Little Falls weekly transcript., 1894-07-06


while nonunion men are q menace to
the welfare Of the others il their trade.
Besides, in cases where Workmen not
members of the union are offered and
receive the same pay that is given to
the nnion men, they obtain the benefits
Of organization without sharing in its
burdens, and, in addition, are strength
ened in their ability to do the union
harm II these points were understood
generally, the reading public would not
be so ready to swallow the condemna-
tion the press pronounces against every
demand made BY unions for the dis
charge Of nonunion men,
The latest trick Of the corporation or
gans is to charge that the strikers or
rioters and the words are used as syn
onyms are ignorant and lawless for
eigners. = We are told that American
workingmen are peaceful and law abid-
ing, but that the foreign element is
lawless and tanarchistic. = Take notice
that these statements are contained in
Editorials about the miners strike or
some other union strike. The object is
to prevent any possible sympathy for
the strikers on the ground that they are
fellow citizens Of the reader. Here is a
strike, but it is not entitled to your sym
pathy because the strikers are anarchists
from the slums Of Europe American
workmen, for whom under similar cir
cumstances you might have little pity,
have nothing to do with this strike-or
riot Do you see through the scheme?
The truth is that, with few exceptions,
the unions Of this country are composed
almost entirely of American born men.
Americans are greatly in the majority
in the miners union, and the national
and local unions are officered almost en-
tirely by men born in the United States.
Admitting that in some parts Of Penn
sylvania the miners are principally men
of foreign birth who have but recently
come to this country, who brought them
here, and why were they brought? The
mine owners, through their agents sent
to Europe, induced them to come here
to work at less wages than those then
in the mines were willing to accept.
When their wages were squeezed even
below the point at which they could
earn poor living, they rebelled just as
the men whose places they took rebaled.
They thus gave evidence that they were
fast becoming Americanized, and most
of these men are now citizens. They
voted the Republican ticket at the late
state election. They didn't commit the
! crime of voting for the Populists. The
Philadelphia Times says, 1.-THE honest
naturalized American citizen is as law
abiding as the native born American. F."
Just about. But neither is ''honest''
unless he is claw .abiding'' after The
Times style, which means that he must
not fight for his right to live.
What I have written may appear to
be very radical, and I may be set down
by some as an advocate Of violence. My
object is of directly opposite nature.
Z would like all Working1nen to fully
understand what a strike may lead to.
would have them see that if they want
to avoid being drawn irresistibly into
acts of lawlessness and possibly into Jail
they must keep out of strikes until all
the working people are compactly Or
ganized, and that there is better way
Of enforcing their rights if they will
only become mental freemen and exer-
else for their own benefit the power
they possess in the ballot. Men who
will submit to the dictation of bosses
on election day must expect to have to
fight for their economic rights on every
other day in the year. And newspapers
which, by misleading the uninformed,
induce men to vote against their own
best interests must expect to be called
; upon to chronicle acts of violence upon
the part Of the misguided and betrayed
when their condition becomes unbeara-
BILE, and they must fall back upon their
brute natures as the only resource left
to them. Jos. r. BUCHANAN.
Labor Forces Must Unite.