Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-07-12
DEBS DISCOURSES.
The President OF the American
Railway Union
Takes Serious View of the Strike and
Deprecates the Course of the Rail-
way ManagerS Association as
Likely to Lead to Revolution.

CHICAGO, July 5.-''The first shot
hired by the regular soldiers at the
mobs here will be the signal for a civil
war. 1 believe this as firmly as / be
Iicvc in the ultimate success of our
cause. Bloodshed will follow and 90
per cent. of the people of the U:ited
States will be arrayed against the
other 10 per cent. And / would not
care to be arrayed against the labor
ing people in the contest or find nv
self out of the ranks of labor when the
struggle ended. / do not say this as
an alarmist, but calmly and thought
fully"
Such were the remarks made by
President Eugene v. Debs of the Amer
lean Railway union to a United Press
reporter yesterday afternoon. Mr..
Debs had just received the news of the
trouble at the stock yards and the ar
rests at Blue Island. He severely CON
dcmned the course pursued by the rail
way managers in misleading the gov
eminent officials and causing them to
order out the regulars to protect trains
and overawe the strikers and their
sympathizers.
Il deprccatc the action of the au-
thoritics in yielding to the wishes OF
the managers. Our men have in no
way acted riotuously and the city and
county officers will bear me out in the
statement that they have at all times
been able to control the few hot-heads
who. either as outsiders or in disobe-
'dience of strict orders, have acted an
unlawful part. They know as well as
do that there was no necessity for
government troops, and as / under
stand it neither Chief Brennan or Shcr-
if Gilbert have hesitated to condemn
the action and assert that they were
amply able to preserve the peace and
property at any and all times. 1t is
simply scheme on the part of the
managers which will fall now as il has
in the past.
sit is unfortunate that the condi-
tions have become such as to force the
the 1aboring people into active re-
sistaDce to the entertainments upon
their personal rights; but it is cor
poration greed and avarice alone that
has brought us to the verge of a rcvo-
luton. II blood is shed in this strug-
Sie VIII Dc buc UldudReTS ana LHe OF
ficials who were misled by them who
are to blame. Matters have long been
working to this climax, and unless
something is speedily done / look to
see the country plunged into des-
pcrate struggle, from which labor will
rise victorious and the American la
borer will once more be placed upon
his just and rightful throne as free
man.
''Yes, i certainly feel the response
bility resting upon me in this struggle
and it is but natural that / should
have an anxiety as to what may pre-
cede the final result which cannot but
he in our favor. But we cannot recede.
A recession on our part would mean
the absolute enslavement of the Ameri-
can workingmen and his complete and
utter degradation for all time to come.
And would rather be dead than live
to see or experience such fate. No,
it is impossible to think of receding.
eyes, ! do believe there is chance
to bring about a settlement of the
trouble before the final struggle is on.
i think there is a probability that the
trouble may be averted. 1t rests solely
u.
however. One thing is certain. The
general managers must and shall sue
-cumb. The business men and stock
holders have awakened to the serious
ness of the situation, and / have no
doubt from this on will take a
more active part in forcing a
settlement. When they realize the
position taken by the managers
they will insist upon recession
upon the part of those gentlemen, and
it is unnecessary to state that such
pressure cannot be resisted even by Il
general managers association. The |
snanagers have planned to bring about |
the very state of affairs now existing,
and thus be able to take refuge behind |
the power of the government. 1t is |
through their Vaccinations and false |
representations that federal troops |
have been ordered out, and not be- |
cause of any overt or unlawful act on |
the part of the people.
'"The presence of tro ops so far az our |
own men is concerned does not worry |
me in the least nor will they until |
some ill-advised action on the part of |
the officers or the authorities precipi- |
tates conflict which will be the signal |
for more serious trouble by far than
that occasioned by any act of the
American Railway union.
1.-The truth regarding the alleged
riots and disturbances has become
known to the greater part of the coun-
try by this time, and the plan of tine
managers to array public opinion
against us has utterly failed; in feet it
will surely react upon them. There
never was strike of such proportions
before nor was there ever one more
quiet and orderly, yet the reports sent
out through partisans have led to the
impression that Chicago is at the
mercy of mob of dangerous men
razing and sacking buildings
and destroying railroad property.
The presence of few troops will
not annoy our members except
Through the unjust and wilful
implications cast upon them. and
which every true American citizen will |
resent to his utmost. No member of
our union has had any occasion to re-
sort to violence. We have grown |
stronger day by day as the managers |
have grown weaker, despite thei;. |
boasts. and not half of our strength
has yet been displayed. A million of
men stand ready to- quit work and
unite in the struggle for justice and
liberty whenever called upon to
do so. / do not believe that it
will be peccssary tn call r1pon