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Victor
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The
Cripple Creek
Strike:
a History of
Industrial Wars
in Colorado,
1903-4-5
By Emma Florence Langdon
pages 396 to 414
POLITICAL CONFLICT.
We now come to a recital of one of the most remarkable state campaigns and elections ever held in America—that of 1904.
It was remarkable for the reason that partisanship was almost entirely eliminated. Whether militarism as represented by Peabody or constitutional methods should obtain in Colorado was made the issue. It was remarkable on account of the bitterness shown, and unprecedented, on account of the peoples' choice for governor being unseated and a man who was not a candidate being placed in the gubernatorial chair.
The element responsible for this condition of affairs was the same as had carried on the reign of lawlessness during the preceding two years, namely: the Mine Owners' Association, the Smelter trust, the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, some of the Denver Utility corporations and the Citizens' Alliance.
A deliberate conspiracy was formed to prevent a Democrat from occupying the gubernatorial chair regardless of how many votes he received and to control the legislature. How successful this conspiracy against the will of the people proved, the following history tells:
The first step in this conspiracy was to have the supreme court issue a blanket injunction against all Democratic election officials in the city and county of Denver and to appoint supreme court watchers at the polling places. The demand for the injunction and watchers being made by Governor Peabody and Chairman Fairley, of the Republican state central committee, for the purpose, they claimed, of assuring an honest election. The real purpose was to have the supreme court control the election and to decide the contest they proposed to make in the event of their candidates not being elected. The excuse for the contest to be election fraud, perpetrated by the Democrats. Needless to say, the supreme court granted the injunction and court watchers applied for.
The court by granting the request virtually assumed the power of regulating and controlling the state election. This assumption of power was in direct conflict with the state laws, regarding elections.
If the intention of asking the supreme court to interfere in election had been made in good faith to prevent election frauds, which unfortunately are only too numerous under our "spoils" system of politics, there could have been no objection, but the supreme court, as later developed, was so apparently partisan, that there could be no question of justice. While the court granted an injunction for Denver county at the request of the Republican organization, it refused to grant injunctions when applied for for Teller county, which was controlled by the Mine Owners' Association; for Las Animas county, controlled by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company; and for Pueblo county, controlled by the Smelter trust.
The Republican party, in this election, assumed to be disciples of honest elections, while it is conceded that frauds were committed in the interest of Democratic candidates in Denver and other counties, they could not at all compare with the frauds perpetrated in the counties controlled by the corporations, for which injunctions were denied.
As previously recorded in these pages under caption "Liberty Leagues," it was evident that organized labor would be no small factor in determining the result of the state election. This was recognized by the Republican campaign managers. They realized that organized labor and many citizens of the state who believed in constitutional government were thoroughly aroused on account of the high-handed and servile methods of Governor Peabody in serving the interests of one class of citizens as against another, and, as a consequence, Republican success in the state was in danger.
In order to off-set this, every effort was made to justify the actions of Governor Peabody. To this end the campaign was practically opened by a lengthy statement given to the press by Governor Peabody in which he attempted to justify his course during the labor troubles. This document of the governor's was labeled by a great many people as ''an explanation that failed to explain.''
In his statement Peabody made a great effort to make it appear that he was not opposed to unionism, in fact, that he was much in sympathy with organized labor and the "best friend they ever had.''
The next step in the campaign was the issuance by the Colorado Mine Operators' Association of a large thirty-two page pamphlet, bound in red, entitled, "Criminal Record of the Western Federation of Miners—Couer d'Alene to Cripple Creek—1894-1904." This pamphlet became popularly known as the "Red Book." It was widely circulated, not only in Colorado but throughout the entire United States.
The "Red Book" presumed to be a complete history of the W. F. M. from its organization on May 15, 1893, to the present date. It accused the W. F. M. of being guilty of every horrible crime in the calendar of criminology, and as a mass of vindictive, malicious falsehoods, it has never been equaled. Every mine accident in which men lost their lives, or destruction of property that took place in any mining camp in the United States where the W. F. M. was organized, was laid at their doors. Any rash or unusual statement, made by an individual member of the W. F. M. was magnified and charged against the organization.
