The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1909-09-09
PUBLIC IS
AR0USING
From Its Slumber and Its Opinion
Will Garry More Weight in the
Future---Trust Tool Will Meet
Their Waterloo.

1t is refined oil to crude petroleum that
if some one bundled public opinion into
keg and handed it TO John D. Rocke-
feller he would at once carefully deposit
it in a soft spot, label it Dangerous, -
and beat it for the nearest cover. A
burnt child always breads the fire, and
John is not alone in his dread of being
burned again. There are others. Also
there are some few people in this little
world who haven't been singed yet But
| they will be-sometime.
Public opinion is mighty factor in
the shaping of the worlds events, and
none realize this more than the average
capitalist. Every man is gambler,
though, to more or less extent, and for
years some capitalists have been flirting
on the thin edge of public i'll favor In
fact, i'll some places the edge is so very
thin that certain profits have been acci-
dcntally shaved.
In the Senate we find Capitals tools
Aldrich and his cGque--playing tag with
the tariff schedules, taking off ii little
here and adding whole lot more there
But crude petroleum was one thing that
even the braZcn Aldrch felt too danger
Gus thing to flaunt in the consumers
faces, and accordingly, despite the all
powerful Standard Oil, this product of
many lands was placed on the free list
The people don't know everything, but
they We learned something about Standard
Oil, and they won t go into raptures over
any move on the part of their hired men
III the Senate to fatten the said corpora
tion $ swollen Golfers.
Some day, of course, the public will
open both eyes, and then certain Wash
ington society lions (and cubs) will be
out looking for other gratis to which to
turn their hands. In the meantime they
are making hay while the money Shines
albeit they dare not try to shove Standard
Oil down the voters '-throats Could any
thing less powerful than public opinion
have influenced Boss Aldrich to thus turn
down the friends of his pockctbook!
Harry Thaw would have been Il free
man long ere this were it not for what
the public might have to say upon the
subject. ''Kccp him in Mattewan along
with the other freaks.' WAS the unani-
nous cry, and since then that 5 where he
has been until recently, despite his dol
lars.
Some months ago Walter Blythe while
drunk murdered his wife in Il place called
Agincour, Il suburb of Toronto Ontario
and was sentenced to be hanged For
some reason or another the hand of the
law reprievcd the doomed wretch for sew
eral weeks. Then. after having raised
hope i'll his cowardy heart, it decided
that he must die. Whcrcupon public
opinion-whcthcr rightly or wrongly l
will not attempt to say-stepped in and
stopped the impending execution some
twenty-four hours before the hour set In
all probability Blythe will never hang
now, and simply because public opinion
declared that it WAS an injustice to hang
him after giving him reason for believ-
ing that his sentence was to be committed
to life Imprisonment. Leaving aside the
question of Justice or injustice in this in
dividu;rl ease, it serves to show the power
the public can exercise.
For years the unfair employers of this
cOuntry-and many othcrs-have utilized
public opinion II weapon with which to
hold down labor. and in a measure they
have been successful.
In former years unfair capitalists in
cited riots by means of paid thugs Now
they attempted to sway public opinion by
referring to workingmen as criminals.
beats, - etc, as witness the remarks made
by President Kirby. who recently assum-
ed the leadership of the Manufacturers
Association, organization that seem
ingly has for its object the creating of a
few million more paupers for the public
to feed. or bury, as the case may be.
1--WE cannot compromise with criIni-
mails. said he. according to the New
| York press accounts. ''We must take the
| beast by the horns and force him into
! submission,' Are these self styled. fair
minded capitalists representative of those
who have been shouting to the very skies
that organized labor was responsible for
all the trouble between the employer and
employed? If so l feel sorry for the fair
mindedness of American capital And
what of that ng-drawn out howl we
have frequently heard for arbitration!
| Meanwhile labor-organized labor-is
devoting its attention to the wooing OF
public favor, and what is more, it is sue