The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-11

that is to come. These Catholics be-
I lieYed in a literal he'll. On Sunday
morning, when the old priest began TO
| celebrate mass, the miners interrupted
| the service. They insisted tnat they
would leave the churcn unless ne put
out the two non-unlon men. Because
! OF a mistaken judgment they would de-
priye these non-uuion men Of bread
/ eternal as well as bread temporal, and
send them to hell hereafter. And to
the honor OF the old priest, be it said,
! that before the union men stalked
out, as they did, they heard the Ten
, Commandments read, with some notes
| and annotatiOns.
| having spoken often for unions, in
making this plea for the ending of vio-
lence, to the end that the unions may
increase not only in number, but in
strength and influence, one thing
should be said in explanation of Vio-
lence. The union man says: These
events are exceptional. Violence is
only an occasion. There are bad men
in the ministry and bad men in
churches, as well as in labor unions.
Sometimes we call men 'scabs' and
ostracise them socially and threaten
them physically from necessity. We
boycott the goods of non-union men to
raise our standard of living. Oc-
casionally we kill men, but it is better
that one man should die rather than
that all should perish. To-days vio-
lence and riot look toward to-morrow's
betterment." This / believe to be the
argument of the union man, stated not
simply with scrupulous fairness, but
with fulness and sympathy. But ana
lyze this statement. 1t is said that we
i break the lower law through violence,
that we may gain higher end, name
ly. better standard of wages. But
| are these ends named-food and clothes
| and wages-the highest end? Are bet
ter food and clothes worth while, if
gained through the destruction of an
| others life and liberty.
If corporate capital should honestly
say, in the sight of men and God. there
is not one dollar of watered stock in
these mines or in our railway stocks,
| the dividend is paid on the absolute
cost, they would have the sympathy of
all the public; and if the union men
would say: I'VE do honest work; we
ask an honest wage; we want our
! share of the products of labor, and We
/ appeal to the sense Of justice and fair
play in our fellows; we will not kill
nor permit killing; we forswear the
club and the fire. brand and the boy
colt; we stand on the constitution, and
appeal to the laws Of the land" from
that hour all non-union men will be-
| come union men, as well as patriots
and citizens. And public opinion would
make labor invincible. But so long as
union men say: The boycott, with it's
cruelty to our non-union brethren. is a
/ necessity, violence is occasional" so
| long as they excuse 1t, instead of pub
| licly and forever committing them
selves against it, that long will society
remain the prey of men who first make
work dear and then make it scarce, so
/ that they may starve.
| The next step in the present move
ment is for the railway men to strike,
and with violence compel the Executive
! to pull their chestnuts out of the fire.
And what the end of that series is to
be, no man knows save as he reads the
/ dark pages of 1893 '94, and 1928, and
1S57-'5S.
| After discussing the remedies, DR..
| Hills continued:
! We need q revival of ethics. We do
not need more gold nor more land,
! nor more tools, but this country does
| need to commit the Ten Command
ments to memory. The time has come
for selfish capitalists, growing fat
through their gains. their Withholding
the wage of the poor, and their water
ing of stock, to stop going to horse
shows on Sunday, to give up their
wines and their women, and their dew
iltry in general, and go to church. fall
on their knees and make restitution of
| their ill-gotten gains, and go to church
and smite on the breast saying: God
| be merciful to me, a sinner" And the
| time has come for union men to throw
away their guns and clubs. and to use
their noble idea of union for mutual
betterment, for unity of action, for the
diffusion of intelligence. Let them. too,
! fall on their knees, and ask God to fiji
! their hearts with love for their nom
union brethren. And when these union
men love their poor brethren as they
love themselves, then they can go out
and kill these non-uniOn brothers il
they want to.
| Our hope is in the gradual increase
of intelligence. the sense of brother
hood and good will. The secret of these
problems is in the Carpenters Son,
Oh. if these two armed bands, named
Labor and Capital, could but see this
Divine One, the club and the gun would
! fall, the strife die out and the enemies
! become brothers. But for us, also, the
need is the courage of our convictions.
|