The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-09
That Incendiary AppeaI.

TO the Editor Of the Indianapolis Journal
Shall such incendiary rawlings as the appeal Of
the executive board of certain divisions of the
Knights of Labor go unchallenged2 Are they a
band of men who, from any consideration, have
q right to use the Associated Press to infiame
the passions Of class of men who choose to
arrogate to themselves the name of working
men, as though no body worked but the few
who happen to belong to their guild2 more
dangerous paper has never appeared in Ameri-
can literature. It's foundation is a falsehood,
and every suggestion is fraught with mischief
It is false that Jay Gould or any other man or
set of men ever compelled them or ANYBODY else
to work day or an hour for insufficient wages.
On the contrary, the wages paid are so much
or the average yield of manual labor on the
farms and in the shops Of those who own their
own farms and shops that there are thousands of
these less proftably employed men who are
ready to rush into any place made vacant by
strikes or otherwise. There is no coMpulsion in
the case except as these Knights are banded to-
gether to keep unorganized labor from sharing
with them the profitable places on the railroads
and in the factories
Slaves indeed! It is they who are intent on
holding their fellow-men in bondage They will
not work themselves let others have their
places. Unfortunately, it becomes necessary in
the building of railroads to concentrate more
wealth than ordinarily falls to the lot of one
by hundred or a thousand, each sparing a lit
tie OF his savings in the way Of stock, and then
ordinarily, this all goes. 1t costs so much to
build and equip road that it usually goes for
the mortgage given for iron alone, and the
bloated stockholders lose all There is not one
mile of railroad in a hundred that has ever paid
a cent to its original owners. For reasons we'll
known, railroads can be run more proftably for
the public as well as for the owners when con-
solidated into systems" This still further
concentrates capital. Now this capital has
given employment to thousands in construction
and to thousands in operating the roads Is it q
legitimate thing to be assassinated because it is
concentratedY How else can we have roads2
And now who is this Jay Gould, that the work
men are called upon to kill hima For the tend
ency,.if not the intent, of this infammatory
harangue is to induce some unbalanced Giteau
to assassinate him. HE must be overthrownn
she is monster fend,' .Gould must gon
the phrases used. And suppose he is killed, will
that bring any relief He is only the president
of a cooperation that owns railroads To kill
him would not affect prices of labor or materi-
ally change things. He may die tomorrow by
violence or otherwise and he would not be
missed month outside Of very limited circle
The world would wag along usual, railroads
would be governed just as now, thousands
would seek employment on them, and the
knights who wish to enslave everybody would
be as powsrfess now It is easy thing to
cenounce Jay Gould or to anathematize concen-
trated capital, but it is net so easy to induce
men who have capital to invest It in any enter
prise that can be destroyed by such conspirators
as the Knights of Labor or that portion that is
represented by this address. u. L. SEE.