Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-03
LABOR'S PROTEST
Mass Meeting of District Working
men Last Night.
Mr.. SOVEREIGN MAKES A SPEECH
They Condemn the Imprisonment
of President Debs.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

The little hall of the Independent Me-
| chanics' Association, at the corner of AZ
| street and Pennsylvania avenue was filed
| to the ante room last night with laboring
| men. who assembled to protest against the
| Imprisonment of Eugene V. Debs, the presi-
| dent of the American Railway Union. The
| speeches were singularly free from the
| usual rip-roaring TRADES against the money
power and the gold bugs, although there
were several illusions to the "plutocracy,"
and both great political parties came in for
large share of criticism
! One speaker said he was in favor of maxi
ing UP petition for the pardon of Debs
and taking it to the threshold of the White
| House and asking "our servant there to
| grant our request We would chastise
| him at the polls This outburst received
| long cheer and suppressed yell.
Mr. SOvereixn's Speech.
The principal speaker of the evening was
| Master Workman James s. Sovereign who
! is spending few days here for a rest,
| and had been specially invited to be pres
ent and address the meeting. He made a
strong, earnest speech, free from ill-con-
sidered and vituperant utterances, and was
cheered continually. He urged the labor
Ing men 10 stand together and to put away
| the idea of using force to gain their rights.
Shame on the idea of using bullets when
ballots are SO free" said Mr.. Sovereign,
and the audience cheered him to the echo.
| He told at length the story of Debs' par
| tfcipation in the strikes at Chicago and
| how the leaders of the laboring men had
| used all their power to keep the peace, and
had really done more 20 preserve order
| than the soldiers with their guns. One of
| the subterfuges the labor leaders resorted
to In their effort to keep the peace, he said,
was to buy theater tickets and give them
to several of the men who were likely to
stir up strife and use force to gain their
point. Much of the talk Of the riots was
exaggerated by the newspapers in the in
| terest of the corporations. he said, apd the
| riot at 42d street was entirely the result
| of taking two carloads of drunken deputy
| marshals there.
The President Condemned.
The use Of the United States troops Mr..
| Sovereign condemned as wholly uncalled
| for, and the patience and forbearance Of
| the laboring men under such menace was,
| he said,> a most remarkable instance of
moral courage-far greater courage than
| was shown by the President in ordering
| the troops out. The speaker said he be-
| lieved in a peaceable settlement OF all la
| Dor questions. But" he added, IF the
! President of the United States ever takes
such action again 20 move an army in
viola ton of law, I will surrender my task
as peace preserver."
| Mr.. Sovereign said the Imprisonment Of
Debs was direct attack on liberty. 1t
meant the elevation Of property rights
court in sentencing a man to Jail for con-
tempt under injunction proceedings was
something more dangerous than there
would be in having king on a throne in
this country. Mr.. Sovereign said he lad
issued an order to the knights of Labor
making September l a general day of pro-
test against the Imprisonment of Debs, and
the various labor organizations would I'M
doubleday join in the observance.
Other Speakers.
Rev. Alexander Kent in a strong speech,
| Endorsed Mr.. Sovereign's utterances, and
| urged the workingmen to stand together
| and vote for their own interests. The
other speakers were Milford Spohn, James
Trainer, Samuel De Nedry of Omaha and
Joseph Steiner. They all insisted on or
ganization and the use of the ballot 20 pro-
tect labor from the tyranny of capital.
President McHugh presented the follow
ing resolutions. which the, meeting adopted
unanimously:
The Resolutions.
We, citizens of the District of Columbia,
hereby declare that the Imprisonment of
Eugene Debs and other officials of the
American Railway Union was an unwar-
ranted, arbitrary extension of judicial
power. ostensibly for the maintenance of
law, but really in the interests of a cor
porate power which, by dishonest methods,
secured from a federal court and the ma
tional government legal and armed support
in an event which was the direct result Of
corporate greed and imposition.
1t was an act that outlaws labor, an in
genious legal scheme to defeat the object
of trade organization, and leaves the wage
Garner helpless TO resist the degrading i'm
position of combined capital,
1t Is the legal manipulation of an injunc-
ton which makes the wage-earner a cul-
prft, and casts about the soulless corporate
body the protective ermine of the judiciary.
1t is a gross prostitution of a legal pro-
cess, which is greater menace to the lib
erty of the citizen and the stability of the
state than are all the forces tending to
lawleSSneSS and anarchy.
1t is an act, though confirmed by the
Supreme Court of the United States, that
should be condemned as the greatest legal
wrong of the century.
1t broadens and makes indelible the line
between that which is legal and that which
is right, and defines the issue as between
legal wrong and Illegal right. which is in
volved In the efforts of those who under
adverse industrial conditions. legally de-
fenseless. are striving for an equitable
share of the product of their labor and
the moral and intellectual advancement Of
the workers of this republic.
Such an abuse of power which arbitrarily
imposes upon the citizen the forfeiture Of
liberty and affiXes the seal Of crime, de-
serves the condemnation of every citizen
who desires an impartial administration Of
justice strictly within the organic law.
Upon the defenseless heads of the repre-
sentatives of labor the heavy hand of de-
based justice falls, while multitude are
licensed and permitted to appropriate the
substance of the people, outrage the right
of the citizen, rob labor of its earnings,
force men 10 pauperlSm and crime. Against
them no injunction issues, justice is mute.
courts are impotent, legislators trucking,
and judges servile. Hedged around by
Eayonets. spurned from the bar of the
judiciary, denied due process of law. be-
trayed by the legislator, and neglected by
the executive official, the substance and
the liberty of the citizen is in the merciless
grasp of the Communism of pelf." Suoh
q condition strongly appeals to the patriot
ism and manhood of the people, who re-
CARELESS of party fealty In the past. should
enter effective protest at the ballot box.
AS voters, by the power of the franchise.
from the high court of the people, let
injunction issue bearing the seal of the
sovereignty of labor that judges will re-
spect, legislators need and executive off,
Gals obey.
Resolved, That the legislative committee
of the Federation Of Labor and District
Assembly GO demand of Congress 'legisla-
ton which shall give legal protection to
organized employees Of corporations and
secure them in the future from arbi-
trary and unjust application of an injunc-
ton under a gross and willful misconstruc-
ton of law.
Resolved, That the status of those Or
CARNATIONS shall be legally declared, and