The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1907-07-19
A REPETITION
OF HISTORY
Story of the Great Leader Marcus
Manilus Moderated
STRUGGLE OF THE WEST
t. 7. r. fripp, of the White City Socialist
Local, Calls Attention to Present
Significant Situation.
EDITOR TRIBUNE:

EDITOR TRIBUNE
History repeats itself. In our school
days how ones heart was moved with
sorrow for the death of Marcus Manilus
Capitolinus hurled from the Tarpean
rock to an gnominious death, con-
demned as an ambitious conspirator
against the Republic. The greater
sorrow to our young patriotic souls was
that we were led to believe the charges
were true concerning this once modest
Roman of them ALL" The truth has at
last been made manifest.
Manilus belonged to noble family of
the patrician order, but after saving
Rome by most heroic defense of the
CapitOline citadel against the Gauls, he
turned away from the alluring prospects
of wealth and power the state was
ready to heap upon him, prefering to
suffer persecution with the down trodden
working class; he espoused their cause.
Through the trade unions, strength
ened by the laws of Numa Pompilius.
king after Romulus) the Plebs, work
people, had gained considerable power
in the government, but the devastation
of the country by the Gallo invasion SO
impoverished the working class that
they then paid but little attention to
politics, being so absorbed in the bread
problem. that the Patricians capitalist
class) took advantage Of it to infringe
on the rights of the former.
Marcus Manlius strove to regain for
the oppressed what political and econ
omic advantages they had thus lost.
The Patricians so resented the endeavOr,
though until then idolizing Manlius as
the savior of Rome, now plotted his ju
dicial murder through trumped up
charges, without any foundation what
ever, of conspiracy to overthrow the
republic and make himself king.
Historians (being of the patrician or
der) were unwilling, it appears, to give
the true version of that murderous trial
perpetrated by their own class, But
whatever inkling posterity may have
had concerning its gross injustice has
been more than verified by records I'M
earthed in recent years from buried
cities. They are records of the trade
unions, which prove that Manlius was a
martyr to the cause of liberty liberty
of the toiling masses from oppressive
wage slavery to which the capitalist
patricians were aiming to reduce them.
How much this reads like what is
transpiring in our own country! a clos
er parallel cannot be found in history.
The miners of the great mining states
and territories of the west seeing their
interests imperilled by the formation of
the Mine Owners Association, sought
to protect themselves against organized
greed by forming the Western Fedora
ton of Miners, by means of which they
succeeded in having laws passed in their
interest in several mining states and
territories, securing safe conditions of
mining and healthful environment. The
eight hour day law was enacted by
nearly all of the legislatures, for it was
pronounced by scientists that longer
hours for the miners and shelters was
injurious to the health and would great
ly shorten life.
The two thirds ma jority for it in Cot
orado was resisted by the mine owners,
which resulted in many strikes, Then
began reign of terror for the unions
though innocent of crime. Thugs and
detectives were employed to incite to
violence. Failing in that they made
violence themselves which beggars des
cription. See Report of the United
States Labor Commissioner, Carol d.
Wright.
The evidence before the court in Idaho
developes the plot of the Mine Owners
Association to break up the Western
Federation of Miners" in order to Mex
icanize the west. The contamination of
the plot is to cause the judicial murder
of the pure and noble leaders of the
Federation whose great influence has
helped to secure the rights of the work.
continued on page 81