Ohio History Journal

THE COXEY MOVEMENT IN OHIO.

BY OSMAN C. HOOPER.

The Coxey movement of 1894 was a fantastic expression, at

a critical moment, of the industrial unrest prevalent for a period

centering about that date. It was an Ohio product sprung from

a Western seed. Named for its Ohio patron, Jacob S. Coxey,

its real author and promoter was Carl Browne, a lieutenant of

Denis Kearney, in the days of sand-lot politics. The number of

unemployed men was large and discontent was widespread; so

that, when Coxey and Browne had agreed upon a course of action

in Ohio, it was easy for them to induce men in other parts of the

country to follow their example. The plan of action was a "pe-

tition in boots" to Washington-in other words, the organization

of "armies" of the unemployed which were to march to the capital

and demand from Congress, then in session, legislation which

should directly provide for every man who wanted it work at a

good wage.

The unique project quickly attracted the attention of the

newspapers and it was heralded from one end of the country to

the other. Thus with far less expenditure of effort on the part

of the promoters than would otherwise have been the case, the

formation of the "armies" was begun. In San Francisco, Kelley

operated; in Los Angeles, Frye; in Chicago, Randall; in Butte,

Hogan; in Providence, Fitzgerald, and in Massillon, O., Coxey

and Browne. The common demand of all these "armies," num-

bering about 6,000 men, was for money and work-money, no

matter how cheap, and work, in some cases, at least, no matter

how little.

Coxey styled his Massillon movement a movement in favor

of good roads. The Pacific armies said little about such reform,

demanding instead state aid for irrigating the desert. Frye de-

manded government employment for all unemployed, prohibition

of immigration for ten years and such legislation as would pre-

vent any alien from owning real estate in this country. Aside

(155)

156      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

from these variations of demand, there was in some respects a

lack of concerted action, showing itself at times in sharp criticism

by the other leaders of the tactics adopted by Coxey. But,

under the circumstances, this was to be expected. The Coxey

name was given to all and was unquestioningly accepted by all.

If the western organizations were not directed by Coxey in the

same way as was the Massillon organization, all had their origin

in the Coxey-Browne suggestion and were really looking to the

Ohio man for leadership. The lesser "generals" were prominent

on the march, but ultimately disappeared in the shadow of their

common patron, the Ohio rich man whose sympathy was with the

unemployed and whose purse the energetic and versatile Browne

had caused to open for the furtherance of his spectacular plans of

relief.

It was in the first months of 1894 that Coxeyism made its

debut. The advertisements of its plans were full of bombast

and very generally provoked a smile. Don Quixote seemed

again to have appeared. But as the news of the progress of pre-

parations poured out of Massillon and the predictions of success

gathered confidence, people began to regard it seriously-some

with a realization that, although grotesque, the movement was

not without cause; others with a fear that the unemployed men

thus gathered would menace the peace, if not life and property in

the communities they traversed. Both these classes of citizens

helped the movement along-the first by encouraging words

and supplies of provisions and clothing and the second by their

care not to arouse the resentment of the "army" and their willing-

ness to do everything possible to hasten the march to the next

stopping place. San Francisco citizens, alarmed by the recol-

lections of Kearney and his sand-lot campaign, hurried Kelley

and his 1,500 men east. No community wanted them, and many

gladly aided in securing the desired and necessary railway trans-

portation. When there were no communities so to act, the

Western "armies" boarded freight trains which they practically

appropriated, being in such numbers as to make resistance by the

railway employes impossible and compulsion by the law authori-

ties difficult. In a less degree these conditions prevailed along

the routes of all the armies. About the middle of April, 200

158       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

But it is with the Ohio contingent, the so-called Common-

weal of Christ, that this article has especially to deal; and it will

be interesting, having recalled the harsh industrial conditions out

of which the movement sprung, to note the character of the pro-

paganda at Massillon, the manner of the organization, the march

to Washington and the end of the agitation. Coxeyism, as pre-

sented at Massillon, was a strange mixture of ideas plucked from

the Bible, from theosophy and the preachments of political

reformers generally considered unsound. "Death to usury!"

