The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-08-30

up Job" SO far a. an actual disturbance
Of the public quiet in concerned, there has
scarcely been Q night before, or since the
not in question, that there has not been m
much disturbance of the public quiet % on
the night Of the trumped up not. That
there was . quarrel between the union and
non-union miners, in which one party had
made a. many unlawful demonstrations A.
the other, was perfectly plain from the very
beginning of the trials. But M the charge
was riot, the merits of the quarrel could
not be brought in As evidence. The com
Pany employed Hon. Jas 7. johnson, q
lawyer of considerable native and legal
ability, Of hurculean muscle, and inexhaus-
tible wind, TO go through these fellows,
and teach them that there was . God IN
Isreal" This act let the cat out. There
Ia some reason to think he was employed
before the riot occurred
During the trial, the witnesses for the
State showed evidently that they had been
trained The witnesses for the defense also
seemed quite a. anxious to make out their
case M did those for the prosecution. The
prosecution gave a decided coloring to all
the acts charged against the union miners,
and the witnesses for the defense were eva
sive and hard TO draw out ON certain points
The fact is they did commit certain tech
meal violations Of Law in making some vio-
lent demonstrations, both ofensive and de-
fensive toward. the non-union miners
Without any reasonable doubt they were
provoked into this trap, in order that the
State Of Indiana, and the coal company,
could jointly drive them away from the
place
Whether the company has bsen reAsOna-
bly, provoked into this course, am unable
to say On the general principle that EN-
ployers 10 not feel under any moral obi
cations to look after the interest Of their
employees, / should assume that the com
pany had tried to over reach the union
miners, lin the absence Of any good proof
10 the contrary 10 often has this been the
case. So far ~ your correspondent from
Nyesville il concerned, he was wrong in
giving the impression that the rioters $50
charged) were forced into separate Jury
trials. This course was chosen by the
counsel for the defense. He was right in
his impression that the people Of Rockville,
or the whole country for that natter, were
much prejudiced against the union miners.
They don't, as q general thing, understand
strikes, or Ichy they are JustlhaDle, or Uhdt
they accomplish. They don't know that
the good wages which miners generally re-
ceive is due entirely TO their powerful
unions, and not at all TO the hberality of
coal operators. To most people, in this
part Of the country, the fact that miners
band together to promote their own inter
est, Just rs others do for theirs, is q crime
not TO be tolerated or forgiven and with
too many who get on our juries, it would
be sufficient to ooHrict, to prove that A. b.
or c. belonged to the union, or had been
in some way identified with strike.
These unions are good institutions, and
should, by all (hOnorable) means, be kept
up But those who represent them should
be prudent, and not act in n manner which
will lead honest and fair-minded people,
who are not acquainted with the facts, to
regard them a. lodge Of outlaws. These
miners, being generally transient, must be
tried by the people they happen to stop
among when accused Of q mlsdemeAnor,
and it is always hard on q stranger, even
when he puts his best foot foremost, and
much harder when he puts his worst.
CITIZEN