Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1908-01-09
VIOLATED ONE MAN MADE LAW
Edwards Believed to Be Innocent Man
Government by InjunctiOns
on the Rampage

Last Friday afternoon Judge Hunt
in the Federal court of Helena sen.
fenced Joseph Shannon of the Butte
Miners Union TO ninety days in Jail.
VIM. Cults of the Butte Carpenters
Union to ninety days in Jail and $3.50
fine. A. s. Edwards of the Butte Cen
trail Trades Council to ninety days in
Jail and 800 fine for having contempt
of government by injunction.
The fourth defendant, r. C. Scot,
of the Butte Workingmen Union, was
discharged.
The defendants were charged with
leading mobs in Butte for the purpose
of running scab linemen out of the
camp and taking a scab of the scab
phone building that is now in course
of erection in Butte.
1t was general talk on the streets
of Helena Friday afternoon that Shan
non, Cults and Edwards would be
found guilty. Where this information
came from, We cannot say but the To-
cal citizens alliance men seem to have
had a general forecast of the verdict.
We are opposed to mob law. The
socialist party is opposed to mob law
and always advises union men against
such methods. The socialists believe
that intelligence on the part of the
workers will solve the labor problem.
When the working class becomes intel.
ligent enough to run the affairs of the
country and displace the capitalist
then and not until then will the labor
problem be at an end.
However much as we are opposed to
mob law, we must oppose such sen
tenees as were given the union men of
Butte by Judge Hunt. In the first
place the men did not violate state
law, but a one man made law, a gov.
ernment by injunction law, and in the
second place the men were not tried
by a jury of their peers, but judged
by the legislator, who made the in.
junction law.
A labor war is on in this state, two
contending forces are lined up. The
Bell Telephone company and ORGANIZED
Labor. Labor had the whip hand and
the corporation was being whipped TO
a stand still all along the line, but they
have an ally laying in reserve and that
ally is the Federal court whose Judge
comes to the rescue Of the beaten ca.
pitalist and filings an injunction at la.
Dor, whereby labor must stand still
and dumb and the corporations do as
they please. An injunction is some
thing that corporations are exempt
from in a labor war but which labor
is bound to respect or go to Jail.
In passing sentence, Judge Hunt
said, "Is this a government of law or
are we at the mercy Of a mob" In
our opinion mob law was created when
the injunction was granted the scab
phone company. Force creates force,
unlawlessness on the part Of the au.
thorities create unlawlessness on the
part of the mob. No one man has
right to create law, enforce that
law and pass sentence on the violaters
Of the law he himself has created.
Yet, this is the power given judges
through government by injunctions.
The whole trial was travesty on
justice. A. s. Edwards, who was sen
fenced TO ninety days in Jail and fined
800, is an innocent man. The evi.
dence against him was weak. The
judge would not accept it, but accord
ing to the judges own words, Edwards
was sentenced to Jail on general prin-
ciples and because the judge did not
like his appearance. Edwards has
record of his actions, time and place
for months past. He had received
warning that the corporation was after
him and he took no chances, but done
4 10. A. ..,1