was one of the slogans of Browne's campaign. He shouted it

from the rear of his panorama wagon, he painted it on his gro-

tesque canvases and he printed it on his bulletins. With that

death, he declared, would come "the realization of the vision of

St. John of a new Heaven and a new earth-a realization of what

the Carpenter of Nazareth taught by the sea of Galilee eighteen

centuries ago, that 'the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'"

Browne professed belief in Christ and in the truth of the pro-

phecy of His second coming. He declared that He meant that

the Kingdom of Heaven would come or could come whenever

the people willed it; and, as it was explained in one of the Com-

monweal bulletins, that "if the principles of Christianity were

applied to affairs here on this earth, it would bring Heaven here

as He wished it, 'on earth as it is done in Heaven,' and not as

now applied, that believers must die, as by life insurance, to

win it."

Another phase of Browne's belief was revealed in an inter-

view with a newspaper correspondent to which he gave the proof

of authenticity by reproducing it in one of his own bulletins.

Said he: "Do you not see anything strange in the coming to-

gether of Brother Coxey and myself? I believe that a part of the

soul of Christ happened to come into my being by reincarnation.

I believe also that another part of Christ's soul is in Brother Coxey

by the same process, and that is what has brought us together

closer than two brothers. That prevents all jealousies between us;

that strikes down all rivalries. That permits of each according

to the other the full measure of credit due and the establishment

of an equilibrium of justice between us and mankind that must

prevail over all this land eventually, as this principle grows. I also

160       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

this also appears in one of the bulletins of the Commonweal):

"He (Christ) was simply a great reformer. He went about, like

Browne here, doing all the good He could; and as He preached

against those who lived upon interest and profit, they, controlling

the masses as they do now, compassed His death upon the cross."

Believing that their movement was the fulfillment of the pro-

phecy as to the second coming of Christ, Coxey and Browne fixed

upon Easter Sunday, the day of the Resurrection celebration,

for the beginning of their march to Washington.

"We firmly believe now (reads one of their proclamations)

in view of the surrounding circumstances, that the time of the

fulfillment of prophecy is near at hand, and that all those who

go in this procession to Washington will be the humble instru-

ments through which the second Babylon-the Money Power of

Usury-is to fall, and that the second coming of Christ is now

here; that His coming is not in the flesh of any one being, but

reincarnated in the souls of all those who wish to establish a

co-operative government through such legislation as this pro-

poses, to take the place of the cut-throat competitive system that

keeps alive the crucifixion-'for the crucifixion of Jesus is the

spiritual correspondence of the crucifixion of the people' through

usury. What emotions it must create in the breasts of all those

who have intelligence and brotherly love to realize that we are

really living in the era of a great cataclysm in human affairs;

and how plain it must seem to them, as it does to us, when they

look about them and think a moment, that 'the world (old cus-

tom) is coming to an end.'"

Turning from the religious sentiments which Coxey and

Browne professed, it is interesting to note the character of the

political reforms they sought. These proposed reforms were

embodied in two bills-one to provide for the building of good

roads, and the other to provide for the issue of non-interest-bear-

ing bonds. The text of the first of these measures was as follows:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in

Congress Assembled: That the secretary of the treasury of the

United States is hereby authorized and instructed to have en-

graved and have printed, immediately after the passage of this

bill, five hundred millions of dollars of treasury notes, a legal

The Coxey Movement in Ohio.            161

tender for all debts, public and private, said notes to be in de-

nominations of one, two, five and ten dollars, and to be placed

in a fund to be known as 'The General County Road Fund System

of the United States,' and to be expended wholly for said purpose.

"Section 2. And be it further enacted: That it shall be the

duty of the secretary of war to take charge of the construction of

said General County Road System, said construction to com-

mence as soon as the secretary of the treasury shall inform the

secretary of war that said fund is available, which shall not be

later than                ; when it shall be the duty of the

secretary of war to inaugurate the work and spend the sum of

twenty millions per month, pro rata with the number of miles

of road in each state and territory in the United States.

