Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-09-24

they shall use these means guaran- teed them by their own present form of government, to secure better llfe more liberty and more happiness. The teacher or preacher who tries to obscure truth, is abridging the rights of human beings to reason things out for themselves. Rev Phillip Brooks once said in a lecture to divinity students: 'I know. some ministers who want all their parishioners to think after their fashion, and are troubled when any of their people show signs of thinking for themselves and holding ideas which the ministers does not hold. Thank God, the hu- man nature is too vital, especially when 1t is inspired with such vital force as christian faith, to yield itself to such unworthy slaves"
 Bishop Brooks does not seem to have been afraid to trust humanity with the precious boon of free thought" The arbitrary suppression of truth would certainly be against the operation of the laws of God or the laws of nature. It will certain ly be as repulsive to man under socialism. as 1t Is to-day under cap- italism. to have some one else do his thinking for him. When men are freed from the necessity to sell their labor power 10 hours each day for a mere existence. When they have more freedom as regards the disposition of their time and strength; it Is safe to say that they will do their own thinking. And they will no doubt examine the pages of classic literature, history and criticism, with the same criti- cal minds, as the privileged classes do to-day. And they presume, now, under this system, to ask who gave the privileged classes their privi- leges. Who gave them the right to do their thinking, their talking for the working class? Who gave them the right to dictate to the press of the country? Yes, to the judicial and legal power? A lesson has been taught the great working class in this country that they should not soon forget in the labor war that was a manifestation of the class struggle in Colorado. The follow ing events transipred that have now become historical facts. The miners in some of the western states deter mined that eight hours was long enough to work down in the mines. and after being informed by various judicial authorities that an eight hour law was unconstitutional they then put 1t to the vote of the people of the state of Colorado to amend the constitution so that an eight hour law day would be legal. This amendment was carried by a majority of 46.G00 votes. But even the will of the people, expressed at the ballot box was set aside by a legislature influenced by the inter- ests of few mine owners belonging to the privileged class.
 The outraged miners then went on a strike for their eight hour day. It has been absolutely proven that, not because of any act of violence on the part of the strikers-but for the purposes of intimidation-the mine owners sent for the government sol- diers, and paid the government for their maintenance. As soon as they arrived a big Bull pen" bare board building. was erected, and strikers and sympathizers were cast in promiscuously. among the rest, the editor of the Victor. Press, who had told in his paper the true story
 4L ko1 miners-and later when his paper continued to appear a band of sol diers visited the ofice and smashed the press-so it was no longer a free press When the outrages continued and men were deported from their homes for no other cause than feeding. housing, or sym pathizing with strikers-the officers in charge were told that they were acting entirely against the constitu- tion-they, the officers of the United States government, sworn to stand by the constitution, exclaimed: 'To hell with the constitution. Is 1t any wonder that the demand for a press that would tell the truth went up from the intelligent part of the working class?
 And when men who did tell the truth, like Eugene V. Debs. were called undesirable citizens," and men like Taft were sent out to Col orado and Idaho to enforce the snp- precision of the will of the people. expressed at the ballot box for their eight hour day. all. to uphold the class interests of a. few mine. own >ers. Is 1t any wonder that the eyes of the workers slowly opened to the fact that their rights were being in- fringed upon, their rights as Ameri- can citizens. They knew before that they were being robbed of the profits of their labor In the factory. knew they had suffered ali sorts of indig- mites in tbeir industrial life. but here was a new phase of the class struggle. their political rights. and constitutional pri7iIeges were de- n x L.. 1I.~.