The document contained six principal indictments.
One of the purposes of the book was to conciliate and win the votes of what is considered the conservative element of organized labor by making it appear to them that the W. F. M. was a criminal organization that should not be sustained by the conservative element and that, therefore, they would vote for the re-election of Governor Peabody and thereby approve his action in making war on the striking miners. To this end the book devoted a page, printed in large type to the following:
"POSITION OF THE PEOPLE OF COLORADO.
"Neither the people of Colorado nor their governor, James H. Peabody, hold organized labor responsible for the terrible crimes of the Western Federation of Miners. Neither do they contend that all members of this organization belongs to the vicious or lawless class.
"It would be just as unreasonable to condemn the institution known as organized labor for these crimes as it would to condemn the republican form of government because of the crimes of the barbarous little republics of Central and South America.
"It was not a question of whether corporations, mine owners, alliances or unions should prevail; it was a question of whether or not law and security for life and property should prevail.
"The people of Colorado believe that the long record of outrage and crime given in this pamphlet justifies the following conclusions:"
Then followed the six principal indictments, which I produce later.
The "Red Book" instead of being a vote-winner as was intended, proved, on account of its vindictiveness, to be a boomerang which recoiled upon its authors. It brought forth much criticism from prominent people all over the United States.
The Western Federation of Miners replied to the Mine Operators' "Red Book" by publishing a pamphlet of similar size bound in green. This became known as the "Green Book." Many thousand of the "Green Books" were circulated.
The "Green Book" answered every accusation contained in the "Red Book and among other things charged the Mine Operators' Association with the responsibility for the death of eight hundred and fifty men in less than four years.
The "Green Book" as near as possible, followed the style adopted by the authors of the "Red Book," it, too, devoted a page in large type under the caption:
"POSITION OF THE PEOPLE OF COLORADO.
"Speaking for 72,000 citizens of the state, we charge organized capital with being responsible for the most horrible crimes that have ever been perpetrated in this nation.
"We charge organized capital with bribery, and brazenly purchasing legislative bodies.
"We charge organized capital with the responsibility for defeating the eight-hour law, and every measure that has for its object the betterment of the conditions of the masses of the people.
"We condemn organized capital in its attempt to fasten upon the taxpayers of the state Peabody's war debt, created in an effort to crush organized labor."
I here reproduce the six indictments contained in the "Red Book" and the answers thereto as published in the "Green Book:"
INDICTMENTS.
"That a large number of criminals and lawless men have been welcomed, supported and sheltered by the Western Federation of Miners.
"That a large number of ex-convicts, gamblers, desperadoes and other criminals have been and now are, knowingly employed and paid by the Colorado Mine Operators' Association and the Citizens' Alliance in Cripple Creek, Telluride and elsewhere in the state as deputy sheriffs, guards, detectives, etc.
"That the officers of that organization and a large number of the members, while perhaps not committing crimes themselves for which they can be prosecuted, do directly and indirectly advise or encourage the lawless among them to commit crimes.
"That the officers of these organizations and a large number of their members have not only committed crimes themselves, for which they could and should be prosecuted and punished, but the organizations as such, have directly and openly aided and abetted the same, and their members have boasted and approved of such crimes.
"That these officers and this element preach disrespect for the law and contempt for the lawful authorities and openly and publicly, as individuals, approve of and gloat over the slugging, dynamiting and murdering of non-union men by their criminal associates.
"That the association and alliance, while shouting hypocritically for "law and order," have openly defied the courts, destroyed the liberty of the press, invaded the sanctity of the home, caused arrests without warrant, imprisoned men without charges of crime, driven men from the county after robbing them, and while declaring such men to be criminals of the deepest dye, have, without compunction, dumped them on neighboring communities. They have tortured men and intimidated women and children in order to obtain confessions, and openly and publicly boasted and approved such crimes, as organizations, by adopting and publishing resolutions commendatory of them.
