The Labor enquirer., 1886-06-12
After a Long Silence the Spirit
Moves the Christian So
cialiSt to Talk Out.
Condemns the Use of Force For
Any Purpose or Upon Any
Pretext Whatever.
Divine Political Economy Built on
Faith, the Only Temporal Sal
VatiOD For the People.
Editor Labor Enquirer.

Editor Labor Enquirer.
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, May 81.
For Ion! time I have contributed
nothing to your columns, but have rea
very regularly and with great interest
the views expressed by your apparently
countless corps of able writers. l dom
think that any monthly or daily in the
United States represents as diversified
original and powerful a school of con
trbutors. True, no man could agree
with all of them, perhaps many men, il
manv particulars, would differ with al
of them, but he who reads to learn the
opinions of Others with the intention o.
cleaning for himself whatever truth may
appear anvs here in the field of thought
cannot fail to find the perusal of THE
ENQUIRER source of weekly intellect
ual profit.
After so long a time the spirit moves
me to say some things by wav Of note
and comment on Cnrrent events and
topics, by way of working off the nause,
ating disgust for the methods of work
ingmen which have, for the last three or
four months, sickened all sensible, un-
preiudiced citizens. Leaving out of view
tue mere lackasserY of the causeless,
unorganized and brainless strike on
the Gould Southwest System, subsequent
events have only added to an already
depressing sense of distrust and disap-
pointment in the ability and stamina OF
the knights Of Labor, and of other anti
monopolistic organizations.
You are of course aware that as a
Christian Socialist, have always con
demned the use of force 70 any purpose,
or upon any pretext, but when force
had been resorted 10, what ConId be
more vapid and silly than the use of ju t
force enough to irritate and excite S
gang of hired, armed and trained ruff
fans and cut-throats, without having in
reserve force enough to extermrnate the
murderers and those who aided and
abetted their crimes2 Every lawyer
knows that the paid Cut-throats who as
sassinated unarmed workingmen at East
St. Louis were guilty of Cold-bIooded,
deliberate and cowardly murder, and
ought straightwaY to have been hung to-
gether with those who hired them to
commit the crimes, but every LAWYER
knows also, that these miscreAnts will
never be punished, and the knights OF
Labor who ought then and there to
have put to death every one of the as
sassins, and everyone that aided and
abetted them, marched off to one side
and took out their spite" in weak and
unmanly curses Of the murderers, awak
ening only the pity and disgust of their
friends and contempt and laughter OF
their enemies.
The lesson of the strike is that organ
lied labor is a thing worthy only of con,
tempt, and je.ring and ridicule when 1t
strikes" without having already | Id
up the materials, and without having
already solid, crYstallzed purpose, to
do whatever is necessary TO make the
strike" successful.
| do not believe in force as a remedy
for the wrongs of labor, but II resorted
to at all, it ought to be used as If the ad-
vocates of 1twere men with some blood
and brains in them AMI if the strike
on the Gould Southwest system or IN
East St. Louis was altogether wrong, 1t
ought to have been squelched by the
workingmen in the beginning; but II 1t
WAS right, they ought to have carried 1t
out, and the burning of bridges, depots'
trains, the hanging of few hired "spe-
cial deputy sheriff. and policemen, and
the shooting of few traitorous militia
men and the bogus democratic COVER
nors and other little state demagogues
who superintended their infamous ser
vices ought not to have been consld-
cred insurmountable obstacles IN Tie
way of the success of the strike.
Illinois and Missouri could spare al
the governors, generals, colonels cap
tains, militiamen, sheriffs and police
that went into partnership with the va
rious thugs in order to force the work
ingmen to obey their masters, oettei
than they could spar e any other equa
number of citizens. Men who Woulc
ioin the militia for such nefarious ser
vice are worse than the convicts OF Jolie
or Jefferson City; and if they eyer sho"
themselves again upon any such occa
sion, then ought to be exterminated.
The thing which renders the who'll
labor organ zation utterly contempuol
is the fact that they entered upon move
ment that could not be made successful
with stopping all traffic on the railroad
system, nor without stopping all police
men, sheriffs, militia. and other sue
law and order filth and trash that nigh
interfere with the movement at tn
same time that they had no intention
thrash out the militia, and had made n
preparations for doing SO.
The same terrible and pitiful erro
was committed on even slarger scale b
the Anarchists at Chicago. There is nc
pettifogger in the Lakeside City tbs