids, testified that Spies said they had a secret organization in Chicago numbering 3,000, and that they proposed to revolutionize society. They were to undertake it when the most men were idle. The details he said, were only known to those in the organization, and they were drilled in a secret method of warfare.

Lieutenant Bowler testified to seeing men in the crowd fire upon the police with revolvers ; officers S. C. Bohner and E. J. Hawley saw Fielden fire. In the line of proving up the conspiracy to incite the working men to violence, it was shown by the evidence of James L. Frazer, E. T. Baker, A. S. Leckie, Frank Haraster, Sergeant John Enright and Officer L. H. McShane, that Spies and Fielden incited the mob to attack McCormick's Reaper Works and the non-union employes on May 3. Detective Reuben Slayton testified to having arrested Fischer at the Arbeiter Zeitung office. He had a loaded revolver hid under his coat ; a file-grooved dagger and a fulminating cap, used to explode dynamite bombs. Theodore Fricke, former business manager of the Arbeiter, identified the copy of the "Revenge" circular as being in Spies' handwriting. Lieutenant William Ward testified to having commanded the Haymarket meeting to disperse in the name of the people of Illinois, and that Fielden cried, "We are peaceable," laying a slight emphasis on the last word.

William Seliger, of 442 Sedgwick street, testified that Louis Lingg boarded with him, and that himself, Lingg, Huebner, Manzenberg and Hewmann worked at making dynamite bombs of a spherical shape. He attended the various meetings. He identified the calls for the armed sections to meet in the Arbeiter Zeitung. Balthasar Rau brought the "Revenge" circular to Zephf's hall. Lingg worked at first on "gas pipe" bombs ; they made forty or fifty bombs the Tuesday before the riot. Lingg said they were to be used that evening ; he and Lingg carried a small trunk full of the bombs to Neff's hall, 58 Clybourne avenue, that evening, where they were divided up among the Anarchists ; besides the Northwest group the Sachsen Bund met at Neff's hall ; witness, Lingg, Thieben and Gustav Lehman and two others from the Lehr und Wehr Verein, left Neff's hall for the Larrabee street police station ; Lingg said a disturbance must be made on the North side to prevent the police from going to the West side ; Lingg wanted to throw a bomb into the station ; the police were outside, and they could not get near ; the patrol wagon came along completely manned, and Lingg wanted to throw a bomb under the wagon ; he asked witness for fire from his cigar ; witness went into a hallway and lit a match, and before he returned the wagon had passed ; they returned to Neff's hall where he heard a bomb had fallen on the West side, and killed a great many ; Hewmann blamed Lingg and said in an angry voice, "You are the cause of it all ;" they then went and hid their bombs under sidewalks and in various places, and went home ; Lingg first brought dynamite to his house about six weeks before May i, in a long wooden box ; he made a wooden spoon to handle it with in filling the bombs ; witness belonged to the Northwest group, and his number was 72 ; Engel was also a member. [The bombs were here produced and Judge Gary ordered them removed immediately from the court room and from the building]. Seliger's testimony was unshaken on cross-examination. Mrs. Bertha Seliger corroborated her husband's testimony, testifying that at one time six or seven men were at work making bombs, and that after the Haymarket Lingg tore up the floor of a closet to secrete those he had on hand.

Lieutenant John D. Shea, Chief of the Detective force, testified to having assisted in the raid on the Ar better Zeitung office, May 5. The galley of type from which the "Revenge" circular was printed, copies of Herr Most's book, and other Anarchist literature, red flags and banners with treasonable devices, and a quantity of dynamite were found. The witness asked Spies if he wrote the "Revenue" circular, and he refused to answer. When he arrested Fischer he asked him where he was on the night of the Haymarket meeting. Fischer said in the Arbeiter Zeitung office with Schwab, and that Rau brought word that Spies was at the Haymarket, that a big crowd was there, and they all went over. He had a belt, a dagger, and a fulminating cap on him when arrested, but he said he carried them for protection. I said: 'You didn't need them in the office.' He said: T intended to go away, but was arrested.' I also said : ' There has been found other weapons like this sharpened dagger; how is it you come to carry this?' He said he put it in his pocket for his own protection."

Chicago, Cook County, And Illinois 39 I.

of dynamite ; a long- fuse, a box of fulminating caps, some letters, and copies of both the celebrated circulars. At Fischer's home he found a lot of cartridges and a blouse of the Lehr und Wehr Verein. Officer Duffy found two thousand copies of the circular calling upon the working men to arm, and the manuscript of the "Revenge" circular in the Arbeitcr Zeitung office. Herr Most's book, "The Science of Revolutionary Warfare," found in the Arbeiter office, was offered in evidence ; also the manual for the manufacture of explosives and poisons.