"That where this organization has had its members in local public offices, or where it has had the power to influence peace officers and courts in this state, it has paralyzed the hand of justice and made it next to impossible to convict members of the federation caught in the act of committing crimes.
"That wherever the association or alliance have not had their members in public office, they have, whenever deemed necessary, compelled by violence and intimidation, the resignation of duly elected public officials and the appointment of their own creatures to the so-called vacancies. Wherever their members or tools are in office, or where they have had the power to influence peace officers and courts in this state, the law, as established since Magna Charta, has been subverted by decisions which have made the state subject of derision to the entire country, the hand of justice has been paralyzed, and it has been futile to attempt conviction of their members, although caught in the act of committing crime and openly confessing and boasting of it.
"This charge is supported and proven by the decisions themselves and by the following facts. The informations for riot and conspiracy which a court compelled an unwilling district attorney to file at Idaho Springs against some eighty members of those organizations, charging them as participants in a mob which had driven miners from their homes, were at the earliest possible moment dismissed by the same district attorney, and the criminals allowed to escape trial and punishment, though the whole community could have testified to their identity. At the same time, the same district attorney, aided by the attorneys of those organizations and backed by all the money needed, made two attempts by two separate trials, to convict miners of the crimes of arson and conspiracy for which the same mob had pretended to expel them. They were each and all triumphantly acquitted without introducing evidence in their defense.
"Not one of the mob of "best citizens" who exiled miners from Telluride has been prosecuted. When Judge Stevens issued his injunction to aid the exiles in returning home, the mob appealed to the governor of the state for force to defy the courts, and he ordered out the militia, placed the leader of the mob in command, and the court stands defied and helpless to this day.
"At Cripple Creek, a mob in brass and blue, under orders from a puppet governor controlled by the association and alliance, filled the court room with armed men, and defied the court in open session. While this mob of soldiers was in the district, it aided and abetted the members of the Alliance and Association, in compelling, by force and threats, the resignations of the duly elected sheriff and coroner find other civil officers of Teller county, and the appointment of their own creatures to the so-called vacancies.
"Ever since this lawless governor recalled his mob of soldiers from Cripple Creek the reign of terror continues. Stores belonging to a foreign corporation have been looted in broad daylight by mobs led by A. E. Carlton, president First National Bank; Nelson Franklin, former mayor, and Cliff Newcomb, cashier First National Bank, and other "law-abiding citizens.' Not one of these criminals fears arrest or punishment, and daily outrages are committed with impunity, by mobs composed of members of the alliance and association, or acting under orders from them, and acting with the approval of the peace officers of the county, who they forcibly installed in office. These crimes are committed with the consent and approval of the governor, who refuses to enforce the law and restore order on the pitiful pretense that he has "not been officially notified.
"That this organization, having formally and officially espoused the cause of the so-called Socialist party, is opposed to our present form of government and is aiming at its overthrow, together with the abrogation of the present constitution.
"That these organizations have formally and officially espoused the cause of the so-called Republican party, which they pretend to be still the party of Lincoln. That each of them is opposed to our present form of government, and aiming at its overthrow. To this end they have destroyed and confiscated property, destroyed the freedom of the press, defied tile courts, nullified the writ of habeas corpus, exercised the right of search without warrant, denied the right of trial by jury, exercised the power of banishment, denied the right of citizens to keep and bear arms, and trampled upon every other guarantee of personal liberty made by the constitution of the state and of the United States. Besides these and other violations of the constitutional rights of citizens, they are seeking to abrogate the constitution and install a plutocracy, and to that end, have adopted as their rallying cry a phrase, classic in its terseness, and aptly description of the men and their purpose, to-wit: 'To hell with the constitution.' "
"That this organization teaches its members to regard the wealth they produce from the property of others as their own, thus encouraging theft (of ore, for instance) and also inflaming the minds of its members against their employers, against the law against organized society and against the peace and safety of the public.
