The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-11-27
FROM MiSSoULA.
/ Missoula Correspondent on Isoycotting

MIssoULA, Mont, Nov. %, 1885.
| To the Editor Ne,o North West:
SIR: have Just finished reading and
study of your second letter on the boycott,
| and am Of the opinion that, though
portion Of our creed, yet on the question as q
whole you are acting In good faith, with In
| terest for the common good a. your incen-
| tive. III this view is correct, then this fur
ther opinion, that. II you are in the wrong,
you will readily acknowledge your mistake,
II such should prove to be the case, is well
| founded.
~. To use your own words, eve know
and admit the argument against the Chi
nese" Now, by this ackno wledgment, you
confess that their presence is q standing
menace to American labor. Then IL must be
removed from our midst, as any matter
| or thing which tends to oppression. tyranny
| or cruelty toward the humblest citizen is the
| common concern OF the State. To this you
| will also assent
t2). There are three ways In which the
| Chinese may be expelled from our common
| wealth-not from Montana alone, but from
| force or deposit our refuse matter In the yards
of our neighbors-and they are:
/. Kill them.
O. The Government remove them.
3 They remove themselves.
The first mode is Objectionable, Is wrong;
establishes bad precedent, is disho norable,
and would entail damages upon our Govern
ment for every Chinaman destroyed. The
| Knights Il can say almost unanimously do
| not and will not countenance this plan. They
abhor and denounce such an outrageous and
cowardly scheme.
| The secoud IL all right, but II will take too
much time. 1t would be like giving medi-
cine 70 dead man, for labor is already SO
The third Is undoubtedly the best plan. 1t
Is bloodless, and the evil removes itself.
When a Chinaman can DO longer work or do
| business generally in a community, he leaves
| instanter. It Is a fact which has been proven
! quite recently at Tacoma. We have the nat
ural aside from legal, right to do business
| with whomsoever We select and refrain, II
| so IL pleases us, to withdraw from contact
| with those who Ore guilty Of giving aid and
| comfort to our enemies.
| The question, American labor, Is arousing
| study in the best minds among students In
| the economy of life. Its magnitude may al
most be said to be boundless-it is a wonder
| full domain. 1t concerns every natural or
| paturalized citizen, however rich or poor.
You have recognized the importance of agi-
tation and education on these topics, and 1t
| Is to be hoped that the press generally will
enter the field.
(3). You are not wage-worker, and there
fore, to use one of our significant terms, you
are not "union" man and you perhaps
would not assent to the doctrine that "a
nnion man can do no wrong" I believe
tudb WulIt ne may mak6 Lulstdkts, Ut
he acting slngly or by authority of his union,
| In the result he has acted and carried him.
| self with becoming conduct. Again, under
existing circumstances, You are not of that
| class who are forced to daily toll AZ a wage
worker. You always have something to eat
and place to sleep, If the same can be Sc
cured !; so you can see that, however much
you may sympathize with the poor, yet you
are removed from an actual knowledge of
want. If you or member of your family is
do. nat INIT hah nd ana oil
for long term of weeks. Then, again, you
are safely eptrenched by the capital you have
acquired and accumulated from any hostile
invasion Of your field of operations and
your remaining men Of capital in Deer Lodge
county, is so entrenched by the bodies of the
wage-workers and farmers Of that county, as
the Mongolians cannot reach you only by de-
stroying American labor.