Gustav Lehman, one of the conspirators, gave a detailed account of various meetings ; the afternoon of May 4 he was at Lingg's house where men with cloths over their faces were making dynamite bombs; Huebner was cutting fuse ; Lingg gave witness a small hand-satchel with two bombs, fuse, caps, and a can of dynamite; at 3 o'clock in the morning after the Haymarket explosion, he got out of bed and carried this material back of Ogden's grove and hid it, where it was found by Officer Hoffman ; money to buy dynamite was raised at a dance of the Carpenters' Union, at Florus' hall, 71 West Lake street. Lingg took this money and bought dynamite ; Lingg taught them how to make bombs. M. H. Williamson and Clarence P. Dresser, reporters, had heard Fielden, Parsons and Spies counsel violence; the latter at the Arbeiter Zeitung office had advised that the new Board of Trade be blown up on the night of its opening. George Munn and Herman Pudewa, printers, worked on the "Revenue" circular in the Arbeiter Zeitung office ; Richard Reichel, office-boy, got the "copy" for it from Spies.

The most sensational evidence of the trial, as showing the inside workings of the armed sections of the Socialists, and at the same time the most damaging as indicative of their motives and designs, was that of Detective Andrew C. Johnson, of the Pinkerton agency, an entirely disinterested person who was detailed in December, 1884, by his agency, which had been employed by the First National Bank to furnish details of the secret meetings which it was known were being held by revolutionary plotters at various places throughout the city. Johnson is a Scandinavian, thin-faced and sandy-haired, born in Copenhagen, and thirty-five years of age. He told his story in a calm, collected, business-like manner. Mr. Grinnell asked :

"When did you begin attendance at their meetings ?" - "The first meeting I attended was the 22d of February, 1885, at Baum's Pavilion. The last meeting I attended was the 24th of January of this year."

Mr. Grinnell passed over to witness a bundle of papers and asked : "Have you in your hand a report of the meeting of the 22d of February, 1885 ?" - "Yes, sir."

"Refer to your memoranda and tell me what was said by Parsons at that meeting." - Objected to ; overruled. - "Parsons stated that the reason the meeting had been called in that locality was so as to give the many merchant princes who resided there an opportunity to attend and see what the Communists had to say about the distribution of wealth. He said : 'I want you all to unite together and throw off the yoke. We need no President, no Congressmen, no police, no militia, and no judges. They are all leeches, sucking the blood of the poor, who have to support them all by their labor. I say to you, rise one and all, and let us exterminate them all. Woe to the police or to the military whom they send against us.'"

"What is the next memorandum that you have?" - "The next meeting was March 1. That night I became a member. I went to Thielen, who was at the time acting as Treasurer and Secretary for the association, and gave him my name, and signified my willingness to join the association. He entered my name in a book and handed me a red card with my name on and a number."

"State what Fielden said, and then what Parsons said." - "A lecture was given by a man named Bailey on the subject of Socialism and Christianity, and the question arose as to whether Christianity ought to be introduced in their meetings."

"What did Fielden, Spies, and Parsons say there?" - "Fielden said that he thought this matter ought not to be introduced into their meetings. Parsons said, '1 am of the same opinion;' and Spies also said that it ought not to be introduced."

"When was the memorandum made that you have of that meeting?" - "The same day immediately after the termination of the meeting. Parsons said: 'We are sorely in need of funds to publish the Alarm. As many of you as are able ought to give as much as you can, because our paper is our most powerful weapon, and it is only through the paper that we can hope to reach the masses.' During his lecture he introduced Christianity. Spies stood up and said: 'We don't want any Christianity here in our meetings at all. We have told you so before.' Fielden made no speech."

"Were any speeches made by any of the defendants there?" - "Yes, sir, Spies spoke. Previously a man named Bishop introduced a resolution of sympathy for a girl named Sorell. Bishop stated that the girl had been assaulted by her master. She had applied for a warrant, which had been refused her on account of the high social standing of her master. Spies said: 'What is the use of passing resolutions? We must act, and revenge the girl. Here is a fine opportunity for some of our young men to go and shoot Wight.' That was the man who had assaulted the girl."

