Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-11-17


disaster was dynamite, in order that
he might turn it to account in his
campaign against unionism, and at
the same time himself escape the
consequences of criminal negligence. +
This is an opinion of union men.
Read now the opinion of Hiram john
son, Republican candidate for COVER
nor of California, an opinion express
ed in speech delivered in Los
Angeles during the present political
campaign.
This is the, Sort Of Man Who Don1i-
mates the Investigation.
Johnson is not member of labor
union. He is a lawyer who first gain
ed the enmity of the Times by his
part in the prosecution of the higher
ups" in the San Francisco graft scan
dial, friends of General Otis. Later he
led the "insurgent" element in it's eff
forts to GUST the Southern Pacific
from it's age-long control Of the Re
publican party in California. Said
Mr., Johnson:
"In the city from which have
come we have drunk to the very
dregs the cup of infamy; we have
had men who have sold their
birthright; we have dipped into
every infamy; every form of
Wickedness has been ours in the
past; every debased passion and
every sin has flourished. But we
have nothing so debased, nothing
so infamous in San Francisco, nor
did we ever have, as Harrison
a. + ,&% o1~
ed me on the only side to which
+ will not respond, concerning
which, rather than respond, will
lose the governofship of the State
of California. He sits there in
senile dementia, with gangrened
heart and rotting brain, grimacing
at every reform, chattering i'm
potently at all things that are
descent, frothing, Tuning, violent
ly gibbering, going down to his
grave in snarling infamy. This
man Otis is the one blot on the
banner of Southern California;
/ he is the bar sinister upon your
escutcheon. My friends, he is the
one thing that all California looks
at when, in looking at Southern
California, they see anything that
is disgraceful, depraved, corrupt,
and putrescent-that is, Harrison
Gray Otis"
And this Is the man whose Influence
is very strong upon the press dis
patches and news reports sent out
from Los Angels relating to the dis
aster, who dominates the investigation
into its causes, and who will attempt
to direct the prosecution in case any
union man should be arrested for sus-
pected completely in the alleged
crime!
The theory upon which General Otis
Is trying to make the world believe
is the theory Of motive; that is, that
that organized labor blew up his shop
organized labor expected to profit by
such a disaster in it's efforts to I'M
ionize Los Angeles.
The answer is that no sane union
member could have expected anything
/ of the sort.
Times Disaster Brought Joy to Hearts
Of All Union Haters.
There is not a union man in Cali
fornia who could not have foretold
that, if the Times were blown up, evil
dence or no evidence, organized labor
would be accused of the job; that the
Times would be the first to make the
accusation; that every union-hater in
the universe would take up the cry;
that employers associations, mer.
chants and manufacturers associa-
tons, chambers of commerce and
every voice of Big Business would
join in the chorus of accusation; that
the incident would be- joyfully seized
upon as an excuse for inflaming the
mind of. the public against unions
and unionism, for instituting a mole
bitter, unfair and lawless campaign
against organized labor than has ever
been seen before, for bringing every
available weapon into play to realize
the ambition of General Otis-the ex-
termination of the unions.
And exactly this thing happened!
"The unions did it." shouted Otis,
Chandler, Andrews and the M. & M.
And every unfair employer of labor,
every professional scab, every lick
spittle newspaper, every tool Of Big
Business, took means to spread that
impression among the people.
The Los Angeles Herald declared:
4aO pOA1CO AO1CO VI Jul lily
should at once begin a cleaning
out process and should not rest
until every man who has been at
tracted to the city by the pending
labor troubles has been driven
from the city or incarcerated In
JAIL"
Daily Newspaper Is Punished For
Mentioning the Word "Gas."
When the Los Angeles Record, a
newspaper which was not whipped in
to line, published manly editorial
pointing out the probability of an ex-
plosion by gas, a concerted attack by
members of the M. & M. caused the
withdrawal Of so many advertisements
and the threatened withdrawal of so
many more, as would have compelled
a less courageous newspaper to cease
its demand for justice forthwith.
1.-THE gas explosion theory began
and ended in malice" Such was the
attitude Of those in charge Of the in