The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1908-09-12
REFLECTIONS or A roILER.

y REFLECTIONS or A. ROLLER.
u Duluth, Sept. 2, 1908. >
TO the Editor Of the Labor World:
II we, the members OF organized la
Dor, In the United States would
trample under foot our prejudice, that
Is, the stone rolled into the path of
progress, that keeps us from seeing
The great wrongs that exist; and then
try to and the best method Of reme-
dying those wrongs, our lot would not
be SO hard.
We must reckon with actual condi-
lions. We must see plainly and I'M
derstand to what end is our environ
ment leading US. It is recognized by
many ofus that our condition and the
environments which surround it, do
not have the potent force within it to
make better citizens Of US.
Whatever the future has in store for
us 1t IL hard for us to see at this
time. but It IL self-evident, that labor
Will not stand very long for such
misuse OF the law as is the custom in
the present. We are civilized human
beings. We have brains, and we have
hands that are controlled by these
brains; those brains are used in fur
thering Of the production Of works
that is. directly useful to society, and
as soon as we are forced to tread
backward tho hard beaten path Of
progress, or when the gain we have
fought for so valiantly is taken away
from u.s. Or our supply OF the bread
and butter that supports us and our
IL curtailed. and We see our
little children, then we must proclaim
that it is time to halt, and take a
survey OF the causes that allow such
conditions to exist.
have for some time tried to figure
out the proposition Of how can a
few men browbeat honest labor :?
Why Is it that an Organization Of a
few thousand men can come to our
and say uto US you can
go no further with your proposition,
you must go back, while they upon
the other hand continue to rob and
plumber?
They tell US we can not at times
Of strike set out pickets, while they
import special police from another
state, loaded down with shooting irons,
which is against our laws, and when
we ask for our rights, we are laughed
to scorn, as we were during the strike
upon the range.
Has our sheriffff, who was ordered
to investigate the Importation OF these
strike breakers, made a report OF the
findings? 1t seems more than prob
able that some OF the men who have
shorn us OF our rights are guilty of
crimes that have not as yet been met
at the bar OF justice.
Let the masters Of our bread be-
ware. Such crimes of infamy as the
Oanbury Hatters' case, the attaching
Of the property Of the individual mem
bers Of the hatters', Unions, and the
attachment OF their Individual bank
accounts, while the socalled courts of
Justice have picked the ripe plurns
and handed them over to the Standard
Dill in the name Of justice, are render
ing conditions uncomfortable. Z.
Who must stand responsible for
what awaits us in the future? Who?
It must be remembered we, the Amer
lean working classes are lovers Of
truth, Justice and our rights. II the
ruling class places an unjust restraint
upon our labor, we will Be as heroic
to defend our rights as were the fore.
father or 1776. We will not long
stand, we cannot long stand to see
Dur wives and children suffer while
they are innocent Of any part OF the
play! >~.< )
Our courts are treading upon ground
upon which angels have, in the past
feared to tread, when they SO declare
that our collective labor is property
and that labor can be taxed to de-
crease IT'S value, then It is attacking
the most sacred inherent right with
which we were born, and as our life
came from g natural law, that same
law will demand that we protect that
lite.
Real estate has. and IL held today
as having more sacred right to pro-
lection than has life, and il our labor
is to be considered as property, then
comes the conflict Of the two kinds
Of property. and IL 1t must come as
present indications point, we are vast
IT, in the majority.
Let our employers and our judges
beware, for there is a. law that is
known even to the beasts Of the field,
that when driven into q corner. will
show their teeth and bite.
We will not long sit in the shade
Of the chestnut tree, while the cold
Wir1ds ArA{ chilling RI +ha hnna