The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-27
A SHAMEFUL RECORD.

4 SHAMEFUL RECORD.
 From the best statistics obtainabie N is shown that the entire cost Of the recent strike In Chicago was not less than six million dollars. It is estimat- ed that the loss to the strikers them- selves was ssSs.eoo. the rest of the large sum being divided between em- ployers. business men and the public. and the city and county for expenses Incurred.
 So far as the strikers themselves are concerned they have the consolation. such as 1t is. of feeling that the loss Is dead one. They went into the strike without any excuse or reason, and they come out of It defeated on every point. They have gained noth- ing but experience and that will be forgotten by most of them when some Shea or other boss comes along and gives his orders. As for the employers of all branches their loss is distinct gain for they have won the right to conduct their own business in their own way and that may in the long run be worth much more than they lost by the strike.
 But whatever may be the financial behind 1t a record of which all good citizens of Chicago may we'll feel ashamed. It Is a record of intimida- ton. brigandage. thuggery and gen. erai iawlessness that is a disgrace to unionism. What is moro to be de- cowardice or coiiusion on the part of city oflicials. from Mayor down. that is a shame and a burning disgrace to the city. Policemen refused to arrest and magistrates refused to convict even when a criminal was brought before them. And. to use the language of a Chicago paper. the strike was advised and engineered as a blackmailing scheme. The investigation of the grand jury proved that labor unionism in this city was a mass of rottenness. that strikes were peddled around by the leaders like potatoes or onions and that for little money any strike could be called or called off."
 Is there anything in this record for the teamsters and their sympathetic associate strikers to be proud of? To win in a bad cause is a matter of sat- isfaction to some people. but the strik- CTS have not even this poor consola- ton. They have lost, as they deserved to lose, and have no one to blame but those who brought on the strike. In the language of The Philadelphia Rec ord. Instead of being a workinsmen's s strike, 1t was a saturnalia of lawless- ness and crime which summoned from their retreats the worst elements of the population of a great city"
 And that is always the result of a great disturbance. When the French Revolution was in progress in the city of Paris probably a large majority of the Revolutionists. if they had been left to follow their own inclinations. would have been law-abiding. They were intense in their patriotism, but they were not lawless rufflans. But the fact that there was a revolution in progress, and that civil law was for the time being powerless brought to the thickest of the fray the very worst element of the great city. The dens, the slums, the cellars and the other hiding places of criminals opened their doors and sent forth the vilest mem- bers of the Paris population. Men and boys, women and girls who had almost Of hn hatnns yied with each other in the commission of all manner of excesses that could be imagined. It was their opportunity. they took advantage of 1t and the red streets of Paris testified to the use they made of their newly found free dom.
 The same thing occurs wherever
 there is strike in any large city. The unions and the leaders insist that they are not to blame for lawlessness and we would be glad to believe that | they are not so Intentionally. We would regret to think that American working men are always ready for criminal acts as soon as they see an opening. but they cannot escape the consequences entirely. If man should open the door of house in | which Is confined a lot of wild beasts and allow them to escape he might argue that he didn't call or drive them out but he could not clear himself by such A plea. He gave them the oppor- tunity and they took advantage of 1t, And so the unions and those who or ganize strikes may claim that they have no sympathy with lawlessness and law breakers. but that plea will not clear them entirely. Whenever
 there Is a strike in large city one of
 the inevitable results is violence and defiance of law. The civil laws are de- | fled, the officers of the law hindered and impeded in the discharge of their
 duty, just as occurred in Chicago.
 That opens the door for the real crim- inals who are always lying in wait for an opportunity and they come to the front The conditions offer a harvest
 for villainy and the villains are ready | to reap it. The real law abiding and | honest union men cannot clear their
 skirts for they must abide the conse- auences of acts which they made pos | sible As there was no excuse for the
 strike in first place so there is no de-