"That the organization mentioned teach their members that the sole aim and end of existence is to acquire wealth without producing it, and that therefore, the methods of trusts, stock watering, stealing ore from neighbors under the guise of trespass, buying the interests of widows and orphans in adjoining property without informing them of its value, and other similar methods used by predatory wealth, are respectable, when compared to the economic theory that wealth should belong to him who produces it, or to Lincoln's assertions in his message to congress in 1864, that "to secure to each laborer the whole product of his labor is a worthy object of any government," and that "labor is superior to capital and deserves much the higher consideration.
"The facts which support and prove these charges made by the Federation are within the knowledge of every citizen of Colorado."
THE CONVENTIONS.
The corporations that were being served by Peabody were in absolute control of the Republican state convention which met in Denver early in September, and nominated as their candidate for governor, James Hamilton Peabody.
The convention, in its platform indorsed Peabody's administration in the following language:
"We indorse and approve the administration of Governor James H. Peabody. We urge all good citizens, without regard to vocation and irrespective of party affiliations, to join us in supporting him for re-election, thus sternly rebuking the spirit of lawlessness which would turn popular government into irresponsible despotism, and through unprincipled agitators keep alive the fires of class hatred, lawlessness and treason. We affirm the right of every person, whether union or non-union, to labor when, where and for whom he pleases, and to enter freely into whatever contract he may choose. We recognize the right of both capital and labor to combine into associations and organize into unions for the accomplishments of lawful objects by lawful methods. We deny the right of either to exceed such bounds."
The platform contained the following pledge:
"We pledge ourselves and our candidates to restrain by all constitutional and legal methods any excesses practiced by such organizations, whether capital or labor. We stand absolutely and unequivocally for the maintenance of law and order against anarchy and lawlessness. We appeal from the utterances of the demagogue to the sober sense and right feeling of all law-abiding citizens for support in our struggle. We believe that no citizen, and least of all the citizen who lives by the labor of his hands, can prosper where disorder reigns and the protection of law is withdrawn."
Think of the inconsistency of the Republican convention, when in its platform it indorsed the policy of Peabody, which signified that they approved his actions, among other things, closing the Portland mine, as previously recorded in these pages, and in the same breath affirming the right of every person, "whether union or non-union to labor where, and for whom he pleases, and to enter freely into whatever contract he might choose.''
Then again, this same body of men affirming this sacred right, knew full well at that very time working men in the Cripple Creek district were denied the right to work unless they possessed a card issued by the Mine Owners' Association. In order to show the fallacy of their affirmation of the rights of the working man "to labor when, where," etc., I will state here that scarcely had this convention adjourned when the same card system adopted in the Cripple Creek district was put in operation in Leadville. This was a political move on the part of the Peabodyites to carry the election for Peabody in Lake county. They had expected that the miners would refuse to submit to this unjust system, which would lead to a strike and would give excuse for wholesale deportation of union men and other voters known to be opposed to Peabody's re-election.
Their plans failed. The Western Federation seeing through the plot, in order to defeat it, notified their members to accept the card system.
A matter that was sure to be an important issue in the state campaign was the enactment, by the incoming legislature, of an eight-hour law, which had, at a previous state election been demanded by the voters, by the adoption of a constitutional amendment, declaring for the enactment of such a law. The failure of the preceding legislature to adopt an eight-hour law in conformity with the constitutional amendment was the direct cause of the strikes.
The Republican convention, in its platform referred to the eight-hour proposition as follows:
"We favor the enactment of a fair, just and equitable eight-hour law."
It was well understood that although the Republican convention adopted this eight-hour plank in its platform, the corporations in control of the convention were not sincere in favoring a just eight-hour law, they being the. same parties, who through corrupt methods were instrumental in preventing an eight-hour bill being passed by the previous legislature. The state was so thoroughly aroused on account of the strike for eight hours, that the convention could do no less than declare for an an eight-hour law in order to be in touch with public sentiment and win votes.