"When was the next meeting?" - "March 29, 1885, at Greifs hall. The defendant, Fielden, spoke at that meeting. He said: 'A few explosions in the city of Chicago would help the cause

"When was the next meeting?" - "April i, at Greif's hall. Spies, Fielden and Parsons were present at that meeting. Spies made a lengthy speech on this occasion. His speech was in regard to acts of cruelty committed by the police in Chicago ; he spoke of the number of arrests made, and the number of convictions in proportion. He also referred to the case of the girl who preferred a charge of assault against Police-Sergeant Patton, of the West Chicago avenue station."

"Who else spoke there ?" - " Fielden. Spies had said before that he had advised the girl to get a pistol and go and shoot the policeman. Fielden stood up and said : ' That is what she ought to do.'"

"What was the next meeting ?" - " April 8, 1885, at Greif's hall. Parsons made a lengthy speech. He referred frequently in his address to the strike at the McCormick harvester works. He said: 'There is but one of two things for the men to do. They must either go to work for the wages offered them or else starve.' In concluding his remarks he referred to the strike at La Salle, Illinois. He said : ' To-morrow morning or the next day the authorities here in the city will probably send a train-load of policemen or militia to La Salle to shoot down the working people there. Now, there is a way to prevent this. All you have to do is to get some soap and place it on the rails and the train will be unable to move.' Parsons spoke at great length of the crimes, as he termed them, of the capitalists, and he said to those present that it was an absolute necessity for them to unite against them, as that was the only way they could fight the capitalists."

"Who else spoke there?" - "Fielden. He said it was a blessing something had been discovered wherewith the working men could fight the police and militia with their Gatling guns."

" What was the next meeting you had" - " April 19. That meeting was held at No. 106 Randolph street, because the hall at No. 54 Lake street was engaged. At this meeting Parsons offered a resolution of sympathy for Louis Riel and the halfbreeds in the Northwest who were in rebellion against the Canadian government. Neither Parsons nor Fielden spoke at the meeting."

Referring to the opening of the new Board of Trade building, Parsons said : ' What a splendid opportunity there will be next Tuesday night for some bold fellow to make the capitalists tremble by blowing up the building and all the thieves and robbers that are there.' At the conclusion of his speech he said that the working men of Chicago should form in processions on Market square Tuesday evening next, and he invited all those present to get as many of their friends as they could to join in the procession."

" Did any other of the defendants speak there ? " - " Fielden said : ' I also wish to invite as many of you as can come and as many as you can get. Go around to the lodging-houses and get all you can to join in the procession - the more the merrier."'

" Did any of the defendants speak there ? " - " There were present Parsons, Fielden, Spies. Parsons said : ' I wish you all to consider the misery of the working classes, and the cause of all the misery is these institutions termed government. I lived on snow-balls all last winter, but, by G - d! I won't do it this winter.' "

" What was the next meeting at which any of the defendants attended ? " - " April 30, at Market square ; Parsons and Fieiden. Parsons said : ' We have assembled in here to determine in which way best to celebrate the dedication of the new Board of Trade building, and to give the working men of Chicago a chance to state their views in the matter.' Fielden then said : " I want all the working men of Chicago, the country, and the world in general to arm themselves and sweep the capitalists off the face of the earth.' Parsons then said : ' Every working man in Chicago must save a little of his wages every week until he has enough to buy a Colt's revolver and a Winchester rifle, for the only way that the working people will get their rights is by the point of the bayonet. We want you to form in procession now, and we will march to the Board of Trade. We will halt there, and while the band is playing we will sing the Marseillaise.'"

" What was the next meeting?" - "There was something occurred the night of May 30. I was standing at the corner of Washington street and Fifth avenue close behind Spies. That was Decoration Day, and as the procession passed by Spies said : 'A half-dozen dynamite bombs would scatter them all.' A little later a gentleman who was standing near remarked upon the fine appearance of the Illinois National Guard, who were then passing. Spies said : ' They are only boys, and would be no use in case of a riot. Fifty determined men would soon disarm them all."'

"When was the next meeting?" - "The next meeting was on the Lake front, May 31, and Fielden and Parsons were there. Fielden said : 'It is only by strength and force that you can overthrow the government.' Parsons also spoke, but I don't recollect what he said."

" Go on to the next meeting." - " The next meeting was June 7, at Ogden's grove. There were present Fielden, Parsons and Spies. Fielden said : ' Every working man in Chicago ought to belong to organizations. It is of no use to go to our masters to give us more wages or better times. I mean for you to use force. It is of no use for the working people to hope to gain anything by means of an ordinary weapon. Every one of you must learn the use of dynamite, for that is the power with which we hope to regain our rights.' Schwab also spoke at that meeting in German, which I do not understand."

