The Forgotten Strike of 1877 in Snohomish

At a meeting held by the Workingmen's Party, Mr. D'Arcy addressed the crowd regarding the policy of the party in regard to the great strike. He argued that the present crisis stems from a simple cause: railroad employees were pushed to revolt because their wages were reduced below an apology for a comfortable livelihood. While some critics called the strike madness, D'Arcy defended the agitators, noting that starving men do not reason and that those men at the bridges of Lexington and Concord, uncommanded by generals, were also once dismissed as mad. He posited that the only way to restore the economy is through an eight-hour labor law, which would reduce the hours of the employed to furnish jobs for the idle. He warned that the current path—dominated by 'whiskey rings' and railroad magnates—would lead the country toward the 'turmoil and revolution' of unstable nations. He concluded by asserting that justice to the toiler is the only road to success, while injustice is simply bankruptcy and ruin.