The corporations had two important achievements to accomplish—first, the re-election of their instrument, James H. Peabody, governor; and the election of a legislature, subservient to their interests, so as to defeat the passage of an eight-hour bill, such as was demanded by the constitutional amendment.
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
The Democratic party held their state convention September 21st. They nominated as their candidate for governor the Hon. Alva Adams. The convention in its platform condemned the Peabody administration in the following language:
"The present state administration has deliberately violated and set at naught every safeguard guaranteed to the individual by the bill of rights. Under the old plea of necessity the governor, in the name of law, has swept aside statutes and constitutions, and in the name of order has substituted disorder and passion for justice. The party has indorsed his conduct, and with characteristic effrontery demand his re-election in the name of both.
"The law of the dominant party is the unrestricted will of the executive; its order, the proclamations of the commander-in-chief and in his subordinates. This is the law of the monarch and the order of despotism. They have no place on the soil of the American Union, and Democracy repudiates them.
"Democracy is the embodiment of that genuine law and order whose ends are justice. It represents that law and order which, by conformity to established rules and usages, universally applicable and binding alike the ruler and the ruled, regulates and governs organized society. We solemnly protest against their violation, either by organizations or citizens owing obedience to them, or by officials elected and sworn to execute them.
"Every individual in the land is entitled to the just and equal protection of the laws. The right to live, to work, to acquire and enjoy property, to domicile, to follow any lawful vocation, to contract, to bear arms, to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures, to freedom of speech, of person and of conscience, to the writ of habeas corpus and speedy trial by jury guaranteed by the national and state constitutions, must and shall be recognized and enforced in behalf of every man and woman. To deny any of them anywhere is to imperil all of them everywhere. They are protected by penalties which have been proven adequate by centuries of experience."
The convention denounced the so-called eight-hour plank in the Republican platform as a palpable and cowardly evasion, calculated to deceive and imposing no obligation upon it whatever. The Democrats adopted the following eight-hour plank:
"The Democratic party, if intrusted with power, pledges itself to enact a law, and prescribe suitable penalties for the violation thereof, for a period of employment not to exceed eight hours within any twenty-four hours (except in cases of emergency when life or property is in imminent danger), for persons engaged in underground mines or underground workings, blast furnaces, smelters, and any ore reduction works or other branches of the industry or labor that the general assembly may consider injurious or dangerous to health, life or limb."
As promised the Liberty Leagues, planks were adopted indorsing the principle of the initiative and referendum and the exemption from taxation of personal property of the value of $200.
In accepting the nomination, Hon. Alva Adams made the following speech:
"SPEECH OF HON. ALVA ADAMS.
"Fellow Citizens: I need not assure you that I appreciate to its full this distinguished compliment. It is perhaps the greatest tribute that any man has received at the hands of a Democratic convention. But I am sincere when I tell you that I wish this cup might have passed by me; that the mantle might have fallen on other shoulders.
"But the call has come and I must lay aside my personal preferences, my business interests, my home life, that I may respond to your call, which is a demand that I can not refuse. What the campaign is to bring forth no man can tell. If defeat is to come to me it is but an incident in my life and none, perhaps will mourn except myself. But if defeat comes to the principles that I am to carry in this campaign, then calamity falls upon the state of Colorado. It is your battle, as Senator Teller has told you. I will do my part the best I can, but the 30,000 Democrats who did not go to the polls two years ago must vote and determine this election. There can be no absent treatment. You can not put ballots into the box by prayer. Every citizen of this state who believes in what we believe in must work and sacrifice and go to the polls and cast his ballot. If that is done, and honestly done, then, whatever be the result, I shall abide by it, because an honest election is the voice of the people, and I shall submit, it matters not whether it is defeat or victory.
"This afternoon a Republican friend of mine told me that he wished I would take this nomination. I asked him why, and he said 'because we must have this election. Peabody must be elected, it matters not at what cost. We have all the money we want, and if necessary, can buy one-half of Colorado.'
"This is a challenge of your ability, but I have faith in the purity, the patriotism of Colorado manhood and womanhood, which I have known for thirty-four years, to believe that they will rebuke that sentiment and not indorse the sentiment that money is everything.
