make and enforce its own laws, or control the enforcement of laws long in existence. They bought immunity from prosecutions, or defeated them by long delays and confusion in the courts; and through them plus the respect in which wealth is held, were able to establish their case in public favor, while misrepresenting both the purposes and the acts of the workers. Generally, they acted with a loose understanding through employers' associations, “citizens' committees,” chambers of commerce, all moved by a common purpose.

A third element in the conflict was government. The government was seldom able to remain neutral and by its police function was usually drawn in on the side of the employing class to resist what was characterized as “labor violence;” the employers invoked the laws for themselves and did what they could to prevent legal protection to the workers. They used the military power of the states in strikes and through it enforced the most sweeping restrictions on the workers.¹

The struggle has been fought chiefly by strikes, and the methods used to break these constitute conspicuous violations of civil rights. The rights of employers have but rarely been an issue, for those involved have been chiefly those concerning organized vs. unorganized labor, strikers vs. strike-breakers. The history of these strikes is only incidental to our discussion.²

As late as 1874 it could be said, “Strikes in this country have not been very serious nor long protracted.” The first signs of the bitter struggle to come were the “Molly Maguires,” a secret labor organization in the Pennsylvania coalfields. They were a link with the past, for the members, who were mostly Irish, had shared in the Know-Nothing agitation (See Chap. III) and many of their numbers had been draft-resisters, in 1863. Some of the agents used against the “Mollies” had been in the secret service during the Civil War and naturally turned to this new form of warfare. These “Pinkerton Men” and their employers first learned here some of the methods so commonly used later against organized labor. The causes that produced the Molly Maguires and the