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lished the statement that the Col orado Fuel and Iron Company's gun men were hiding theirarms. In re ply to that the federal officer in com mand served notice on the editor of the paper that he must print a re traction. I have myself seen the doc ument which the officer wrote out in his own handwriting an abject and humiliating apology. Unless this was published the paper would be sup pressed. The lawyer advised the editor to defy this order, and he personally de fied the officer to carry out his threat, vrith the result that the officer backed down. These things do not produce a favorable impression with the strik ers. The importation of strikebreakers wholesale has been forbidden; but men who want to work are allowed to come in of their own free will. Any one can see how easy this will be for the strikebreaking agencies. The strikers are not allowed to picket at the depot for which rule there is no warrant in law or justice So it would seem the companies have only to wait and starve out the strikers. One thing stands in the way, however. There are elections coming next November. The cor porations and their henchmen have relied upon these four coal counties to carry the state. They have been accustomed to hold up the returns on election night until they see the num ber of votes they need. Should there be an honest election, the corporations might lose their grip forever. This is even more import ant than winning the strike. So you may set this one thing down for cer tain that the federal troops will be out of Colorado before next election day. How will they manage it? All the miners and the leaders with whom I talked agreed that the corporations I had one thing to do, and will be cer-J tain to do it That is to start trouble between the federal troops and the miners. The day I left Denver the press dispatches reported that somebody had thrown a brick out of a window at the soldiers. Then night came on, and somebody fir&M some shots at the soldiers from the hills. Of course, the press dispatches said this was the work of the miners. I cannot say, for I was not here. I can only point out that the miners have everything to lose and nothing to gain by such pro ceedings; that the only gainers will be the coal operators, their gunmen, and their private detectives. They have innumerable spies Lamong the miners. What nore sim- " pie than to have tnem tnrow some bricks and" start some fighting? What more simple than to get a party of the miners drunk or, for that mat ter, to get some soldiers drunk, and to tell them stories and reveal plots to them? Some may say the company man agers would be incapable of such a thing. Let me point out to you that some of the richest capitalists m New England were not above hav ing dynamite "planted" in order to discredit the Lawrence strikers. Let me point out to you the length the operators went to in their efforts to discredit the expedition which Judge Lindsey conducted to Wash ington. At the courtmartial which has been called to whitewash Lieut. Linderfelt and the other professional murderers some of the officers were actually permitted to testify against the character of the women who had accompanied the judge and inter viewed the president One of them, it anpears, had been intimate with Louis Tikas. First they murdered the man, and then they tried to mur der the reputation of the woman I And the- newspapers in Denver gave large space to it. That is a regular way they have of fighting in Colorado. If you try to do anything, for the city or thetate,