"Section 3. Be it further enacted: That all labor other

than that of the office of the secretary of war, whose compen-

sations are already fixed by law, shall be paid by the day, and that

the rate be not less than one dollar and fifty cents per day for

common labor, and three dollars and fifty cents per day for team

and labor, and that eight hours shall constitute a day's labor under

the provisions of this bill."

The proposed law for the issue of non-interest-bearing bonds

read as follows:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in

Congress Assembled: That whenever any State, Territory, County,

Township, Municipality or Incorporated Town or Village deems

it necessary to make any public improvements, they (sic) shall

deposit with the secretary of the treasury of the United States,

a non-interest-bearing, twenty-five-year bond, not to exceed one-

half the assessed valuation of the property in said State, Territory,

County, Township, Municipality, Incorporated Town or Village,

and said bond to be retired at the rate of four per cent. per annum.

"Section 2. Whenever the foregoing section of this act has

been complied with, it shall be mandatory upon the secretary of

the treasury of the United States to have engraved and printed

treasury notes in the denomination of one, two, five, ten and

twenty dollars each, which shall be a full legal tender for all

debts, public and private, to the face value of said bond, and de-

162       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

liver to said State, Territory, Township, Municipality, Incorpo-

rated Town or Village, ninety-nine per cent. of said notes and re-

tain one per cent. for the expense of engraving and printing

same."

It was to demand of Congress the enactment of these bills

that the expedition, or "petition in boots," as it was called, was

planned. Information of the character of the demand was spread

broadcast, both by circular and by newspapers. "Now, hurry up,"

read one appeal. "The time is short; and, although the roads

will be horrible, remember the condition of the soldiers under

Washington in the snow at Valley Forge, struggling to win this

fair land from an English tax on tea; and we, the degenerate sons

of illustrious sires, have allowed English bond holders to get us

more tightly in their grasp than George the Third had our fore-

fathers. Rouse up! and demand congress to issue paper money

based upon our own security. If paper money could fight battles

and kill men in '61, it can build good roads and streets and pub-

lic buildings and thus save men from starving to death in 1895.

Rouse up, ye bondsmen, and protest against the yoke, at least!"

The plan of organization of the army, which it was hoped to

set in motion that Easter day in 1894, was fully set forth in a

circular as follows:

"As order is God's own law, it is also necessary for all in-

telligent action by His people. So the proposed procession will

be composed of groups of men (citizens) numbering five (5) in

each, one of whom must be selected to act as marshal-Group

Marshal-to be numbered in the order of date of group formation.

Groups may be federated into Companies or Communes of not

less than thirty (30) men, nor more than one hundred and five

(105). Communes may be federated into Regiments or Com-

munities of not less than two hundred and fifteen (215) men nor

more than ten hundred and fifty-five (1055). Communities may

be federated into Cantons (Divisions) of two or more. All Com-

munes, Cantons and Communities must select five (5) Marshals,

to be numbered as first, second, and so on, the same as the Group

Marshals shall be designated, thus: First Group Marshal, First

Commune Marshal, First Canton Marshal, First Community

Marshal. Badges of designation will be furnished free by Brother

The Coxey Movement in Ohio.            163

Coxey, bearing appropriate design made by myself (Browne),

upon sending certificate of organization, or when any group or

organization joins the procession. All Labor Unions, Farmers'

Alliances, or other organizations desiring to join may do so with-

out reorganizing as above, and will be given right of line. It

would be well for all companies or organizations to procure a

wagon, if possible, to carry camp utensils and supplies for each,

though several wagons will be taken from Massillon for the

purpose."

The organizers of this project were not seeking to increase

their own troubles, and so they tempered their appeal with the

hope that no one in ill health would join the Commonweal.

They also made it plain that they wanted no vicious characters.