(4). Labor in Montana, with but few excep-
tons, Is and always has been unsettled-an
unknown quantity. In flush times, when
every one has money, then Montana laborers
do not want work, but do want to paint the
towns brilliant color and edge the whole
dull, then men are idle and are anxious for a
job. Then, comes the time when rates are
cut, when labor scales are lowered, when he
and she, who have patiently plodded wea-
rily along In the practical industries of life
on sudden find their pathway darkened by
clouds. Is IL not best that all over the Terri
tory we spend the coming months in an en-
deavor to organize this labor into something
like other business matters? 1t ought TO be
as staple as gold. The example set by those
who are steady, industrious and reliable
w0rkmen would prove infectious. Instead
of the men, when payday comes, getting
drunk and demoralizing the community and
fattening grogshops and gambling houses,
he then would be thinking that perhaps a
vine would give the house good effect, or
carpet would add to the comforts of home. |
There never was, and perhaps never will be |
an Instance, where n lahorer received too |
much for his services. And IL any man In |
any community In prosperous, coutented and |
happy, then 1t certainly is his duty to at least
try to make his neighbor equally As good |
natured-not the good nature which comes |
from the use of temporary stimulants, but |
that which comes by picking up the sharp |
rocks from his pathway. |
t5). Labor among working women Is equally |
In a demoralzed and rs ptiable a condition. |
There are branches distinctive for men and |
for women, but that great realm which lies |
between these distinctive trades IL at present |
filed by honorable and reliable women, |
white men and Chinese. Be she ever so Ill e |
favored In personal appearance, any woman |
who works for wages IN Montana ought TO |
receive every, any and all encouragement.
She needs It, This Is a rough country, filled /
with a rough population divided ~ to its /
opinion Of women. Here countless tempta.
tions beset her who works for wages. Long |
hours Of toll and drudgery can easily be ex-
changed for q life Of what IL called and |
promises of dress, ease and afiluence. An
other point which might be mentioned in |
this connection: 1t takes from sixteen to
twenty Cinnamon to lift a rail on to fiat
car, when half that number Of Americans
perform the same act with comparative ease,
which shows that physically they are unable
to cope with us. III we can keep them from
the field Of heavy lifting they in time will
turn to the more eff-minate trades, and our
working women must be- still more imposed
upon or seek relief In. houses and lives of
prostitution.
Labor is holy ordinance, but to her who
Is commonly relegated to the common COM
panionship Of the pots and kettles, who
rarely finds favor with her employers, IL
oftentimes proves curse blasting and bitter.
She Is human and likes companionship, and
If she Is proud and ambitious, her poverty
must be almost intolerable.
Gl. care not what you SAP, and | speak
with interest for Others, our locals and for
myself, SO long as you agitate the questions
now At issue. We propose to keep these
matters before the people. We often hear
expressions Of sympathy, but hitherto have
had little practical assistance even from
those in our labor ranks. We believe strikes
to be dangerous and demoralizing. They
unsettle the surface where we need stability.
They arouse hostility and bitterness between
employer aud employe, when union OF In
tcftet II ncCcssAfily pTcecut /
q conflict has arisen between capital and
labor, the conflict has been disastrous to ms.
INSCRIPTIONS employers could and would
create discussions In our ranks, and 10 was
battle, so far as laborers we're concerned,
each man for himself Now this warfare Ia
changing. A local assembly, 1t matters not
how large In Its membership, Is unit against
our enemies. The will of one local Is the su-
preme law for one and one-fourth millions of
men and women on the North American
continent, and Of over four thousand Knights
In Montana.
az. Now, Mr.. Editor, we have not organ
lied and We are not keeping this body of
toilers together tor any insurance after death.
nor for places merely to gather together So
cially while we are living. We have not the
means and could not afford to keep such q
body alive by sending delegates for such OBJ
jects. Insurance. Is good enough, but we
need benefits while we are alive. If when
this present generation has passed away IL
shall leave an inheritance Of closer init
macy between employer and employed; lift
shall remove some Of those wants or some Of
this foolish pride, or teach the girls and
boys, universally, practical trades, remove
some OF these chains In short, to let one |
half the world learn how the other half
lives, we shall learn something better than
policies give.
When arbitration fails and there Is no |
other way, we must resort to the boycott. ,
Of what use would be our law courts IL the
Judges had not the power to enforce the
Of the court?
II might be brought mp to us that IL the
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