The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-08-17
LABoR,s FRIENDS AND ENEMIES.

sells, on Sunday, passed without any overt
acts against the peace and dignity Of the
state. This was as it was expected it would
be, for there was no reason why the masses
should indulge in lawlessness. 1t is only
when they have been wrought up unduly by
professional agitators and malcontents that
they so far forget themselves as to violate the
law. There is enough in this to strengthen
the hope that the court at Chicago will not
fail to do its whole duty in the matter of
properly furnishing the miscreants who par
, ticipated in the assassination Of the police in
that city on the night of May last. If they
are impressed with a realizing sense Of the
enormity of their offense by being sentenced
to be hanged, it is altogether probable that
others inclined to follow in their footsteps
will be deferred, and the city and its vast
interests and the country at large, will be
spared future troubles in this direction. 1t
will prove merciful for the court to so dispose
of these inhuman wretches that the example
made of them will have a wholesome restrain
ing effect upon others like minded. The
workingmen of the world should be delivered
from the evil influence of such persons, and
the best way to achieve it is to so deal with
those who are found guilty of defying the
law as to establish the fact that they will not
be tolerated in organized society.
1t appears that the workingmen of Belgium
been for some months past, and are disposed
to secure their demands in the right and
| peaceable manner. 1t has not been many
weeks since the workingmen there were en-
gagged in the most desperate efforts to destroy
all the property they could by burning. They
had been melted to do this by the appeals of
men unfit to enjoy the advantages of civilized
| society, and for the time being were not in
condition to discriminate. From peaceable
workingmen, miners and artisans Of every
| class, they were suddenly changed into so
| many madmen, bent on destruction. The
secret of the ability Of the Socialists to stir up
such feeling among them was, undoubtedly,
that the masses had suffered at the hands Of
their employers, through unjust laws bearing
| unequally upon the two It is necessary that
| these inequalities be remedied, so that equity
may obtain and all stand alike before the law
/ In ali its bearings. The old way to obtain
these reforms was an appeal at once to the
knife and bludgeon. There was no halfway
place in the diplomacy of oldep times. When
| suffered under it went to war at once, if they
| felt able to carry their point in that way. It
resolved itself simply into the question of
numbers and physical strength. But, with
the progress of civilization, it has been dis
covered that war is dreadful court to appeal
to, and that such appeal should not be made
until every other scheme Of adjustment has
been exhausted. It is so in these labor
troubles. There is absolutely no excuse for
war, or for that lesser war, rioting, in the
settlement of the differences between labor
and capital. The man who gets killed in a
riot may have accomplished something for
posterity, but, SO Far as he is personally con-
cerned, and so far as his family is interested,
there has been an irreparable'los He should
have thought twice, or oftener, before he put
his life in jeopardy in that manner.
| In this country, particularly, there is every
reason why all differences between labor and
capital should be adjusted without appeal to
force or violence. If the demagogues on the
one side and the professional agitators on the
other will only keep back and not seek to stir
up bad feelings, every dispute affecting labor
could be easily settled without much friction
and with very little bad feeling. In this coun-
try, where every citizen has an equal chance
with his fellows in determining the policy of
the Nation, there is provided way in which
all these things may be fixed without serious
difficulty. If the law is not what it should
be- as very likely it is not, being device of
fallible humanity, there is an easy and speedy
way to change it to the satisfaction of all con-
cerned, and so that there shall be no injustice
to any one. This is free country, and each
man is the equal of his neighbor The ballot
box is open to all, from the humblest to
the highest. There is no room for
demagogy or incendiarism. Expounders
| of both are the enemies of the
workingmen, and should not be allowed to
live and thrive at their expense. The work
ingmen can be trusted every time in them
selves, and especially those Of this country
who have been here long enough to get an
adequate idea of our institutions. There ara