How2Day: Morals of the Pinkerton Agency

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton, along with his brother, Robert. Chris Whitehead/Photodisc/Getty Images
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton, along with his brother, Robert. Both had previous experience in law enforcement, having gotten involved in the field by accident. The Pinkertons, as they were commonly called, were initially employed mainly by the railways, protecting trains and hunting outlaws including Jesse James and Butch Cassidy. They were hired by President Lincoln to form a "Secret Service" during the American Civil War, with duties similar to the CIA and FBI today. During the latter part of the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth century, the agency's reputation became tarnished by its controversial and often violent involvement in labor and political disputes. Its morals can be categorized as being an uncompromising approach to law enforcement and loyalty to the employer that was unfortunately prone to overstepping the boundaries. The Pinkerton Agency is still running as of November 2010, now owned by the company Securitas.

The first few decades of the Pinkerton Agency's activities occurred in the historical period commonly known as the Wild West. Although they carried out many activities, they specialized in catching counterfeiters and train robbers. This led to confrontations with legendary bandits such as Jesse James. The morals of this kind of law enforcement are straightforward; in many cases, it was "kill or be killed," and the Pinkertons established a reputation for trustworthiness and results. When defending trains and citizens from robbery and scams, the agency would generally be regarded as having a strong moral character.

When the Agency was hired by President Lincoln to work for the government during the Civil War, this reputation for efficient law enforcement was enhanced. In 1861, the agency foiled a plot to kill the President and generally worked diligently in the war effort. This activity displays patriotic and committed morals exercised in the defense of the country.

After the Civil War, the Pinkerton agency began to get heavily involved in labor disputes, often employed by wealthy mining or industrial magnates. These magnates were concerned about the influence of organized labor on the profitability of their mines and, more widely, the spread of socialist or anarchist politics. The Pinkertons were hired to investigate and control these movements and organized labor in general. This was at best a moral gray area as it was politically motivated, did not involve the combating of specific crimes and often led to crimes being committed. Effectively, the Pinkerton Agency ran the risk of crossing the line from enforcing the law to becoming a "law unto themselves."

In 1892, the Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers Union held a strike at a steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The Pinkerton Agency was hired by one of the plant's owners, Henry Clay Frick, to break the strike. The resulting battle became notorious in U.S. labor history and seven union workers were killed. The agency carried out similar activities at strikes across America for many years. When breaking strikes for a private owner, the agency can be regarded as providing a private army which would inevitably infringe on the rights of the citizens against whom they were pitted, as in the Homestead Strike. This puts it in a morally compromised position.

The Pinkerton Agency also became notorious for the intimidation of labor movements and, even more morally deplorable, the false accusation of labor leaders of crimes they did not commit. An example was the case of Harry Orchard and the Western Federation of Miners when a Pinkerton agent, James McParland, arrested and forced Orchard to accuse the leaders of the Federation of being accomplices to murder. They were acquitted, no evidence other than Orchard's doubtful evidence having been found.

In 1917, the labor organizer Frank Little was kidnapped and lynched in the town of Butte, Montana. The case was never properly investigated, but there is much evidence to suggest Pinkerton agents were involved. This represents the extent to which the morals of the agency degraded during its battle with organized labor.

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