"There is something more than money. It is principle. There is something higher than cash. It is manhood and womanhood.
"I believe that at the next election the ballots of the people of Colorado will be a flame of fire of indignation that will consume the tabernacles of bribery.
"No, money answereth not to all. If I thought it did, I would leave the state of Colorado. I want to say to you, my friends, that if elected governor that the governor of this state will be guided by the law. When a preacher or priest tries to enforce the doctrines of the Ten Commandments, he must in his own life be an example of those doctrines.
"The law must be enforced.
"There is not one law for one and another law for another. I have never read in any statute book or constitution that preference was to be given to property or person.
"I believe that the courts of law are competent to right every legal wrong.
"The law stands for the high and the low, and every citizen of this state is entitled to its protection.
"I believe there is no conflict between the citizens of this state that can not find a way of being righted before the courts of law.
"If I have a political creed, I find that creed in the first inaugural of Thomas Jefferson, written 100 years ago. It applies to Colorado, as it applied then. It is new today, and yet old, because it is as new and old as human liberty. The sentiment that he described is Democracy itself. His definition stood for freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of the individual under the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. It stood for the subserviency of the military to the civil power, the right of trial by jury honestly selected. This is Jeffersonian Democracy, and it embodies the principles upon which I expect to stand and administer the affairs of Colorado.
"I have but one desire, and that is that when I enter official life I shall give every energy I possess, every hour that comes to me, every day of the two years which I put in at the capitol, to support by law the rights of the individual to liberty, and to make an economical administration of the finances of this state.
"These, my friends, are the sentiments to which I subscribe—to support the' law, to give an honest administration and to make a fair use of the taxes of the people. And with these sentiments upon my banner, under that banner I will go. I will treat every citizen, whether he voted for me or whether he did not, as an equal before the law, as one having the same rights as every other citizen. There can be no distinction. To these things I consecrate myself, without thought of future preferment or personal ambition; with no purpose but to serve the people of Colorado, and to bring back a Democratic government and a government by the people in the capitol on yonder hill." (Great applause.)
Although it was a presidential campaign, very little attention was paid to National issues by the campaign orators of either party in the state. They confined themselves almost entirely to state issues. The principal issues between the parties was Peabodyism vs. anti-Peabodyism.
The Republican orators took their cue from the mine owners' "Red Book," accused the Western Federation of Miners of all the crimes under the sun; accused the Democratic party of being an auxiliary to the W. F. M., upholding that organization in its supposed lawlessness and that if the Democratic candidates were elected anarchy would reign in the state and that capital would be driven out.
They attempted to make capital out of the agreement made between the Liberty League and the Democrats regarding the platform. They distorted the facts and gave it as positive proof that the Democrats had, for the sake of winning votes, agreed with the W. F. M. to support them in winning their strike regardless of what methods they employed.
The Democratic orators reviewed the unconstitutional actions of the Republican administration; recited high-handed methods of Peabody in serving the interests of the Mine Owners' Association and kindred organizations and pledged that if their candidates were elected, constitutional government would again reign in Colorado.
The Democratic party was greatly handicapped by lack of funds, while the Republican party had unlimited wealth at their command. All large corporations in the state contributed to the Republican campaign fund.
