The record-union., 1894-10-01
KNOX FOR SHERIFF.
What is Thought of the Strike Leader
in Woodland.
Yolo County Disgraced by the Action
of the PopuliSt Convention In
Nominating Him.

| from the Woodland Home Alliance.
| 1t has been about six weeks since we
wrote an article that was printed in the
Home Alliance and republished in the
Sacramento RECoRD-UNION, in which
Mr.. Knox's name was mentioned in con-
nection with the strike and the train
wreck which occurred at trestle No. 2, in
this county. and at that time we did hope,
for the credit of the citizens of this coun-
| ty, that we would never have occasion to
mention his name again in print.
| While the trial of the train wreckers
was progressing, and Knox being one of
| the accused, his name was spoken of as
candidate for Sheriff of this county on the
Populist ticket, and has been more or
less mentioned ever since; but we did not
believe that anyone meant it or that such
| talk extended any further than the nom
| taXpaying element, and we can hardly
realize that such an outrageous mistake
has been made by the Populist party as
putting him up as its candidate fCr
Sheriff.
Surely the Populist party is not wholly
| composed of non-taX payers. but, on the
contrary, a large portion of the party are
not only taxpayers, but good. law-abld-
! uS,
| voiced the sentiments of nearly every
| right-thinking voter in the party when
! he stated that he believed that it would be
! imprudent and unwise to nominate the
accused train-wrecker for Sheriff of this
| county.
MIR. Scarlet of Yolo was put in nomi-
| nation for Sheriff, but would not accept,
and evidently he may live long time be-
| fore he has another opportunity to do so
much good for the people of this county
at so little expense. Mr.. Scarlet was
we'll qualified TO till the office, and would
have been credit to any party as a can
didate to fill any Office in this county If
he had accepted, surely he would have
received the nomination for Sheriff, and
by doing so he would have saved his
party from having an accused train
wrecker placed on its ticket.
The news of the nomination of this
boss striker has been spread all over the
State, and the impression may be given
to many outside OF the county that he is
a fair representative of the party that
nominated him, which is not so, and the
| only factor that gave him place on the
| ticket was a small. well organized portion
of the delegates against the large number
who were not organized and were op-
posed To having anything to do with him.
The expense of trying the accused
| train-wreckers in this county will be inn
mense, but when 1t is compared with the
| disgrace and humiliation OF nominating
the originator and head of all our present
troubles to the highest office In the county,
the expense cuts very small figure in
deed.
Surely our lot has fallen in trouble
some times. What have the people of
this heretofore prosperous county been
doing TO have caused retributions to iall
so thick and fast upon them? Why
| should it fall to their lot to have man
selected as a candidate for the highest
Office in the county, and who had moth
ing to recommend him except that he
was the boss OF a big strike that termin-
ated in derailing train. causing the loss
of five valuable lives, as we'll as the de-
struction of large amount of property,
and he being accused OF the diabolical
crime, with strong circumstantial evil
dence of his guilt?
1t is said by the friends of Knox that
there has been no evidence to prove his
guilt in having anything to do in wreck
ing the train at trestle No. 2 and, there
fore, he has done nothing wrong; but can
it be possible that they are SO pitifully
ignorant as not to know that if the boss
striker had never declared the strike on
and ordered the men TO quit work, the
tram would not have been wrecked, and
the i've men would not now be molder-
ing in their graves?
The admirers of this accused train
wrecker seem to emphasize their own
statement that the train was wrecked,
but that the accused had nothing to do
with causing the disaster; and for the
purpose OF making their case as good as
it is possible to make it, we will just as
sumo that there was no train derailed
and no lives lost, and then see what kind
of case can be made against this candi-
date Tor Sheriff.
Up TO, and long while before, the
10th of last July the Southern Pacific
p.,sIH
of laboring men employed in it's shops
and on its trains, all of whom were satis-
lied with their pay aud work; in fact
they admitted that they were the best
paid and best-used railroad employees in
the world. While the Southern Pacific
employees were receiving good pay and
had steady employment, there was an
other army of laboring men, as good as
those who were so fortunate as to have
good jobs on the railroad, who had no
employment and were ready aud willing
10 take the places OF any of them who
! vacated theirs for any cause.
About that time there was a strike for
higher wages on the windy lake, 5000
! miles away, i'll the car shops of one
| Pullman, who had imported an army of
pauper iaborers from the other side of the
Atlantic Ocean to do his work. And it is
proper to state that the foreign laborers
employed In Pullman'S shops could not
speak the English language and would
not permit anyone to work who could.
Up to the time of the Pullman strike, the
laboring men in the employ of the rail-
road company had never had any trou bic
with their employers, and large num-
Der had peaceful homes of their own, but
unfortunately for them there was man
among them who had control of switch
engines, and whose name was Knox.
This man assumed much authority, and
claimed to have received inspirations from
one Debs, OF the Windy City, and, wish
ing to use his assumed authority, he or
the trains stopped. This cruel order of
caused his name to flash all over the States
bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and wher-
ever it went it carried distress, vexation
and Inconvenience. Surely there are
| thousands of persons on this coast who
have many good reasons for wishing that
they had never heard his name. And
more, he violated not only the State laws
but National. by taking possession of
property which did not belong to him, by
killing engines, stopping trains and OBJ
structing the mails, thereby causing
many to suffer for days and weeks, all OF
4 which Knox claims was done in the in
terest of the laboring classes, but we will
now see how much they have been bene-
flied by it.
| Sixty days ago the Southern Pacific
had vast array of laboring men em-
ployed at wages which they said were
satisfactory. Now how is it with that
large portion who took an active part and
followed KnoxS