Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1893-10-27
RESPECT FOR THE LAW. 1
The Unwarranted and Brutal Interferenl

The Unwarranted and Brutal Interference
Of the Police Cause the. Riots.
While the nlntocratic press generally
js waxing ,':as> 'or it's advice to the
poor r Who VI o,i use str strol15s oAl15istorica, . el"s
nouncing the system which Is .oc!ety j.
Bile for their, condition, it is cheering to
read something once in awhile that has
the ring of justice and humanity in it.
In q communication to the New. York
World the other day Henry George said:
The assumption Of the police of this city that
they have authority to prevent and break up
peaceable meetings cannot be too promptly
and vigorously denounced by all who really
value law and order. To read, as we have
been lately doing, Of policemen warning pro-
prietors OF public balls not To- lease them to
anarchist meetings and dispensing them with
clubs, and Of policemen in plain clothes TAX
iRg petes Of Whet ls said, ts enough to make an
American wonder whether he is not in Russia,
The constitution OF the United States and
the constitution Of the state OF New York are
explicit on this point. The latter declares.
section 8, article 1: 1 20
tesponsihle for the abuse Of that right, and no
law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the
liberty OF speech or of the press"
This Is the supreme law. And It Is common
sense. AL experience shows that opinion never
becomes dangerous except under repression,
and that the freedom to peaceably assemble to.
& pubic order Fshs sne pople Isss
meeting and free speech Is as much the right
OF anarchists as 1t is the right Of Democrats OF
Republicans, Metho1ists or Catholics, and that
they are comparatively poor and weak and
largely Of foreign birth is the very reason why
this right should be the more scrupulously re-
spected toward them The best way to teach
respect for law Is to show that even the author-
tiles cannot set law at defiance.
The following from the Chicago Re-
cord Is noteworthy, for the reason that
the editor of that paper, like others who
have been residents Of Chicago for
dozen or more years, has seen tke terri
bic effect Of the unlawful interference of
q brutal police force with the constitu-
tional rights of the people:
That riots are the result of incidental pre
c1pitattng causes rather than Of teliberatior
was e1empl1ed by Thursday's emeute in New
York,
A peaceable labor meeting vas in progress.
The hall where it was being held was not large
enough. Inc suggestion was made by some
one that the meeting adjourn to larger hall.
1t was acted upon, and the workingmen went
In procession at once to the place designated
Arriving there, the use Of the hall was refused
py the owner unless payment should be made
IN advance. The crowd was unable to pay for
the hall, and rather than abandon its purpose
to hold the meeting in the hall it proceeded to
break In the doors and windows and thus ef-
feet an entrance.
Had the men been allowed to enter the hall
and hold their meeting they would have ex-
pressed their discomfort In words rather than
~ the destruction Of property.
Such crowds as this must necessarily be
treated with proper regard for their desper-
ate frame of mind, due to the unhappy condi-
ton OF themselves ana their families. Police
Officials should be extremely careful that no ex-
h1blt1ons of intolerance or brutality are made
by the men under them. At the same time
care should be taken that disorder is not in
vited by such assemblages of persons, who are
too easily provoked and too ready to listen to
the unwise and harmful words Of hot headed
agitatQEs.
No doubt there is feeling among unemploy-
ed men that demonstrations of some kind are
necessary to attract public attention and bring
relief. Unless their peeds are made obtrusively
and Slaragly apparent, they reason-and on
the whole not incorrectly-that the general
public will not be profoundly stirred to render
aid. The demonstration is their way OF crying
for help. This is the reason why the idle work.
men may not be harshly condemned when their
public gatherings occasionally grow more ex-
citing than is consistent with the quiet of the
community. 1t must be kept before them. how
ever, that violent measn,' 'es can only be harm