Believing in the policy adopted by the Liberty League in supporting the Democratic candidates as the safest method of defeating Peabody for re-election and obtaining relief and justice to my fellowworkers, suffering by reason of his tyranny, I donated my services to the Democratic party during the campaign. My first experience on the platform was gained while organizing Liberty Leagues. Having lived in the Cripple Creek district during the time of the excitement there and knowing the conditions thoroughly, I believed I could be of service. I am not a politician, neither have I ever been a seeker for political preferment. I have always contended and believed that woman's sphere was the home—to keep it sacred and holy. That was my faith politic. My idea of high politic power was that men who occupied the positions—men who had the confidence of the vast majority of the common people of the land—men into whose hands the law-abiding and law-respecting people of the commonwealth had placed the power of controlling the the affairs of the state were men of honor. I had always believed that the respect and confidence of the masses would and should be a boon that those high in power should and did consider as sacred as woman should her home, the child its parents, or the good citizen should his state, and that this confidence, placed by the majority was unpurchasable and unsusceptible to greed, mammon or ambition—for I believe no ambition could be more noble or more to be desired than to be the respected protector of the masses. Oh, but of politics I know very little, nor if they are habitually conducted as I have seen them conducted in Colorado for the past two years, do I care to know much of them. I have seen the expressed will of nearly 47,000 majority of the voters, the home-owners, the people of Colorado, ignored and betrayed by a legislature each and every one of whom had taken a solemn oath to God and on their honor to do as the majority dictated.
Benedict Arnold betrayed the position of a small detachment of a small army. The legislature of Colorado betrayed an entire state, a very wealthy and large state. Benedict Arnold is the despised of this nation, he was sentenced to death as a traitor. These later day traitors are, by some, honored for their treachery and even spoken of as patriots—as men. Had Washington's cabinet and the Continental Congress been composed of such patriots as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Assembly's and James H. Peabody—instead of the stars and stripes, emblem of liberty, a banner at the sight of which tyrants have trembled and monarchs bowed their knee in awe, instead of this banner of stars and stripes being the emblem of the grandest nation on earth, we would be doing homage to the ancestors of King George and all but rebels would be declaring the divine right of his majesty to extort tea tariff and stamp revenue without the privilege of voting and our National air would be "God Save the Queen."
That is the reason I, a woman, holding the belief I have just stated—that womans' natural sphere should be the home and not public life—deemed it my duty as one having the welfare of my country and my countrymen at heart, believed it to be an imperative duty, in this the darkest hour of Colorado's history to do my mite, however little, just as did the women of '63, many of whom are recorded in history as having made noble sacrifices that our country might be free and independent. The civil war found many women working earnestly, aye, even risking their lives, that this, our beloved land, might be the home of the free for even the most humble citizen.
I was in attendance at the W. F. M. convention held in Denver, at the time the Independence explosion occurred. Upon desiring to return to my home in Victor I was notified by military officials that I had best stay away from the district. Being an exile from home, I deemed that I could devote my time of exile .to no better purpose than to assist in ridding the state of an administration that was responsible for such a condition of affairs.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the noble women that remained in the Cripple Creek district, wives and relatives of the unionists, who all through the dark days of the strike, assisted the strikers in every possible way. They cared for the sick, fed and clothed as far as lay in their power the needy, secured bonds for those incarcerated'in jail. They suffered hardships uncomplainingly and were a power of support and encouragement to the strikers that cannot be estimated.
THE ELECTION.
The day after election, returns showed that the state had gone overwhelmingly for Roosevelt. His plurality being over 34,000 votes. Governor Adams was elected by 11,000 majority and that a Democratic legislature had been elected.
The repudiation of Peabody could not have been stronger for the reason that the state had gone so thoroughly Republican for President, and that all the state candidates for state offices on the Republican ticket had been elected with the exception of Peabody. This, in spite of the unlimited money, expended by the corporations to insure his election.
It is clear that had it not been Presidential election, Peabody would not have received near as many votes. The result in Fremont county, his home, was an indication of his unpopularity. It went strongly against him; although he had at numerous times been elected to various county offices.
The corporations voted their employes as they liked in Huerfano and Las Animas counties. The C. F. & I Company in Las Animas bringing in train loads of foreigners who did not have naturalization papers and voted them for Peabody. As to Teller county, the mine owners had local candidates for office in the field that they wished to elect as well as Peabody, and in spite of all plans of peace made by the unions and the Democrats in charge, Chris Miller, a well-known union miner, was shot and killed at Goldfield about 10:30 a. m. November 8, by Deputy Sheriff Warford, who also, almost at the same time, shot Ike Liebo, a Democratic election officer. Other shooting and trouble of various kinds, all caused by the mine owners and Citizens' Alliance trying to steal the election, took place. Prominent and highly respected ladies while acting in the capacity of Democratic election judges were insulted and cruelly treated by the element managing the Republican interests there.
