Omaha daily bee., 1897-03-07

IL was some time before Gibbons could pro-
coed. Marsten sat silent in his chair, with
the helpless feeling of a criminal in the
dock. He felt the chain of circumstances
tightening around him.
"Braunt was a hero in death, and a hero
In life. He was frankly and honestly against
us from the first, and he fought us with an
uprightness that wish Sartwell had emu
lated. He took no strike pay and used Ian
guge against us which l hope has been for
gotten, and which / know has been forgiven.
There was nothing underhand in his opposi-
ton, and he broke the back Of the strike
by hitting from the shoulder when he had
reached the desperation Of utter exhaustion.
But, while giving full credit to the splen-
did character of Braunt, We must not forget
that throughout he was our stanch opponent
and that II was he who elected Mr.. Marsten
secretary Of this union.
Now, gentlemen, / an a plain man, who
does not think himself any better than the
average. / do not look for angels with
wings among my fellow workers. l look
for plain, everyday motives when trying
to trace cause from effect. 1t Is not natu-
raj for a man to beg for a reduction of his
screw unless that man is an angel, or unless
there is some hidden cause for his doing so.
We strike to increase our wages, and | have
never heard Of a deputation of workingmen
waiting on an employer TO ask for a re-
duction. Mr.. Marsten does what we know
to be most unusual and what we believe to
Dc ullhdluIdls nat is MS IuOllNt! VIII
is going to make up the deficiency in his
salary? These are questions for you to
answer. l have tried to state nothing but
facts, and no statement l have made has
been contradicted. The result is a chain of
circumstantial evidence that would convict
a man in any court in the land. Men have
been hanged on evidence less complete"
Gibbons sat down amid almost universal
applause. Marsten rose to his feet slowly.
He knew the meeting was solidly against
him and that hn had IN hiring ~ p,tr In
his favor or lose the race before it began.
There flashed through his mind the sentence,
1T Is not the capitalist who will defeat
you, but the men you are fighting for" He
remembered Braunt's utter lack of faith in
the rope Of sand. Then he spoke:
81 have listened attentively to what has
been said, and / have listened without inter-
ruption because / have sat spellbound by
the cleverness OF the speech, admiring its
force and logic, and deeply regretting the
fact that / have not the eloquence and gifts
OF the speaker who has Just sat down. Two
things are at this moment uppermost in
my mind. First, that If some stranger were
in my place, and / were sitting among you.
l should believe him guilty. Second.
there has come over me a feeling of
sympathy with any man who has been con-
demned on circumstantial evidence. | know
now, as / never did before, that many a
poor wretch has gone to an undeserved
death. Gibbons, you have throughout re-
N'' '" 4 Nla
the Mr. as doubtless you do, so | shall
call you plain Gibbons. Gibbons, you have
defeated me. The meeting l have called to-
gether Is against me and for you"
There were cries of dissent at this.
oh. yes, ID is. l will prove it in a min
ute by putting it to a vote, if you like"
Hold on!' cried Gibbons; that is not
fair. l protest against a vote being taken
after such a declaration"
Il am going to take no unfair advan-
taRa and nnlv SnDkn nf n ynta hanatcn ~, !,
assertion seemed to be doubted. Now, Glib
bons, you asked me several questions; 1
claim the right to put a few to you, and
l charge you to answer as honestly as If
you were on oath. Do you actually believe
that l am in the pay Of Sartwell?'
81 didn't say so.'
you believe l ann"
Yes, / do"
What object could Sartwell have in buy
ing me?"
"Oh, that's too self-evident. If he con-
trolls you he controls the action Of the
union"
please explain how. No action can be
taken without a majority vote"
That's it, exactly. That's why you are
begging for our confidence and support, so
that when the time comes you can deliver
to Sartwell what he pays for"
Il see. Did Sartwell ever offer to buy
you?''
HE never did. He knew better"
Did you ever offer to sell yourself to Sart.
well?"
whats that? What do you mean"
"lll put the question in another way. Did
you write a private letter to Sartwell a few
days before the strike endad?'
Gibbons rose to his feet in such evident
confusion that several of the crowd laughed,
and all were in a state of tense excitement.
This was the kind of thing they liked. Mar
stem was carrying the war into Africa.
What are you accusing me Off" cried
Gibbons.
Like yourself, l am making no accuse
lions. Did you send such a letter or not %
A leader of the strike | may"
mo, no. Answer yes or no."
Let me explain. l say"
First answer the question, Gibbons"
II refuse to be coerced In this manner. |
am willing to answer anything, but must be
allowed to answer in my own way"
No man Is bound to ncriminate himself,
Gibbons, as you remarked a while ago. Since
we cannot get an answer to that question. |
will ask another. Will you give me per-
mission to read your Sartwell letter to the
meeting?"
Gibbons was dumbfounded. and forgot en-
tirely, In his agitation, that the letter had
been returned TO him, remembering only that
Its contents we're not for the general public.
His attitude was that of conscious guilt.
Read 1t, read it," cried the crowd, and
the shouts seemed to arouse Gibbons to a
sense of the situation.
II protest against the reading OF a pri-
vate letter In public he
And quite right, too" said Marsten. II
protested against the public discussion OF a
private quarrel, and the protest was held
against me. Now, / have no desire to push
my opponent to the wall and | will say at
once that the letter in question may be as
innocent as Mary had a little lamb never
read 1t and never saw 1t. | heord OF 1t
through a chance remark. but / know nothing
or its contents. You see now how easy II is
to ask a question a man may hesitate to
answer, and you see of how little value cir
cumstantial evidence Is. Now, Gibbons, we
are quits and / am willing to let bygones
be bygones II you are. / give you my word
and that is all / have to offer, for I'm the
poorest among you-that / am not In the
pay OF any one on earth except yourselves. /
swear to you that / have only one object In
view, and that Is the lettering of our condl-
ton. All ask is fair play. Perhaps | can't
do what ! think | can, but | want to try. II
l fall, then let the next man come on and
have his try, and he will have no more earn
est supporter than | will be. With dissen-
sion In our ranks. nothing can be done; so
/ want the backing OF every man In the
union, and more especially OF the man who
thinks | have been a traitor-which | declare
to him and to you | was not. Now, Glib
bons. this has been an open question-ani-
answer meeting. There mas been a free-for-
all give and take here tonight. | have a last
question to ask you: Are you going to be
my friend or my enemy?"