"We want," said one of the bulletins, "no thieves or anarchists-

boodlers and bankers-to join us. We want patriots, not bum-

mers. No firearms, but manhood. * * * Having faith in

the rectitude of our intentions, and believing that we are acting

from inspiration from on high, we believe that the liberty-loving

people comprising this indivisible and undividable American

Union will respond in such numbers to the call of duty that no

"Hessian" Pinkerton thugs, much less State militia or United

States troops, can be hired for gold to fire upon such a myriad

of human beings, unarmed and defenseless, assembling under the

aegis of the Constitution, upon the steps of the national capitol,

to assert their prerogative, shielded as they would be by right

and justice, and guided by Him in the interest of good and higher

government; and thus will take place that battle long foretold, for

it will be as noble Lester Hubbard once wrote: 'That plain of Ar-

mageddon, dimly seen by ancient seer, when the brute nature and

immortal soul of man close in final contest, which shall herald

the dawning of the era of love and tenderness, when nations shall

know the fatherhood of God and live the brotherhood of man.

This was the prayer of Him on Calvary's cross, and at last it shall

come true, for the everlasting God hath so ordained it.'"

The moving spirit behind all this was Carl Browne. He

made the plans, wrote the proclamations and bulletins, devised

the organization, painted the banners, designed the badges and

conducted the correspondence. He was secretary of the J. S.

The Coxey Movement in Ohio.            165

outside of town; a camping ground had been selected, but a

trip to it disclosed no tent or other sign of the coming army.

The morning of Saturday dawned gloomy and disagreeable.

There was a damp and searching chilliness in the atmosphere

that made a closely buttoned overcoat comfortable. The search

for the army was renewed at the camping ground, at the city

prison, where it was thought possible some of the recruits had

taken refuge, and elsewhere. The search was not wholly fruit-

less, although nearly so.  At the camping ground, one recruit

was found, and, in an unfinished building, the room in which two

others had passed the night. The number of correspondents had,

however, perceptibly increased, and as these news-gatherers

eagerly sought the missing army, they encountered one another,

and, in their mutual disappointment, when their identity had been

satisfactorily established, formed partnerships for the further

pursuit of the much-advertised Coxeyites.

It was a few minutes after nine o'clock when the door of the

hotel lobby was opened and a strange looking man entered. He

stopped a moment to shout some instructions to the colored

driver of the buggy from which he had alighted, and then strode

like a conquering hero through the crowd of correspondents

and others who cleared the way for his passage. "That's Carl

Browne," the youth at the cigar stand whispered, and those who

heard looked more intently at the stranger, who was now at the

desk in conversation with the clerk. Browne was a tall, well-

built man, with grizzled hair and a garb very suggestive of the

wild west. His hat was a broad-brimmed slouch, and his outer

garment a fur coat reaching to his ankles. Beneath this he wore

a short leathern coat buttoned with silver half dollars, on which

was stamped the word, "Free." He wore heavy boots, into the

tops of which his pantaloons were thrust, and his whole make-

up was eccentric.

Browne had come in with the morning mail of the Common-

weal, and gathering the correspondents, who now numbered a

score, about him, he read the letters aloud.  Most of the com-

munications promised contributions of money and provisions, or

told of the coming of many recruits. "We shall start tomorrow,"

said Browne, "with 5,000 men, and before we have gone 100 miles

166       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

we shall have an army of 10,000." Questions as to the where-

abouts of Coxey were met with the statement that he was some-

where in town attending to some final preparations. He was

quickly found, but he was not easily identified as the leader of

the movement that bore his name. He looked too much like an

ordinary business man to be picked out as the associate of the

picturesque Browne. He was of medium height and weight.

His rather low, broad brow was surmounted by dark hair without

a trace of gray. He looked mildly, though steadily, through gold-

rimmed spectacles. The only hair on his face was a short, brist-

ling mustache. He was plainly, but neatly dressed. He did not

court attention and, while in conversation, he was not effusive.

