The Bread-Winners was a fantasy of privilege that became, in part, real. Hay imagined how the Strike of 1877 should have been handled. Farnham mustered members of his old regiment, whom he armed at personal expense, had them deputized, and easily dispersed the mob. Except for lack of worker resistance, this was not so different from Pinkertons and the company of the new Illinois National Guard, armed and equipped by Chicago merchants and industrialists.
