Captain Charlie's
leadership of the Mill men was recognized by all, and it was conceded
generally that it was his active influence, guided by the Interpreter's
counsel, that was keeping John Ward's employees at work. Without the
assistance of the Mill men the strike leader could not hope for
victory. With Captain Charlie's personal influence no longer a factor,
it was thought that the agitator might win the majority of the Mill
workers and so force the union into line with the strikers.
This opinion was held by many of the business men and by the more
thoughtful members of the unions, who had watched with grave
apprehension the increasing bitterness of the agitator's hatred of
Captain Charlie, because of the workman's successful opposition to his
schemes.
The opposing theory, which was skillfully advanced by Jake Vodell
himself and fostered by his followers, was that the mysterious assassin
was an agent of McIver's and that the deed was committed for the very
purpose of charging the strikers with the crime and thus turning public
sympathy against them.
This view, so plausible to the minds of the strikers, prepared, as they
were, by hardship and suffering, found many champions among the Mill
men themselves. Not a few of those who had stood with Charlie in his
opposition to the agitator and against their union joining the strike
now spoke openly with bitter feeling against the employer class.
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