The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-09-02
A LAMENIATION.
Miners Strike Gone Beyond an
Appeal for Living Wages.
sit Is Unlawful For Starving workmen
60 Appeal Against Tyrannical
Wealth." Declares a News
paper of Ohio,

of every American citizen to read
study and ponder. It contains words
of warning, agony and suffering that
should touch every heart. 1t is appall-
ing TO think that condition Of affairs
exists In free land that can goad the
earnest leaders of 100000 to use such
language. The words OF this "call"
are but the mutterings of a rising
storm. The higher the price OF wheat
the smaller the loaf of bread for these
men, and the harder 1T is made for
them to get 1t. A prosperity" that
overlooks 100000 starving miners Is
only mockery, a sham and pretense.
The full text of the call for the con-
ference in st. Louis on Aug. 30 is as
follows:
The Onlcial Call.
To organized labor, It's various dlvis-
dons and subdivisions, and TO all re-
form, social, educational and scien-
tific bodies who condemn government
by injunction and the use of force
to coerce the people and deprive
them of their rights as American
citizens:
The great miners strike has gone be-
yond a struggle for living wages. A
crisis in the affairs of the nation has
arrived in which all patriotic people
must determine whether they will ac-
cept and consent to live under the rule
of an oligarchy Of wealth, or whether
the institutions Of free government,
the rights of free speech and peaceabfe
assemblage are to be preserved.
The prosont struggle hos assumed a
contest for the preservation Of civil
liberty and constitutional rights.
The tyranntcal and un-American In
functions of the federal and state
courts are revolutionary against the
first principles OF free government and
derogatory to the inherent rights of the
masses, endangering the public peace
and destroying the personal security
and Individual liberties of the common
people.
The courts have deserted the temple
fiant bulwarlt of confederated capital.
Their arbitrary rulings have set up one
standard of rights for the rich and
another for the Door They decree that
capital Is ALWAYS rirtht and labor al
WAYS wrong. They have made 1t un-
lawful for starving wording people TO
appeal against tyrannical treatment.
present grievances or propose Just and
peaceable terms for the redress of in
sufferable WRONGS.
The present great miners strike Is
an expression OF discomfort that orig
mated In poverty and starvation, II was
born in the sorrow and destitution OF
hungry women and children, It was
the last protest of impoverished and
enslaved labor, and 1t presents to the
world a cause as righteous and humane
as ever inspired the souls OF Christ
Hlan people. The philanthropic heart Of
this great nation mos responded in sym
pathy with the miners appeal for the
right to receive a respectable living for
the most arduous and hazardous labor
in the world. Their appeal for a small
share OF the wealth they create and for
the right to enjoy some Of the fruits
OF advanced civilization finds a respon-
sive chord everywhere in the common
ality Of mankind and II 1t were strug-
gle between miners and mine opera
tors only, liberty would triumph over
oppression, industry over greed, and
right over wrong without the necessity
OF this call.
But 1t is no longer a mere struggle
between empAoye and employer. The
Judiciary has assumed the indefensible
claims OF the operators and the strug-
gle 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 to turn the Gatling guns
and the Winchesters OF criminals and
thugs against all who dare protest
against their desplcabIe restraining or
ders. The judiciary is prostituted to
the bidding Of oppressive capltal, has
placed the rights of property above the
rights Of persons, and has discrlminat-
ed against the many in the interest OF
the few.
That $4,000 miners hould be con-
demned to lives OF drudgery and star
walton by the arbitrary rulings OF the
courts Is an insult to benifcent Crea-
tor. an outrage upon free government
and a disgrace to the Christian civili-
zation under which we live.
The recent iniunctions and their ex-
treme application against the lawful
rights OF the poor the arrest and in
generation OF hundreds OF innocent,
inotfenslve people, the general employ
Inent OF armed thugs 10 overawe, ha-
rass and coerce the miners, have so ex-
esperated the people OF localities where
applied, that we feel we can no longer
be responsible for the public peace.
And to the end that just and equif-
able settlement OF the differences be-
tween employers and employee may be
| effected, the public peace, the liberty
OF the masses, the sacred institution OF
| free government preserved, and the
courts estopped from these outrageous
peryersions o' constitutional rights. we
appear 10 that higher, more humane
and patriotic court-'the great plain
people-who in times OF trouble have
always proved the just arbiters OF
every difference between diversified
interests and contending elements in
| kha on,Nyarn,,, o1H ~ human cOofafu We