"At present some of our railroads are paralyzed, not by reason of obstruction but because they cannot get men to operate their trains. For some reason they are anxious to keep this fact from the public and for this purpose are making an outcry about obstructions in order to avert attention. Now, I will cite to you two examples which illustrate the situation: Some days ago I was advised that the business of one of our railroads was obstructed at two railroad centers, that there was a condition bordering on anarchy there--and I was asked to furnish protection so as to enable the employees of the road to operate the trains. Troops were promptly ordered to both points. Then it transpired that the company had not sufficient men on its line to operate one train. All the old hands were orderly but refused to go. The company had large shops in which worked a number of men who did not belong to the railway union and who could run an engine. They were appealed to to run the train but flatly refused to do so. We were obliged to hunt up soldiers who could run an engine and operate a train. "Again two days ago appeals which were almost frantic came from officials of another road stating that at an important point on their line trains were forcibly obstructed and that there was a reign of anarchy at that place and they asked for protection so that they could move their trains. Troops were put on the ground in a few hours' time, when the officer in command telegraphed me that there was no trouble and had been none at that point, but the road seemed to have no men to run the trains and the sheriff wired that he did not need troops, but would himself move every train if the company would only furnish an engineer. The result was that the troops were there over twelve hours before a single train was moved although there was no attempt at interference by anyone. It is true that in several instances a road made an effort to work a few green men and a crowd standing around insulted them and tried to drive them away, and in a few other instances they cut off Pullman sleepers from trains. But all these troubles were local in character and could easily be handled by the state authorities. Illinois has more railroad men than any state in the Union, but as a rule they are orderly and well behaved. This is shown by the fact that so very little actual violence has been committed. Only a very small per cent of these men have been guilty of any infractions of the law. The newspaper accounts have in many cases been pure fabrications and in others wild exaggerations.