OCR Interpretation


The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, January 06, 1913, Image 2

Image and text provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-01-06/ed-1/seq-2/

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By the employers less deadly to
humanity and freedom? Do you
think that one side can play with
the forces of injustice and tyran
ny and not lead to a defensive
move on the part of the other?"
Gompers then drew a picture of
the battle that was waged against
the iron workers' union by the
steel trust.
"I would have you ponder," he
said, "how it is that among a peo
ple professing to believe in the
brotherhood of man and the gos
pel of love, men and American
citizens can look upon violence
and dynamite terror as the only
defense left them against the
tyranny of the masters. That is
a terrible charge against so
ciety. "And what of the other con
spiracy? What of the conspiracy
of organized capital the conspir
acy to murder the liberty of the
toilers, to tear from them the
means of protection by which
they have bettered their condi
tion, to leave them bare and de
fenseless in the competitive strug
gle? Is not such a conspiracy
sufficiently dastardly to incur
some odium? Should the conspir
ators, with their hands stained
with blood of men's ambition,
happiness, liberty, be accorded
nothing but honor, power, respec
tability? Should they be allow
ed to continue to manipulate the
powers of government, the ad
ministration of justice until the
oppressed find the burden intol
erable ?
"As to. those who counsel
harshness and deny mercy are
they the men who fought the fight
of the world of men and con
quered without blemish them
selves? Are they the men who
know the world of work and toil,
who have felt or know the powers
pitted against the weaker ele- W
ments, who have felt the cruelty
and heartlessness of the world of
profits, whose men succeed by
climbing over and standing on
those they have struck down and
defeated ?
"Even the judge who tried the
case smugly declared that 'the
evidence in this case will con
vince any impartial person that
government by injunction is infin
itely to be preferred to govern
ment by dynamite.'
"The worthy judge chanced
blindly on one of the causes, but
failed to realize the relationship
between it and the effect
"If ever the time shall come,
when government by dynamite
shall be attempted (and let us
hope and work that it never shall
come) it will have as its main
cause the theory and policy upon
which is based government by in
junction personal government
foisted upon our people instead of
a government by law."
Gompers then read letters
showing that James Van Cleave,
when head of the National Man
ufacturers' association, had,'
planned to lead the iron mould
ers' union to 'commit some overt
act' and had urged the J. K. Tur
ner detective agency of Cleveland
to assist in this.
"Ninety per cent of the busi-v
ness of detective agencies," Gom-

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