Mr. Miller was a staunch worker in the cause of unionism and had for that reason been persecuted by the opponents. He was absolutely fearless.
The night before election Miller, Liebo, Frank Mannix and two other prominent Democrats received letters telling them to leave the district. Miller and Liebo were shot the next day and later an effort was made to deport the others.
C. C. Hamlin was a candidate for the office of district attorney and Ed Bell for sheriff. Hamlin's nomination was an insult to the people of the Cripple Creek district, but, for all that, he was elected by his own class stealing the election for him. Ballot boxes were stuffed. "Gun men" were at all the voting precincts and in some cases ballots were cast, we might say, at the point of bayonets. The union miners had been deported and many of their families had left the district.
Many of the city and county officers elected are connected with the Mine Owners' Association. The mine owners gave their men a holiday with pay on election day as an inducement to vote the Republican ticket.
PEOPLES' WILL OVERTHROWN.
As previously recorded the supreme court had taken control of the election at the request of the Republican protests and charges of fraud against the Democratic legislators, principally Denver county, whom the returns showed to have been elected, were made by the Republicans and laid before the supreme court. This body caused the arrest of many Democratic election officials and others for violation of the court's injunction and numerous other charges. The court threw out the returns from many of the precincts, which resulted in defeating all of the Democratic legislators from Denver county, and electing the Republicans.
In other parts of the state trumped up charges of fraud were made against Democratic legislators that had been elected and contests entered by their Republican opponents.
According to the election laws of Colorado these contests should be decided by the state canvassing board. The canvassing board consisted of Governor Peabody and his associates in the state administration. Knowing that the Democrats could not look for justice, the supreme court was asked to decide if the canvassing board had a right to go behind election returns. This the supreme court refused to do, thus leaving the canvassing board free to act as it pleased. It being a part of the conspiracy against the will of the people, it is, needless to say that the canvassing board decided in favor of the Republican candidates.
The control of the legislature, by the Republicans, was necessary in order to carry out the conspiracy to oust from office the duly elected Democratic candidate, Honorable Alva Adams, and seat James II. Peabody.
Governor Peabody's part of the programme was to contest the election of Alva Adams, claiming fraud. On November 12th, he took the first step by issuing the following statement to the public:
"To the People of Colorado:
"From the most reliable information obtainable from the several counties of the state, I am now confident that I have been fairly and honestly elected governor of Colorado. Great outrages have been attempted in some outside counties, as well as in Denver.
"Opposition to my election did not come mainly from labor unions.
"They are as much in favor of law and order as other law-abiding citizens. Neither do threats or personal violence and public disturbance, nor the stirring up of strife come chiefly from them. I am now convinced that the fight came in a large degree from a set of reckless men, both in and outside of the Republican party, who aided the Democrats, agged [sic] them on to disorderly conduct, and supplied them with large sums of money in the hope of defeating me. We shall probe the facts about the recent election in every county of the state. If it should prove that I am not re-elected, I will admit it promptly.
"I make this public statement because of an evident attempt on the part of some people, some politicians, and some newspapers, to bluff the public into believing that I am defeated, with the hope thereby of discouraging my friends and frightening me away from the contest.
"I ask the assistance and support of all law-abiding citizens of Colorado in my attempt to honestly and fearlessly establish the facts in relation to the election of November 8, 1904.
(Signed) "JAMES H. PEABODY."
This he followed by contesting the election of Adams before the legislature.
The Republican senate unseated two Democratic senators, through unconstitutional methods, which required a two-third vote to expel a member.
Through the action of the supreme court, the partisan decision of the canvassing board and the high-handed methods of the senate, the Fifteenth General Assembly, which, according to the election returns, would have been safely Democratic, stood in joint session, sixty-six Republicans and thirty-three Democrats.