The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-11-30
BROWNS SPEECH
ON LAW AND ORDER
In Which the Speaker Flays the Grating Off
cials of Guard ridden Fayette and
Kanauha Counties

-hi' Drown spoke, IN part, as fol-
lows:
Over here in Fayette county,
they are building public highway;
that is, ostensibly speaking the peo-
pie are, but that highway is bein..
pu1lt under a system of peonage
that would bring blush to the
race of the bloody Czar of Russia.
over in that county the regularly
elected officials of the county are
working cheek and jowl with the
Governors Pretorian Guard, or in
other words, hand in glove with the
Baldwin detectives. For the bene
mt or those of you who do not know
otherwise, let me advise you that in
many OF those coal mining districts
oefore the railroads came the coun-
ty road or public highway ran par
ailel with the creek banks. When
the railways came they actually
pushed the public highway off into
the creeks, and in many cases OBJ
liberated them entirely, so that to-
day, the pedestrian travelling
through these districts on foot is
either obliged to wade the creeks
or to walk on the privately owned
railroads. When coal miner,
walking, we will say towards Fay
etteville. in search of a job, leaves
the public highway and walks the
railway he is placed under arrest by
the Pretorian Military Guard and
brought before the mayors court,
and Tor having thus trespassed on
the sacred property of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Railway he is given
from $500 to $3.50 fne,- on top of
which he must pay the costs of the
court, which on an average is from
five to seven dollars, in default of
which he must go to Jail for from
thirty to forty days.
From October the second. to
October the 26th, two Baldwin de-
tectives, r. +. Stringer and II. NJ.
Black, arrested twanty-seven men.
each of whom were turned over to
the mayor of Fayetteville. The one
and only charge brought against
these men was that of trespa ssiny
upon the Chesapeake and Ohio rail-
way, the fine and costs in each case
averaging $500, in default of which
these twenty-seven men have been
confined in the Fayette county jail.
lhese men are taken out of that
Jail and worked on the public high
way ten hours per day, without any
compensation whatever. Many of
them have dependent upon them
wives and children for support.
Now Comes the Graft.
These Baldwin detectives get
from two dollars to three dollars
and half for each man that they
turn over to the Mayor of Fayette-
vile, on top of which they charge
up their railway fares and hotel
o1lls. all of which is clear velvet to
them. for these fellows and their
prisoners have no railroad fares to
pay. Next comes His Honor, the
Mayor. This honorable gentleman.
II l am correctly advised, receives
hFe dollars per head for every man
ne sends over the line. Next comes
the sheriff This worthy gets fifty
cents per day per man from the
county for feeding the prisoners.
Inc sheriff sub-lets the contract to
one OF his deputies for % cents
: per man. the deputy sublets to
one John Riley Saunders for twenty
cents per man, and God knows
what kind of swill Sanders feeds
! them on. or what it costs, but YOU
! can surely take a bet he is not
feeding them at a loss. Many of our
|
! union, and members of the socialist
I party, have been beaten UP. some
nave been killed, and there is a man
in this audience tonight who has
actually been held up at the point
OF gun and robbed by this Preto-
rlan Military Guard, right here in
hanawha county. and before the law
courts of this county even, he has no
redress. Now, suppose that / should
go out here tonight and commit
some misdemeanor. Suppose tina,
I hold up citizen here on the pub.
lie highway, and filch from him his
/ pocketbook- He would cry .'stor
thfef. and Immediately I am seized
upon by a blue-coated guardian of the
law Now it does not make any
difference though the police officer
who places me under arrest MAY
himself be thief. liar, a periure1
and an adulterer: it does not mat
ter though that the Prosecuting AT
torney may be a gambler and a de
signing politician: it does not mat
| ter that though the Judge may b,
drunkard, fool, or both. due pun
J ishment will be meted out to me
but how is it with these Pretorial