"When was the next meeting?" - "The next meeting was August 19, at Greif's hall. Parsons and Fielden spoke. Parsons referred to the late strike of the street-car employes, and said that if but one shot had been fired and Bonfield had happened to be shot, the whole city would have been deluged in blood, and social revolution would have been inaugurated. The next meeting was August 24, at Greif's hall."

" Do you know of a fellow named Bodendecke speaking at those meetings ? " - " Occasionally, but not frequently ; I don't know where he is now. There were some twenty or twentythree men present at that meeting, and twenty women."

" Name who were present." - " Besides the two defendants, Parsons and Fielden, there was Baltus, Bodendecke, Boyd, Lawson, Parker, Franklin and Schneider."

"State what occurred there." - "After being there a short time a man armed with a long cavalry sword and dressed in a blue blouse and wearing a slouch hat came into the room. He ordered all those present to fall in. He then called off certain names, and all those present answered to their names. He inquired whether there were any new members who wished to join the military company, and some one replied that there was. He then said : ' Whoever wants to join step to the front' Myself and two others stepped to the front. We were asked separately to give our names. I gave my name, which was put down in a book, and I was then told that my number was 16. Previous to my name being put down in the book a man to whom I was speaking asked whether there was any one present who knew me, or whether any one could vouch for my being a true man. The defendant, Parsons, and Bodendecke spoke up and said they would vouch for me. The other two were asked their names in turn, and as they were properly vouched for, their names were entered in a similar manner in a book, and they were given numbers. The man who came into the room armed then inquired of two other men in the room whether they were members of the American group. Both said they were and he asked to see their cards. As they were unable to show cards they were expelled, as were two others. The doors were closed and the remainder were asked to fall in line, and we were drilled about three-quarters of an hour - put through a regular manual of drill, marching, countermarching, wheeling, forming fours, etc."

"Who drilled you?" - "The man that came in with the sword; I didn't ascertain his name. At the expiration of that time the drillinstructor stated that he would now introduce some of the members of the first company of the German organization. He went outside and in a few minutes returned accompanied by ten other men, dressed as he himself was, each one armed with a Springfield rifle. When they all got into the room he placed them in line facing us and introduced them as members of the first company of the Lehr und Wehr Verein. He said that he was going to drill them a little while to let us see how far they had got with their drill. He drilled them about ten minutes in a regular musket drill. At the end of that time a man in the employ of the proprietor of the saloon at No. 54 West Lake street came into the room with two tin boxes, which he placed on the table at the south end of the room. The drill-instructor then asked all those present to step up and examine the two tin boxes, as they were the latest improved dynamite bomb. I stepped to the front with the others, and examined the two tins."

"Describe them as near as you can." - "They were about the size and had the appearance of ordinary preserved fruit cans. The top part unscrewed, and on the inside the cans were filled with a light-brown mixture. There was also a small glass tube inserted in the center of the can. The tube was in connection with a screw, and it was explained that when the can was thrown against any hard substance it would explode."

"Did you feel of it ?" - "I did not. The drill-instructor told us we should be very careful about selecting new members of the company, because if we were not, there was no telling whom we might get into our midst. The next proceeding of the evening was to select officers. A man named Walters was chosen Captain, and Parsons was chosen Lieutenant. Some discussion arose as to what the company should be called. It was decided eventually that we should be called the International Rifles. The drill instructor then suggested that we ought to choose some other hall, as we were not quite safe there. He added: 'We have a fine place at No. 636 Milwaukee avenue. We have a shooting range in the basement, where we practice shooting regularly.' Parsons inquired whether it was not possible for us to rent the same place. The drill instructor informed him he did not know. The question of renting another hall was postponed, and our next meeting was fixed for the next Monday."

