The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-12-14
M 'NAMARA CASE
S0C|ETY'S CRIME
(By ]. w. Brown.)


l think of the Mcnamara case. and
up to the present have withheld my
| answer for the simple reason that it
| is impossible to get n clear concep-
tion of this case without an UNDER
standing of the underlying causes.
Modern society rests upon Il state
of industrial anarchy. Out of this
| industrial anarchy there springs n
class antaGonism. The conflict Is in
herent in the competitive system and
ever and anon 1t breaks out in strikes,
riots. lockouts, shutdowns, industrial
| and commercial panics and depres-
sions. which every once in q while
assume national character, thence
International and worldwide war.
On one side we have organized cap
ital and capitalists, whose only am
bition is to make profits; on the other
side we have n group of organized
| laborers. whose only ambition is to
work and get good wages for their
work. Around these two elements the
conflict RACES. 1t Is an unequal con-
| fiict. The capitalist Is buttressed IN
his stronghold first by being in pos
session of all the means of life up
! on which the laborer depends for n
livlihood: second. all the functions of
government. legislative and executive,
as well as the press, are at his beck
and call, while the laborer possesses
nothing but his fixed labor capacity
which use and old age must ultimately
lessen and at last destroy.
The destruction of the lives of the
workers in this industrial warfare.
even under normal conditions is stu
pendous, the total being not less than
100000 killed and wounded annually
in our man numbering modes of mon
ey making.
The structural iron work is the
most hazardous, dangerous and de-
structive of all. Only men who have
reckless disregard for their own
lives can be induced to work Mt it.
Society never stops to think. when
plan is drawn for the construction
of bridge, or the erection of a sky
scraper, how many lives are going to
be s,luffed out before it is completed
nor does it care. 1t simply says, "The
bridge or the skyscraper Is necessary
to PROGRESSES Progress can't stop to
take into consideration such an in
significant thing as the lives of the
workers. IF they lose their lives in
the discharge of their duty, then IL
is the will of Cod Besides. the
lives of the workers are not worth as
much as bricks: let them die The
Lord sendeth and the Lord taketh
away" And there is always another
to take the dead mans place, so let
them be killed. "It is the will OF
God:''
In the treading of the wine press
there are those who come to the top
I In a society based upon competition,
! there will always be those who come
] to the top and there will always Dc
those who &C down to the bottom, or,
| more properly speaking. there will al
ways be those who are born at the
bottom, and on the back of this class
that class that are born down at the
bottom, and on the bask of this class
| rests the burden OF the superstruct-
| ure of society. One lesson they learn
ed in their mad struggle for existence.
| and that is that. I'm union there is
strength, and with others of their
| class they formed a union. No Soon
| er had it become apparent that their
| union was strength, a power in
wringing from the master class a
more just and equitable existence
| than all the powers of capitalization
was turned against them. Eight hour
| laws were declared unconstitutional.
| p1cketing was crime. court injunc-
tionS were issued against them, while
| the servile press hurled it's thunder
bolts into their already dem moralizcd
| ranks. One by one union after ur-
| ion fell before the onslaught or Or
IGANIZED, Localized, CAPITAL
1ZED GREED. and the McNamaras.
born in ignorance, and having for
generations been fed on religious mag
gots and deistic worms, struck back
with the only weapon church AMI
state has ever taught them to use
force. They fought against great
odds in the only way they could
| Had the same searching investiga-
ton followed the blowing up of the
battleship Maine. we would NOT row
be posing as the dispensers of an al
| ready made-to-order and approved
by the pure food commission brand
| of benevolent Christian assimilation
fluid, at so much par. for the benefit
| of group of INSCRIPTIONS legaIized
| pirates. But we neglected to do it,
and today we pay the prices in shama
and humiliation.
It is vain for society TO try to wash
| its hands of this crime If we have
a social conscience so dull that j.
| cares nothing for the lives of those
who build its bridges and skyscrap-
ers; if we have a social conscience