The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-11

' party of the first part and the party ol | the second part, no house shall iocf out any member of said local union NO 21 and no executive board or bushes. agent shall declare a strike and saie | local No. 2i shall not declare strike
 but such misunderstanding, dispute oi | difference of opinion shall be referred | within twenty-four (24) hours to tns representatives of the parties 10 tni' contract for settlement. and In cass | such representatives fall to settle sucf controversy within twenty-four hours after the same shall have been SUD mitted to them. 1t is agreed that eaci | representative shall within said seconc | twenty-four (24) hours name an arpi- | trator.
 | and the two arbitrators so selected shall as speedily as possible name ons dfsinterested person who shall not pc manufacturer or a member ct any labor organization and the three sc lected shall within three days time settle the difficulty and the decision Sd rendered shall be binding on all par ties to this agreement.
 You will therefore readily see that we have the written right to demand arbitration-a demand that has been repeatedly spurned by the employers in the presence of Mayor Dunne of Chicago.
 
 Because they openly boast that they can spurn and that the troops under your command will shoot down him |. who dares to openly protest against their action. They fiatter themselves that the Federal army is their ready tool to act upon their suggesuon- right or wrong--and they therefore re- fuse to have any inquiry made as to whether they are right or wrong. They can now say there Is nothing to arbitrate," but If a board should find there was something to arbitrats pub lie sympathy might be too strong for them, and they might not be able to crush out unionism once and for alr' as they openly declare they intend to
 do. But can they do 1t.
 Is the army all that these men think 1t Is? Is it not fact, after all. that the power of the army even rests to a great extent upon the support of the people? What would few soldiers bs
 against a nation?
 Without intending to be discourteous or suggestiong a threat, we desire to call attention to a clear and true state-
 ment of this fact by General Benj F. Butler of Massachusetts In his cele- brated speech some sixty years ago to
 the people of Lowell:
 Had Better Re Slaves.
 eff the workingmen can be deprived of their freedom and the rights by threats of starvation of themselves and their wives and children, when they act according the laws and their own judgments, then they had better be slaves indeed, having kind masters, in- stead of being free men who are only at liberty to do what their task mas ters Impose upon them or starve. And this question must be settled here and now.
 "y i-ro1, &ho xo..,o, oR 4hn~. o1, porations: l know many of the men who have been inNcharge. They have made a mistake in an appeal to force. When that weapon is tried, they are weak and you are strong. They have their mille and machinery; their bricks and their mortar. and that is the ex- tent of their power. You are stronger than they. You have your arms and your torches and by them we will blot out this accursed outrage.
 "As God lives and live, by the living Jehovah. If one man is driven from his employment by these men will lead you to make Lowell what it was twenty-five years ago--a sheep pasture and a fishing plsce: and I will commence by applying the torch to my own house. Let them come on. As we are not the aggressors, we seek not this awful contest,
 Peace rests not upon the militia or the army but upon the patience and long suffering of the toiling masses. The army, so far as it has any effect is not to quiet but to disturb; 1t is not to terrorize, but to make the peo- ple meditate. They wonder what all diers scare the men who make armies and who compose the flower of Amer ican manhood, are we serfs--serfs that we cringe at the mention of troops?
 If the laboring men are willing, the decision of an arbitrator without can- non or club will command the obedi- ence of every toiler affected.
 Even if we are right and the arbitra- tor decide against us, still we will bow to that decision.
 Then if the decision of one man, un- armed and alone, can exercise this vast power. what is the use of the sacrifice of lives, calling out armies and make an opera bouffe of government?
 A BfundeR Made.
 It Is evident that a blunder has been made somewhere. somehow. Let us as- certain its source.
 Is it just or is it necessary to bring the United States army into Chicago in an effort to smother the cry of the toiIer for arbitration? Is 1t right or expedient to attempt to stifle the de- mand for the settlement of controversy by court procedure7 Is the purpose of the army to prevent the carrying out of written contracts that are open to all who care to read them? Can you, our honored President, afford to use the forces under your control to stihe labor's demand for peace and the of peace? Why should our at- tempt to get and maintain peace be met by the army and by the war?
 Every laboring man knows these faets. What will be the results upon the citizenship Of this country, if, when American citizens ask for court pro- cedure and order. they are met by the bullet and the jail? Is it not time to inquire as to the facts in the case? We submit that labor is an essential of na- tionaI life. And the sympathy and CO., operation of the Iaborers in their life | work is as essential as is the sympathy | and cooperation of citizenship. Unity i Is a necessary fact of development and | progress. Unionism cannot no more be | destroyed in industrial life than can | patriotism in political life. He is | short sighted indeed who can not see | that the cause of one is the cause of | all, and the destruction of one without | protest is sooner or later the dissatis- faction Of all.