The Labor enquirer., 1886-09-04

the capitalistic papers, for they, had not
dared, in the face of the testimony they
were obliged to publish daily, clamor for
the blood of more than three or four of
the prisoners. 1t was thoroughly
proved that Schwab was speaking at an
other meeting the evening of Nav A;
that Parsons and Fisher were not on the
ground when the bomb was thrown; :; it
is not even pretended that Engel, Lingg
or Neebe v ere there at all, and it is well
known that the meeting was about to
adjourn peaceably, when the police hur-
ried up to "disperse" the crowd. Mr..
Parsons was out of the city for several
days before, only returning the morning
of the fourth, and learning there was to
be meeting at the haymarket for the
first time, that morning.
Mr.. Fielden. busy at his work all day,
as he had been fer weeks, only learned
of the meeting in the evening when he
came, at a call for business meeting of
the American group, at l07 Fifth avenuei
He had no revolver, never fired one
never said any of the things at first at
tributed to him by states witnesses, and
afterw ards contradicted by other of their
own witnesses. He simply went at the
call for speakers and spoke to the peo-
pie, as he had done hundreds of times
before without being warned in the
least that it was unlawful. No one OF
sense believes Gilmar's story. No one
claims that either of the prisoners
killed anvbody-not even the most
bloodthirsty of capitals dupes. These
seven innocent men are Jumped together
by the jury, without even the pretence
of going over the testimony, without the
least discrimination or Varia ton of SEN
tence, and swept off to the gallows-not
for murder, conspiracy or riot, but for
being Anarchists. AS for Neehe, as
Captain Black said, he had "been no
where, seen nobody, said nothing and
done nothing" yet he is condemned to
fifteen years, on general principles.
What is more palpable than that the
verdict was determined upon months
ago, and no matter what was done or
proven afterwards, nothing changed it ?
The jury were all men who belonged to
the bourgeoise class or are employed by
rich men, and, upon the wealthy and
influential classes their position in 80
cieuy and their means of living depends.
They we're made to feel by various
tricks of the prosecution, even in open
court, that all the capital. st class and
their tools would pat them on the back
if they rendered suitable verdict, and
heaven only knows to what secret work
they have resorted to bring about such
a sweeping, cruel and unjust sentence.
This places the United States in the
ranks with all the despotsms of Europe,
and their system of dealing with incon-
venent ideas on par with the meth
DDS of Spsin in the sixteenth century.
Congratulations have been received
from all the crowned tyrants, from every
monopolist every oppressor of human
itv and nearly every interested schemer
and speculator in the world. The true
hearted, the brave, the thinking people,
sympathize with the wronged prisoners
and their sorrOwing friends.
After this what possible claim can
America have to being freer and better
than other nations? | have heard men
say, who are not Socialists, that in no
other country could such verdict be
possible. This nation is outdolng the
old despotisms-it has forsaken the
principle of our fOrefatners, forgotten
the lesson history teaches, and gone
back to the old inquisitorlal systems of
the dark ages.
Anarchists are to be hung, several
hundred are to be arrested and imprls-
oned, and all are to be shut up by
threats, etc. "Then there will be no
more Anarchy in America" 80 they
boast. Anything which endangers the
uninterrupted spollation of the masses
by the possessing classes will henceforth
be called "Anarchy" and squelched.
! All labor meetings are watched IN CHI
cago and every labor agitator, be he a
Socialist or not, is dogged continually
bv detectives and is in danger of i'm
prisonment. And the howl of the
newspapers continues. One would
think, to read the glarlng headlines, the
vemonous editorials, the reputed letters
from substantial citizens" J." ETC., that the
whole country had gone raving mad, and
nothing on earth would appease their
awful frenzy but the red blood of thirty
or forty Anarchists.
Yet l believe that much of this re-
puted excitement is artificial. The
papers know what capitalists want, and
are doing their level hest to lash public
sentiment to- a bowling fury. Yet it
cannot be that the great masses of work
ing people, when they hear the changes
rung on the murder of the police at the
haymarket" forget entirely tine outrages
they have suffered; they do not forget
how innocent men, women and children
have been killed in hundreds of places
and how quiet the papers were concern