He was evidently satisfied with what had thus far been done and

sanguine of the future.

The day brought a number of recruits for the Commonweal

Army, among whom were the agent of a struggling reform publi-

cation, a silk-tiled man with a book to sell, an Indian who wore

moccasins and carried a tomahawk  and boasted that he had

fought with Louis Riel in the then recent Canadian uprising.

These stopped at the hotels. There were other recruits of less

marked individuality, who went direct to the camping ground.

A tent was put up and the ground beneath it was strewn with hay.

A covered commissary wagon, drawn by two powerful farm

horses, came over the hill and was halted at the camp. Browne's

panorama, used to illustrate his lectures, was given a commanding

position at the entrance to the grounds. Canvas was stretched and

Brown, with brush and paint pot, set about making banners to be

carried in the procession.  As he lettered the canvas or drew

upon it cartoons of monopoly and its victims, he talked to the

curious throng. How many of the throng were residents and

how many were of the army, it was for a time difficult to tell,

but the problem ultimately solved itself, for all who had homes

were driven to them by the cutting wind. There remained pos-

sibly 50 men who could be classed as soldiers in the Commonweal

Army. What sort of men were they? They were unfortunate

men, many of them without a better shelter than the Common-

weal tent, or a better meal than the tea and crackers that were

served there to all who would join the "army." There were

The Coxey Movement in Ohio.            167

among them, doubtless, honest men who believed so far as they

could understand it, the doctrine that Covey and Browne

preached, but there were certainly others whose presence was

to be explained on the ground of curiosity and a lack of anything

better to do. If any of them were vicious law breakers, the fact

did not develop, either at Massillon or at any point along the

road.

The little "army" was organized into groups, according to the

plan already explained; pickets were thrown out, and fires were

built, both to warm the shivering men and to prepare the first

meal in camp.   This meal consisted of hot tea and crackers,

and was served to the groups as they marched up one at a time.

After this repast came an evening meeting, largely attended by

the curious of Massillon. Browne was the speaker and a wagon

was his rostrum. His talk, which was a reiteration of his procla-

mations and bulletins, embellished with stories and illustrated

with some of his cartoons, was entertaining, and he held the

audience long in the cold.  One by one, however, the towns-

people, chilled to the bone, went their way homeward, the effort

at proselyting was ended, and the army was put to bed in its

straw.

Easter morning was cold and gloomy, like its predecessor.

But it brought new recruits to the army, which, at 12:30 p m., set

out on its march to Washington, just 125 strong. First came

Carl Browne, riding a large iron-gray horse; then Coxey, riding

In a buggy drawn by two horses, which were driven by a colored

man; the panorama wagon; the marshal's aides on horse-back,

and then, two by two, the privates of the Commonweal Army,

while two canvas-top commissary wagons brought up the rear.

The banners borne in the procession were curiosities of letter-

ing, if not of sentiment. They were the handiwork of Browne.

Here are some of the sentiments expressed: "Coxey, the Cere-

brum of the Commonweal of Christ," "Browne. the Cerebellum

of the Commonweal of Christ," "Peace Upon Earth and Good

Will Toward Men, but Death to Interest on Bonds," "The King--

dom of Heaven is at Hand," Lazarus Proffers Dives a Cup of

Cold Water. Soon the Great Gulf Shall Divide Them," "God

is Not the God of the Dead, but of the Living. The 32d Verse

168       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

of the 22d Chapter of Matthew Proves Jesus Christ a Theoso-

phist, for Resurrection Means Simply Reincarnation, from Death

Here to Living Here Again," "The Farmer Leads, for he Feeds,"

"Workingmen Want Work, Not Charity," "Equal Rights to All,

Special Privileges to None," "The Supreme Court of the United

States Has Upheld the Constitutionality of Our Demand."

Not less than thirty special correspondents, sent to Massil-

lon from remote cities, to tell the news of the reform movement,

stood upon the sidewalks and watched this small company pass.

