Connecticut western news., 1909-01-14
B|G CONTEMPT CASE,
How Labor Leaders Regard
 Judge Wright's Decision.
MAY RESULT IN JURY TRIAL.

The sentence of imprisonment for contempt in diSregarding the injunc- l ton of the court in the boycott of the Bucks Stove and Range company i'm posed by Judge Daniel H. E. Wright of the supreme court of the District of | Columbia on Samuel Gompers, the president of the American Federation of Labor; on Frank Morrison, secreta- ry of that body, and on John Mitchell, 1 former head of the Miners federation, has brought out a number of opinions I by labor leaders. Here are few:
 "The sentencing of Gompers, Mitch ell and Morrison to terms of tmprison- ment in the Bucks injunction case will, in my opinion, be of benefit rath- CT than harmful to the trades union movement in America" says Joseph R. Buchanan, a well known labor lead er and writer on labor questions.
 Ut will draw together and solidify the clements which have been antago- nistic. These antagonisns have grown out of disagreements upon questions of policy, particularly with relation to trade and intertraGe matters. These Gisagreements have defeated the com plete solidarity of the trades unions. l But attacks upon the men in high off, cial positions by forces entirely out side of the movement invariably oblit- crate the recollection of grievances on i the inside. and all divisions of the army of organized labor rally to the support of those attacked.
 "A recent illustration of this truth was furnished at the Norfolk conven- tion of the American Federation of Labor in November, 1907. Until that convention Mr. Gompers had never been elected president without opposi- tion, and the Socialist element was sometimes bitter in it's fight upon him. Because of the attacks made upon MT. | Gompcrs by the National Association of Manufacturers the Socialists took the lead in a unity movement which resulted In his unanimous reelection at Norfolk. I could cite many in- i stances similar to this one, all of which convince ne that the trades un- 1 ion movement will not suffer because ] of the verdict of the supreme court"
 Charles H. Mover of Denver, presi- 1 dent of the Western Federation of i Miners, in speaking of the punishment of Gompers and others said:
 '"The decision of the supreme court If the District of Columbia against ! Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison fur l ther bears out what 1 have for a long time preached-that 1t is no use for l the working class to legislate without having the courts first reformed" Henry Abrahams, secretary of the 1 Boston Central Labor union, said: Ut seems as though the judges have gone mad. Slowly and insidiously our peo- | pie have been deprived of their liber- ties. This sentence is a blow at the freedom of the press"
 W. D. Ryan of Indianapolis, national secretary of the United Mine Workers, of which John Mitchell was president when the alleged boycott res 1 olution was acted on at the miners convention a year ago, sent the follow ing telegram to President Roosevelt:
 "As an official representative of the United Mine Workers of America en- phatically protest against the court de- cision sending Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison to jail. I know of no law that has been violated by Gompers or Morrison Tn connection with the case in question, and I am positive that Mitchell is absolutely innocent"
 George W. Perkins of Chicago, pres ident of the Cigarmakers' Internation- al union. MT. Gompers' own orgauiza- | tion, said:
 'T hold that the decision was unjust and uncalled for and not in keeping with the ethics of even handed justice. The judge appeared to be spiteful and bitter in imposing the sentence. hold that Mir GOmpers and his com- panions committed no crime in the sense in which that term is applied and used. Mir. Gompers believed he had a constitutional inherent right as citizen to do the things which he openly and in broad daylight had done"
 r. H. Morrissey of Cleveland, O., un- til recently grand master of the Broth e1hood of Railway Trainmen. discuss ing the decision of Judge Wright. said:
 "In tbe light of this decision and oth- CTS that have been rendered against labor in injunction cases it is not strange that labor organizations should demand tie passage of laws guarantee ing trial by jury in contempt cases. This decision will surely emphasize the need of such law and in that respect will serve q useful purpose"
 Walter MacArthur of San Francisco. editor of the Coast Seaman's Journal, said
 'I regard that sentence as an epoch making event in the history not only or labor, but of civilization. No sym pathy need be expressed for those i'm mediate victims of government by in- junction, since the result of their i'm prisonment is bound to be beneficial