"When was the next meeting ?" - "The following Monday, the 31st of August, at the same place. Parsons and Fielden were present, and others. That was a meeting of the armed section, and it was held at Greif's hall. Capt. Walters drilled us about an hour and a half. Afterward a consultation was held by the members of the company as to the best way of procuring arms. Some one suggested that each member should pay so much a week until a sufficient amount had been raised wherewith to purchase a rifle for each member of the company. Parsons said : 'Look here, boys, why can't we make a raid some night on the militia armory? There are only two or three men on guard there, and it is easily done.' This suggestion seemed to be fa-

Mr. Grinnell - "When was the next meeting?" - Witness - "September 3, 1885, at No. 54 West Lake street. Fielden made a speech there and said: 'It is useless for you to suppose that you can ever obtain anything in any other way than by force. You must arm yourselves and prepare for the coming revolution.' That was one of the ordinary meetings of the association. The next meeting was October 11, at Twelfth Street Turner hall. Spies and Fielden were present. Fielden said : 'The Eight- Hour law will be of no benefit to the working men. You must organize and use force. You must crush out the present Government by force. It is the only way in which you can better your present condition.' I left with Fielden before the meeting terminated."

"When was the next meeting you attended ?" - "The next meeting was December 20, at Twelfth street Turner hall. Fielden was present. He said : ' All the crowned heads of Europe are trembling at the very name of Socialism, and I hope soon to see a few Liskes in the United States to put away a few of the tools of the capitalists. The execution of Riel in the Northwest was downright murder. "' - "Was that an open meeting?" - "It was as far as I know. I saw no one refused admission."

"How about these other meetings you have mentioned, aside from the armed sections ?" - "Aside from the meetings of the armed section I should say that they were public. I never saw any one refused admission." - "Was there any precaution taken ?" - "A precaution was taken in this way : A member of the group was generally stationed at the door, and as each member entered the hall he was closely scrutinized. The next meeting was December 30."

"Do you know what the question was?" - "The question was, ' Would the destruction of private property assist universal co-operation ?' Fielden replied : ' Neither I nor any body else can tell what is going to be in a hundred years from now, but this everybody knows, if private property is done away with, it would insure a better state of things generally. And we are trying all we can to teach the people the best way in which to bring about this change.' "

"Who was present at that meeting ?" - "Fielden, only. The next meeting was January of this year, at Twelfth street Turner hall. Fielden and Schwab were present. Fielden, referring to the troubles in Ireland, said : ' If every Irishman would become a Socialist, he would have abetter opportunity to secure home-rule for Ireland. I want all Irishmen to destroy all the private property they can lay their hands on.' He also referred to other matters. What he said had reference to Pinkerton's detective agency."

"What was it he said ?" - "He said Pinkerton's detectives were a lot of cold-blooded murderers, and the worst enemies the working men had, and they were all in the pay of the capitalists."

"What else happened ?" - "Schwab also addressed this meeting in German. During his speech he was frequently applauded. The next meeting I attended was January 14 at No. 106 Randolph street."

"State what you heard." - "Spies said to Fielden : ' Don't say very much about that article on Anarchists in an afternoon paper. You simply need to state that a reporter of the paper had an interview with me a few days ago, but that most of the statements of the paper are lies.'"

"When did they leave ?" - ''Spies further said : 'You must be careful in your remarks. You don't know who might be amongst us to-night. ' Spies then went away and the meeting was called to order."

" What did he say ? " - " He made a long talk, commenting on the articles that appeared. He said almost all of the statements were lies. He said in regard to dynamite bombs : 'It is quite true we have lots of explosives and dynamite in our possession, and we will not hesitate to use them when the proper time comes. We care nothing at all either for the military or the police. All of these are in the pay of the capitalists.' He further said that ' even in the regular army most of the soldiers are in sympathy with us, and most of them have been driven to enlist. I have had a letter from a friend out West. He told me that he had seen a soldier on the frontier reading a copy of the Alarm' Others then made speeches. Afterward Fielden again spoke at the same meeting in regard to the question asked him, what was the Socialist idea of the eight-hour movement. Fielden said: 'We don't object to but we don't believe in it. Whether a man works eight hours a day or ten hours a day he is still a slave. We propose to abolish slavery altogether.' That is all of that meeting. Fielden said, the 24th of January, at a meeting held at No. 106 Randolph street - "

" What is the name of that, Jung's hall?" - "Yes, I believe it is Jung's hall. Fielden said good results were sure to follow the abolishment of private property."

" Did you know then of Pinkerton's agency having any other men employed in the same line that you were employed in ? " - " I knew there had been another man, but whether he was employed then I do not know."

" Have you lately, within the last few days, ascertained, and do you know the fact, that you have seen any Pinkerton men in these meetings?" - " That is so."

