[166] The riots spread further, to Chicago and St. Louis, where strikers shut down railroad facilities.[166]
By July 29, the riots had ended and federal troops returned to their barracks.[169] No federal troops had killed any of the strikers, or been killed themselves, but clashes between state militia troops and strikers resulted in deaths on both sides.[170] The railroads were victorious in the short term, as the workers returned to their jobs and some wage cuts remained in effect. But the public blamed the railroads for the strikes and violence, and they were compelled to improve working conditions and make no further cuts.[171] Business leaders praised Hayes, but his own opinion was more equivocal; as he recorded in his diary:

"The strikes have been put down by force; but now for the real remedy. Can't something [be] done by education of strikers, by judicious control of capitalists, by wise general policy to end or diminish the evil? The railroad strikers, as a rule, are good men, sober, intelligent, and industrious."[172]
Currency debate[edit]
Treasury Secretary John Sherman worked with Hayes to return the country to the gold standard.
