the murder of a few non-union men would but serve as an excellent excuse for the militia to take summary vengeance on them? Again, is it reasonable to assume that these leaders would give their enemies the very opportunity
The Pinkerton Labor Spy. 113
for which they had been vainly hungering for so many months?
Admitting it to be a fact that the Federation bitterly resented the calumnies and accusations of the allied forces, and also admitting it to be a fact that the Federation was anxious for public vindication from the many charges preferred against them, would it not be ridiculous to assume that the leaders of the Federation would commit an act which would tend to substantiate the charges and alienate that public sympathy and support which alone stood between them and the mailed fist of the military?
Clearly, there was no motive that could have actuated the union to authorize the fatal explosion. Common sense, self-interest, a desire to retain public sympathy, well-grounded fears of the military, alike forbade the serious consideration of such an insane scheme.
When we consider the possible connection of the Mine Owners' Association with the Independence explosion, we find that, although direct evidence cannot be adduced, there is data upon which a tolerably correct conclusion can be based.
Is it not a fact that such an explosion could only redound to the interests of the Mine Owners' Association? Is it possibh that an infernal machine could have been placed under the depot, and a wire three hundred feet in length run from the depot to a point near the Delmonico mine, without the ever- vigilant mine owners and detectives discovering the intended outrage? Is It not a matter of significance that directly after the