Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-04-19
The Boyootters and the Public.

The Boyootters and the Public.
! Every Intelligent and law-abiding mai
and woman in the city must have been de
lighted to hear this morning that the Law
| has ut last been put in force against the per
sons engaged in boycotting Mrs. Gray
| bakery, and that some of them have beer
fined and warned We trust tho Distric
Attorney will go further and bring to jus
tice, if possible, the whole gang engaged il
the conspiracy to ruin this woman's bust
II s. Until this affair occurred, we ven
ture to assert that every American citizer
not enslaved by trades unions would have
denied Indignantly that it was possible thai
| in the leading city of the United States 8
band of men would be allowed to take their
stand in front of store or dwelling. and
continue for whole week to distribute
hardbils libeling the proprietor, and dis
suadng people from dealing with him, with
the eavowed intention ofextorting money from
him and compelling him to discharge EN-.
plovec. who wish to remain in his service
| The placard. bearers who have been arrested
| were found to be Germans, unable to speak
| or understand English. Probably most OF
the members Of the Union who have order.
cd this boycott are ia the same category.
Fancy for moment the contempt with
which these men must regard the laws and
institutions Of their adopted country. In
Berlin or Vienna, or any other city in the
Old World, they would have been in Jail in
twenty minutes after they began their ope-
rations for the annoyance and detriment of
any private citizen Here they carried them
on for over a week, with absolute impunity,
and an industrious woman, who has violated
no law and in ured no one, has only been
saved from the ruin Of her business by what
we may cali public charity-that is, by the
contributions of people who have heard Of
her case and felt sorry for her. If this thing
could be done without punishment in Mrs.
Gray's case, however, there was no reason
why the boycotters, gathering courage from
their license, should not go into any private
dwelling in the city and accuse a man of
treating his servants, or wife, or children
badly, and on his refusing TO pay a $25
fine" and alter his domestic arrangements,
start boycott on his sidewalk, and warn
Off the grocer, and baker, and butcher from
dealing with him. In fact, no limit to the
absurdity or cruelty of the boycotter's pre-.
tensions has yet been seen. One hears every
| uAN ol liiell new anu 1ioiS 'utiV
geous demands.
The sympathy which Mrs. Gray's case has
excited is good and useful. We have done
everything in our power tu foster it. But
| it is not enough. The boycotters are to-day
| relying on its yimg ouL and leaving her and
her business 10 their tender mGrcies. What
we need is more burning Indignation over the
| widespread attempts in all parts of the coun-
| try to place tho property and peace ofAmeri.
can citizens at the mercy of secret associa-
| tious, often composed in the main Of ignor-
ant. vicious and INSCRIPTIONS men, and
allow them in their discretion to intlct pen
alties for merely displeasing them, which no
court in the land is allowed to inllct except
for we'll defined. fully proved and aggra-
waited crimes. No court is allowed to order
the suspension OF ~ mans business, or to III.
fiict All enormous fine, OF Il fine of an inde6
mite amount even after conviction before q
Jury of an offence described by the law
Nevertheless, these boycotters are doing
this or threatening to do it every week, and
are gathering fresh audacity from the weak
ness and timidity Of their victims and their
neighbors. The grocers who withdrew their
| custom from Mrs. Gray, and whose names
we printed yesterday, on the bidding OF a
walking delegate" of the Bakers Union,
the country. They do not belong TO the
union, but they help it in its criminal en-
terprises just as effectively as if they did.
Now. we would in all seriousness ask
Americans, who love their country and its
institutions, and believe that some of the
best hopes of the human race rest on it,
what kind of citizens and voters they think
men will prove who get used to the rule OF
"walking delegates" instead of the law Of
the land, and who get used to seeing private
business ruined and private lives poison
ed aud made insecure by the threats
and Vaccinations of secret societies
What better of should we be under the
| SWAY of boycotters than the SiciliaDs, who
paw annual tribute to bands of brigands for
liberty to trade and travel? How long will
the traditions of liberty and law survive the
| frequently recurring spectacles of individu-
ais and firms controlled ia the management
OF their most private affairs by irresponsible
committees enforcing their mandates by
threats and violence?
1t is the duty of every one who loves his
country to lend q hand in extirpating from
the land this noxious foreign weed. Every
one should do what he can to support boy
cotted persons in resisting boycotters, not
only by pecuniary assistance and business
patronage, but by trying to have the law
put in force against the wrongdoers, and by
censuring and discountenancing such aid
to the boycotters as is given by the grocer:
who have discontinued taking Mrs. Gray's
bread
A boycott is an attack on every honest
mans peace, and liberty, and property. Ev
ery man has a right to ask of his neighbors te
help and defend him in keeping the position
which Mrs Gray's foreman claimed for him
lneIfsWhen he said:
81, Lifelong to one union now-the Union o
the United States. am an American clti
zen, in other words, and propose to exercise
my privilege as such of earning an homes
living for myself and family in the manner
i