Birmingham age-herald., 1894-07-26

say to you very emphatically that this com
 mittee could have taken far more pains
 than they have 10 have found out about the
 threatened lawIessness and taken steps to
 thwart it. You, gentlemen, mingled with
 the miners. Your board has a representa-
 tive, believe, from nearly every camp. You are hourly and daily in consultation
 with them. You have better opportuni- ties than any one else in knowing their feelings and what they are likely to do. This massacre at Pratt mines was certainly in the atmosphere and known to hundreds of miners several hours before the guard and workmen were murdered. Yet not single word of warning was giveu by any law abiding miner, either to the author ities or to those who were to be the object
 of attack. You gentlemen know, although oue of your members promised for the com
 mittee if he i'd knowledge that lawless- ness was about to be committed that he would inform me, and you promised to aid me so far as possible in keeping the peace, yet there has not been any instance during the whole of this long strike where sim gle member of this committee has warned
 me h any way of threatened lawlessness, or, so far as can learn, taken any steps to detect or punish those guilty ot laWless- ness. The people of Jefferson county have been standing on guard oyer their property for months. There has not been night iu which there have not been hundreds of
 men, with arms, watching to prevent de- structlon of life and property. Murder in l NStob duO III WHOLESALE nus DS0n committed, property has been destroyed,
 and the people of Jefferson county are be- coming excited and enraged. The people | of the state share this feeling.
 "Now, lawiessness, if not put down, be- | gets law!essness, and anarchy begets an archy. There is no use to disguise from you that there is very hard feeling, not only in this community, but throughout
 the state, against your committee. That is fact that cannot be ignored. There
 T like to hold you responsible, even outside of the law, for the reign of lawlessness
 which has so long afflicted this commu nifty. The state authorities are here to see that no one is dealt with except according to law, and will protect the miners equally with all other classes, but it is not always in their power to do so, as is shown in the case of the men who were butchered at Pratt mines. This condition of things ought to end, ar you can do more towards ending it than my one else in Alabama. 1 will not now ask you to call off the strike that you have refused to do, and to that extent have made yourselves responsible for the evil consequences which will result from keeping it up, but there is one thing which you ought to do, and which you owe to yourselves, your God and your country, and that is to stand out of the way, relieve these men from the mora restraint ot being declared traitors to their organization if they go to
 
 to his own individual judgment and choice, to determine for himself what he should do under the conditions that now surround him. Where these conditions will lead to, If long kept up, no one can foresee. put it to you as citizens, and as manly men and as men who know the situation-what are you willing to do towards ending this strike and allowing peace and good order once more to prevail?'
 President Fournier-Have you heard of ha y,,aatinp we had at Pratt u,inea todav and of the resolutions we passed condemn ing this thing that happened at Pratt mines?
 Governor Jones-No, l have not heard anything of it.
 President Fournier-Wel I believe you will be satisfied when you hear of it. Governor Jones-I have always insisted
 that all your proceedings should be within the limits of the law.
 President Fournier-I believe you have satisfied the people concerning that mat
 ter. Then we attended meeting today citizens meeting-at Pratt mines on the
 same subject, and if you had the resolutions
 passed at that meeting do not think you
 would have called us here. l was chair
 man of the committee on resolutions. l
 did not expect they would make me chair.
 man of that committee, but they did. We
 are to have another meeting this evening
 at o'clock on the same subject. Now,
 governor, the shock was just as great to
 me and the other members of the committee
 on Monday evening when heard the news
 as any man in Alabama. In fact, was in
 the hottest battles we had in 1861 to 1865.
 1 was in some of the hottest; 1 had seen my
 comrades fall right and left on each side of
 me, but never received such shock as l
 did on Monday evening. l will say that
 on Tuesday we would have had ready for
 publication a letter for the public in the
 press, but during the day I received dis
 patch that my father in-law had died
 and was to be buried today at
 12 o'clock. That is why there
 was no letter. But we deplore this thing
 as much as you do or any other man, and
 as to the committee having any Knowledge
 ofthat occurrenceI hope that you as gov
 ernor won't for one moment entertain that
 idea. hope so.
 1 was at Pratt mines--not exactly at Pratt
 mines, eitEer, but back of Pratt mines--.on
 Sunday. If you remember, Sunday was
 the 18th of July. We'll, the 14th is the an-
 piversary of the downfall of the bastile,
 and they held that on Sunday. was out
 there among the Frenchmen. Some good
 provided them with provisions, and all of
 them had good time in general. There
 was nothing of that kind going on, noth-
 ing like it, and let me tell you, governor,
 those that did formulate these plans knew
 if they wanted to achieve anything they
 must have certainly known the committee we, who compose the committee
 would oppose it, and consequently they
 kept this thing secret from us. They know
 we have been opposed to any violations of
 the law all the time.
 Now we will say, when we first heard
 the news MT. LaMont and myself and MT.
 Dickerson were together. The news we
 frstgot was that there were thirty four
 killed. said: ''My Godl what does that
 mean?' We went up stairs in the com-
 mittee room and began to talk the matter
 over, and said: 1T am going out there. I
 will take the first dummy that leaves town
 and go and see." did so. couldn't get