Then they took carriages to the interurban railway car and fol-

lowed the "army" to Canton.  Curiosity marked its reception

there. There was no enthusiasm in the "army" or out of it. The

march was directly through the city to the suburbs, where the

tents were put up and the "army" was fed and again put to bed.

The attitude of the people of Canton was characterized in some

cases by sympathy and in others by fear, and the "army" profited

in being well treated and hurried onward. The experience there

was duplicated at nearly every stopping place. Everywhere there

was curiosity, and at many points  recruits were gained. At

Homestead the "army" numbered 600, but it dwindled in the

march across the mountains in the snow to 140, gaining again

in the more easily traveled districts, and aggregating 500 when

it marched into Washington May 1.  During the march there

were some slight troubles, but there was no turbulence and no

depredations of consequence.  If the commissary supplies ran

short, the men were supplied with provisions by those who sympa-

thized with them, or those who feared them.  So far as the

preservation of the peace was concerned, the promises of Coxey

and Browne were satisfactorily fulfilled.

The passage of the mountains was the hardest ordeal of all,

and the 140 faithful ones were complimented by Browne. "Your

names," said he to them in a speech, "will be emblazoned on the

scroll of fame. As Henry V. said to his men after the battle of

Agincourt, your names will be as familiar as household words."

To each man who made the march a card of merit was issued

like the following:

"The Commonweal of Christ: This certifies that John

Souther, of Group 3, Commune 1, Chicago Community of the

170       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

the success or failure of the movement was soon to be written.

The army moved with all the trappings and in much the same

order as at Massillon. It was an array of wagons and banners

and humanity such as Washington had never before seen, and

such as the more thoughtful must have hoped never to see again.

All went well till the capitol grounds were reached. The attempt

to enter for the purpose of holding a meeting brought the police

into activity, but the throng of sight-seers made the execution

of orders difficult. Apprehending trouble, Coxey hastened up

the steps of the capitol and was about to begin his speech when

he was accosted by an officer and told that he could not speak

there. Yielding to this prohibition, Coxey asked to be allowed

to read a protest, a copy of which he drew from his pocket. But

in that, too, he was interrupted, and he contented himself with

handing the manuscript to a bystander and asking that it be

turned over to the press. It read as follows:

"The Constitution of the United States guarantees to all

citizens the right to peacefully assemble and petition for the re-

dress of grievances, and furthermore declares that the right of

free speech shall not be abridged. We stand here today to test

these guarantees of our Constitution. We chose this place of

assembly because it is the property of the people; and if it be true

that the right of the people to peacefully assemble upon their own

premises and with their petitions has been abridged by the passage

of laws in direct violation of the Constitution, we are here to draw

the eyes of the nation to the shameful fact.

"Here, rather than at any spot upon the continent, it is

fitting that we should come to mourn over our dead liberties

and by our protest arouse the imperilled nation to such action

as shall rescue the Constitution and resurrect our liberties. Upon

these steps where we stand has been spread a carpet for the royal

feet of a foreign princess, the cost of whose lavish entertainment

was taken from the public treasury without the consent or the

approval of the people. Up these steps the lobbyists of trusts and

corporations have passed unchallenged on their way to committee

rooms to which we, the representatives of the toiling wealth-

producers, have been denied admission.

172      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

are here to petition for legislation which will furnish employment

for every man able and willing to work-for legislation which

will bring universal prosperity and emancipate our beloved

country from financial bondage to the descendants of King

George.

"We have come to the only source which is competent to aid

the people in their day of dire distress. We are here to tell our

representatives, who hold their seats by the grace of our ballots,

that the struggle for existence has become too fierce and relent-

less. We come and throw up our defenseless hands and say,

'Help, or we and our loved ones must perish.' We are engaged

in a bitter and cruel war with the enemies of mankind; a war with

hunger, wretchedness and despair, and we ask Congress to heed

our petitions and issue for the nation's good a sufficient volume

of the same kind of money which carried this country through one

awful war and saved the life of the nation. In the name of jus-

tice, through whose impartial administration only the present civ-

ilization can be maintained and perpetuated, by the powers of the

Constitution of our country, upon which the liberties of the peo-

ple must depend, and in the name of the Commonweal of Christ,

whose representatives we are, we enter the most solemn and earn-

est protest against this unnecessary and cruel act of usurpation

and tyranny, and this enforced subjugation to the rights and

privileges of American citizenship.

