On The Molly Maguires- A Word -And A Song

The tale of the famous “Molly Maguires” of the Pennsylvania coal field in the period immediately after the American Civil War is another in the seemingly endless stories of the Irish Diaspora triggered by the ruthless policy of the bloody English imperialists, who come what may, refused to part with their colony until forced to by the Irish national liberation fighters of the early 20^th century. One can read the Molly Maguire story as one of the first attempts in the post-Civil War period to organize an industry-wide labor union in the coal industry, including its oaths and secrecy. One can also read it as a story of labor confronted by the consolidation of capitalism in the extractive industries linked up to the carrying trade of the railroads and financed by stockholders here and in Britain. Finally one can read the story as a police procedural, highlighting the role of the infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency and its founder Alan Pinkerton in bringing some of the alleged leaders of the Mollies to trial and execution on behalf of the railroad and coal bosses. That is the route the author of the book under review has taken.

While some of the story as presented is tiresome, repetitive and overly written it nevertheless has a few points that can help us understand the history of that turbulent period in the foundation of the ‘robber baron’ period of American history.  One point is a rather good description, using the Reading Railroad and its president as a case study, of how the railroads, backed by finance capital, the banks, consolidated the coal industry by breaking the individual operators, buying coal land on the cheap and by manipulating supply and demand which ultimately broke the local miners union of which the Mollies were a small part. Another point is how the mainly English capitalists of the area aggravated the already existing antagonisms between ethnic groups to their benefit in a classic example of their ‘divide and rule’ policy. Finally, the story points outs out the key role that privately-employed detective agencies, private police and ultimately state and federal troops played in bringing about the early defeats in the American labor movement (and continue to do so today). As stated above it you want the tale of the police roundup of some none too savory elements in the Mollies read this book. If you want to get a better picture of what the Mollies meant as part of the Irish Diaspora in America and as part of the hard-pressed and poorly organized early American labor movement look elsewhere.