River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-08-26
A CONFERENCE CALLED.
Organized Labor VIII Hold n Conven-
ton i'm 81. Louis August 30.

ton i'm 81. Louis August 30.
Columbus, o., Aug. 21.-The national
executive board of. the United Mine
Workers adjourned Friday, after hav-
ing issued the call for the conference of
organized labor TO be held 10 St. Louis
August 30. The following is the call
for the conference:
ITO organized labor. its various divisions
and subdivisions. and TO all reform, So
cial. educational and scientific bodies who
use OF force to coerce the people and de-
prive them Of their rights as American citi-
zens, greeting;
The great miners strike has gone be-
yond struggle for living wa ges. A crisis
in the affairs OF the nation as arrived IN
which all patriotic people must determine
whether they win accept and consent 10
live under the rule of an oligarchy OF
wealth or whether the Institutions OF free
government, the rights of free speech and
served. The present struggle has assumed
a contest for the preservation of civil lib
erty and constitutional rights.
THE tyrannical and un-American IN
functions of the federal and state courts
are revolutionary, against the first prin-
ciples Of free government and derogatory
to the inherent rights of the masses, en-
the personal security and individual liber-
ties OF the common people.
The courts have deserted the temple of
justice and now stand forth the defiant
bulwark Of confederated capital Their
arbitrary rulings have set up one stand
ard of rights for the rich and another
for the poor. They decree that capital is
always right and labor always wrong.
They have made it unlawful for starving
working people to appeal against tyran-
meal treatment, present grievances or pro-
pose just and reasonable terms for the re-
dress of insufferable wrongs
The present great miners strike is an
expression Of discomfort that originated
in poverty and starvation II was born
in the sorrow and restitution of hungry
women and children: ii was the last pro-
test of impoverished and enslaved labor.
and it presents to the world a cause as
righteous and humane as ever inspired
the souls of a Christian people. The
philanthropic heart Of this great nation
has responded in sympathy with the min
crs' appeal for the right TO receive a re-
spectacle living for the most arduous and
hazardous labor in the world. Their appeal
for small share of the wealth they create
and for the right to enjoy some of the
fruits of advanced civilization finds re-
sponsive chord everywhere in the COM
monality of mankind. and il 1t were a
struggle between miners and mine OPP
oppression, industry over greed, and right
over wrong without the necessity of this
call
But 1t is no longer a struggle between
| employe and employer. The judiciary mas
assumed tho indefensible claims of the
operators, and the struggle is between
tyrannical courts and the whole people.
| The courts, although under oath to serve
! the rich and poor alike, have volunteered
to defend the sordid interests of the rich
as against the God-given rights Of the poor,
and now threaten 10 turn the Calling guns
ana the Ninchesters Of criminals and thugs
against all who dare protest against their
despicable restraining orders. The judi
ciary is prostituted to the bidding of OPP
pressive capital, has placed the rights OF
property above the rights of persons and
| has Disseminated against the many in the
I should be condemned to lives Of drudgery
and starvation by the arbitrary rulings oil
the courts Is an insult to beneficent Gre
ator, an outrage upon free government and
a disgrace to the Christian civilization W.
der which we live.
THE recent injunctions and their ex-
| IRENE application against the lawful rights
Of the poor. the arrest and Incarceration
| Of hundreds OF innocent fnofensiYe peo-
pie, the general employment of armed
thugs to ovcrawe. harass and cocrce the
miners, have so exasperated the people
in localities where applied that we feel
| that we can no longer be responsible for
the public peace. To the end that a jusI
and equitable settlement of the differ
ences between employers and employees
may lie erected, the pQDHc peace, the I'D
erty of the masses, the sacred institutions
OF free government preserved, and the
courts estopped from these outrageous per-
versions Of constitutional rights, we APP
peal to the higher, more humane and pa.
triotic court-the great, plain people-who
in times of trouble have always proven
the just arbitcrs OF every difference be-
tween diversified interests and contend
ing elements in the government Of human
society.
we appeal to the liherty-loving people OF
this great nation TO send accredited dele
gates to St Louis. Mo, where a mass con-
Vcntion will be held Monday, August 80.
1887. The object of the convention will not
be to merely protest against the usurpa-
formulate plans to compel a return to the
principles Of free government and put said
plans into practical operation. Our people
have suffered all the evils that are suffer
able and we are left to the alternative OF
submitting to the injunctions OF the courts
and cowardly entreating our miners to re-
turn to the novels Of misery or shame OF
appealing to the patriotic hearts OF
America to consider our cause and render a
verdict in accordance with the just claims
of suffering humanity. We have chosen
the latter and will accept the verdict with
every liberty-loving patriot OF this great
nation"
The call is signed by the following mem
bcrs of the national executive board of the
United Mine Workers Of America: NJ. ID.
Ratchford, president; w c. Pearse. sec
nedy, James NJ. Carson, Henry stephen
son, Patrick Dolan, w r. Farms. Fred
| Dfcher 1t Is indOIsed by Samuel Com
pers. president American Federation OF
Labor. and ]. r. Sovereign. general master
workman X. Of l.