Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1894-07-12
LIFE AND DEATH STRUGGLE.

There is diversity Of opinion as to
the Justice or injustice of the great
strike which has almost completely
paralyzed, all business of the country
for the past two weeks, and which has
already cost millions of dollars and
many lives.
Those whose sympathies are with
organized capital are eager to assert
strike when the act results in such
widespread disaster; while the other
element, whose sympathies are with
organized labor. are not lax in their
condemnation of the railroad corpora
tions for persisting in increasing the
trouble by insisting that the Pullman
cars must be hanled. In this commu-
n1ty the latter class largely predomin-
ates; only few, and those few men
who assume to sec some political feat
ure in the strike, are willing to espouse
the cause of the unbending corpora
tions.
In our opinion, this conflict is life
and death struggle between organized
capital and organized labor. One or
the other must give in; either organ
lied capital will continue supreme as
the controlling element in our govern
ment, or organized labor will assert its
long suppressed rights to be heard.
Labor is the under dog, and has been
so for many long years of class legisla-
tion and capitalistic fayoritism. Our
sympathies are with the under dog in
any fight. so long as the battle is waged
fairly and according to the rules.
In other words, if the strikers stand
squarely by the admOnitionS and in
structions of their leader, if they sim
ply quit work, every mothers son of
them from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
and remain out until doemsday if nec-
essary; refrain from any and all acts
of lawlessness, and only use their rights
as free American citizens to be mas
erty and belongings; then our sympa-
thies are with them, and we hope they
will gain their point.
We do not believe that the actual
members of the A. r. o.. the men who
have voluntarily quit work to sustain a
principle, are the men who are doing
the lawlesS acts that are terroriZing
the large cities. That devilment is be-
ing done by the vicious unemployed
class Of thieves, thugs and eut-throats
that always flock to the cities, more
especially in times of djstqrbanees.
The government is right in sending
out troops to suppress lawlessness.
The safety of our government demands
that mob law shall not be permitted to
prevail; and we believe that the actual
strikers deplore the acts of violence as
much as the rest Of the people.
The law, however, should not be ad-
ministered jug fashion. 1t SHOULD treat
both factions alike. If the railroads
cannot move trains with Pullman cars
attached and can move them without
the Pullmans, the law should compel
them to move the trains some way. 1t
would be better for the railroads to
breed a fight with the Pullman COM
pany than to incur the enmity and
condemnation of the great masses of
people depending upon the roads for
public service. A thousand people are
served by the running of the passenger
and freight cars to one served by run
ming Pullman palace cars. Yet 1t
seems the railroads prefer to dIscom-
mode the thousand for the accommoda
tion of the one. That is injustice, and
the government should not lend itself
to the perpetuation of such an injus-
tice.