"We have assembled here, in violation of no just law, to

enjoy the privilege of every American citizen.  We are under

the shadow of the capitol of this great nation, and, in the pres-

ence of our national legislators, are refused that dearly-bought

privilege, and by the force of arbitrary powers, prevented from

carrying out the desire of our hearts, which is plainly granted

under the great magna charta of our national liberties.

"We have come here through toil and weary marches,

through storms and tempest, over mountains and amid the trials

of poverty and distress, to lay our grievances at the door of our

national legislators, and ask them in the name of Him whose ban-

ner we bear, in the name of Him who pleads for the poor and the

oppressed, that they should heed the voice of despair and distress

that is now coming up from every section of our country; that they

174       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

should consider the condition of the starving unemployed of

our land and enact such laws as will give employment, bring hap-

pier conditions to the people, and the smile of contentment to

our citizens.

"Coming, as we do, with peace and good will to men,

we shall have to submit to these laws, unjust as they are, and

obey this mandate of authority of might which overrides and

outrages the law of right. In doing so, we appeal to every peace-

loving citizen, every liberty-loving man or woman, every one in

whose breast the fires of patriotism and love of country have not

died out, to assist us in our efforts toward better laws and general

benefits.                              J. S. COXEY,

"Commander of the Commonweal of Christ."

The police officers arrested as the leaders in this violation

of law Coxey, Browne and Christopher Columbus Jones. The

three were tried and convicted, and, on May 21, sentenced each

to twenty days imprisonment and $5 fine. At the expiration of

the term, the "army," or a considerable portion of it, was still in

camp, but it was ready for dissolution and the people of Wash-

ington were more than ready to have it dissolve. Order had been

reasonably maintained, but the people of Washington, particu-

larly the suburbs, could not rid themselves of the idea that the

presence of so many unemployed men was a menace. The de-

monstration had caused only a flurry in Congress. A few

Populist members had taken the matter seriously and had

undertaken to induce Congress to do something, but it was

vain, and the only action taken was that appropriating money

to pay the expenses of protecting from the "armies" the

railroad property that was then under United States charge.

The mission of the Coxeyites at Washington, so far as

it could be, was accomplished, and they gradually disappeared

from the scene. At the time of the arrests in Washington, Frye

and Randall were in Indiana and some others were en route. The

issue was disappointing to them, and the last stage of the journey

to the capital was by many of them never made.

No one can scan the daily papers of that period without

realizing now, if he did not then, how serious were the industrial

176       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

conditions. Strikes were numerous and rioting frequent. Dis-

content was widespread, and that the Coxey movement thrived no

better and ended without a great explosion of wrath is almost mi-

raculous. The issue can be attributed only to the good sense of the

American people and their ready discrimination between the good

and the spurious remedies for national ills. It required no long

course of reasoning for the American mind to comprehend that

the project of a "petition in boots" to Washington to ask for

relief legislation was a monarchical, rather than a democratic,

need. Congress was no king or emperor to whom an appeal

had thus to be made in person after a long and trying march to

Washington; it was instead, a body representative of the people,

and moved powerfully by their desires expressed at their homes.

The petitioners, therefore, though they affected to demand,

really put themselves in the attitude of medieval supplicants

for favor. Their course was ridiculous and un-American. Those

in comfort laughed at the project; those in distress, while they felt

that conditions were wrong, repudiated this method of righting

them. Between ridicule and repudiation, Coxeyism ran its brief

course and was spent-not, however, as it may appear to some,

without leaving its impress upon the politics of the country.