St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-05-06
.inMegOra an
TO THE wORKINGMEN.

Ii is because the GLOBE is friend to
the workngmen, always has been and
always expects to be- that it now takes the
liberty to give them some very plain talk
in relation to the crisis which their action
has precipitated upon the country. The
outrageous events which occurred at Chi
cago and Milwaukee yesterday are directly
traceable to the labor unions of
those two cities. At their door lies
the responsibility for the blood which has
been shed, and unon them rests all the
odium of the crimes which have been COM
mitted. 1t may be true that the members
Of labor unions were not actual participants
in the horrible scenes: they may not have
advised or encouraged violence; yet they
are responsible for the opportunity which
was afforded to the socialistic fiends
to defy and trample upon law. 1t
is because the workingmen failed to
suppress the flames which they had ignited
that just and intelligent public Judgment
will pronounce them guilty, morally if not
technically, Of the crimes which were yes
terday committed in the name of labor.
can eXculpate themselves, and that is by
promptly and publicly denouncing the agi-
tators and lending a helping hand to the
officers of the law in queIling the riots and
Furnishing the rioters.
There is not a woTkingman in st. Paul
to-day who is of any sort of consequence
that has not accumulated little Property
in some form or other. 1t may be little
home, or the furniture of the house in
which he lives. 1t may be a small mite
laid away in the savings bank No matter
in what shape his savings may be, nor how
little. they are his property and his all.
They are just as much to him and to his
family as the accumulated millions of the
stockbroker are to him. The laborer's
as the mansion of the millionaire is to
him. The wife and children of the hod-
carrier are as precious to the poor mans
heart as are the sons and daughters of a
CT the rich man. Therefore it is Just as i'm
portant to the peace and comfort and Sc
curity of the laboring man and his inter
ests that the law and its forms be respected
and enforced as it is to the bank president
or the railway proprietor. 1t makes no
difference what the conditions of the Amer
lean citizen may be, whether he be rich OF
poor, high or low, his duty as an American
citizen requires of him that he shall be the
respecter Of law and the protector of life
and property. Therefore. when he places
himself in the position of one who holds
the law in contempt, who creates
opportunities for the commission of
crime by the destruction of property
or the sacrifice of human life.
that moment he becomes traitor to his
country and deserves the enmity and exc
Grafton of the law-abiding people of the
republic. The workingmen NAY just as
well understand now that this is re-
publican government and that no form of
despotism will be tolerated. Strikes, as
now practiced, are nothing more or less
than tyrannical and arbitrary exercise of
power They cannot be justified upon any
principle in harmony with republican in
situations. The right to work or to refrain
from work is an individuals prerogative.
But there is no such right as to prevent an
other individual from working if he has the
disposition to do it. If such power exists
anywhere it is only under the most
despotic governments. 1t finds no
place in American institutions and
American sentiment will not tolerate it.
Therefore the GLOBE feels that it is it's duty,
as friend to the workingmen, to say to
them that the sooner they abandon the idea
of running rheir organizations in accordance
with the theories of despotic governments,
the better it will be for them.