" Have you had any talk with Spies, Fielden, Parsons, and other defendants as to the purposes of their organization ?" - " I have talked frequently with Parsons and Fielden at various times

" What was the object of the armed section as was expressed by the members ?" - " At the first meeting of the armed section the discussion arose as to what the company should be called. Some one suggested that the company should be amalgamated with the German organization, and the company was to be called the Fourth Company of the Lehr und Wehr Verein. This idea was opposed and finally it was decided that it should be called the International Rifles. It was further said and understood by all the members that in case of a conflict with the authorities the International Rifles were to act in concert with the Lehr und Wehr Verein, and obey the orders of the officers of that organization."

" What was said at any time as to when this revolution was to take place - when was to be the culmination of the conflict ? " - " The ist of May was frequently mentioned as a good opportunity."

"What ist of May?" - "This present. As far as I remember it was at a meeting at Twelfth street Turner hall on one occasion in December, and it was the defendant Fielden that said the ist of May would be the time to strike the blow. There would be so many strikes and there would be 50,000 men out of work - that is to say if the eight-hour movement was a failure."

"What conversation did you have ?" - "I had a conversation with Parsons sometime in March. The conversation took place in the Alarm office in the Arbeitei' Zeitwig building. This office is situated in the back of the building."

"Well, state what you remember of the conversation." - "I asked Parsons if he did not think it advisable to get some papers printed in the Scandinavian language, as I thought I could make use of them. I intended to distribute them among the Scandinavian people along Milwaukee avenue and that neighborhood. Parsons replied : 'Yes, it is a good idea, and the best thing you can do is to bring the matter up in our next meeting. Bring it up before the meeting, and I will see that it is attended to. It is no use, we must have the Scandinavians with us.' " the purposes and objects of the social revolution, so called?" - "I have had numerous conversations with Fielden and Parsons, but I cannot remember distinctly what was said."

"Did you ever see a book by Most called 'The Modern Science of Revolutionary Warfare?' Look at that book and state whether you have seen it before." - "I have."

"There were a number of those present at that particular meeting who bought a number of copies of the Alarm, and said that they would try their best to sell them and obtain new subscribers."

Cross-Examined

"Didn't you write in your report [reading from it] that Keegan said that after Spies got through with his remarks ?" - "Yes, but Mr. Spies said it also."

Referring to the charges against Sergt. Patton, Mr. Foster asked : "Were the circumstances stated that the girl had been grossly abused, 'but his brother officers stood round and swore him out?"

In regard to the strike at La Salle, Mr. Foster made it appear as if Parsons had simply stated in general terms that if soap was put on the rails the train would not be able to move, but that he did not advise anybody to go and put the soap on. Fielden's remark that something had been discovered by which the working men could resist the police and militia, and Parsons' remark that he would not live on snowballs another winter, were represented by Mr. Foster in an equally innocent and harmless light. The cross-examination for the day concluded with the following questions and answers :

"I was at the corner of Randolph and Desplaines streets. Saw Parsons speaking, and listened to what he had to say. Some one said Mayor Harrison was there and I tried to find him. There was a big crowd. Parsons said that Jay Gould was a robber, and asked what was to be done. Somebody shouted, ' Throw him in the lake.' Parsons said: 'No, that won't do. We must overthrow the system by which he was enabled to secure so much money.' He snouted frequently: 'To arms! to arms!' and the crowd applauded. There were six or eight persons on the wagon. -Fielden, the next speaker, discussed legislation, saying that Martin Foran had admitted that it was impossible for the working men to get their rights through legislation, and that the people were fools to send such a man to Congress when he owned that legislation could not better them. He justified the forthcoming revolution, saying it was just as proper as the colonial revolution. The police came up quietly and my first knowledge of it was the command to disperse. Then the bomb exploded. It made a terrible noise, and a moment after the firing commenced. Parsons, Spies, and Fielden were on the wagon, and I think I saw Schwab there. I crouched down behind the wagon until after the firing was over ; then I went to the Desplaines street station. On getting out on the street I saw two officers lying wounded. I spoke to them, but they didn't answer, so I told the sergeant of a patrol-wagon about it."

"I was at the Haymarket on the night of May 4. Parsons followed Spies, saying: 'I am a Socialist from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, and I'll express my sentiments if I die before morning.' Again he said: 'I pay rent for the house I live in.' Someone asked: 'What does the landlord do with the money?' Parsons replied: 'I am glad you asked that question. The landlord pays taxes, they go to pay the sheriff, the militia, and the Pinkertonites.' The crowd cheered, then Parsons cried: 'To arms! to arms!' and Fielden took the stand. He said: 'The law does not protect you, working men. Did the law protect you when the police shot down your brothers at McCormick's ? Did the law protect you when McCormick closed the doors of